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Data on blue whales off California helps protect their distant relatives

A research team has found a way to translate their knowledge of blue whales off California and in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean to the other side of the world, revealing those areas of the Northern Indian Ocean where whales are likely to be encountered.

A World of Blue: The United Nations and the Ocean

The ocean covers about 70% of the earth’s surface, the land mass divided into multiple social units that contain burgeoning population, extraction and use of myriad natural resources, and serve as an ever-shifting arrangement of community, cooperation and conflict.

Sharks for supper? Why experts don't want a ban on shark fishing

Sharks are facing 'the largest crisis of their 420 million year history,' say experts, but a fishing ban is the wrong solution.

Important submarine canyons ecosystems are at risk

A recent review of studies of submarine canyons has identified that they are at risk from human activities, and require better protection.

Where the land meets the sea: Governing mangrove forests

As countries ponder how to encourage mangrove conservation, the role of people, rights, and governance institutions should receive equal consideration

World Wetlands Day 2017: Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction

2 February 2017, New York, United States of America

Bay of Bengal: depleted fish stocks and huge dead zone signal tipping point

Long treated as a bottomless resource pit, over-exploitation of the ocean, pollution and rising sea levels are having a catastrophic impact on life in the bay

Scientists unravel the process of meltwater in ocean depths

An international team of researchers has discovered why fresh water, melted from Antarctic ice sheets, is often detected below the surface of the ocean, rather than rising to the top above denser seawater.

Amazon Reef: First images of new coral system

The first pictures of a huge coral reef system discovered in the Amazon last year have been released by environmental campaigners.

Designation of a National Focal Point for the Programme of Work on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity

Reference: SCBD/SPS/DC/JL/JG/86223 (2017-005)
To: CBD National Focal Points

Calling deep sea species ‘monsters’ may harm their conservation

Fans of the movie Finding Nemo may remember the terrifying fish that scares Dory (a blue tang) and Marlin (a clown fish) at the bottom of a trench.

Marine debris threaten to suffocate sea animals

Marine researchers spotted a dolphin suffocating in a plastic bag last week in Watamu, Kilifi county.

Parrotfish are critical to coral reef health, study finds

Scientists have developed a 3,000-year record of the abundance of parrotfish and urchins on reefs from the Caribbean side of Panama to help unravel the cause of the alarming modern-day shift from coral- to algae-dominated reefs occurring across the Caribbean.

Dolphins, the most appreciated marine mammals in Persian Gulf

They are of the order Odontoceti and, unlike the whales have numerous teeth (up to 260), which are all alike and grow only once.

Here’s One Way To Keep Oceans From Having More Plastics Than Fish

Each year, 8 million tons of plastic wind up in the ocean. At this rate, by 2050, we’ll have more plastic than fish in our big blue seas.

Massive sea lion, fur seal hunting in the Patagonian coasts is altering Southern Atlantic Ocean ecosystems

Sea lion hunting by the Europeans at the Atlantic coasts of South America – it started in the 19th Century and continued up to the second half of the 20th century in Argentina and Uruguay – changed its nutrition guidelines of these pinnipeds as well as the structure of the coastal trophic networ ...

Thriving kelp forests impress

Cows and sheep eating seaweed cured of methane emissions contributing to greenhouse gases, snapper galore around floating islands of kelp submerged in deep water offshore which restore fish populations in empty oceans to feed an expanding world population far into the future.

Why the World's Biggest Sharks Love Mafia Island

Scientists hope the whale sharks that live around the East African island will help them better understand how to preserve the species.

How China is poised for marine fisheries reform

China has introduced an unprecedented policy platform for stewarding its fisheries and other marine resources.

Call for scientific information to support the objectives of the Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas in the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, 25 to 29 April 2017, and Training Session on Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas, 24 April 2017 – Baku, Azerbaijan

Reference: SCBD/SPS/DC/JL/JG/84836 (2017-002)
To: CBD National Focal Points and SBSTTA Focal Points; ACCOBAMS; BSC; FAO; GFCM; IMO; TCIS; other relevant regional seas conventions and action plans; relevant regional fisheries management organizations; indigenous peoples and local communities; and other relevant global and regional organizations/initiatives

We Should Be Preserving The Oceans Like They Were National Parks

Near the beginning of the upcoming National Geographic documentary, Sea of Hope: America's Underwater Treasures, the famed oceanographer Sylvia Earle sits down for a conversation with Dave Palmer, a commercial fisherman.

Endangered dolphins and turtles entangled in NSW shark nets

Report shows of 748 marine animals caught in 2015-16, 86% were threatened, protected or species not intended to be targeted by shark nets

Warmer oceans encouraging two new phytoplankton groups

TORONTO, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Two newly identified groups of phytoplankton appear to thrive in warm water. Though they are rare and different from any known species, scientists suggest the groups could become more common as ocean temperatures rise.

Massive genetic study of humpback whales to inform conservation assessments

Scientists have published one of the largest genetic studies ever conducted on the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) for the purpose of clarifying management decisions in the Southern Hemisphere and supporting calls to protect unique and threatened populations, according to experts.

Scaling up marine conservation targets should benefit millions of people

About 200 countries worldwide committed to protecting 10% of national marine areas by signing the Convention on Biological Diversity. But more ambitious marine reserve coverage policies that target unprotected fishing grounds would benefit millions of people who depend on fisheries for food and ...

On the hunt for dynamite fishers in Tanzania

Holiday idyll or crime scene? In Tanzania, dynamite fishers toss up to 50 bombs a day into the coral reefs - using a technique that, in theory, is outlawed. A task force is hoping to put an end to the dangerous practice.

Barramundi populations at risk from acid oceans

Wild barramundi populations are likely to be at risk under ocean acidification, a new University of Adelaide study has found.

Agreements reached on actions to integrate biodiversity in forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and tourism sectors and to achieve the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development

Scientists studying dolphins find Bay of Bengal a realm of evolutionary change

Genetic research on Indo-Pacific bottlenose, humpback dolphins finds animals distinct from neighboring populations

EU easing of fishing quotas raises fears over dwindling stocks

Ministers accused of ignoring scientists’ recommendations as UK fleets allowed to catch more cod, haddock and sole

CBD Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea region, 25 to 29 April 2017, and Training Session on EBSAs, 24 April 2017 – Baku, Azerbaijan

Reference: SCBD/CSU/CG/JL/JG/84835 (2016-144)
To: CBD National Focal Points and SBSTTA Focal Points in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea; indigenous peoples and local communities; ACCOBAMS; BSC; FAO; GFCM; IMO; TCIS; other relevant regional seas conventions and action plans; relevant regional fisheries management organizations; and other relevant global and regional organizations/initiatives

Ahmedabad’s coastal wetlands to get more importance

RAJKOT: Wetlands along Gujarat's 1,600km coastline, which have become a haven for migratory birds, will be in focus at the Asian Waterbird Count (AWC) beginning January 2017.

Second Technical Workshop on Monitoring of Marine and Coastal Biodiversity

10 - 11 December 2016, Cancun, Mexico

Great Barrier Reef not likely to survive if warming trend continues, says report

The Great Barrier Reef will not survive coral bleaching if current sea temperature trends continue, according to a new report charting increases over the past three decades which blames manmade climate change for the problem.

Spiny lobsters tap into a strange food source, scientists say

About a fifth of the diet of Caribbean spiny lobsters is derived from a process distinct from the traditional model of the food chain, according to new research.

Pacific Tuna Commission divided on conservation

Conservation and management measures for depleted tuna stocks in the Pacific have polarised the membership of the Pacific Tuna Commission.

More than half of shark species in Mediterranean at risk of extinction

A new IUCN report warns that urgent action is needed to preserve populations of cartilaginous fish, like sharks and rays, in the Mediterranean region.

The Great and Dying Barrier Reef

Coral reefs are among the most remarkable achievements of nature, structures built in shallow water over long periods of time out of the skeletons of tiny polyps.

Over 50% of sharks and rays in the Mediterranean Sea are at risk of extinction

More than 50 percent of the sharks and rays native to the Mediterranean Sea are at a high risk of extinction, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced Monday.

Message of the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, on the occasion of World Oceans Day

Swallowing swimming pools: New sensory tags capture kinetics of lunge-feeding whales

Swimming 4 meters per second, a feeding blue whale swings open its jaws and, in four seconds, swallows 140 percent of its mass—a volume of water and krill the size of a big swimming pool or school bus.

Australia Boosts Spending to Keep Great Barrier Reef off "in Danger" List

The money will help with issues like water quality and ecosystem health, but activists say it's not enough

As Australian shipping grows, how can we avoid collisions with marine animals?

Australians also have a strong affinity with the ocean, as reflected in the growth in recreational boating and cruise shipping. But these numbers risk putting people on a collision course – literally – with whales, turtles and other marine life.

There Is Life on a Dead Coral Reef

Even dead and dying reefs still provide essential habitats for some marine life.

Great Barrier Reef suffered worst bleaching on record in 2016, report finds

Higher water temperatures in 2016 caused the worst destruction of corals ever recorded on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, a study has found.

'Time to act': Damage to Great Barrier Reef worse than thought, surveys find

The government agency responsible for the Great Barrier Reef says urgent action is needed to save the world heritage site after yet-to-be-published surveys found the record coral bleaching damage earlier this year was even worse than initially thought.

800-Pound Groupers Making a Comeback—But Not Everyone's Happy

Somewhere in the warm waters off the Florida Keys lives a fish named Sylvia. She is six feet long, friendly as a golden retriever—and a rarity.Fabien Cousteau named the distinctive Atlantic goliath grouper after famed ocean scientist Sylvia Earle when the curious fish and her larger companion re ...

Scottish coral reefs at risk from climate change

NORTH Atlantic deep-sea coral reefs found in Scottish waters are under threat from the impacts of climate change, according to a new study.Marine scientists at Edinburgh University’s school of geosciences have produced research warning that changes to winter weather conditions could threaten the ...

Dealing with a reef at risk

PANAJI: Grande Island with its coral reef and other biota has enriched and boosted the state's tourism profile dominated by beaches, churches and temples. Sadly, the island has not received due protection even as more threats to its marine ecology loom ahead due to increased development activity ...

Seaweed: marine life coming ashore

British seaweeds are among our most underrated resources and hugely important for the ecology of the seas, but they get nothing like the recognition that, say, a wild meadow or ancient woodland gets.