Water science news, explainers, and statistics covering freshwater, hydrology, lakes, rivers, groundwater, ice, and Earth’s connected water systems.
A study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B has found that sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea appear to be splitting into two vocal dialect groups, offering a rare view of culture changing in a wild animal population. The study analyzed nearly two decades of underwater recordings from an endangered, isolated group of whales…
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A study in Biological Reviews has found that freshwater browning is reshaping fish communities in northern lakes. The research links darker water with slower growth in many fish and with major differences in which species become more common. In many unstocked lakes, that shift could mean fewer trout, bass, perch and whitefish. It could also…
A study in Nature has uncovered a hidden Arctic chain reaction: debris-filled icebergs are carrying rocks away from melting glaciers and dropping them onto the deep seafloor, where they can become rare footholds for bottom-dwelling life. The work links changes in land ice to changes in deep-sea biodiversity hundreds of kilometers from the glaciers where…
NASA Earth Observatory has revealed a striking ocean signal in the equatorial Pacific, where the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite detected a vast band of higher sea level tied to the developing El Niño. The warm-water feature, known as a Kelvin wave, stretched hundreds of miles and showed how the Pacific can quietly reorganize before weather…
