Category: Ocean & Water

By Kayla Keyes, Mote Marine Laboratory Recent news about Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been grim: the most recent aerial survey of the reef identified a stretch of bleached coral over 900 miles (1500 km) long, and scientists have declared the reef to be in a terminal stage. Studies have shown that losing the Great […]

This post is part of our Divers’ series. We encourage readers to continue the conversation by adding their own comments, question or concerns on our Facebook page. You’ll find links to other posts at the end of this story.  Two years ago I rang in the New Year by scuba diving with giant manta rays off […]

This article was originally posted on August 21, 2013 but we thought this project provided a great way to celebrate World Oceans Day even if you can’t make it to the beach! Calling all citizen scientists! It doesn’t matter where you are. You can still be an ‘honorary’ diver to help with this project. The […]

This post is part of our Divers’ series. We encourage readers to continue the conversation by adding their own comments, question or concerns on our Facebook page. You’ll find links to other posts at the end of this story.  When Jason Holmberg saw his first whale shark 15 years ago while scuba diving off the coast […]

“People protect what they love.” ~ Jacques Yves Cousteau When I was a kid, my family and I used to love watching “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.” Every week we’d set out the TV tables and share our dinner with the French marine explorer as he led us on underwater adventures and taught us […]

We tend to think of famine in human terms. But animal populations also experience wide-spread hunger, and the hundreds of emaciated young seals and sea lions stranded on California beaches in the past year were a poignant example. Fortunately, a large team of citizen scientists at The Marine Mammal Center—an animal hospital and research institute […]

When we think about climate change, we usually picture extreme temperatures, mega-storms, and rising seas disrupting our collective future. But climate change is also erasing our past. At our poles, melting ice is exposing and washing out new archeological discoveries. In the world’s arid regions, severe sandstorms are unearthing and eroding buried treasures. And on […]

Water: We can’t live without it. Photo: USFWS Water is one of our most precious natural resources, so it’s not surprising that there are hundreds of scientists in need of your help to keep an eye on rivers, streams, lakes, oceans, and taps.  Below, our editors highlight five water monitoring projects. You can find hundreds […]

Dive into Shark Week with SciStarter It’s shark week! Celebrate by getting involved in one of the many citizen science projects that study and protect sharks. Find even more projects with the  SciStarter Global Project Finder. Cheers! The SciStarter Team

Photo: USFWS You can play a key role in environmental monitoring. Our editors highlight six projects, below, to help you get to know your part of the world. Find 1,000 more opportunities to make the world a better place through science!  See SciStarter‘s Project Finder. Cheers! The SciStarter Team