Category: Ocean Science

The NOAA Fisheries response team uses poles with specialized knives to cut entangling lines. Credit: Alaska Department of Fish and Game/Jamie Musbach (NOAA Fisheries Permit # 24359)

Humpback Whale Successfully Freed from Entanglement in Endicott Arm

7/26/2026 - By fisheries.noaa.gov, fisheries.noaa.gov. The Tracy Arm-Fords Terror wilderness, located 50 miles south of Juneau, Alaska, features a pair of steep glacial fjords: Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm. While remote, the waters in this area see steady vessel traffic, ranging from massive cruise ships and small charter boats to commercial fishing… SEE MORE

2025 Species Recovery Grant Awardees Announced

7/23/2026 - By Fisheries.Noaa.Gov, fisheries.noaa.gov. NOAA awarded $4.2 million in funding to states and tribes through its Species Recovery Grant Program. These grants promote the recovery of species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. From these funds: $1.9 million supports six new awards to five states: Alaska, California, Florida,… SEE MORE

A recreational fisherman holds a Chinook salmon in the Canadian Yukon. Credit: Adobe Stock

Shedding New Light on Yukon River Chinook Salmon Declines

Ocean Science

7/22/2026 - By Fisheries.Noaa.Gov, fisheries.noaa.gov. Yukon River Chinook salmon have been declining for decades. These declines have limited salmon harvest and posed hardships for local communities that depend on these fish for their food sovereignty, culture, and livelihoods. Adult run sizes recently reached their lowest point ever following a downturn from 2019… SEE MORE

Celebrating Habitat Month

7/21/2026 - By Fisheries.Noaa.Gov, fisheries.noaa.gov. July is Habitat Month at NOAA Fisheries! All month long, we’ll be sharing how we conserve and restore habitat to sustain our nation’s fisheries and support coastal communities. NOAA conserves habitats like wetlands, rivers, and coral reefs to support fisheries—but habitat isn’t valuable just for the home it provides for fish and wildlife.… SEE MORE

Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Story of Octopus Intelligence Set in the Pacific Northwest

7/14/2026 - By Janet Green Hammerman, best4boats.com. The Netflix adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt's bestselling novel Remarkably Bright Creatures is drawing renewed attention to one of the ocean's most fascinating inhabitants — the giant Pacific octopus. Set in a fictional Pacific Northwest coastal town, the story follows an aging widow, a drifting… SEE MORE

Octopus

Into the Deep: Alvin Dives to Shackleton’s and Scott’s Lost Ships in the North Atlantic

Ocean Science

7/9/2026 - By Ken Kostel, whoi.edu. Four decades after its legendary surveys of the Titanic, the submersible Alvin is heading back to the North Atlantic — this time to document two shipwrecks tied to the greatest names in polar exploration. WHOI's R/V Atlantis departed Woods Hole on July 2 carrying scientists, engineers,… SEE MORE

A scientist measures a tagged greater amberjack prior to releasing it. (Photo courtesy of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

Research Project Provides New Estimates Of Greater Amberjack Abundance in U.S. South Atlantic, Gulf Of America

Ocean Science

7/3/2026 - By seagrant.noaa.gov, seagrant.noaa.gov. A multi-year research project to estimate the number of greater amberjack in the U.S. South Atlantic and Gulf of America has provided new insight into the species. The Greater Amberjack Count was led by Sean P. Powers, Ph.D., fisheries ecology professor and Director of the Stokes School of Marine… SEE MORE

Michael Peñuelas, a Seattle scuba diver, examines a large sunflower sea star in the Edmonds Marine Park in Puget Sound, Washington, in 2021. (Image credit: Courtesy of Zachary Gold)

New eDNA Tool To Help Track Recovery Of Sunflower Sea Star, a Pacific Coast ‘Apex Predator’

6/30/2026 - By noaa.gov, noaa.gov. A wasting disease that surged during the intense 2013-2016 Pacific marine heatwave known as the Blob decimated numerous species of sea stars and triggered the collapse of vast coastal kelp forests from the Aleutians to the Baja Peninsula. One of the species most affected was the sunflower sea star, an… SEE MORE

A fish-eye view of the wake of a ship out at sea. Here's an ocean fact: The surface layer of the ocean is teeming with photosynthetic plankton. Though they're invisible to the naked eye, they produce more oxygen than the largest redwood trees. (Image credit: NOAA)

What World Ocean Day Can Look Like in 100 Years

6/29/2026 - By noaa.gov, noaa.gov. More often than not, when we talk about ocean conservation, the conversation naturally gravitates toward what we stand to lose if we don’t act. This is only natural, as the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises forces us to consider a future where our most cherished… SEE MORE

An aerial photo of the green waters of harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie, July 20, 2020. (Image credit: Courtesy of Zachary Haslick, Aerial Associates)

Moderate Harmful Algal Bloom Predicted for Western Lake Erie

6/27/2026 - By noaa.gov, noaa.gov. NOAA and its research partners are forecasting a moderate harmful algal bloom (HAB) in western Lake Erie this summer. This year’s bloom is expected to measure 3.5 on the HAB severity index, with a potential range of 3 to 4.5. “Toxic algae affect not only the health… SEE MORE