The Chagos Islands are in the middle of the Indian Ocean and home to a strategic military base on Diego Garcia.

(Image credit: U.S. Navy)

France was rushing help by ship and military aircraft to its poor overseas territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean on Monday after the island was shattered by its worst storm in nearly a century.

(Image credit: AP)

Yi-Kai Tea, a biodiversity research fellow at the Australian Museum in Sydney, has amassed a social media following as @KaiTheFishGuy for his sassy writing and gorgeous photos of fish and other wildlife.

Kai recently returned from an expedition aboard an Australian research ship to explore the deep seas surrounding a new marine park in the Indian Ocean. Led by the Museums Victoria Research Institute, dozens of scientists aboard mapped the ocean floor and, using nets dropped to as deep as six kilometers, gathered thousands of specimens, ranging from the utterly adorable deep sea batfish to the terrifying highfin lizardfish to the unfortunately named bony-eared assfish.

Today on the show, Kai takes host Aaron Scott on a tour of the ocean floor and the fantastical creatures that call it home.

"They are masters of the realm," says Kai. "You can't live in 3,000 meters of water and not be a master at what you do. And the fact that these creatures are living down there, thriving and making the most out of these habitats, that's a remarkable feat."

A Japanese-owned cargo ship ran aground in late July and began leaking oil a few days ago. Now a crack has expanded in its hull. The island nation is home to species that live nowhere else.

(Image credit: Jean Aurelio Prudence)

The Cocos Keeling Islands make up barely 6 square miles in the Indian Ocean. It's a good place to measure debris because almost no one lives there. Scientists were flabbergasted by what they found.

The U.K. expelled the residents of the Indian Ocean islands and allowed the U.S. to build a military base. The U.N. Court says it must cede control of the islands "as rapidly as possibly."

"My heart skipped a beat. It brought back many memories — good and not so good": Seeing her boat Wild Eyes brought back a flood of emotions, says Abby Sunderland, who's now 25.

A scientist who studies ocean circulation patterns tells NPR that it's "highly likely" that floating wreckage from the airliner could have reached the island of Reunion near Madagascar.

Britain forced thousands off Diego Garcia, a remote Indian Ocean island, in the '70s to make way for a U.S. military base. For 40 years residents have fought to return. Now they have a growing chance.

Prime Minister Najib Razak says new analysis by satellite company Inmarsat shows that the plane took a southerly route toward an area off western Australia "far from any landing sites."

(Image credit: Rolex Dela Pena)