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Water

The pads, also known as platters, of giant waterlillies can be up to ten feet in diameter.

How Much Can a Giant Waterlily Hold? See One Carry 183 Pounds Before Sinking, Winning a Social Media Contest

Now in its third year, the Waterlily Weigh-Off invites public gardens and zoos to show off the strength of their aquatic plants

The sailback houndshark was first described as a new genus and species in 1973.

Elusive Sailback Houndshark Rediscovered in Papua New Guinea After 50 Years

The creatures are occasionally caught by local fishermen but hadn’t been scientifically recorded since the 1970s

Ahu Tongariki, home to 15 moai statues, is one of Easter Island’s most iconic cultural landmarks.

New Research

Seasonal Waves Could Reach Some of Easter Island’s Massive Moai Statues by 2080, New Study Suggests

Researchers warn that rising sea levels could cause flooding that will endanger the historically significant statues, which were created by the Rapa Nui people between roughly 1300 and 1600 C.E.

Aside from his bright blue shell, Neptune is an otherwise normal lobster.

See the Rare ‘Electric Blue’ Lobster Found Off the Coast of Massachusetts

Meet Neptune, an American lobster with a vibrantly colored shell that results from a genetic mutation affecting pigmentation

Maritime archaeologists confirmed the wreck was the long-lost Frank D. Barker.

A Man Noticed a Strange Shape on Satellite Images. It Turned Out to Be a 138-Year-Old Shipwreck in Lake Michigan

While sailing through a heavy blanket of fog, the “Frank D. Barker” went off course and ran into a limestone outcropping in October 1887

The Edmund Fitzgerald was transporting iron ore when it sank in November 1975, killing all 29 crew members.

These Swimmers Are Finishing the Final Voyage of the ‘Edmund Fitzgerald,’ Which Sank in Lake Superior 50 Years Ago

Starting at the wreck site, 68 athletes are completing a 411-mile relay to honor the 29 men who died in the Great Lakes tragedy on November 10, 1975

Winter-run Chinook salmon are unique because they spawn in the summer, then migrate as adults to the Pacific Ocean in the winter.

For the First Time in Nearly a Century, Adult Winter-Run Chinook Salmon Are Swimming in California’s McCloud River

Video footage shows a female guarding her nest while several smaller males compete for positioning nearby

A river otter 

From Playful Otters to Pint-Size Owls, These Eight Awesome Animals Call the Chesapeake Bay Home

Blue crabs, bluebirds, beetles and many more creatures can be spotted in and around the bay—and scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center are paying attention

 The scientists found R. wellingtoni in two different color combinations, black-purple and red-black.

Scientists Just Found a Coral Species They Thought Had Gone Extinct, Marking the First Record of It in 24 Years

After the 1982-1983 El Niño warming event, the coral endemic to the Galápagos Islands experienced sharp population declines and was rarely observed during surveys

The central reservoir of Hadrian's Aqueduct

Athens Is Reviving a 2,000-Year-Old Roman Aqueduct to Deliver Water to the City Amid Prolonged Droughts

With the capital’s reservoirs approaching historic lows, officials are turning to ancient engineering to conserve potable water

Archaeologists have recovered 3,300 artifacts from the wreck, including gold coins and pieces of porcelain.

Archaeologists Find 300-Year-Old Shipwreck in What Used to Be ‘One of the Baddest Pirate Lairs on Earth’

Pirates attacked the Portuguese warship, named the “Nossa Senhora do Cabo,” and made off with many of the treasures the ship was transporting from India to Portugal

Brendon Baillod, president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association, and Kendra Kennedy, a maritime archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society, used side-scan sonar to map a 2.5-mile stretch of the Fox River this spring.

Underwater Archaeologists Were Looking for a Lost Shipwreck in Wisconsin. They Stumbled Upon a Different Vessel Instead

Researchers think they have located the final resting place of the “L.W. Crane,” a wooden side-wheel steam ship that caught fire and sank in the Fox River in 1880

On June 10, state and tribal officials recovered the vessel from the water.

Cool Finds

This Dugout Canoe Made From a 12-Foot-Long Log Was Found Bobbing in a North Carolina River

The newly discovered vessel is one of 79 known dugout canoes that have been unearthed throughout the state

Orcas are highly social creatures that often share prey with each other. Now, new research suggests they're extending this behavior to humans.

Orcas Appear to Be Sharing Their Prey With Humans—but What Does It Mean?

Researchers documented 34 instances of purported prey-sharing behavior, which suggests orcas may be altruistic and capable of recognizing sentience in another species

The remains of what appears to be a Ford Model T truck have surfaced in Lake Lure.

Long-Lost Treasures Emerge From Lake During Hurricane Helene Recovery Efforts in North Carolina

Officials are draining the water from Lake Lure to remove sediment and debris, revealing historic objects embedded in the dry lakebed

The jugs and plates appear to have been made during the 16th century in Liguria, a seaside region in northwest Italy near the French border.

Rare 16th-Century Shipwreck Discovered at Record Depth in French Waters

The 98-foot-long vessel was transporting ceramic jugs, ceramic plates and metal bars when it sank off southeastern France nearly 500 years ago

During mating season in fall, this male hellbender wanders along the bottom of a stream in North Carolina in search of a den site. Hellbenders rely on pristine streams and well-oxygenated flowing water. As they have declined across much of their range, sights like this have become uncommon.

Why Has This North Carolina Town Embraced a Strange Salamander?

The city of Boone has put a giant mural of the eastern hellbender downtown and its residents often imbibe a local Hazy IPA named after the amphibian

The squid species had only been known from dead specimens found in fishing nets or the stomachs of other animals.

Scientists Had Never Seen This Mysterious Squid Alive in the Wild—Until Now. See the First Footage of the Elusive Creature

A three-foot-long Antarctic gonate squid was spotted swimming 7,000 feet below the surface of the Southern Ocean

The wreck of the Joseph Cochrane, a 131-foot-long cargo schooner that sank in 1870, is located 563 feet from the Old Baileys Harbor Lighthouse in Lake Michigan.

Historians Set the Record Straight on This Misidentified 155-Year-Old Shipwreck in Lake Michigan

For years, experts thought a wreck near Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, was the “Christina Nilsson.” Recently, they realized it’s actually the “Joseph Cochrane,” which sank in 1870

Divers recovered the watch from Lake Michigan in late 1992.

Pocket Watch Recovered From Lake Michigan’s Deadliest Shipwreck Returns to Owner’s Hometown After 165 Years

The timepiece belonged to Herbert Ingram, a British journalist and politician who died when the “Lady Elgin” sank in 1860. His watch was recovered from the bottom of the lake in 1992

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