Tag: ocean

Image credit: NOAA National Ocean Service

U.S. Marine Economy Continues to Empower American Prosperity

6/9/2025 - By noaa.gov. The American marine economy continues to fuel economic vitality, according to the statistics from the annual Marine Economy Satellite Account (MESA) released today by two Department of Commerce agencies – NOAA and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The marine economy contributed a total of $511 billion to the nation’s… SEE MORE

Do Marine Animals Need Wildlife Bridges, Too?

9/18/2024 - By Jack McGovan. Human infrastructure can hinder the mobility of marine animals. The ocean feels infinite. If you were to start swimming from shore, it’s easy to believe—fitness and oxygen aside—you could continue forever. That’s a far different experience to overland travel, where mountains, rivers, and six-lane highways buzzing with… SEE MORE

For the First Time, Part of the Ocean Has Been Granted Legal Personhood

9/17/2024 - By Isabella Kaminiski. By affording rights to its iconic waves, a Brazilian city is paving a new path to marine protection. The Brazilian city of Linhares has legally recognized its waves as living beings, marking the first known time part of the ocean has been granted legal personhood. In early… SEE MORE

mage of a harmful algal bloom in Lake Erie as seen from the NOAA/NASA Suomi-NPP satellite on August 16, 2015. The Ocean Color Instrument on GeoXO will overcome the limitations of low-Earth orbiting satellites whose observations are often affected by cloud cover and sunglint. [Credit: NOAA]

GeoXO’s OCX Instrument Will Be Game Changer for Satellite Ocean Observations

7/26/2024 - By nesdis.noaa.gov. After nearly 50 years of GOES satellites providing critical Earth-observing data and imagery, NOAA is working on its next generation series of advanced geostationary satellites—the Geostationary Extended Observations mission, or GeoXO. GeoXO will host a payload of new instruments that will provide unprecedented information for addressing our changing planet… SEE MORE

Observing the Ocean

6/12/2024 - By gmri.org. The ocean is a big, ever-changing system. Fish are constantly moving around and weather conditions can change in an instant. This makes studying marine ecosystems challenging, but scientists have some innovative tools at their disposal to make it easier. Looking out at the Gulf of Maine, it may… SEE MORE

Transforming Waste Fishing Gear into Profitable Resources

3/28/2024 - By Paul Molyneaux. Discarded fishing gear is a major contributor to ocean pollution. According to Ben Kneppers, who along with David Stover and Kevin Ahearn, co-founded the fishing net recycling company, Bureo, around 600,000 tons of fishing gear ends up in the ocean every year and continues to kill marine life.… SEE MORE

The Truth About Garbage Patches in the Ocean

3/6/2024 - By blog.marinedebris.noaa.gov. You’ve likely heard the term “garbage patch” many times and it’s possible that this is what comes to mind: A thick, floating mass of marine debris is what most people picture when they think of the garbage patch. However, this is actually pretty inaccurate. Although this is what… SEE MORE

https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/images/plastics-ocean-infographic

Plastics in the Ocean: How They Get There, Their Impacts, and Our Solutions

2/28/2024 - By blog.marinedebris.noaa.gov. Marine debris is a pervasive problem facing our ocean and Great Lakes. Of all the trash that ends up in these important water bodies, plastics are the most common. This week, we’re exploring the problem of plastics in our ocean and the solutions that are making a difference. Globally, we… SEE MORE

NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center | Credit: NASA

NASA Climate Satellite Blasts off to Survey Oceans and Atmosphere of a Warming Earth

2/26/2024 - By Jonathan Watts. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s newest climate satellite rocketed into orbit Thursday to survey the world’s oceans and atmosphere in never-before-seen detail. SpaceX launched the Pace satellite on its $948 million mission before dawn, with the Falcon rocket heading south over the Atlantic to achieve a… SEE MORE

NOAA Fisheries studies marine animals by using a variety of technologies to record underwater ocean sounds. Marine animals live in a noisy habitat with combined noises from humans, nature, and other species. This conceptual illustration shows images of human, marine animal, and environmental sources of sound and approximately proportional sound waves. Credit: NOAA Fisheries.

All About Ocean Noise

8/5/2023 - By fisheries.noaa.gov. Sound is the most efficient means of communicating underwater, especially for many marine species. NOAA Fisheries works to better understand how marine animals use sound and the potential impacts of man-made noise on the underwater environment. What Is Ocean Noise? Marine mammals and other aquatic animals have evolved… SEE MORE