NOAA

The Rice's whale is one of the Gulf of Mexico’s largest and most mysterious animals, and is found nowhere else on Earth. NOAA Fisheries is set to publish a new critical habitat designation for the species.

Forecasters tweaked the number of expected named storms from 17 to 25 to 17 to 24. Of those named storms, 8 to 13 are still likely to become hurricanes with sustained winds of at least 75 mph.

This year's zone is over 6,700 square miles. The average over the past five years is about 4,300.

In a report Tuesday, the Florida Keys Wildlife Research Institute said no new sawfish deaths have been reported since June. But exactly what caused the startling behavior remains unknown.

NOAA awarded South Florida scientists up to $16 million to try to breed and replant about 100,000 coral on ailing reefs using survivors of last summer's heat wave. Researchers say climate change is the biggest threat to coral’s survival because it’s simply making water too hot too fast.

They come after NOAA issued an updated forecast that calls for up to 25 named storms, largely due to warmer ocean waters.

In the last 80 years, sea level rise has risen about a foot. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, that pace is expected to speed up.

The 2024 hurricane season is expected to be busier than average. To ensure that people everywhere are prepared, officials visited residents in Sanford, a landlocked city in the middle of the Sunshine State.

Sperm whales are an endangered species, but are also resident animals to the Gulf of Mexico. It is also rare for them to wash up on Florida shores.

Sawfish, and about 30 other species of fish, are turning up sick and dying in the Lower Keys as questions mount over what's causing it. As word and worries spread, scientists are yet to find a smoking gun.

The Category 3 storm killed a dozen people and likely cost the United States more than $3 billion.

Counties across the greater Tampa Bay region and along the west coast are under water restrictions, and the state's wettest season is over until late spring. Meanwhile, portions of the east coast were deluged with rain.