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NOAA's National Ocean Service

The Pineapple Express: Get to know a well-known atmospheric river that frequently affects U.S. West Coast weather.

What is the Pineapple Express? Get to know a well-known atmospheric river.

OCEAN FACT

Bound for Chicago with a hold full of Christmas Trees, the Rouse Simmons was lost with all hands in a November gale in 1912. Credit: Wisconsin Historical Society

NOAA moves to conserve shipwrecks in two new sanctuaries.

OCEAN FACT

U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observing Network: Building Global Connections

FEATURE

White Shoal Lighthouse in northern Lake Michigan. (Courtesy Dick Moehl, Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association)

Where do fish go when it freezes outside?

OCEAN FACT

Annapolis, Maryland, pictured here in 2012, saw the greatest increase in nuisance flooding in a recent NOAA study. (Credit: With permission from Amy McGovern.)

WINTER 2016
National High Tide Outlook

Tides are the regular rise and fall of the sea surface caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun and their position relative to the earth. There are some factors we can predict that cause the tides to be higher or lower than what is "normally" seen from day to day. Our bulletin tells you when you may experience higher than normal high tides around the nation for December 2016 through February 2017.

OCEAN FACT
What is HAZMAT?

HAZMAT is an abbreviation for "hazardous materials"—substances in quantities or forms that may pose a reasonable risk to health, property, or the environment. HAZMATs include such substances as toxic chemicals, fuels, nuclear waste products, and biological, chemical, and radiological agents. HAZMATs may be released as liquids, solids, gases, or a combination or form of all three, including dust, fumes, gas, vapor, mist, and smoke.

WARMER OCEANS
More Shellfish Toxins

Hazardous levels of domoic acid, a natural toxin that accumulates in shellfish, have been linked to warmer ocean conditions in waters off Oregon and Washington for the first time by a NOAA-supported research team, led by Oregon State University scientists.NOAA is supporting research and new tools to help seafood industry managers stay ahead of harmful algae events that are increasing in frequency, intensity, and scope.

FULL MOON VIDEO SERIES
Animals of the Ice

This full moon, watch animals of the ice run, swim, slide, waddle, and fly. They are animals of the ice — and how they survive in the harsh extremes of the polar regions is amazing. As the earth continues to warm, however, their world is changing. Learn why sea ice is shrinking and how scientists are studying the impacts climate change is having on their home. Let's get started! Don't miss NOAA Ocean Today's latest 'Full Moon' video series.