Ocean News

Recently, Guy Stevens and his team were visited by a reporter from the Guardian newspaper who came to the Maldives to find out why the Maldivian mantas have stopped breeding. Below is his story: http://mg.co.za/article/2013-10-07-manta-rays-are-no-longer-mating-and-its-a-problem The gentle, plankton-eating giants seem reluctant to mate in water lacking the nutrients needed to…

When I first read the phrase “passive acoustic monitoring” I pictured a crew of marine biologists on a snazzy research boat, wearing special headphones and listening to trippy sounds from the sea floor. I was fascinated to hear what a great white sounds like. As it turns out, they are…

There is no substitute for a real-life experience of the ocean and the amazing creatures that live in it, but there are millions of people around the world who will never get the opportunity to swim in the sea or hear waves crashing against the sand – except for seeing…

A new research paper, published July 17 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, reveals previously unknown details of how great white sharks power themselves and stay buoyant on non-stop trips of more than 2,500 miles. The discoveries have potentially broad implications for conservation and management of coastal waters. By…

For 220 million years they have roamed the seas, denizens of the bustling coral reef and the vast open ocean. Each year, some emerge from the pounding surf onto moonlit beaches to lay their eggs. Throughout human history, we have revered them, used them, and worked to protect them, but…

In a coup for for shark and manta conservation efforts, five species of shark and two species of manta rays will now be subject to international trade regulation under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). A required two thirds majority of CITES members…

Dr. Demian Chapman of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University has published a shark fin identification guide aimed at aiding enforcement and customs personnel in the identification of the first dorsal fins of five shark species heavily targeted for their fins. An estimated 26-73 million…

Save Our Seas Foundation has been pleased to provide funding for a peer-reviewed research paper by University of Sydney doctoral candidate Christopher Neff and and Dr. Robert Hueter, Director of Marine Biology and Conservation at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. Their article appears in the peer-reviewed Journal of…

Seal colonies are well established white shark aggregation areas, but a new study shows that inshore coastal areas (not associated with seals) can be equally as important for white sharks and that use of aggregation areas can differ between the sexes, which has important management implications. The researchers described their…

Coral reefs are instrumental to the health of the marine environment. They are home to 25% of all marine life, and provide important ecosystem services. They are also notoriously susceptible to the effects of climate change. Increasing ocean acidity, combined with rising temperatures, is killing corals at an alarming rate.…

Blooms, or proliferations, of jellyfish can show a substantial, visible impact on coastal populations — clogged nets for fishermen, stinging waters for tourists, even choked cooling intake pipes for power plants — and recent media reports have created a perception that the world’s oceans are experiencing trending increases in jellyfish.…

In new research published in a special issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives and in "Sources to Seafood: Mercury Pollution in the Marine Environment", scientists report that mercury released into the air and then deposited into oceans contaminates seafood commonly eaten by people in the U.S. and globally. Over…

The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favor of closing loopholes in the European Union ban on shark finning (slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the body at sea), the culmination of six years of campaigning and debate. Members of the European Parliament voted 566-47 in favor of the…

How do you identify a shark? Save Our Seas Supported Scientist Demian Chapman sent us an update about a new website that addresses this intriguing subject. His team developed a guide for law enforcement personnel and customs agents to be able to distinguish fins of oceanic whitetip, porbeagle and three…

The work of Save Our Seas Supported Scientist Ryan Saunders was recently featured in the Irish Times. Ryan updates us: "After a frustrating summer of not seeing any sharks, we managed to get all our tags deployed (7 tags) and 2 CEFAS tags two weeks ago. We got our two…