Understanding how viruses attack giant algal blooms may help us understand their role in fixing global carbon.

Late summer is the peak time for harmful algae that can turn lakes into toxic scum, canceling fishing trips and fouling water supplies. While the Pacific Northwest doesn’t get anything near the activity that turned parts of Lake Erie into bright green slime, our coasts are vulnerable in late summer to this largely unpredictable – and in our case unseen – menace.

The state of Rhode Island has adopted a plan facilitated by the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography to reduce the likelihood of human illness from the consumption of improperly handled oysters raised in aquaculture facilities in the state. The plan, created through a collaboration between shellfish management agencies and the aquaculture industry, went into effect on July 1. 

Deep sea sediment cores—they’re cold, they’re muddy, and they’re revealing 30,000 years of climate history—as PhD student Julia Gottschalk reports from her voyage aboard the James Cook research ship last summer

Scientists have discovered huge reserves of freshwater beneath the oceans kilometres out to sea, providing new opportunities to stave off a looming global water crisis.