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Map of the low-oxygen dead zone on the northern Gulf coast

Ocean dead zones form when oxygen runs out

NOAA describes hypoxia as water with too little dissolved oxygen to support many marine animals. In coastal areas, this oxygen loss can create an ocean dead zone, a stretch of water where fish move away and many animals living on the seafloor struggle to survive. The change often begins far upstream, where rain carries excess…

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Mangrove roots

Mangroves: Protecting Coasts and Sustaining Life

Mangrove forests might not look impressive at first. Their tangled roots rise out of muddy, dark water and their thick trunks crowd the shoreline. The air is hot, the water is salty and the ground feels unstable. But despite this rough appearance, mangroves play a powerful and important role in coastal environments. These forests are…

Whale ocean surface

How Whales Shape Ocean Ecosystems

When a whale surfaces from the dark water and breathes into the open air, it may seem like just a brief moment in a vast, empty sea. In truth, there’s much more happening than it seems. These animals help shape ocean ecosystems in ways that ripple from sunlit surface waters to the deep seabed, where…

Ancient harbor city

Why Coastal Cities Changed Human History

Stand on a shoreline and the logic of a city begins to feel almost inevitable. A coast is more than a boundary – it is a threshold. It offers food, movement, shelter and a horizon that invites imagination. For thousands of years, people returned to that edge where land meets water and some of their…