#North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

Study reveals robust seasonal cycles among vast diverse ocean microbial communities

The study by University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa oceanographers provides new insight into how high levels of biodiversity are maintained in the open ocean.

Summer ocean blooms studied with satellite imagery

A team of oceanographers led by the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa has published a study providing the first comprehensive look at the anatomy of massive microbial blooms that appear nearly every summer in the Pacific Ocean north of Hawai‘i. For years, the origins of these vast swirls of color, as visible from space, remained […]

UH: Kīlauea volcano ash prompts largest open ocean phytoplankton bloom

A rare and large summertime phytoplankton bloom in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre in summer 2018 was prompted by ash from Kīlauea falling on the ocean surface approximately 1,200 miles west of the volcano.

Currents bring both debris and marine life to the Pacific Garbage Patch

Marine surface-dwelling organisms, such as jellies, snails, barnacles and crustaceans, are a critical ecological link between diverse ecosystems.