Marine water quality refers to the physicochemical, biological, and microbiological status of seawater as characterized by quantitative indicators relevant to ecosystem function, contaminant exposure, and regulatory standards. It encompasses parameters such as nutrient concentrations (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus), dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature, pH, turbidity, organic matter, trace metals, hydrocarbons, persistent organic pollutants, and microbial/pathogen loads. Assessment of marine water quality underpins evaluations of eutrophication, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, contaminant bioavailability, and ecological risk. It is central to monitoring programs, environmental impact assessments, and management frameworks such as marine protected areas and coastal zone management, often integrating in situ measurements, remote sensing, and modeling.
Simon Fraser University researchers have uncovered fiberglass contamination in a key estuary on Vancouver Island, raising concerns about how an as-yet-overlooked contaminant could affect aquatic birds, marine life and coastal ...
Ecology
Feb 24, 2026
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17
New research from Monash University, in collaboration with Phillip Island Nature Parks, has found conclusive evidence that rivers are vital drivers of food and habitat for seabirds around the world. The research, published ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 23, 2026
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15
Data collected during a rowing challenge around the seas of Great Britain has found significantly higher concentrations of microplastic pollution than previously recorded, a new report finds. The team, which included University ...
Environment
Feb 22, 2026
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27
The Baltic Sea is one of the world's most oxygen-depleted major bodies of water. The reason is excessive concentrations of phosphorus, an element essential for life—and an important ingredient in fertilizer. New research ...
Biotechnology
Feb 22, 2026
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20
EU researchers are developing AI-guided robot fleets to take over the dangerous, dirty work of finding and removing marine litter from the sea floor. A ship with a crane floats in the Mediterranean sun at a marina in Marseille, ...
Environment
Feb 20, 2026
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18
Public concern over the total failure of the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant on Wellington's south coast has been growing, despite this week's announcement of an independent review.
Plants & Animals
Feb 17, 2026
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20
For 40 years, scientists have been monitoring the Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis) along the southern coast of Brazil. A study published in Estuarine Management and Technologies reveals that these charismatic mammals ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 17, 2026
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27
The Baltic Sea has been under pressure for decades: Although phosphorus and nitrogen river loads, the main cause for its eutrophication, have been significantly reduced, adverse effects such as algal blooms and oxygen depletion ...
Environment
Feb 16, 2026
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46
Extreme rainfall is reshaping coastal waters along South Korea's shoreline, flushing nutrients from land into the sea and fueling the growth of algal blooms. A new multi-year study, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, ...
The Mediterranean Sea is rapidly changing under ongoing climate change. In the eastern basin, tropicalization is already well documented and driven by a combination of strong warming and the influx of tropical species through ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 15, 2026
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