Ocean News

Thirty leaders and experts in the field of manta and devil ray conservation science have come together to identify major gaps in our current understanding and protection of these species. Their paper, published in September in Frontiers in Marine Science, synthesises what we do know about these rays, and highlights…

Member countries of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) recently adopted new measures to protect Greenland sharks and address thorny skate fisheries. Their policies, however, still fall short of scientific advice. We chat to Sonja Fordham, president of Shark Advocates International, about the advances and where we should be heading…

It’s what’s on the menu that matters when it comes to what turtles are picking to eat, and what’s on offer can be quite different depending where you’re dining in this ocean buffet! A new paper published in Marine Ecology Progress Series (MEPS) in July showed that the dietary choices…

The plane was boarded and it was time for our flight to Bimini. I peered down upon crystal-clear blue water and thought about the adventure I was in for. The past three years of my life, I have…

The latest research shows that filter-feeding basking sharks can breach like predatory great white sharks The basking shark, cruising the oceans with its mouth agape, is an ocean image perhaps least synonymous with speed and power. Indeed, our perception of large filter feeders is that they seem to move through…

Chondrichthyans, including rays, evolved at least 420 million years ago. Despite them being one of the most speciose lineages of predators on the planet, overfishing and habitat degradation have profoundly altered populations of many species. The relative extinction…

An otherworldly ocean creature from the ancient Hexanchiformes lineage, the broadnose sevengill shark (Notorynchus cepedianus) is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN RedList. In the absence of good information about these migratory sharks, found in temperate seas around the world, the species remains vulnerable to overfishing. In Argentina’s coastal…

The northern part of the Yucatan Peninsula is where our manta paradise station is located. Isla Mujeres, a 7 km long island, is home to the Mexico Caribbean Manta Ray Project (MCMRP) during the summer. From May to…

Since 2015, I have interviewed over 200 fisherfolk and others involved in fisheries, around Madagascar’s coasts. I have been trying to get a better understanding of whether sawfish still inhabit Madagascar’s rivers and coastal waters, and if so,…

The unique shark community of the Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR) in the Pacific Ocean has been captured on camera. David Acuña-Marrero and his co-authors published their findings from a survey using baited remote underwater stereo-video systems (BRUVs) in Marine Ecological Progress Series (MEPS) in June this year. Their survey deployed…

Since 2015, the MMRP has been running Marine Education Programs (MEPs) with different local schools across the Maldives. The MEP mission is to educate groups of local school students about environmental issues the Maldives and their own local…

Lots of new findings made it to print these past few months, with SOSF-funded researchers publishing their research in several scientific journals. Here’s a quick round-up of the latest news. Guillaume Rieucau and a team of co-authors that included Johann Mourier and Michael Heithaus had their eyes on the sea,…