Category: Science

Salt Marches by Peter Facey / Salt Marsh south of Roman Landing

NASA Scientists Map Global Salt Marsh Losses and Their Carbon Impact

1/23/2023 - By www.nasa.gov According to a new NASA-led study, the world has lost 561 square miles (1,453 square kilometers) of salt marshes over the past 20 years. In a recent research paper, scientists described the first consistent global accounting of salt marsh locations and changes. The work also allowed them to start… SEE MORE

W.carter, CC0, Fisherman_cleaning_lobster_traps_in_Norra_Grundsund_2-1.via Wikimedia Commons

How to Clean Your Boat Using Non-Toxic Solutions

1/17/2023 - By dbw.parks.ca.gov Simple household alternatives to boat cleaning and maintenance products [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="3503"] Istock: Credits: NOAA[/caption] Whether you clean your boat in the water or on land, boat cleaning products may end up in your local waterway. The products you purchase to clean and maintain your boat can… SEE MORE

Oregon State University, CC BY-SA 2.0 ,Killer_Whale_chasing_Chinook via Wikimedia Commons

The Mystery of the Entangled Oregon Orca

1/3/2023 - By fisheries.noaa.gov Intensive search for killer whale carcass leads to an answer hidden in its DNA. The black-and-white pattern of a killer whale stood out to an Oregon fisherman. He was heading home to port about 30 miles southwest of Newport on June 26 at 1:47 p.m. The problem was… SEE MORE

andre oortgijs, CC BY-SA 3.0 ,Beautiful_coral_reef_Batangas_Anilao_-_panoramio via Wikimedia Commons

Hibernating Corals and the Microbiomes that Sustain Them

1/2/2023 - By ecomagazine.com As winter approaches, many species of animals— from bears and squirrels to parasitic wasps and a few lucky humans—hunker down for some needed rest. The northern star coral (Astrangia poculata) also enters a hibernating state of dormancy, or quiescence, during this time. But what happens to its microbiome… SEE MORE

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, CC BY 2.0 , NASALAUNCH via Wikimedia Commons

NASA Launches International Mission to Survey Earth’s Water

12/23/2022 - By nasa.gov A satellite built for NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) to observe nearly all the water on our planet’s surface lifted off on its way to low-Earth orbit at 3:46 a.m. PST on Friday. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft also… SEE MORE

Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2022, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO ,North_Sea_bloom via Wikimedia Commons

Breathing Life into the Ocean

12/15/2022 - By earthobservatory.nasa.gov From global to regional scales, images from satellites portray the dynamic beauty of the world’s oceans. Each view reveals something unique, from the seasonal pulses of life to the colorful signature of phytoplankton blooms. Almost all life in the ocean depends on tiny photosynthetic organisms known as phytoplankton.… SEE MORE

When Will Electrification Come to Boating?

11/15/2022 - By Soundings Trade Only. New technologies are augmenting electric propulsion in boats, but battery standards and charging infrastructure are still developing. Electrification has been an increasingly common buzzword in the marine industry, especially in the past four to five years. Most notably, the recreational marine industry is seeing advancements in… SEE MORE

NOAA’s New Satellite to Help Improve Extreme Weather Predictions

11/10/2022 - By NOAA NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2), the third in a series of five advanced polar-orbiting satellites, blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 1:49 a.m. PST today. The satellite will join its predecessors, Suomi NPP and NOAA-20, as they circle the globe 14 times a day,… SEE MORE

Jim Maragos/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (original picture), modification: Mielon, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The Beauty and Fragility of Coral Reefs

9/14/2022 - By Rachel Ross. Coral reefs are large underwater structures composed of the skeletons of colonial marine invertebrates called coral. The coral species that build reefs are known as hermatypic, or "hard," corals because they extract calcium carbonate from seawater to create a hard, durable exoskeleton that protects their soft, sac-like… SEE MORE

Learning About Elusive, Mysterious Alaska Sharks

9/12/2022 - By NOAA Fisheries. Keeping shark populations healthy is an important part of ecosystem-based management for sustainable fisheries and resilient fishing communities. But getting the information needed to effectively manage Pacific sleeper sharks, salmon sharks, and other large Alaska sharks is challenging. “Data on these sharks are hard to get. They’re… SEE MORE