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Massive iceberg floating in Antarctic waters

In 1997 hydrophones 2,000 miles apart heard a sound across the Pacific so powerful it became the Bloop and years of Antarctic recordings eventually linked its acoustic signature to immense icebergs cracking and breaking apart

NOAA’s account of the 1997 Bloop begins with a listening network that captured remote acoustic evidence. Researchers using underwater microphones in the southern Pacific caught an exceptionally strong low-frequency sound on instruments separated by more than 3,219 kilometers. The recording soon gained a memorable name. Years of Antarctic acoustic work later gave NOAA scientists a…

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Earth from space with the world's oceans visible

How many oceans are there on Earth?

NOAA’s Ocean Service describes Earth as one connected global ocean that is usually divided into five named ocean basins. Their names are Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern. That answer gives maps, classrooms, scientists and navigators a practical shared language. It also carries an important reminder. The lines between oceans help people describe a complex…

Advhena magnifica glass sponge on the deep Pacific seafloor

11 strange Pacific Ocean finds, formations, and phenomena

NOAA Ocean Exploration identified the much-discussed golden orb found near Alaska in 2026 as the basal remnant of the giant anemone Relicanthus daphneae. That answer captures the appeal of Pacific exploration. The ocean holds discoveries from sunlit coastal water to the deepest trench. They include wrecks, weather events, animal behavior and legends that deserve careful…

Diagram of the biological pump in the ocean carbon cycle

Ocean chemistry is reshaping the planet’s carbon conveyor

A 2025 NOAA analysis in Global Biogeochemical Cycles found signs that ocean acidification is changing a feedback in the global carbon cycle. The result matters because the sea absorbs carbon dioxide from the air, stores part of it for long periods and helps slow the buildup of heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. That work shines…