Invasive species can harm both the natural resources in an ecosystem as well as threaten human use of these resources. An invasive species can be introduced to a new area via the ballast water of ...

The Census of Marine Life was an international project that recorded the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the ocean. A school of spadefish in Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, ...

Great acts of courage, senseless tragedy, the heroism of a captain, the greed of a stingy shipowner, the stupidity of a watchman all find their ways into the history of shipwrecks. Shipwrecks are an ...

"The storm took place at sundown, it lasted through the night, When we looked out next morning, we saw a terrible sight. We saw outside our window where wheat fields they had grown Was now a rippling ...

Explore our curated list of ocean topics to learn about NOAA's role in protecting, exploring, and conserving this vast resource.

“When neither sun nor stars appeared for many a day, they gave up hope. This was a terrible handicap to them because these ancient navigators had no compass nor any other instrument. The only way they ...

Bivalve mollusks (e.g., clams, oysters, mussels, scallops) have an external covering that is a two-part hinged shell that contains a soft-bodied invertebrate. A roughfile clam from the Flower Garden ...

A Pacific sand lance, shown here, employs a unique strategy of burrowing into sand to rest and conserve energy, and to avoid predation. The nature of fish "sleep" is an area of active research. While ...

The Portuguese man o’ war is recognized by its balloon-like float, which may be blue, violet, or pink and rises up to six inches above the water line. Image credit: Elizabeth Condon, National Science ...

Male seahorses and sea dragons get pregnant and bear young—a unique adaptation in the animal kingdom. Seahorses are members of the pipefish family. In addition to their iconic appearance, seahorses ...

These record water levels may not be the end of the story for California’s coastal communities. NOAA predicts above-normal high tides will occur from November 22-27, 2026, and December 22-26, 2026, ...

Hurricane Maria made landfall as a high-end Category 4 storm on Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. The massive storm—the 10th most intense Atlantic storm on record—devastated the U.S. territory, and ...