A creek, a causeway, and a salt marsh on Sapelo Island, Georgia – the state’s fourth-largest barrier island and one of its most pristine – are revealing much to scientists, policy makers, and regulatory authorities about salt-marsh ecology....

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Covering approximately 155 million square kilometers (59 million square miles) and containing more than half of the free water on Earth, the Pacific is by far the largest of the world’s ocean basins. All of the world’s continents could fit into the Pacific basin....

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The Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) invites customers to participate in an American Customer Satisfaction Index Survey. Your participation will help CO-OPS improve its water level and tidal current products and customer services....

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Seawater contains salt. When humans drink seawater, their cells are thus taking in water and salt. While humans can safely ingest small amounts of salt, the salt content in seawater is much higher than what can be processed by the human body. Additionally, when we consume salt as part of our daily diets, we also drink liquids, which help to dilute the salt and keep it at a healthy level. Living cells do depend on sodium chloride (salt) to maintain the body’s chemical balances and reactions; however, too much sodium can be deadly....

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On June 18, scores of NOAA employees and partners participated in the sixth annual NOAA Restoration Day at sites in Maryland and Virginia....

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There are over 1,700 marine protected areas, or MPAs, in the U.S. that cover approximately 34 percent of marine waters. MPAs are found in every region of the United States. The West Coast (California, Oregon, and Washington) has the highest number of MPAs; however, the region with the largest area of MPAs is the Pacific Islands. This is because of the designation of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, which is one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world.  ...

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IOOS coastal and marine data (e.g., water temperature, water level, currents, winds, and waves) are collected by many different tools including satellites, buoys, tide gauges, radar stations, and underwater vehicles. A variety of tools is needed to collect data on global, national, regional, and local levels. Some of these tools are in the water collecting data while others may be on land or in space. Most of the data collected are streamed to a database, making them easier to access....

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Many of metropolitan San Francisco’s eight million people are not aware that NOAA’s Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary surrounds a unique island chain and wildly beautiful mainland shores just beyond the Golden Gate....

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El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of what is known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle. The ENSO cycle is a scientific term that describes the fluctuations in temperature between the ocean and atmosphere in the (approximately between the International Date Line and 120 degrees West).

La Niña is sometimes referred to as the cold phase of ENSO and El Niño as the warm phase of ENSO. These deviations from normal surface temperatures can have large-scale impacts not only on ocean processes, but also on global weather and climate.

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Kelp forests can be seen along much of the west coast of North America. Kelp are large brown algae that live in cool, relatively shallow waters close to the shore. They grow in dense groupings much like a forest on land. These underwater towers of kelp provide food and shelter for thousands of fish, invertebrates, and marine mammal species....

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