Tides & Currents

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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...

NOAA's Adopt a Drifter Program
Apr 20, 2012 - 12:50PM
NOAA is working with students across the globe to place floating buoys...

Line W: A 10-Year Portrait of Our Planet
Dec 16, 2011 - 4:37PM
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's "Line W" program is conducting...

SPOTLIGHT

Tracking volcanic rock to the shores of Belize

As a geological oceanographer at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Dr. Maggie Toscano has made a career...
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
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...
Robotic Glider Evades Fishing Nets
Robotic Ocean Explorer
Dec 8 2010 - 1:08pm
This is the world’s first unmanned, underwater robot—or “glider”—to cross an ocean basin, the pioneering Scarlet Knight. The robotic glider, also known as RU27, can dive to depths of 200 meters (660 feet) to collect data such as temperature, how salty the water is, and the speed and direction of...
Pacific Ocean Currents
Jul 9 2010 - 1:41pm
The arrows show the direction of ocean currents recorded by William Dampier while crossing “La Grande Mer du Sud”—the Pacific Ocean. The map appeared in Dampier’s second book, Voyages and Descriptions, published in early 1699.
Scientists Work to Predict and Prevent Algae Blooms
Jul 5 2011 - 6:20pm
Algae, like all organisms, normally grow in balance with their ecosystems, limited by the amount of nutrients in the water. But sometimes, certain species of algae reproduce so rapidly that they cause damage. In the ocean, microscopic forms of algae can "bloom" into dense patches near the surface,...
Line W A 10-Year Portrait of Our Planet
Line W: A 10-Year Portrait of Our Planet
Dec 16 2011 - 4:37pm
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's "Line W" program is conducting research to better understand how the oceans and the atmosphere work together to cause, and are affected by, climate variability on the earth.  Since 2001, a set of moored instruments and repeated research cruises across...
Ship Under a Bridge
Ship Under a Bridge
Jan 14 2011 - 12:34pm
Ocean conditions change every hour of every day. Tides, currents, and winds are constantly in flux. NOAA’s real-time data helps huge ships navigate safely under bridges and around obstacles. Explore other videos that capture the beauty and mystery of the ocean realm at NOAA Ocean Today
Tracking volcanic rock to the shores of Belize
Aug 24 2012 - 3:57pm
The Gulf Oil Spill Effects on Marine Life
The Gulf Oil Spill: Effects on Marine Life
Jun 9 2010 - 3:48pm
The Deepwater Horizon disaster has imperiled the ecosystem along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Most oil spills have occurred at the ocean surface. This one, originating at the ocean floor and rising up through the water column, has the potential to affect the marine environment at every level. More about...
NOAA's Adopt a Drifter Program
Apr 20 2012 - 12:50pm
NOAA is working with students across the globe to place floating buoys throughout the ocean through their Adopt a Drifter Program. The buoys will drift with the help of ocean currents and record the sea surface temperature and location of the buoy as they travel. The information gained from the...
NOAA's Real Time Weather Mapping
Jun 4 2010 - 12:02pm
A screen capture from NOAA's NowCoast website which displays real-time weather data, including current speeds, projected hazards, temperature and wind speed.
Robotic Glider and Barnacles
Dec 8 2010 - 12:54pm
Scientists met the robotic glider Scarlet Knight about halfway along its journey of scientific exploration from the United States to Spain, discovering that barnacles were growing on the glider’s body, as this graphic illustrates. As algae began to grow on the glider’s exterior surface, small sea...
Science in a Time of Crisis Tracking the Currents
Science in a Time of Crisis: Tracking the Currents
May 10 2011 - 3:44pm
Part 5 of a 6-part series describing Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's efforts to understand the scope and impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "Tracking the Currents" follows work by WHOI's Breck Owens to deploy an autonomous underwater glider to map and monitor...
Mapping the Pumice Journey
Aug 27 2012 - 12:14pm
But what path, precisely, did this pumice take to reach Belize from the Guatemalan Highlands? Maps of drainage networks that reach the Gulf of Honduras and currents in the western Caribbean Sea are important for describing how the pumice could have been transported. The Río Motagua and Río Dulce...
Ocean Trash Plaguing Our Sea
Sep 20 2011 - 11:52am
In the Pacific Ocean, four ocean currents merge to form the North Pacific gyre, also known as the North Pacific Subtropical High, which spans the western US to Japan, and Hawaii to California.
Underwater Robots Explore the Ocean
Oct 29 2010 - 4:01pm
CREDIT: Provided by Rutgers University Glider Technology Now Used to Study Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico The first underwater robotic vehicle—or “glider”—to cross an ocean is the centerpiece of a new temporary exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The U.S. Integrated...
Pumice: Just Scratching the Surface
Aug 27 2012 - 11:34am