(Natural News) Marine microorganisms may also be threatened by plastic pollution in the ocean. Since one type of photosynthetic bacteria accounts for 10 percent of the oxygen production on Earth, we need to take steps to protect the microbes before we run out of breathable air. Australian researchers issued a warning following their recently published […]

(Natural News) In the movies, sharks threaten humans, especially if they rode tornadoes inland. In real life, however, it’s the other way around: Human commercial fishing threatens to drive sharks and their relatives, rays, into extinction. A U.K. team counted the number of sharks and rays accidentally caught by small-scale fisheries in the South West […]

(Natural News) Vertebrates are not the only marine organisms that accidentally gulp down mouthfuls of the growing number of microplastics in the ocean. Invertebrates like corals and sea anemones also ingest tiny pieces of plastic that they have mistaken for their prey. In a study supported by the Carnegie Institution for Science (Carnegie), researchers learned that […]

(Natural News) In recent years, an increasing number of decommissioned oil rigs underwent conversion into artificial reefs that became habitats for marine life. Researchers recently evaluated the practice to help California residents and policy-makers make informed decisions about other aging oil platforms off the coast. There are around 6,000 oil rigs around the world. As the floating facilities go about the work of extracting oil […]

(Natural News) Scientists discovered a mysterious disease that has been killing the already dwindling coral reefs in the Lower Florida Keys. The scientists tried to prevent the outbreak from spreading for four years by removing the sick corals and setting underwater “fire breaks.” Researchers from Florida Keys Community College, working with state and federal investigators, […]

(Natural News) Experts spoke out against the ongoing attempts to raise and farm octopus on a commercial scale. They said that domesticating the delicious but vulnerable cephalophod will not only be cruel to the animals, but will also be even more unsustainable than most aquatic farming. “We are all living during the rapid domestication of aquatic species and research […]

(Natural News) Researchers recently published the results of two years of studying ocean garbage that washed up on the shores of the Gulf states. They found that plastic is the most common type of trash; that Texas ends up with the most coastal debris; and that spring and summer months are the worst. Trash in […]

(Natural News) Even as humans keep on filling the planet with plastic pollutants, the bountiful oceans reveal a means by which the problem can be resolved. An Israeli research team announced that they successfully created a biodegradable plastic from a common seaweed. Their new bioplastic could be broken down by bacteria that feed on the seaweed […]

(Natural News) Seagrasses are marine plants that make up huge meadows in shallow seas on all continents, except Antarctica. These aquatic plants may help boost the productivity of the world’s fisheries, suggests new research published in Conservation Letters. The study, “Seagrass meadows support global fisheries production,” was a collaboration between Dr. Leanne Cullen-Unsworth of Cardiff University and Dr. Lina Mtwana Nordlund of Stockholm […]

(Natural News) Microplastics are so small that they may seem harmless, but they’re polluting oceans and poisoning marine life by the second. According to an article on The Revelator, microplastics can absorb chemicals, which is bad news for the birds, fish, seals, and even humans that unwittingly consume these pollutants. The author of the article […]