Corals may be better placed to cope with the gradual acidification of the world's oceans than previously thought -- giving rise to hopes that coral reefs might escape climatic devastation.

Alaska has given up local input on federal projects off state shores, according to a coalition of lawmakers from coastal boroughs. And absent leadership from the Alaska Legislature, they're determined they have a say on development that's proposed -- or planned.

As warming intensifies, scientists warn, the oxygen content of oceans across the planet could be more and more diminished, with serious consequences for the future of fish and other sea life.

by carl zimmer

At midnight tonight, the world's largest fully protected marine reserve will come into force in the British territorial waters of the Chagos Archipelago, in the Indian Ocean.

As his administration contends with the BP Plc oil spill, Obama was to sign an executive order creating a single National Ocean Council to make sense of the huge number of rules from different agencies on the use of U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes.

By Marcus Eriksen,

Marcus Eriksen is an environmentalist and co-founder of the 5 Gyres Project. Here he gives his view on how to clear the oceans of plastic waste.