The U.S. government has denied two petitions to immediately protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales during the species’ calving season, raising concerns that this population of whales will continue to decline without intervention. There are currently about 340 of these whales left, making them one of the most threatened cetaceans in the world.

Archaic humans may have worked out how to sail across the sea to new lands as far back as nearly half a million years ago.

Imagine you're a big yellowfin tuna, miles from shore out in the blue, swimming around carefree, until you start to feel a little itch near your eye.

There's a certain romance and mystique associated with shipwrecks when seen as ancient artifacts hiding in the gloom.

Earth’s global ocean should be considered a living entity with its own set of rights and protections, a paradigm shift that is informed by Indigenous worldviews and the burgeoning tradition of Earth law, according to a new article written by an interdisciplinary team of researchers.

The amount of heat accumulating in the ocean is accelerating and penetrating ever deeper, with widespread effects on extreme weather events and marine life, according to a new scientific review. One of the report’s authors said the devastating floods in eastern Australia had likely been made worse by warming oceans. The risks would continue to rise as the ocean took up more heat, the report said.

Each year, enough fishing line to circle the Earth 18 times is lost at sea. This not only harms marine life, but also the livelihoods of fishers worldwide.

Humans have concocted all sorts of equipment to help us overcome the intense water pressures of the ocean's depths.

Noise pollution from proposed deep-sea mining could radiate through the ocean for hundreds of kilometres, scientists predict, creating a “cylinder of sound” from the surface to the sea bed.

Millions of tonnes of plastic wind up in the ocean every year, killing plants and animals. That’s why companies around the world have developed novel devices to help reduce the ocean plastic problem.

We’ve supersized our capacity to ship stuff across the seas. As our global supply chains grow, what can we gather from the junk that washes up on shore?

Island states are often dependent on expensive imported fossil fuels for their power. Ocean thermal energy conversion plants could provide constant power – if technical issues can be overcome.

Virologists have identified 5,504 new virus species floating in ocean water samples. The viruses were found using a machine learning algorithm to study 35,000 water samples from all over the globe, reports Vishwam Sankaran for the Independent.

One man’s trash is an octopus’ treasure. A group of researchers from Italy and Brazil wanted to take a closer at how deep-sea octopuses interact with trash that makes its way to the ocean after being discarded by humans.

All manner of croaks, chirps, and deep trombone moans permeate Earth's waters, just like the cacophony of sounds that fill its forest air. For example, reefs are surprisingly noisy places, and many of the noisemakers are fish.

About 51 trillion microplastics are floating in the surface waters of oceans around the world. Originating from various types of plastics, these tiny fragments (less than 5 millimeters in length) pollute natural ecosystems. Hundreds of studies have surveyed plastic debris on the surface or near surface of the ocean. However, these studies only "scratch the surface," and do not provide a complete inventory of what's lurking beneath.

A study ties the warming trend to human emissions of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels.

Researchers from the University of Adelaide have found that the way fish interact in groups is being upset by ocean acidification and global warming.

Hermit crabs are finding their way into discarded tires in the ocean -- and they can't get out, a new study from Hirosaki University found. The concave interior of a car tire can trap hermit crabs that go there in search of food and shelter. The study refers to this phenomenon -- when marine animals get caught in human litter, such as fishing nets -- as "ghost fishing."

Just as with planetary or molecular systems, mathematical laws can be found that accurately describe and allow for predictions in chaotically dynamic ecosystems too – at least, if we zoom out enough.