National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

An unusual number of seals are becoming stranded and dying off Maine this summer, and avian influenza is to blame, the federal government said Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that samples from four Maine seals tested positive for the virus. The animals all died or required euthanasia, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. Marine mammal...

Forecasters say they expect the hurricane to stay well out to sea and pose no threat to land as it moves generally northwestward off the coast of southern Mexico.

Maine is producing more oysters than ever due to a growing number of shellfish farms that have launched off its coast in recent years. The state’s 2021 oyster harvest was the largest and most valuable in its history, according to recent data from the Department of Marine Resources in Maine. The state’s haul of oysters, the vast majority of...

The bottlenose dolphin was found on March 24 on Florida’s Fort Myers Beach with an obvious wound near the right eye, officials say.

U.S. government scientists calculate that levels of the potent heat-trapping gas methane rose at a record pace last year.

A team of scientists has explored a rare, pristine coral reef off the coast of Tahiti.

By PATRICK WHITTLE The profitable U.S. lobster fishery will soon have to contend with new rules designed to protect an endangered species of whale, and that could necessitate major changes for people in the industry. The federal government is working on new rules designed to reduce risk to North Atlantic right whales, which number only about 360. One of the…

The coronavirus pandemic has taken away about a third of the commercial fishing industry’s revenue, according to a federal report released on Friday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said revenues from catch brought to the docks by commercial fishermen fell 29% over the course of the first seven months of the year. Revenues declined every month from March to…

An unforgiving hurricane season shattered records this year and battered parts of Central America and the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The federal government wants people seeking social distance to know they still have to stay away from seals they encounter at the beach. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday more people are spending time outdoors as the East Coast approaches the harbor seal pupping season. That increases the likelihood beachgoers will encounter the seals and their young. NOAA…

A photo of a washed-up shark on Cape Cod offers a rare close-up look at the elusive animal. The 6-foot porbeagle shark was found dead just north of on Marconi Beach Sunday, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, which shared the photo on Facebook.

Flying into the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Midway Atoll appears out of the vast blue Pacific as a tiny oasis of coral-fringed land with pristine white sand beaches that are teeming with life. But on the ground, there’s a different scene: plastic, pollution and death. With virtually no predators, Midway is a haven for many species of seabirds and is...

Few things are as embedded in Maine’s culture — or its mud — as clams, and an environmental group thinks the key to saving the shellfish might be growing a different kind of bivalve along the state’s coast. Manomet, based in Plymouth, Massachusetts, is proposing the shellfish shift as a way to beat predators that plague Maine’s clam diggers.

There’s growing concern that stronger cell signals, associated with expanding 5G networks, will impact the quality of weather forecasts. Next week, scientists from around the world will gather in Egypt to discuss the issue.

A group representing Maine’s lobstermen says it’s now willing to work with the federal government on a plan to protect right whales after withdrawing its support for the plan this summer.

A top weather forecasting official, who oversaw the government’s prediction centers that track ocean, hurricane and even space conditions, has died in rough seas on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. William Lapenta, 58, died Monday after lifeguards pulled him from the surf off the coastal town of Duck, local officials said. The National Weather Service had issued a warning earlier Monday...

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has declared fishing disasters for seven states on three coasts.

At the edge of an ancient lava flow where jagged black rocks meet the Pacific, small off-the-grid homes overlook the calm blue waters of Papa Bay on Hawaii’s Big Island — no tourists or hotels in sight. Here, one of the islands’ most abundant and vibrant coral reefs thrives just below the surface. Yet even this remote shoreline far from...

Scientists have their eyes on a heat wave in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that bears a striking resemblance to “The Blob” of 2014, 2015 and 2016. A large area of water that’s much warmer than normal is already beginning to affect marine life. If it persists, it could cause problems up and down the California coast.

For the second time in 10 days, a young minke whale has turned up dead along the Massachusetts coastline. The body of the male whale was found in the surf of the Humarock section of Scituate Monday afternoon.