How deep is the ocean? – the Conversation
Explorers started making navigation charts showing how wide the ocean was more than 500 years ago. But it’s much harder to calculate how deep it is.
If you wanted to measure the depth of a pool or lake, you could tie a weight to a string, lower it to the bottom, then pull it up and measure the wet part of the string. In the ocean you would need a rope thousands of feet long.
In 1872 the HMS Challenger, a British Navy ship, set sail to learn about the ocean, including its depth. It carried 181 miles (291 kilometers) of rope…
The “Octopus Garden” – MBARI
Deep below the ocean’s surface just off the Central California coast, thousands of octopus gather near an extinct underwater volcano. The Octopus Garden is the largest known aggregation of octopus anywhere in the world…
Where does beach sand come from? – the Conversation
Question from Sly M., age 6, Cambridge, Massachusetts…
There’s more to beach sand than meets the eye. It has stories to tell about the land, and an epic journey to the sea. That’s because mountains end their lives as sand on beaches….
Long Story Shorts: What is Ocean Stratification? – Hakai Institute
The ocean has layers that mix—sometimes. What are the layers made of? And why is it bad news when they don’t?
Long Story Shorts: How Do Whales Withstand Ocean Pressure? – Hakai Institute
The deeper you go into the ocean, the more pressure there is to contend with. So how do deep-diving whales—air-breathing mammals like us—survive life in the deep?
Twelve New Kids’ Beach Reads to Inspire Action and Adventure – Hakai Institute
Young readers can become archaeologists, seaweed harvesters, and Arctic explorers, all through the pages of books.
One of the best antidotes to climate anxiety is climate action, and there are plenty of places to look for inspiration—including within the pages of several of this season’s new kids’ beach reads. If the tournament’s a go, I’ll be bringing them with me for the ride…
Mangroves: “Superhero” Ecosystems – Frontiers for Young Minds
Because mangroves live along the land-ocean boundary, they are unique plants that provide several benefits to nature and humans. For example, mangroves provide refuge and food for organisms, hurricane protection, and water filtration; mangroves also promote the release of oxygen into the atmosphere and the uptake and trapping of carbon dioxide, which helps to fight against climate change. To understand mangrove ecosystems, it is important to consider the role of the microorganisms that live there…
Curious Kids: If plastic comes from oil and gas, which come originally from plants, why isn’t it biodegradable? – the Conversation
Question from Neerupama, age 11, Delhi, India..
To better understand why plastics don’t biodegrade, let’s start with how plastics are made and how biodegradation works…
Long Story Shorts: What Causes Red Tides? – Hakai Institute
Red tides are the worst-named algal anomaly out there—they’re not always red, but these blooms of algae can be harmful to humans and other animals.