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.
The discharge and prevalence of psychoactive drugs in surface waters has raised concerns about potential risks to ecosystems and public health. Yet there is limited information on the ecotoxicity of these compounds in marine ...
Ecology
Dec 9, 2025
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A microscopic organism linked to serious seafood-related illness has been detected for the first time in the waters of Hervey Bay and Gladstone. The findings are published in Harmful Algae. Joseph Perkins, a James Cook University ...
Ecology
Dec 2, 2025
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Marine litter is a serious environmental problem worldwide. Reducing it would require implementing a global monitoring system, agreeing on the use of common methods and protocols for data collection, and categorizing all ...
Environment
Nov 28, 2025
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New research has revealed that marine mammals who live far below the ocean's surface are not immune from the burden of toxic forever chemicals, with whales and dolphins showing unprecedented levels of PFAS contamination.
Environment
Nov 27, 2025
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A massive, multi-year scientific expedition led by researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara and collaborating institutions, including the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa, determined that land use on ...
Ecology
Nov 26, 2025
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13
Earth's ocean, the planet's life-support system, is experiencing rapid and widespread transformations that extend far below its surface. A promising international study published in Nature Climate Change reveals that vast ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 25, 2025
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129
A recent spill of bio-beads—small plastic pellets used by some wastewater treatment facilities since the 1990s—has brought renewed attention to a problem that has been quietly accumulating in coastal waters for years.
Environment
Nov 24, 2025
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14
In 2017, a new global treaty was meant to bring mercury pollution under control. But three decades of data from UK harbor porpoises show mercury is still increasing, and is linked to a higher risk of dying from infectious ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 21, 2025
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83
The ocean has long been treated as boundless—a frontier for extraction and a sink for waste. This perception has driven decades of exploitation and neglect, pushing marine systems toward irreversible decline. Yet with urgent, ...
Environment
Nov 19, 2025
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14
A new study led by researchers at the University of Hawaii (UH) at Mānoa published in Nature Communications is the first of its kind to show that waste discharged from deep-sea mining operations in the Pacific's biodiverse ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 6, 2025
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