National Ocean Service

Why study the Pacific? The Pacific is the largest and deepest ocean basin on Earth. Many of the islands in its waters – including Guam and American Samoa – sit within or near the Ring of Fire, an area of the…

The Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum, or GRAV-D, crew with the plane affectionately named "Miss Piggy." Alaska has the longest…

The Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) and NOAA have partnered to launch a new web portal to provide managers, researchers, and the public with the latest information on the lionfish invasion in the Atlantic.…

29 June, 2022 We know less about the ocean floor than we do about the surface of the moon and Mars. But by the end of the decade we may know the general outline of our undersea contours and crevasses, thanks to an…

The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project is designed to demonstrate a grid-connected, 12-megawatt offshore wind test facility about 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Credit: Stephen Boutwell/BOEM…

Surfers walking at sunset on Second Beach, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Credit: NOAA This month, NOS celebrates the 50th anniversary of four major pieces of…

1970: NOAA is created NOAA, the parent agency of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, was created in 1970 (shown above is the DOC Secretary approving its…

Get to know the International Coral Reef Initiative — an international partnership to preserve coral reefs and related ecosystems around the world. ICRI unites the global coral community and raises awareness of the need to…

Sea level rise is turning nuisance flooding into a “sunny day” event — high-tide flooding that occurs even without a storm. Credit: NOAA 14 December, 2022 In 2023, NOAA…

A winter storm as seen from NOAA's GOES satellite on December 29, 2022, in the Pacific Northwest. The storm coincided with higher than normal high tides, resulting in high tide flooding across Washington.…

Understanding, restoring, and protecting natural and nature-based systems that store carbon will be one of the essential elements of a climate change mitigation strategy. Jenny Davis (NCCOS) inspects a peat core from…

The global conveyor belt, shown in part here, circulates cool subsurface water and warm surface water throughout the world. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is part of this complex system…

Mordecai Island, New Jersey, protects the Back Bay areas of Long Beach Island. In 2015, part of the salt marsh island was restored with dredged material and planted with native vegetation. (Photo credit:…

As container ships continue to grow in size and ports grow more congested by the year, NOAA plays an increasingly critical role in U.S. marine…

Scientists estimate that 50-80% of the oxygen production on Earth comes from the ocean. The majority of this production is from oceanic plankton — drifting plants, algae, and some bacteria that can photosynthesize. One particular…

Suppose you are buying a new home that is located near a river that routinely floods. During the buying process, you learn that you are required to have flood insurance. A step in the process of obtaining this insurance is to…

Advances in both visual displays and information sharing technology mean we can more rapidly let other agencies and the public know what we know. With a major oil spill or other disaster, responders,…

VIDEO: How do coral reefs benefit the economy? Here's an overview in under two minutes. Transcript Healthy coral reefs support commercial and subsistence fisheries as well as jobs and businesses…

Benthic habitat map for Pacific Island Territories The term benthic refers to anything associated with or occurring on the bottom of a…

The mid-ocean ridge is visible in this satellite captured, bathymetric data of the western Atlantic Ocean Basin. The mid-ocean range stretches around the globe like the seam of a baseball.…

This is an airport in Chandler, Arizona, shot from a mounted camera on a NOAA aircraft. You may be surprised to learn that the…

Coral reefs are home to millions of species. Hidden beneath the ocean waters, coral reefs teem with life. Fish, corals, lobsters,…

Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, occur when colonies of algae—simple ocean plants that live in the sea—grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds. The human…

Satellite image of Lake Erie showing a mild harmful algal blom in the southwestern portion of the lake. Harmful algal blooms (HABs)…

A nautical chart is one of the most fundamental tools available to the mariner. It's a graphic portrayal of the marine environment showing the nature and form of the coast, the general configuration of the sea bottom, including water…

Tubeworms that grow near the boundary where hot vent fluid mixes with cold seawater on the ocean floor are an example of extremophiles that broaden our perspective on where to look for life.…

A rogue wave estimated at 18.3 meters (60 feet) in the Gulf Stream off of Charleston, South Carolina. At the time, surface winds were light at 15 knots. The wave was moving away from the…

ROV Jason gets a close view of magma explosions and lava flows on West Mata volcano. Volcanic eruptions occur only in certain places…

At the core of the Coastal Zone Management Act are two programs: the National Coastal Zone Management Program and the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS). The NERRS is a…

Extremophiles are microorganisms with the ability to thrive in extreme environments such as hydrothermal vents.

A venting black smoker emits jets of particle-laden fluids. The particles are predominantly very fine-grained sulfide minerals formed when the hot hydrothermal fluids mix…

Tide predictions are available for locations on the U.S. coastline, most of the islands in the Caribbean, and many islands in the Pacific Ocean. The image above shows tide predictions for…

The Gulf Stream Current — the main conveyor of heat from south to north in the Atlantic — swirls surface waters in this infrared image from the Suomi NPP satellite on April 16, 2013,…

When it comes to eating, the ocean provides much more than just seafood. Many of the foods and products found in your local grocery store contain ingredients from the ocean.

Many factors determine how long it will take for debris to degrade, such as material type, size, thickness, and environmental conditions. …

<!----> You know about ocean tides, but how much do you know about ocean currents? Watch our three-minute video podcast to learn what puts the motion…

With marine debris, pictures speak louder than words. Marine debris injures and kills marine life, interferes with navigation safety, and…

Tsunamis are giant waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea. Out in the depths of the ocean, tsunami waves do not dramatically increase in height. But as the waves travel inland, they build up to higher…

At least 15 percent of the ocean is covered by sea ice some part of the year. Ocean water freezes just like freshwater, but at lower…

VIDEO: Biological debris that falls from higher in the water column is also known as marine snow. Some flakes fall for weeks before finally reaching the ocean floor. …

Winds blowing across the ocean surface push water away. Water then rises up from beneath the surface to replace the water that was pushed away. This process is known as “upwelling.” Upwelling occurs in the open ocean and…

Rip currents are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water that are prevalent along the East, Gulf, and West coasts of the U.S., as well as along the shores of the Great Lakes.

Several thousand marine scientists are busy at work in the United States dealing with a diversity of important issues — from climate change, declining fisheries, and eroding coastlines, to…

Great Blue Heron eating a fish in an estuary. (NOAA News) Estuaries — areas where fresh and saltwater mix — are made up of many different types of habitats. These habitats can include oyster reefs,…

Estuaries experience change many times a day due to tides. Shown here: Located at the northern end of the Ten Thousand Islands on the gulf coast of Florida, the Rookery Bay…

There are about 80 different species of mangrove trees. All of these trees grow in areas with low-oxygen soil, where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to accumulate. Mangrove forests only grow at tropical and subtropical…

Californians living on the coast may be used to seeing so-called King Tides — a regular phenomenon where high tides are higher than normal on certain days of the year. Shown here: Embarcadero Waterfront in San…

Coral polyps form a living mat over a calcium carbonate skeleton. Stony corals (or scleractinians) are the corals primarily…

The great ocean conveyor moves water around the globe. The ocean is not a still body of water. There is constant motion in the ocean…

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Warmer or colder than average ocean temperatures in one part of…