The oceans have changed more in the past 30 years than in all of human history. In many places, more than 75% of marine megafauna has been lost, and almost nowhere shallower than 3,000 feet has been untouched by commercial fishing.

These are just some of the stark facts presented by Callum Roberts, professor at the University of York and member of the Save Our Seas Foundation Science and Conservation Advisory Panel, in a new book titled The Ocean of Life. In an excerpt published this week in Newsweek, Roberts describes the extent to which we have impacted the oceans through overfishing and CO2 emissions, painting a disheartening picture of the future in store for over 70% of our planet if we don’t change course.

On the subject of ocean acidification, he writes:

The oceans have absorbed around 30 percent of the carbon dioxide released by human activity since pre-industrial times, mainly from fossil-fuel burning, conversion of forests and swamp to cities and agriculture, and cement production. If carbon-dioxide emissions are not curtailed, ocean acidity is expected to rise 150 percent by 2050, the fastest rate of increase at any time in at least the last 20 million…

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Peru’s northern coast is currently the site of one of the biggest Unusual Mortality Events for dolphins ever recorded. As many as 3,000 dead dolphins have been found since January 2012, and more than 1,000 dead seabirds, mainly pelicans, have washed up on shore in recent weeks. And nobody seems to know why.

As nearly every major news source has reported, a cloud of uncertainty surrounds the die-off. Officials from Peru’s federal Ocean Institute are suggesting that the culprit, in the case of the dolphins, is morbillivirus, from a family of viruses linked to previous mass deaths of marine mammals. Others are less certain, and autopsies performed on the dead dolphins have found hemorrhagic lesions in the acoustic chamber and fractures in the periotic bones, pointing towards acoustic impact and decompression syndrome as the cause of death. This would suggest that seismic survey blasts used in oil exploration in the region may be a cause of death. Yet much uncertainty remains, as the New York Times reports:

The discovery of dead animals on beaches near Lima, the capital, in recent days has complicated matters. Over the weekend, the…

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This weekend saw the official launch of theBlu, a globally shared art and entertainment experience. Inspired by the world’s oceans, “theBlu” is a living and breathing digital art exhibit of ocean habitats and species, created by artists and developers from all over the world. Its aims are to:

Use the power of the internet to connect geographically disparate people in a meaningful way. Empower a global community of artists and developers to create an extraordinarily beautiful and high fidelity series of apps. Support non-profit collaborators in their efforts to better understand and protect the world’s oceans.

It’s not easy to get an idea of what theBlu is exactly from the description, but we’ve tried it and it’s definitely worth checking out! theBlu is available as a free download for PC and Mac.

From social gaming to social responsibility

“theBlu” turns the internet into a globally-connected 3D digital ocean wherein every species and habitat is an original work of art created by a worldwide community of artists, animators and developers, including Academy Award winners Andy Jones and Kevin Mack, and students alike.

Exploring “theBlu” is as easy as browsing the web and includes information about species, exploration of geo-located…

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The seas around the islands of Fiji are teaming with ocean life, and lots of sharks! From tourism operators, adventurers, marine researchers, coastal fishermen, deep sea anglers, anyone with a love for the blue and the wonders living in it, it’ was a time to check who is alive down there, and how many.

The Great Fiji Shark Count an initiative of Fiji tourism operators and organised by Helen Sykes, the co-ordinator of Fiji Coral Reef Monitoring Network will be held throughout this month and again in November. Helen stated: “We’ll count the sharks, rays and turtles during diving, snorkelling, fishing trips or on boat voyages and contribute to shark research and protection.” The event follows on the heels of another of her work the Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count in 2008-2009. And that is just what happened!

CEO and Save Our Seas Photographer Peter Verhoog was there, and took some incredible pictures.

A whitetip Reef Shark in Shallow Waters

A bull shark in the Fiji Shark Reef Marine Reserve

The next week is devoted to obtaining all the sighting reports from the participants and then Helen and a gaggle of volunteers will embark on the tedious task…

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Many shark populations have plummeted in the past three decades as a result of excessive harvesting – for their fins, as an incidental catch of fisheries targeting other species, and in recreational fisheries. This is particularly true for oceanic species. However, until now, a lack of data prevented scientists from properly quantifying the status of Pacific reef sharks at a large geographic scale.

In a study published in the journal Conservation Biology, an international team of marine scientists provide the first estimates of reef shark losses in the Pacific Ocean. Using underwater surveys conducted over the past decade across 46 U.S. Pacific islands and atolls, as part of NOAA’s extensive Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/) the team compared reef shark numbers at reefs spanning from heavily impacted ones to those among the world’s most pristine.

The numbers are sobering.

“We estimate that reef shark numbers have dropped substantially around populated islands, generally by more than 90 percent compared to those at the most untouched reefs”, said Marc Nadon, lead author of the study and a scientist at the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR) located at the University of Hawaii, as well as a PhD candidate…

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Time to pack our kits: 1000 shark books, prizes and shark outfits, and fly to the enchanting island of Pohnpei and meet more than 650 fifth graders in various schools around the island. Tova Harel Bornovski, president of the Micronesian Shark Foundation, Timothy Oikong AKA Shark Ranger Tim, and Ken Tarkong AKA Finny flew last week to Pohnpei to continue the shark education program sponsored by Save Our Seas Foundation. With local support from Conservation Society Pohnpei – Mary-Linda Salvador and Angel Johnathan – the group went to 12 schools in Pohnpei and conducted the shark program with fifth graders. Based on the photos, it looks to have been a great success!

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As Europe enters the final stages of debate on a proposal to close the loopholes in the shark finning ban, find out what finning is, why the current regulation isn’t good enough and why conservationists, scientists, and an increasing number of countries in the EU and beyond support a policy of ‘fins attached’ with no exceptions.

The Shark Alliance has made great animation:

Finning bans made simple from Shark Alliance on Vimeo.

Check out the website of the Shark Alliance for more information.

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