Latest Oceans News

What is a whale native to the North Pacific doing off New England? Climate change could be the key

Mar. 05, 2024 12:25 PM EST

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Scientists have confirmed the presence of a whale off New England that went extinct in the Atlantic Ocean two centuries ago — an exciting discovery, but one they said that illustrates the impact of climate change on sea life. Researchers with the New...

In Hawaii, coral is the foundation of life. What happened to it after the Lahaina wildfire?

Mar. 03, 2024 17:09 PM EST

Abraham “Snake” Ah Hee rides waves when the surf’s up and dives for octopus and shells when the water is calm. The lifelong Lahaina, Hawaii, resident spends so much time in the ocean that his wife jokes he needs to wet his gills. But these days Ah Hee is worried the water...

Study says 2023's crazy Atlantic ocean heat, low Antarctic sea ice give glimpse of much hotter world

Feb. 27, 2024 11:37 AM EST

Off the charts “crazy” heat in the North Atlantic ocean and record-smashing Antarctic sea ice lows last year are far more severe than what Earth’s supposed to get with current warming levels. They are more like what happens at twice this amount of warming, a new study said. The...

AP PHOTOS: In Teahupo'o, Tahiti, coastal village life thrives among powerful waves

Feb. 20, 2024 23:06 PM EST

TEAHUPO'O, French Polynesia (AP) — In Teahupo'o, the ocean is the heart of village life. Boats bob in the lagoon in the south of Tahiti at sunrise before fishers start their day. Many set out early with poles or spears to catch fish gliding among the corals — fresh food for...

Hundreds are set to descend on Tahiti for Olympic surfing. Can locals protect their way of life?

Feb. 20, 2024 06:22 AM EST

TEAHUPO'O, French Polynesia (AP) — Peva Levy said he felt a powerful, natural energy known as “mana” when he surfed Teahupo'o’s waves on a piece of plywood for the first time, rushing down a crumbling white surf in front of an untouched volcanic beach several years before the steady streams...

Ocean system that moves heat gets closer to collapse, which could cause weather chaos, study says

Feb. 09, 2024 16:40 PM EST

An abrupt shutdown of Atlantic Ocean currents that could put large parts of Europe in a deep freeze is looking a bit more likely and closer than before as a new complex computer simulation finds a “cliff-like” tipping point looming in the future. A long-worried nightmare...

NASA climate satellite blasts off to survey oceans and atmosphere of a warming Earth

Feb. 08, 2024 02:14 AM EST

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...

'Pineapple Expresses' and rising seas are battering California's piers, threatening iconic landmarks

Feb. 02, 2024 19:21 PM EST

SAN DIEGO (AP) — More storms, rising seas and huge waves are taking their toll on California’s iconic piers that have dotted the Pacific coast since the Gold Rush, posing the biggest threat yet to the beach landmarks that have become a quintessential part of the landscape. At...

A grainy sonar image reignites excitement and skepticism over Earhart's final flight

Jan. 31, 2024 13:20 PM EST

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A grainy sonar image recorded by a private pilot has reinvigorated interest in one of the past century’s most alluring mysteries: What happened to Amelia Earhart when her plane vanished during her flight around the world in 1937? Numerous expeditions have...

Largest deep-sea coral reef to date is mapped by scientists off the US Atlantic coast

Jan. 19, 2024 11:17 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists have mapped the largest coral reef deep in the ocean, stretching hundreds of miles off the U.S. Atlantic coast. While researchers have known since the 1960s that some coral were present off the Atlantic, the reef's size remained a mystery until new...