This sectionScience

Under the Surface

The ocean profoundly impacts human society, producing oxygen, carrying goods, absorbing excess heat, providing energy, taking carbon dioxide and housing vital communication links.

There is only one ocean, divided into large basins. It is completely interconnected – moving vast amounts of water, heat, chemicals and microscopic life around the planet, without national or politicaal boundaries. It has powerful influences on all parts of the Earth – the atmosphere above, crust below, ice-covered regions and the land’s coastal zones. All these interactions in turn shape the ocean and its life. Here we explore the ocean, its processes, its impact on our lives, how we study it and the life within in.

Actions for the Ocean Decade

The Ocean Decade is a collective global initiative, with a transformative vision to harness ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’. It will inspire new design, delivery and use of ocean knowledge to enable lasting change to our shared ocean.

More about the Ocean Decade

Plastics in the Ocean

The visible effects of plastic entering the ocean are sadly all too clear to us now, and unfortunately our research shows that visible plastic is just the tip of this iceberg. How much more might there be and what impact is it having on the delicate ocean ecosystem?

Read about ocean plastics

Monsters of the Deep

Much of the ocean remains a mystery, and only a fraction of the life which dwells within has been discovered. That which has, is often strange and otherworldly, giving way to folklore and intrigue. Hold your breath, dive in, and meet the monsters of the deep!

Meet the monsters

Big Science for Big Challenges

By 2025 there will be nine billion people on Earth, with populations growing fastest in low-lying coastal regions. We are increasingly turning to the oceans to address the three big challenges.

Read about the challenges

Seagrass

Seagrass meadows are the powerhouses of coastal seas providing a nature-based solution to climate change. They have been neglected for decades, which has led to their large-scale degradation and loss. This loss now provides an opportunity for environmental renewal through large-scale restoration.

Learn more about seagrass

In the Twilight Zone

Beneath the surface of the ocean, where sunlight runs out, an inmportant and vast ecosystem teeming with life, begins… from two hundred metres below the surface, and ending at 1km down.

Visit the Twilight Zone

Search form