Ocean News

This year’s OCS conference will be a joint Australian Society and Fish Biology (ASFB) and the Oceania Chondrichthyan Society (OCS) conference and symposium to be held in Adelaide, South Australia, from 16th-18th July 2012. The aim of this conference is to provide a forum for this region’s leading shark and…

Ocean acidification happens as the oceans absorb excess CO2 in the atmosphere, causing the pH of seawater to fall. This has wide-ranging consequences for the marine ecosystem, among which are coral bleaching and preventing the shellfish shells from forming properly. Jason Hall-Spencer’s groundbreaking SOSF-funded research on ocean acidification involves studying…

NASA has a beautiful video visualizing ocean currents around the world. Far from being static bodies of water, the oceans are in a state of constant flux: Watch surface currents circulate in this high-resolution, 3D model of the Earth’s oceans. Driven by wind and other forces, currents on the ocean…

Two Save Our Seas Supported Documentaries won an award at the International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula. The Shark Riddle, a co-production of Sisbro Studios and Save Our Seas, that won the award for best Best Children’s Program of the Year at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, has now…

Getting a sense of the scales involved when thinking about ocean depths can be tricky – we simply aren’t well-equipped to imagine scales which we don’t encounter in everyday life. Luckily, everyone’s favorite web comic xkcd has decided to put things in perspective. How does the maximum SCUBA diving depth…

This whole year has been an extraordinary adventure for both of us. We have the privilege of being the CEOs of a very special organization. When we started working for the Save Our Seas Foundation in January, we hardly knew what to expect. Of course we had read about the…

Every year, Save Our Seas supports the Palau Shark Week. And this year, it was an anniversary: the 10th edition! Save Our Seas was represented by scientist Charlie Huveneers. Read his report below! Shark Week was a combination of some of the world’s best diving during the day and stimulating…

Member countries agree to protect oceanic whitetip sharks, fail to safeguard whale sharks Guam. March 30, 2012. Fishing nations of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) have agreed to protect the oceanic whitetip shark based on a proposal from the United States, while an Australian proposal to ban…

Being the CEO of Save Our Seas is a privilege. But during TEDx SeaPoint, we strongly felt how overwhelming this privilege can be… Save Our Seas was one of the main sponsors and partners of this event. The first TEDx SeaPoint in Cape Town was a fantastic experience. 23 speakers…

Two years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill dumped nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are just beginning to understand its impact beneath the surface. Two new studies done by NOAA and WHOI scientists and their partners have shed new light on the…

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…

This year, it is already the Tenth Palau Shark Week, and of course it is again sponsored by Save Our Seas. Dr. Charlie Huveneers is representing Save Our Seas this year. Read his first report below! I’ve just returned from my second day of diving as part of the 10th…

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…

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…

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…