By Rachel Flecker, Co-Chief Expedition 401
Tomorrow, after two months at sea aboard the JOIDES Resolution, Expedition 401 comes to an end as we dock in the port of Naples, Italy. Our expedition was all about the connection between the Atlantic and Mediterranean 8-4 million years ago. We know changes to this gateway profoundly changed the Mediterranean. The question is, did those changes also impact the Atlantic and what happened in the gateway itself?
Today the Gibraltar Strait is the Mediterranean-Atlantic gateway, but in the past there were at least two other connections: one to the south in Morocco and one to the north in Spain. These closed and as they did so, the saltiness of the Mediterranean increased dramatically leading to the accumulation of ~1.5 km of salt on the Mediterranean sea floor.
Expedition 401’s aim was to collect sediment cores that allow us to test two main hypotheses:
- that this change in Mediterranean salinity, changes the density of the water flowing out into the Atlantic, impacting the circulation of the global ocean.
- that the formation of a salt giant, changes the chemistry of the global ocean in ways that impact the carbon cycle
Both these physical and the chemical perturbations have the potential to drive climatic change globally.
The sediment cores we needed were buried hundreds of meters below the sea floor. It’s very unusual to be drilling for sediment archives of climate this deep because climate records need to be continuous, and deep drilling rarely results in recovering more than half of the sedimentary layers. However, as a consequence of new drilling technology and the expertise in scientific coring accumulated and honed over more than half a century by both the JR technical team and the drillers, Expedition 401 recovered unprecedentedly continuous core even from depths of more than 1km down. For example, the last core we recovered from our Mediterranean site was at 1070m and had 96% recovery.
What these complete records in the Atlantic show is that there is a clear response to changes in the Mediterranean-Atlantic gateway at the same time as the salt giant formed making it very likely that there was a physical change in ocean circulation (hypothesis 1). Hypothesis two will take a lot of detailed analytical work on the samples recovered to test.
But the big ship-board surprise actually came from our drilling just inside the Mediterranean to the east of Gibraltar. This area, the Alborán Sea, was thought to be the main Mediterranean-Atlantic gateway both immediately before and after the salt giant formed. The cores we recovered at this site, contain some of the most beautiful sediments we’ve ever seen – exquisitely laminated in a variety of colours. This incredibly fine lamination requires very quiet, low energy conditions. This is not what we were expecting to see, because many of the models suggest that during salt giant formation, the Mediterranean Sea level dropped by hundreds of meters, causing major erosion of the margins including in the Alborán Basin. We were also anticipating a sedimentary signal caused by the catastrophic refilling of the Mediterranean, and we found no compelling evidence of that either.
All of this means that there are still lots of outstanding questions around the evolution of the Atlantic-Mediterranean corridor 8-4 million years ago. Luckily, Expedition 401 is part of a bigger Land-2-Sea drilling project, IMMAGE, that will drill the fossil gateways now preserved on land. So even though our ship-based drilling is coming to an end, we just starting to plan the next drilling expedition to Spain and Morocco.
This fall, Ocean Conservancy is celebrating its 41st annual International Coastal Cleanup® (ICC), once again bringing together volunteers to protect the beaches and waterways we all love. Ocean Conservancy recently hosted flagship events in Long Beach and Washington, D.C. that celebrated this global movement close to home.
Over the past four decades, nearly 20 million volunteers have rolled up their sleeves to remove more than 405 million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways around the world. And their impact extends far beyond what they collect. ICC volunteers have documented nearly 440 million individual items, creating the world’s largest marine debris database and providing invaluable information that helps Ocean Conservancy and others better understand—and tackle—ocean plastic pollution.
This year’s celebration continued that incredible legacy. At Alamitos Beach in Southern California, more than 150 volunteers gathered on September 19 and removed 1,109 pounds of trash, alongside members of Team USA Artistic Swimming and Olympic and Paralympic athletes. In Washington, D.C., 439 volunteers gathered on September 26 to remove 2,182 pounds of trash from Anacostia Park along the Anacostia River.
“I am so grateful to all of the volunteers who came out today for our ocean—and every volunteer who has made the last 41 years of impact possible,” said Ocean Conservancy’s Senior Director of Conservation Cleanups, Allison Schutes. “Every piece of plastic collected helps protect marine animals and habitats and contributes to research and advocacy.”
And the impact doesn’t stop when the cleanup ends. During International Coastal Cleanup events, volunteers do more than remove trash: They document what they find, helping build a clearer picture of the plastic pollution threatening our waterways and wildlife. Through the Clean Swell® app or paper data sheets, ICC volunteers contribute to Ocean Conservancy’s online, open-access database, the world’s largest repository of marine debris data. These records help scientists, conservation groups and governments understand pollution trends and identify solutions.
That data can also drive meaningful policy change. ICC data were recently used in a peer-reviewed study showing that plastic bag bans lead to reduced plastic bag pollution. The data have also helped advance policies ranging from California’s SB 54 to Florida’s balloon release ban and the federal Farewell to Foam Act. From a neighborhood cleanup to statewide action, every piece of documented trash helps build the evidence needed to tackle plastic pollution at its source.
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Want to get involved?
Whether you join a local cleanup, record the trash you find using the Clean Swell app, or take action to reduce plastic pollution, you can be part of this incredible collective effort to protect our ocean. Here are a few ways to make an impact:
- Find a cleanup near you.
- Download our Clean Swell app to easily record the trash you collect.
- Take action to reduce plastic pollution.
- Explore our Wildlife Impact Calculator to estimate the potential benefits of your cleanup for marine wildlife.
- Donate today to Ocean Conservancy to help us fight plastic pollution for years to come!
The post Celebrating 41 Years of the International Coastal Cleanup® appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
For generations, stories of people being swallowed by enormous sea creatures have painted awe-inspiring tales of human survival and perseverance. From the biblical account of Jonah to the legendary battle of Hercules and Cetus to the timeless story of Pinocchio, these legendary tales have captivated people since time immemorial.
But all these stories raise the question: Could someone really be swallowed by a whale? With the premiere of the film Whalefall on October 16, 2026, you may find yourself in conversations about this very situation. Based on the bestselling 2023 thriller authored by Daniel Kraus, the film tells the story of a scuba diver who is accidentally gobbled up by a sperm whale while searching for the remains of his late father. With only an hour of oxygen left in his tank, the diver must fight to escape the whale’s gut before time runs out.
The answer to whether it’s anatomically possible for a whale to swallow a person is actually a bit more complicated than you might think.