Coastal & Marine Geography (COMA) of AAG

09/24/2026

The Coastal and Marine Specialty Group web page has been updated to HTTPS (secure, encrypted) on 9/24/2026. Thanks to Cloudflare for providing the 'free' TLS certificates for this implementation.

09/24/2026

The City of Westport, Washington, with the assistance of FEMA has completed construction on one of the first of its kind vertical evacuation shelters for Tsunami events in the Pacific Northwest. Ribbon cutting scheduled for October 3rd, 2026.

06/29/2026

A few days ago, the World Shipping Council released its annual Containers Lost at Sea Report. It revealed that an estimated 1,478 containers were lost at sea in 2025. The 2025 figure is an increase from the 576 containers lost in 2024. One major vessel loss accounted for 640 containers. As an aside, there were nearly five million pieces of Lego inside a single container lost overboard from the Tokio Express in 1997. And the Lego is still turning up, nearly 30 years on.

https://www.worldshipping.org/news/world-shipping-council-releases-containers-lost-at-sea-report-2026-update

04/27/2026

: Alaska's "Golden Orb" Identified

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Smithsonian Museum of Natural History have finally identified the "golden orb" discovered and retrieved from the Gulf of Alaska. The gold-colored blob was found around two miles deep by a robot in 2023 as part of a deep sea survey being run by NOAA. DNA analysis has finally revealed that the golden material is the remaining base of a species of sea anemone - Relicanthus daphneae. The long-tentacled animal is known to inhabit the bottom of the sea around the world, but is not well observed due to the extreme depths it inhabits. Scientists have observed other anemones seated on gold-colored bases, called cuticles, which may be left behind after the animal moves on.

Read more: https://mailchi.mp/americangeo/dailygeo-11828569

04/22/2026

This is the greatest number of large whales ever identified in one day in our planet's history. https://bbc.in/4cXEJTd

04/22/2026

Strange but true: salmon on co***ne swim a lot more.

But they’re not doing lines in the bathroom—they’re part of a new study. This sounds like an odd thing to research, but co***ne and its metabolites—along with other drugs and pharmaceuticals—are widespread in the environment, mainly from human wastewater. And scientists are working to understand how such substances might affect wildlife. http://spklr.io/6044EKEo

04/13/2026

04/09/2026

04/09/2026

Did you know that NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) manages and operates NOAA's fleet of 10 specialized environmental data-collecting aircraft and 15 research and survey ships — including NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer?

The experience, expertise, and professionalism of the NOAA Corps officers and civilian professional mariners who operate Okeanos Explorer are fundamental to the mission of ocean exploration and the success of every expedition.

In celebration of , learn more about OMAO and its fleet of science-dedicated ships and aircraft here: https://www.omao.noaa.gov/NOAAFleetWeek

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer

04/09/2026