Ocean News

Twenty years ago, in 2003, a fledgling organisation entered the sphere of shark and ray conservation. At that stage, the world looked quite different for this threatened group of ocean animals with possibly the worst PR in natural history. Across the planet, much of our collective public interest, research effort…

2024 SAVE OUR SEAS FOUNDATION SMALL GRANTS OPEN   In its 20th year, the Save our Seas Foundation (SOSF) is excited to be opening its annual Small Grant funding cycle for the 2024 year, and announcing a brand-new funding opportunity that will put sustainability at the heart of the conservation…

For the first few years of their life, some species of juvenile sharks spend their time in ’nursery areas‘, which generally contain shallow water that their larger counterparts can’t get into. These sanctuaries for shark pups aren’t just appealing to one species. Sometimes more than one shark species will co-exist…

The Save Our Seas Foundation celebrates its 20th birthday in 2023, a milestone in shark and ray research, conservation and education. It’s really interesting to see how far we’ve progressed in two decades. At its core, the Foundation’s mission remains the same, but the 2023 cohort of grant recipients encompasses…

The current conservation status of sharks and rays, and the latest ideas for their research, management and protection, were the topic of the day for the 600 scientists, advocates and educators from 69 different countries who gathered online and in-person for this year’s Sharks International conference.

The Save Our Seas Foundation is proud to be partnering with UPY to celebrate talented conservation photographers, and help them to tell the stories of the ocean, the life within it, and the people working to safeguard it for future generations. We are thrilled to announce the winner of the…

It is with great excitement that we announce the three winners of our 2022 Ocean Storytelling Writing Grant.

We are excited to announce the 10 finalists of the SOSF Ocean Storytelling Writing Grant 2022! The judges reviewed 147 applications from a range of talented wordsmiths from across the world. The entire judging panel was thrilled by the number of different countries represented and were really impressed with the…

Collaborative research led by scientists at the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) Shark Research Center at Nova Southeastern University, and a network of regional researchers, suggests comparatively high genetic diversity and connectivity in populations of this iconic species in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) – a sign of resilience, but…

Tiny fragments of DNA. That’s where this 250,000-year-old story begins for two endangered shark species. The speed and agility of a hunter like the shortfin mako, the mystery and nomadism of the great hammerhead shark isolated into small pieces that read like hints and clues to those versed in their…

Few ocean giants have captured our collective imagination as whales have done; they fill our literature, music and poetry. And, as these words from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick demonstrate, much about them has been made mythical. But for all their size and splendour, we have never experienced most whale populations…

In a bold gesture in November 2020, President Iván Duque announced a ban on shark fishing in Colombia’s waters. It was a move that polarised communities, artisanal fishers, researchers and citizens across the country, but the Colombian government had theoretically protected all chondrichthyans (sharks, rays, skates and chimaeras). However, the…

Today is a watershed moment in the shark conservation world. All 56 species of requiem sharks (Family Carcharhinidae) and5 species of small hammerhead sharks (Family Sphyrnidae) (with the bonnethead shark as the lead proposal) have been listed on CITES Appendix II. The decision comes after anonymous votes were counted at…

There is only one place on earth where a hippopotamus would be encountered in the same room as a Chinese water dragon. And a short-tailed albatross could be found alongside a Mexican prairie dog. From 14 to 25 November 2022, Panama City will play host to the nations tasked with…

For the oceans’ largest and most mobile animals, the size of the area they call home can be unimaginably vast. historically it was the large animals that were exploited first and many marine megafauna now face the threat of extinction. Protecting these animals wherever they roam is a challenge not…