A new study of bonnethead sharks (Sphyrna tiburo) in Florida dispelled a previous hypothesis about how the distinctive head shapes of males and females develop, offering new insight into one of the species’ most unusual biological traits.

Syracuse University biologists connect humpback whale song structure to diving behavior for the first time, a breakthrough that could allow researchers to infer whale behavior from acoustic recordings and better monitor the effects of human activity in the ocean.

Male sperm whales produce the loudest mammalian communication sounds ever measured: slow, deep clicks with sound pressures comparable to powerful sonar and a potential range of up to 70 km. A new study shows the clicks are also remarkably rhythmic, but researchers do not yet know whether they attract females, deter rivals or serve another purpose.

Anne Thompson, an associate professor of biology, won a nearly $1.2 million NSF CAREER Award to answer a basic question about the ocean that science has largely left open: who eats the most abundant photosynthetic life form on Earth?

A study led by the ICM-CSIC and BSC reveals that the large-scale water downwelling events that occur in winter act as a shortcut for transporting fresh organic matter to depths of over 1,000 metres, introducing it directly into the ocean circulati

For decades, scientists have asserted that the leakage of warm, salty Indian Ocean water south of South Africa into the Atlantic is a major contribution to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a component of the global ocean conveyor system. New research led by an international team from the Netherlands, USA, China and UK suggests that the mechanism linking leakage of Indian Ocean water and deep-water formation was and is not as straightforward as previously thought. This research contributes to a better understanding of the AMOC, a key regulator of the Earth’s climate.

More than 100 shallow lakes along the Atlantic coast of southern Brazil and Uruguay could become one of the world’s most important natural laboratories for tracking climate change and human impact on freshwater ecosystems. An international research team has identified this overlooked subtropical lake network as a global hotspot for monitoring biodiversity, water quality and ecosystem resilience. This was published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal One Ecosystem.

Risso’s dolphins around the British Isles are part of a single population – genetically distinct from those elsewhere in the Atlantic, new research shows.

The EU project SYNCHRONY will launch on August 1st, 2026. It aims to contribute to a better understanding of the rapid changes taking place in the complex system comprising the ocean, ice and atmosphere in the Southern Ocean and around the Antarctic ice shelves, as well as their impacts on the global climate and biodiversity. Led by the Alfred Wegener Institute, researchers from a total of 27 global partner institutions from around the world will work in interdisciplinary work packages to optimise and expand the existing observing system, harmonise data streams, and create new data products that document the state of the climate system and biodiversity. The project thus also provides an important foundation for the international UN Ocean Decade initiative Antarctica InSync and builds on existing research consortia. The EU will fund SYNCHRONY with around 8.5 million euros over the next four years.

Permafrost in the Arctic stores large quantities of organic carbon. When the frozen ground thaws or coastal sections erode, this carbon can enter the sea, where microorganisms can break it down and convert it into climate-damaging greenhouse gases. The extent to which this carbon actually enters the atmosphere, however, and how much remains in the ocean has hardly been quantified to date. Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute and MARUM – Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen have now been able to answer this question for the first time for the permafrost coast of Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island) in Canada. With the help of sediment cores, they discovered that considerable amounts of terrestrial carbon are stored in the seabed. It also became apparent that microorganisms are particular gourmets who decidedly prefer fresh marine carbon. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Geoscience.