Four critical habitats that nurture marine life

 A wide variety of ocean creatures rely on sea grass, sand, Sargassum and mangroves. Each of these habitats faces serious threats. Read more here. 

The Gulf of Mexico

11 things you might not know about this body of water, also known as The American Sea. Some cool facts and some alarming ones. Read it here. 

More on Sargassum

Spring and summer 2018 saw yet another Sargassum bloom to the Caribbean, with piles of the stuff floating nearshore and ­covering beaches in Little Cayman, ­Barbados, ­Antigua, and other destinations. Read about why that happened and how divers can work around it.

Too much of a good thing

Another post for the PBS Nature Blog's summer of love, this one about recent Sargassum blooms. While the floating algae provide habitat and food for a wide variety of marine life in the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean, blooms are taking it a bit too far.

Sargassum Invades Beaches

Sargassum, an important part of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic marine ecosystems, has been showing up in unprecedented amounts and in places it hasn't been before. The most likely culprit: climate change. Read more about the problem in this piece for Newsweek.

Image courtesy Jim Gower, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Canada.

Show sargassum some love

That "seaweed" washing up on Texas beaches every spring and summer is Sargassum, and it is an important part of the marine and shoreline ecosystems. Learn more in this Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine article. 

Photo: Chase Fountain, TPWD