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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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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A new, unprecedented study has concluded that centuries of overexploitation of fish and other marine resources — as well as invasion of fish from the Red Sea — have turned some formerly healthy ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea into barren places.

Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that the healthiest places were in well-enforced marine reserves, where fish biomass had recovered from overfishing to levels 5-10 times higher than in fished areas. More importantly, scientists found that “protected” areas where some fishing was allowed did not do better than sites that were completely unprotected, suggesting that full recovery of Mediterranean marine life requires fully protected reserves.

“We found a huge gradient, an enormous contrast. In reserves off Spain and Italy, we found the largest fish biomass in the Mediterranean,” said National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala, the paper’s lead author. “Unfortunately, around Turkey and Greece, the waters were bare.”

The study, published last month in the journal PLoS ONE, is a result of hundreds of dives over three years throughout the Mediterranean, setting up transects to count fish and take samples of plants and animals living on the seafloor in 14 marine protected areas and 18 open-access sites.

Often called the “cradle…

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Scientists conducting deep-sea research around the Galapagos have discovered a previously unknown species of catshark, which has been named Bythaelurus giddingsi. It’s roughly the size of a house cat and sports chocolate-brown coloration with pale, irregularly distributed spots on its body that appear to be unique to each individual.

John McCosker of the California Academy of Sciences collected the first specimens of this new catshark while diving to depths of 1,400 - 1,900 feet aboard the Johnson Sea-Link submersible.

“The discovery of a new shark species is always interesting, particularly at this time when sharks are facing such incredible human pressure,” said McCosker, Chair of Aquatic Biology at the Academy and lead author on the paper. “Many species have become locally rare and others verge on extinction due to their capture for shark-fin soup. The damage to food webs is dramatic, since sharks provide valuable ecological services as top-level predators—when they disappear, their niche is often filled by other species that further imbalance ecosystems.”

McCosker goes on to note that while deepwater sharks such as this one are generally not as susceptible to overfishing as other species, this species may be particularly at risk

“Most deepwater shark species are…

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Sawfish are some of the most distinct – and most critically endangered – fish in the world. Also known as carpenter sharks, sawfish are actually a type of ray, characterized by a long saw-like snout for which the animals have historically been targeted for, often selling for thousands of dollars as “trophies”.

Though it resembles a saw, the sawfish’s snout is actually a complex multifunctional organ. Scientists have previously discovered that it serves as a sensory organ, detecting the electrical fields given off by other animals. Now, new research done by scientists in Australia has shown it to be a complete hunting weapon. As Barbara Wueringer of the University of Queensland, the leader of the research team, puts it:

“I like to call it an antenna and a weapon, because that’s what it is - it helps them to find the prey, but then also to kill it.”

Once they locate their prey, Sawfish use their toothed snouts to impale it, swiping vigorously to the point where their prey can be sawed in half.

As a new BBC article points out, their toothed snout – or rostrum – also makes them particularly vulnerable to entanglement in fishing nets.…

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A new study by University of Miami scientists, just published in the journal Marine Drugs, has discovered high concentrations of BMAA in shark fins, a neurotoxin linked to neurodegenerative diseases in humans including Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig Disease (ALS). The study suggests that consumption of shark fin soup and cartilage pills may pose a significant health risk for degenerative brain diseases.

This follows a SOSF-sponsored study done by Prof. Mahmood Shivji, a marine scientist and director of the Save Our Seas Shark Centre at Nova Southeastern University, Florida. This study revealed that 86%-100% of all tested fins contained heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, and lead. More importantly:

Over 45% of the fins exceeded maximum permitted safety standards for total mercury, lead or total arsenic as promulgated by the Hong Kong government, despite these safety standards being amongst the most liberal (i.e., least conservative among national standards that we have been able to obtain) for lead and total arsenic.

The new University of Miami study adds to this growing body of literature on the health risks of shark fin consumption by humans.

The new study found levels of between 144…

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Last week, the head of the World Bank Robert B. Zoellick announced the establishment of a Global Partnership for Oceans to confront widely documented problems of over-fishing, marine degradation, and habitat loss. Speaking at the Economist World Oceans Summit in Singapore, Zoellick described the initiative:

This Partnership will bring together countries, scientific centers, NGOs, international organizations, foundations, and the private sector to pool knowledge, experience, expertise, and investment around a set of agreed upon goals. These goals can sharpen our focus, encourage common and reinforcing efforts, and compel us to measure performance. Together, we will build on the excellent work already being done to address the threats to oceans, identify workable solutions, and scale them.  We can also mobilize financing where there are gaps.

There are an estimated 350 million jobs worldwide that are linked in one way or another to the oceans, so it’s not surprising that the World Bank has taken an interest, bringing together major NGOs, regulatory bodies, and private funding to tackle these issues. But what about the specifics? The Partnership has identified four major goals for the next 10 years:

Rebuilding at least half the world’s fish stocks identified as depleted:…

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