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Surface cooling in equatorial Pacific drives decade-long pause in global temperature rise. A new study adds to mounting evidence that cooling in the tropical Pacific Ocean is the cause of the global warming hiatus, a slow-down in the rise of average temperatures that began around 1998. The eastern equatorial Pacific is well known to have an outsize influence on global weather. Years-long ocean trends such as El Niño and La Niña cause alternate warming and cooling of the sea surface there, with effects on monsoons and temperatures around the world. Now a modelling study by researchers at the Scripps Institution...

A new species of shark that "walks" along the seabed using its fins as tiny legs has been discovered in eastern Indonesia, an environmental group said Friday. The brown and white bamboo shark pushes itself along the ocean floor as it forages for small fish and crustaceans at night, said Conservation International, whose scientists were involved in its discovery. The shark, which grows to a maximum length of just 80 centimetres (30 inches) and is harmless to humans, was discovered off Halmahera, one of the Maluku Islands that lie west of New Guinea. Bamboo sharks, also known as longtail carpet...

MARTIN COUNTY — Algae found in the St. Lucie River is toxic, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection confirmed Tuesday. Martin County health officials have warned residents to stay out of the water. Check back for developments. Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_martin_county/toxic-algae-confirmed-in-st-lucie-river-health-officials-warn-to-stay-out-of-water#ixzz2bEpjxEuk

The divers quickly take this as their clue to get out of the water. But it is unlikely that they could have become like a modern day Jonah, actually being swallowed into the whale’s belly if they were taken up.

The Russian Navy will receive 36 warships in 2013, an unprecedented number in Russia’s history, Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Vice Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov said on Sunday, July 7, according to RIA Novosti. “During this year, 36 combat ships, fast attack crafts and support vessels will join the Russian Navy. This has never happened before,” Fedotenkov said at the International Maritime Defense Show in St. Petersburg. Russian Navy warships are now performing missions in all areas of the World Ocean, with over 60 combat ships currently at sea, he said.

Myrtle Beach (SC) police charged a North Carolina woman with indecent exposure after officers warned her about wearing a thong swimsuit along Ocean Boulevard, according to an arrest report. Tiara Monique Garness, 22, of High Point, N.C., was arrested at 5 a.m. Friday in the 1700 block of Ocean Boulevard, the report said. Officers charged her with the misdemeanor offense after she was warned twice by officers to cover up. A covered up Garness was taken to the Myrtle Beach Jail on a $469 cash bond, according to jail records.

Describing himself as "a child of the ocean," Secretary of State John Kerry warned that the "fragile ecosystem" is threatened by climate change. "We call this beautiful planet that we are privileged to inhabit for a short period of time -- we call it Earth, but it could well have been called Ocean because three-quarters of it is ocean," Kerry told a gathering at the National Geographic Society in Washington on Monday. Kerry mentioned the "enormous challenge ahead of us," given an "energy policy that results in acidification, the bleaching of coral,

The huge ocean sloshing beneath the icy shell of Jupiter's moon Europa likely makes its way to the surface in some places, suggesting astronomers may not need to drill down deep to investigate it, a new study reports. Scientists have detected chemicals on Europa's frozen surface that could only come from the global liquid-water ocean beneath, implying the two are in contact and potentially opening a window into an environment that may be capable of supporting life as we know it. "We now have evidence that Europa's ocean is not isolated — that the ocean and the surface talk to...

images courtesy Yoji Ookata and NHKIntroduced to life under the sea in high school through snorkeling, Yoji Ookata obtained his scuba license at the age of 21. At the same time, he went out and bought a brand new NIKONOS, a 35mm film camera specifically designed for underwater photography. He devoted all his spare time – aside from his day job – to perfecting his art of underwater photography. Then, at age 39, he finally made the transition. He quit his office job and became a freelance underwater photographer.But even for a man who spent the last 50 years immersed...

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — Even in the off season, the pastel beach houses lining a skinny strip of sand here are a testament to the good life. They are also a monument to the generosity of the federal government. The western end of this Gulf Coast island has proved to be one of the most hazardous places in the country for waterfront property. Since 1979, nearly a dozen hurricanes and large storms have rolled in and knocked down houses, chewed up sewers and water pipes and hurled sand onto the roads. Yet time and again, checks from Washington have allowed...

Up to a million species live in the seas, and two-thirds of those ocean-dwellers may still be undiscovered, according to a new study that also cataloged all of the known species that dwell beneath the waves. The findings, published today (Nov. 15) in the journal Current Biology, suggest that the oceans remain a vast, uncharted territory. The new registry could help guide marine conservation efforts by giving scientists a universal way to describe the underwater creatures. "If you want to understand life on Earth, then of course you need to know what life there is on Earth," said the study's...

An elderly woman escaped an almost certain death after a group of strangers bravely dove into ocean waters to save her after her car crashed into the water. The Portland Press Herald reports that 84-year-old Ursula Nixon lost control of her car, driving through two fences and submerging her blue Nissan into Maine's Portland Harbor. "It looked like it was barreling pretty fast," Mike Wells, one of the rescuers, told the paper. "I saw it go over the edge and then water splashed up." Katie Nelson was first in the water, climbing on top of the sinking vehicle and then...

A Scottish skipper has found the oldest message ever in a bottle at sea, Guinness World Records said. According to the record-keeping organization, Andrew Leaper, skipper of the Shetland fishing boat "Copious," made the discovery on April 12 when hauling in his nets in the North Sea off the coast of Shetland. He later learned that the message in bottle had been adrift for 97 years and 309 days. This surpasses the previous record by more than five years. Amazingly, it was Leaper's friend Mark Anderson who set the previous record in 2006 by retrieving another Scottish bottle as he...

The blue ball represents all of the earths water. Not that much...

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK 215 PM AKDT THU MAY 3 2012 ...RECORD SEA ICE AT PRIBILOF ISLANDS... THIS HAS BEEN AN EXTREME WINTER FOR SEA ICE IN THE BERING SEA AND NOW WE HAVE BROKEN THE RECORDS FOR MOST NUMBER OF DAYS WITH ICE AT BOTH SAINT PAUL ISLAND AND SAINT GEORGE ISLAND. AS OF TODAY SEA ICE HAS BEEN AT SAINT PAUL ISLAND FOR 103 DAYS THIS WINTER BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 100 DAYS SET IN 2010. THE NUMBER OF DAYS WITH SEA ICE AT SAINT GEORGE ISLAND TOTALED 79 WHEN THE ICE RETREATED...

President Barack Obama has an ambitious plan for Washington bureaucrats to take command of the oceans—and with it control over much of the nation’s energy, fisheries, even recreation in a move described by lawmakers as the ultimate power grab to zone the seas. The massive undertaking also includes control over key inland waterways and rivers that reach hundreds of miles upstream, and began with little fanfare when Obama signed an executive order in 2010 to protect the aquatic environment. “This one to me could be the sleeping power grab that Americans will wake up to one day and wonder what...

All times Eastern. "Titanic Tech" - H2 (History Channel 2) - 4/12 @9a, & @3p "Lost Worlds: Building the Titanic" - H2 (History Channel 2) - 4/12 @10a & @4p "Titanic's Tragic Sister" (mostly about Britannic) - H2 (History Channel 2) - 4/12 @1p & @7p "Hollywood Dailies (may cover various movies that focused on it) - REELZ - 4/12 @5:30p; 4/13 @2a & @3a & @ 7:30a "Titanic's Achilles Heel" - H2 (History Channel 2) - 4/12 @8p & 4/13 @12a; same - History Channel - 4/15 @11a "Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces" - H2 (History Channel 2) -...

Watch in awe as the world's eddying ocean currents swirl in a Van Gogh-esque grandeur. Click here to watch the three minute "Perpetual Ocean" video on YouTubeA stunning new animated video produced by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Earth showcases the flow of the world's ocean currents swirling in a captivating splendor. The video, titled "Perpetual Ocean," takes an astronaut's view, as if the viewer is in a waltz-like dance orbiting around the Earth. The flow of the ocean currents in the presentation are derived from real data collected over two years...

The radioactivity dispersion simulation JCOPE (Japan Coastal Ocean Predictability Experiment) by JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology), showing cesium-137 dispersion in the Pacific Ocean from March 21, 2011 to January 27, 2012. March 21, 2011 was when the high levels of radioactive materials from the seawater near the plant were first detected. Screenshots from their JCOPE page with the simulation animation (1/30/2012).

They that go down to sea in ships, that do business in great waters: These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. 107th Psalm