In the film "The Day After Tomorrow," the world enters the icy grip of a new glacial period within the space of just a few weeks. New research shows this scenario may not be so far from the truth after all....

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With an area of about 5.4 million square miles, the Arctic Ocean is about 1.5 times as big as the United States. It is bordered by Greenland, Canada, Norway, Alaska, and Russia. The average depth of the Arctic Ocean is 12,000 feet and it is 17,850 feet at its deepest point.

The Arctic Ocean is almost completely covered with ice for the majority of the year and its average temperature seldom rises above freezing. However, this ocean is anything but barren.

Tunnels within sea ice called brine channels house bacteria and algae that feed flatworms and other tunnel-dwelling creatures. Melting ice also forms ponds on top of the ice that develop into biological communities.

When the ice melts, organisms and nutrients are released into the water. This promotes algae growth below the ice. These algae provide food for small organisms called zooplankton, which are a food source for fish, squid, seals, and whales. Some of these larger creatures, in turn, are preyed upon by polar bears that live on the ice.

When the creatures below the ice die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean and provide nutrients for sponges, sea anemones, and other bottom dwelling creatures. When these communities grow, they provide food once again for larger creatures such as seals, fish, and whales.

 

For more information:
What is the largest ocean basin on Earth?
How many oceans are there?
Russian-U.S. Arctic Census – NOAA Ocean Explorer
Frequently Asked Questions about the Arctic – NOAA Arctic Theme Page

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The world's oceans are absorbing less carbon dioxide, a geophysicist has found after pooling data taken over the past 50 years. With the oceans currently absorbing over 40 percent of the CO2 emitted by human activity, this could quicken the pace of climate change, according to the study....

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Recording hundreds of thousands of individual uplinks from satellite transmitters fitted on penguins, albatrosses, sea lions, and other marine animals, conservation scientists have released the first-ever atlas of the Patagonian Sea -- a globally important but poorly understood South American marine ecosystem....

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The first-ever Australian benchmark of climate change impacts on marine ecosystems and options for adaptation is being released. The Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia, and an accompanying website, will provide a biennial guide for scientists, government and the community on observed and projected impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems....

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For 200 years, NOAA's National Geodetic Survey and its predecessor organizations have been using geodesy to map the U.S. shoreline, determine land boundaries, and improve transportation and navigation safety. Geodesy is the science of measuring and monitoring the size and shape of the Earth and the location of points on its surface....

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Whales are very social creatures that travel in groups called “pods.” They use a variety of noises to communicate and socialize with each other. The three main types of sounds made by whales are clicks, whistles, and pulsed calls.

Clicks are believed to be for navigation and identifying physical surroundings. When the sound waves bounce off of an object, they return to the whale, allowing the whale to identify the shape of the object. Clicks can even help to differentiate between friendly creatures and predators. Clicks have also been observed during social interactions, suggesting they may also have a communicative function.

Whistles and pulsed calls are used during social activities. Pulsed calls are more frequent and sound like squeaks, screams, and squawks to the human ear. Differing vocal “dialects” have been found to exist between different pods within the same whale population. This is most likely so that whales can differentiate between whales within their pods and strangers.

Whales also use their tails and fins to make loud slapping noises on the surface of the water to communicate nonverbally. The sound can be heard for hundreds of meters below the surface and may be a warning sign of aggression or a tool to scare schools of fish together, making them an easier meal.

In the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, NOAA scientists attached sensors to whales in order to track their movement patterns. They hope to learn about the whales’ behavior and communication as well as to observe how human interaction affects their behavior.

For more information:
Killer Whales, National Marine Fisheries Service
Marine Mammal Sounds: Blue Whale, Vents Program Acoustic Monitoring

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The most common type of reef is the fringing reef. This type of reef grows seaward directly from the shore. They form borders along the shoreline and surrounding islands.

When a fringing reef continues to grow upward from a volcanic island that has sunk entirely below sea level, an atoll is formed. Atolls are usually circular or oval in shape, with an open lagoon in the center.

Barrier reefs are similar to fringing reefs in that they also border a shoreline; however, instead of growing directly out from the shore, they are separated from land by an expanse of water. This creates a lagoon of open, often deep water between the reef and the shore.

Coral reefs are important because they bring in billions of dollars to our economy through tourism, protect coastal homes from storms, provide promising medical treatments, and provide a home for millions of aquatic species.

NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program works to protect coral reefs through research, education, and preservation programs. Many reefs, such as the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, are housed in NOAA’s system of marine protected areas.

For more information:
What are Coral Reefs, NOAA’s Coral Reef Information System
NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program
Explore: Coral Reef Conservation

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The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is not only the largest conservation area in the U.S., it's one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world. It's larger than all of America’s national parks combined! This vast region preserves many of Hawaii’s Northwestern Islands and is made up of 139,797 square miles of reefs, atolls, shallow waters, and deep seas.

The monument contains a wide variety of critically important habitats that harbor over 7,000 marine species, several of which are only found in this region. It is also home to many rare and endangered species such as the green sea turtle and the Hawaiian monk seal.

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is one of fourteen marine protected areas that form NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary system. The goal of this system is to conserve, protect, and enhance the biodiversity, ecological integrity, and cultural legacy of marine areas totaling 150,000 square miles.

For more information:
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
Diving Deeper Podcast, Episode 8 (May 6, 2009) - What is a national marine sanctuary?

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On two separate missions in September and October, the NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette set sail from Honolulu, Hawaii, to scour, somewhat literally, portions of the vast and remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands....

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