As the global coral crisis continues to unfold, once shocking news has become commonplace: Case in point, Australian scientists now report that coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef has fallen sharply in all three sections of the reef for the first time in 35 years of continuous monitoring. Their recently completed annual survey follows the back-to-back bleaching events of …
Swimming with a whale shark – the ocean’s largest fish is something that seems to be on many diver’s bucket lists. These animals can reach up to lengths of over forty feet/twelve meters, and weigh over 41,000 pounds, so getting up close and personal with just one of these gentle giants is something truly humbling. …
The coral reef in New Caledonia is home to thousands of marine species including dugongs and nesting green sea turtles. Photograph: Marc Le Chelard/AFP/Getty Images New Caledonia has agreed to tougher protections around a huge swathe of some of the world’s last near-pristine coral reefs, in a move conservationists hailed as a major breakthrough. The Pacific …
With two sea turtles killed in Long Island Sound by propellers in the last month, The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is asking boaters to slow down and be aware of these endangered animals. A dead juvenile sea turtle — believed to be a loggerhead — was found Aug. 9 near Norwalk’s Sheffield Island by staff …
Researchers with the State of Hawai’i Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) and the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa found a management approach that combining manual removal and outplanting native urchin was effective at reducing invasive, reef smothering macroalgae by 85% on a coral reef off O’ahu, Hawai’i. …
While free-diving off the shore of Kaunolu on Hawaii’s island of Lanai, a Hawaiian family saw something they’d never seen before: A young whale shark. Even for people who spend a lot of time in Hawaii’s crystalline waters, this endangered animal—the world’s largest fish—is a rare and joyous sight. But the initial wonder …
BOCA RATON, Fla. — The struggle to save the already endangered green sea turtle faces a new challenge. The turtles nearly vanished 40 years ago in Florida, but a coordinated effort by conservationists, government agencies and volunteers brought the animals back from the brink. Now, the males of the species seem to be disappearing, CBS News’ …
Bottlenose dolphin populations are often found close to land in shallow coastal environments, making short, shallow dives of less than 10m for their prey. Credit: Copyright Michele Hogan For the first time, researchers have explored the physiological adaptations that enable different populations of the same species of dolphin to vary in diving ability by almost …
A family diving off the coast of Kaunolu, Hawaii, saved a whale shark from a potentially life-threatening situation this week, by removing some heavy fishing line that had become wrapped around it. Husband and wife Joby Rohrer and Kapua Kawelo, both biologists, decided to attempt to free the 20-foot whale shark after they spotted it. …