Sea Mining Could Devastate an Enigmatic Group of Creatures, Researchers Warn

The snails and other mollusks around hydrothermal vents have evolved to thrive in extreme conditions, but mineral extraction could drive more than half to extinction.

Deep-sea mining threatens to drive to extinction more than half of the snails and other mollusks that rely on hydrothermal vents, according to the latest update of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, the global scientific authority on the status of species.

More Living Shorelines Could Come to States Bordering Chesapeake Bay if the Region’s Senators Get Their Way

Norfolk, Virginia, has remained the poster child for cities facing land subsidence and flooding in the country, struggling through an onslaught of storm surges and blue-sky flooding that become more frequent every year. But while a major storm has not hit the city directly since Hurricane Matthew in 2016, it is one of the many places looking to congressional funding as a way to fund preemptive land management projects to protect their shorelines and their residents.

Dam Removal Efforts Lead to a Stunning Comeback for Maine’s Alewives

Along most of the Atlantic coast, alewives are struggling after decades of damming and overfishing. But in Maine, the fish is rebounding—and towns’ historic harvests are growing.

For a few weeks each summer, the Sebasticook River in Benton, Maine, is paved with flashing silver scales, so thick it seems you could almost walk across. The alewives have returned for their annual migration.

The Rise of Blue-space Therapy: How the Sea is Helping People Deal With Trauma, Anxiety and Addiction

Watching the waves break across the vast, roaring ocean in front of him, Dave Phillips felt out of options standing on the cliff’s edge in Cornwall several years ago. The former British army corporal had lost a number of loved ones in quick succession, and the compounding effects of untreated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his military tours had become all-consuming. “I’m from a generation where we didn’t talk,” says Phillips, 67.

‘Super’ El Niño Could Cause Global Food Price Shock Lasting Into 2028, Analysts Say

Weather cycle threatens harvests worldwide, adding to inflation already fuelled by the Iran war. Economists are warning that a “super” El Niño weather cycle this year could cause a severe shock to global food prices lasting into 2028. As the Iran war pushes up world food prices to the highest level in three years, economists said supply chains faced “two shocks at once” stoked by extreme weather linked to global heating.

New Research Traces How ‘forever chemicals’ Move Through the Great Lakes and Into People

The study used more than 40 years of data to map fluctuating PFAS levels across species in the region's food chain. In the United States, PFAS chemicals are so ubiquitous — found in everything from frying pans to skincare — that nearly all of the country’s population likely has measurable levels of the so-called “forever chemicals” in their blood.

Squid Are Among the Most Intelligent Ocean Creatures. Climate Change Might Shrink Their Brains

Squid are among the scholars of the deep. Distributed across all of the world’s oceans, the 375 squid species can navigate mazes, cooperatively hunt, communicate via color change, recognize individual humans, and learn from past experiences—such as remembering how to escape from an enclosure. Neuron by neuron, squid have brains about as complex as that of dogs, and along with octopuses and cuttlefish, are the most intelligent invertebrates in the world.

In a First, Scientists Observe Creation of New Seafloor

The spread of the ocean floor, as tectonic plates spread apart, is known but hard to observe. Scientists have now documented the process in action.

Far down on the ocean floor, Earth is recycling its own skin. At certain boundaries, the huge plates of rock that make up the planet’s crust crash into or over each other, pushing old crust below. At other junctures, these tectonic plates are spreading apart, allowing magma to bubble up and create entirely new stretches of seafloor.

Oceans Touch Every Part of Our Lives. Here’s How Duke Research Is Safeguarding It

Summer often means a visit to the ocean.  But the ocean is about more than a dip in the water or a search for shells. It covers more than 70% of our planet and absorbs roughly 90% of excess atmospheric heat. Duke researchers are studying ocean solutions critical for long-term ecological health and community stewardship. “Research is important to understand our current ocean state,” said Stephanie Rousso, director of Oceans@Duke in the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability.

Coast Film & Music Festival

COME CURIOUS, LEAVE INSPIRED
OCTOBER 16 - 25, 2026

An annual showcase of adventure and documentary films and stories from the mountains to the sea, curated to entertain, inform, and inspire. The festival brings together a community of creators, changemakers, and fans to celebrate adventure, the human spirit, conservation, and the art of story.