Pollution

LATEST TODAY'S CATCH

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

May 6, 2013 - 8:10AMThe “garbage patches,” as referred to in the media, are areas of marine debris concentration in the North Pacific Ocean, circulated by the North Pacific gyre. The gyre spreads across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the western US...
Apr 26, 2013 - 9:47AM
At Carrie Bow Cay in Belize, Dr. Candy Feller explains her research on the...
Oct 9, 2012 - 9:17AM
In the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill, what is the effect of oil on...

SPOTLIGHT

Ocean Trash Plaguing Our Sea

In the Pacific Ocean, four ocean currents merge to form the North Pacific gyre, also known as the North Pacific Subtropical...
May 6 2013 - 8:10am
The “garbage patches,” as referred to in the media, are areas of marine debris concentration in the North Pacific Ocean, circulated by the North Pacific gyre. The gyre spreads across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the western US, and north-south from California to Hawaii. Its total size isn't well...
Sep 23 2010 - 10:33pm
Once upon a time, the ocean was considered the last place where we could still find an undisturbed environment. This was before the plague of man-made plastic trash flooded the seas. During my travels, I have realized that everything has changed. There is scarcely a place on Earth where plastic...
Apr 20 2012 - 2:44pm
Two years ago last week, on April 20, 2010, an explosion on the oil-drilling rig Deepwater Horizon caused the largest marine oil spill in history, gushing nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil over the course of three months.
May 24 2010 - 3:32pm
PAST PROGRAMS IN THE SERIES
Oil and Water Don t Mix  Even After 40 Years
May 3 2010 - 6:02pm
More than 40 years after the 1969 oil spill in Massachusetts’ Wild Harbor salt marsh, environmental chemist Dr. Chris Reddy from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution finds that the oil is still present.  In this video, learn about how Dr. Chris Reddy tests the marsh for the presence of oil,...
Sep 16 2011 - 7:34pm
More than ever, the fate of the ocean is in our hands. To be good stewards and leave a thriving ocean for future generations, we need to make changes big and small wherever we are. To make a positive difference, here are five simple things you can do in 10 minutes or less to help protect the ocean—...
Dr  Nancy Rabalais  Troubled Waters in the Gulf of Mexico
Apr 7 2011 - 4:31pm
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill brought the world’s attention to the Gulf of Mexico and raised awareness of the region’s chronic loss of wetlands and the massive dead zone caused by excess nutrients from the Mississippi River. In this presentation, Dr. Nancy Rabalais outlines the challenges to...
Dec 19 2011 - 3:07pm
A tiny yellow goby, Lubricogobius exiguus, living inside an abandoned can on the seafloor; Suruga Bay, Japan
Jun 9 2010 - 9:23am
Since late April, the world has watched a devastating oil spill from a BP drilling rig spread throughout the Gulf of Mexico and become one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the United States.
Apr 20 2012 - 10:37am
Bonny Schumaker, cofounder of the nonprofit On Wings of Care, flies over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill area every few weeks to survey for wildlife -- and on April 6, 2012, when this picture was taken, she was pleasantly surprised. "We were pleased to see very few of the surface oil slicks we've...
Marine Debris
Jan 14 2011 - 2:11pm
Ocean debris is a global problem that is slowly destroying the biological aspect of our waters. With the help of our communities we can start making the right decisions to keep our oceans clean and our ecosystems healthy. Explore other videos that capture the beauty and mystery of the ocean realm...
May 10 2010 - 6:10pm
Sometimes, a tragic event can become a powerful teaching opportunity. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has the potential to capture students’ attention and stimulate discussion on topics like: • biology and ecology (How will the oil effect wildlife and the environment?), •...
Jun 7 2010 - 12:11pm
A placard warns residents that water—and anything else—that goes own this storm drain makes its way into the Potomac River and, eventually the ocean.
May 8 2013 - 11:20am
What happens to the waste coming out of a fish processing plant? Typically the fish guts and bones get sent to sea via a pipeline, and the Environmental Protection Agency regulates how much can be dumped. The sites can attract predators, such as these seagulls, fish, and even small sharks in Alaska...
Jun 16 2010 - 11:36am
Carl Pellegrin (left) of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Tim Kimmel of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepare to net an oiled pelican in Barataria Bay, La., Saturday, June 5, 2010. The pelican was netted and transported to a facility on Grand Isle, La., for stabilization...
Jun 4 2010 - 6:34pm
The National Museum of Natural History's Department of Invertebrate Zoology has developed an online map that provides information about invertebrates in the National Collection from areas impacted by the oil spill. In the Gulf of Mexico, over 57,000 invertebrates (points on the map) from 5,789...