Warm ocean water, not air temperature, drove massive Antarctic ice retreat after the last ice age
British Antarctic Survey
Published: 2 March 2026
New research provides the first 18,000-year record of ocean temperatures on the Amundsen Sea shelf, revealing warm ocean water as the primary driver of West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat.
Keywords: West Antarctica, ice sheet retreat, ocean warming, Amundsen Sea, paleoclimate, foraminifera, Thwaites Glacier
Discovery of muddy squid highlights deep-sea knowledge gaps
National Oceanography Centre
Published: 10 January 2026
Scientists filmed a previously unknown squid species 4,000m deep in the Pacific Ocean burying itself in sediment, the first time such camouflage behavior has been observed in any squid.
Keywords: deep sea, new species, squid, cephalopod, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, ROV, animal behavior, biodiversity
AI to create the largest-ever study of vulnerable deep-sea habitats
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Published: 4 March 2026
The Deep Vision project will deploy AI to map cold-water coral reefs and sponge fields across the deep Atlantic by analyzing decades of unprocessed deep-sea video footage at unprecedented speed.
Keywords: artificial intelligence, deep sea, vulnerable marine ecosystems, cold-water coral, sponge fields, Atlantic Ocean, machine learning
