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Research has revealed details of the catastrophic Zanclean flood that refilled the Mediterranean Sea more than five million years ago. The flood occurred when Atlantic waters found their way into the cut-off and desiccated Mediterranean basin. The researchers say that a 200km channel across the Gibraltar strait was carved out by the floodwaters. Their findings, published in Nature, show that the resulting flood could have filled the basin...

It’s easy being green for a sea slug that has stolen enough genes to become the first animal shown to make chlorophyll like a plant.

The most likely birthplace for primordial life is now thought to be the fissures in the fresh basalt of the ocean floor through which, for billions of years, have gushed superheated brines rich in hydrogen sulphide and iron.

Scientists have found the first animals that can survive and reproduce entirely without oxygen, deep on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea. ... Considering the implications of creatures which can exist without oxygen, she said that greater study of animal-microbe interactions in the extreme environment of Earth's oceans could help answer questions about the possibility of life existing on other planets with different atmospheres.

A drilling rig leased by the oil company BP exploded and sank off the Louisiana coast last week. Some 1,000 barrels of oil a day are leaking into the sea from the damaged well, officials say. They say the oil leak has the potential to damage beaches, barrier islands and wetlands across the coastline.

Deep sea fish species found in the north Pacific Ocean have mysteriously been caught in the southwest Atlantic, on the other side of the world. It is unclear how the animals, a giant rattail grenadier, pelagic eelpout and deep sea squid, travelled so far. Their discovery 15,000km from their usual home raises the possibility that deep sea currents can transport animals from one polar region to another.