Ocean science news, explainers, and statistics covering marine environments, currents, climate, coasts, seafloor research, and the changing global ocean.
A tide is the long-period rise and fall of ocean water produced mainly by the gravity of the Moon and Sun. A current is horizontal water movement from one place to another. Tides can generate currents, but wind, water-density differences and the shape of coasts also drive currents. The distinction separates water level from water…
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Marine snow is the steady fall of particles from the sunlit ocean into deeper water. It includes dead plankton, fecal pellets, mucus, mineral grains and other fragments that stick together as they sink. The name describes its appearance in underwater lights, where pale flakes drift through dark water like snow. It does not describe frozen…
Animals with “sea” in their common name range from fully marine mammals to fishes that spend part of their lives in freshwater. The word offers a habitat clue, not a biological classification. Some names describe resemblance to a land animal, while others arose through fishing, trade or regional usage. The examples below use accepted names…
A simple underwater volcano experiment uses colored hot water rising through colder water to make an invisible process easy to see. The plume rises because warming lowers water density. As it loses heat to the surrounding water, it spreads and eventually sinks. The moving color traces a small convection current. The activity is best understood…
