Treasure Fever

The discovery of a legendary, lost shipwreck in North America has pitted treasure hunters and archaeologists against each other, raising questions about who should control sunken riches.

Jan 14, 2020 | 5,900 words, about 29 minutes

From Healthy to Extinct in 350 Years

New genetic research shows that the great auk population was large and diverse—until hunters swiftly drove it to extinction.

Jan 6, 2020 | 1,100 words, about 5 minutes

A High-Pressure Job

What construction workers, scuba divers, and a risqué dance have in common.

Dec 17, 2019 | 4 min 20 sec

Picking Up the Bones

Moving burial grounds before the sea takes them away is painstaking and expensive. Why do we do it?

Nov 26, 2019 | 5,300 words, about 26 minutes

From Berth to Death

The history of influenza as a global disease is inextricably tied to steamships and the expansion of world trade. A war demonstrated how big a pandemic could get.

Nov 19, 2019 | 4,200 words, about 21 minutes

Nightmares from the Sea

Because cannibalism and monsters make good bedtime stories.

Oct 31, 2019 | 1,600 words, about 8 minutes

The Fight Over a Shitty Rock

A tiny, uninhabitable islet in the North Atlantic has become an unlikely battleground in the fight for fishing rights.

Oct 29, 2019 | 2,200 words, about 11 minutes

The Antique Technology Still Taking the Ocean’s Pulse

The Continuous Plankton Recorder has been measuring the ocean’s plankton (almost) continuously since the 1930s.

Oct 23, 2019 | 1,100 words, about 5 minutes