Marine Biology // Current

Alien-like squid with "elbows" filmed at drilling site

A mile and a half (two and a half kilometers) underwater, a remote control submersible's camera has captured an eerie... more

pachanga4ever
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Navy Wins, Whales Lose

The Supreme Court is lifting restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar in training exercises off the California coast, a defeat... more

breakthepower
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U.S.: Killing the Earth?

By now, both candidates agree that global warming is a reality but they don't necessarily agree on what to do about it. In... more

CJCollectiveWorks
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Georgia wraps up record sea turtle nesting season

Georgia finished its nesting season for rare loggerhead sea turtles with a record 1,646 nests counted along the state's... more

Apocalipstick
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Quilting an Oyster Reef

Oyster reef loss has been a problem through out the U.S mainly due to over haversting or diseases. Down in Central Florida,... more

oragetropical
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“Let sea turtles ride out Ike”

September 5, 2008 Contact: Carli Segelson (727) 896-8626 Photos available at:... more

julesrs007
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Urban Sea Turtles

Green sea turtles usually make their homes in tropical waters, however there is a group of "odd ball turtles" that have... more

dcsmitty
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World's largest marine sanctuary proposed by U.S.

A proposal by U.S. President George W. Bush could give national-monument status to some of the world's most remote and... more

jefftego
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Japanese scientists teach whale to talk

Scientists in Japan have given a beluga whale a vocabulary of three words, the first time a marine creature has been able to link... more

jefftego
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Live fish caught at record depth of 2,300m

A live deep-sea fish has been caught at a record depth of 2,300m on the hot vents of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The discovery was... more

JanaPokana
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Barely Alive, Seafloor Microbes Might Resemble Exo-Organisms

Deep below the sea floor live massive colonies of primitive microbes. Almost like one-celled zombies, these microbes use so... more

mundosanto
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Half of US Coral Reefs in 'Poor' or 'Fair' Condition States NOAA Report

Nearly half of U.S. coral reef ecosystems are considered to be in "poor" or "fair" condition according to a new NOAA analysis of the health of coral reefs under U.S. jurisdiction.

The report issued July 7, The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2008, says that the nation's coral reef ecosystems, particularly those adjacent to populated areas, continue to face intense human-derived threats from coastal development, fishing, sedimentation and recreational use. Even the most remote reefs are subject to threats such as marine debris, illegal fishing and climate-related effects of coral bleaching, disease and ocean acidification.

The report was released by NOAA at the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. More than 270 scientist and managers working throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, the Atlantic and Pacific authored the 15 jurisdiction-specific chapters of the report. The scientists graded the coral ecosystems on a five tier scale: excellent, good, fair, poor and unknown.

"NOAA's coral program has made some significant progress since it was established 10 years ago, but we need to redouble our efforts to protect this critical resource," said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.

The 569-page document details coral reef conditions in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Navassa Island, southeast Florida, the Florida Keys, Flower Garden Banks, the Main Hawaiian Islands, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, the Pacific Remote Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and the Republic of Palau.

"The report shows that this is a global issue," said Tim Keeney, deputy assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and co-chair of the United States Coral Reef Task Force.
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Life is born from the oceans, and we are killing them. This is a disappointing report. Why can we humans not get it? Nearly half of U.S. coral reef ecosystems are considered to be in "poor" or "fair" condition according to a... more