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NOAA to rebuild historic science lab in Beaufort, North Carolina

New North Carolina facility will continue to provide world-class NOAA science nationwide.

Coastal Science
As part of a June 2026 workshop and training on the use of dispersants as an alternative countermeasure for oil spill response, participants gather around the test tank at the Ohmsett oil spill response, research, and test facility in Leonardo, New Jersey. Image credit: NOAA.
Testing the waters: a day at the nation’s largest oil spill simulation tank

When oil spills, chemical dispersants can be used to break slicks into smaller droplets for "oil-eating" microbes to digest.

Response and Restoration
3D rendering of Monitor on the sea floor using a heatmap.
The USS Monitor, part 2: underwater 3D mapping

In this follow-up episode, we travel back to the USS Monitor, resting in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean within Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, to discuss a new, innovative underwater 3D mapping technology.

Podcast
Two people in hardhats on a ship work with a large piece of equipment that contains chambers to sample water from the U.S. Gulf.
NOAA and partners find smaller-than-anticipated hypoxic zone in Gulf of America

Tropical Storm Bertha reduces the size of the zone.

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New study documents whale cooperation

In the waters of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, humpback whales are working together to hunt fish.

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Explore 30 years of environmental restoration

A new interactive case map allows users to search and view over 148 nationwide cases and pollution events.

Around the Ocean Service
  • Blue IQ video series
    BEACH SAFETY
  • The 20th Anniversary of the NOAA Marine Debris Program
    MILESTONES
  • 2026 Sanctuaries photo contest
    SANCTUARIES
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