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North Atlantic right whales gave birth over the winter in greater numbers than scientists have seen since 2015, an encouraging sign for researchers who became alarmed three years ago when the critically endangered species produced no known offspring at all. Survey teams spotted 17 newborn calves swimming with their ...

For years, plastic caught by fishing communities on the Kollam coast in India’s southern state of Kerala was thrown back into the water, damaging aquatic ecosystems and killing fish. But fishers are spearheading an innovative initiative to clean up the ocean – along with their daily hauls of fish, they pull in and c...

Jasmine Harrison, the youngest woman to make the 3,000-mile journey alone, relished the freedom of doing it all by herselfIt was always during the night when things went wrong for Jasmine Harrison, the youngest woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Like the time her boat hurtled into a huge wave at 19.2 knots and capsized, leaving her with a badly injured elbow.“I...

Scientists believe 2-metre-long burrow once housed predator that ambushed passing sea creaturesThe undersea lair of a giant worm that ambushed passing marine creatures 20m years ago has been uncovered by fossil hunters in Taiwan.Researchers believe the 2-metre-long burrow found in ancient marine sediment once housed a prehistoric predator that burst out of the seabed and dragged unsuspecting animals down into its lair. Continue reading...

Post-Brexit regulation doesn’t match new EU rules to tackle ocean pollution, despite UK being Europe’s largest plastic waste producerThe UK has been accused of failing to honour its promise to curb shipments of plastic waste to developing countries, after it emerged Britain’s new post-Brexit regulations are less stringent than those imposed by the EU.From 1 January, shipments of unsorted plastic waste from the EU...

Environmental organisation says ‘dangerous’ levels of carbon-14 exist in water that could soon be released into Pacific oceanContaminated water that will reportedly be released into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant contains a radioactive substance that has the potential to damage human DNA, a Greenpeace investigation has said.The environmental group claims the 1.23m tonnes of water stored in more than...

Thirty times more plastic on ocean floor than surface, analysis suggests, but more trapped on land than seaAt least 14m tonnes of plastic pieces less than 5mm wide are likely sitting at the bottom of the world’s oceans, according to an estimate based on new research.Analysis of ocean sediments from as deep as 3km suggests there could be more than 30 times as much...

While resorts are deserted, 838 baby turtles have scuttled across a quiet Koh Samui and into the sea since February, making it a record yearWhen Kosum Kao-Uthai’s family noticed mysterious imprints in the sand outside the hotel resort they own in Koh Samui, she knew exactly which animal had paid a visit. She remembered spotting the same marks, left by a nesting sea turtle,...

Fishing time in first half of 2020 almost double that in whole of last year, Greenpeace saysSupertrawlers vastly stepped up their fishing in the UK’s protected waters during the coronavirus lockdown earlier this year, while most of the UK’s smaller vessels were confined to port.The amount of time supertrawlers spent fishing in marine protected areas in the first half of this year was nearly...

Conservationists warn the species, which was almost extinct 10 years ago, could be under threat if Japanese fishery is MSC certifiedA decade ago, the highly prized “king of fish”, the bluefin tuna, was taken off menus in high-end restaurants and shunned by top chefs, amid warnings by environmentalists that it was being driven to extinction. Recent assessments of eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna, which can...

Animal rights groups have been pushing a synthetic alternative to horseshoe crab blood in drug safety testingHorseshoe crabs’ icy-blue blood will remain the drug industry’s standard for safety tests after a powerful US group ditched a plan to give equal status to a synthetic substitute pushed by Swiss biotech Lonza and animal welfare groups.The crabs’ copper-rich blood clots in the presence of bacterial endotoxins...

Uneven heating could have major impact on marine wildlife, as species that rely on each other for survival are forced to moveRates of climate change in the world’s ocean depths could be seven times higher than current levels by the second half of this century even if emissions of greenhouse gases were cut dramatically, according to new research.Different global heating at different depths could...

Currents act as conveyor belts that concentrate microplastics in hotspots, study suggestsScientists have discovered microplastics in greater quantities than ever before on the seabed, and gathered clues as to how ocean currents and deep-sea circulation have carried them there.Microplastics – tiny pieces of plastic less than 5mm in size – are likely to accumulate most densely on the ocean floor in areas that are...

Analysis of underwater photographs has demonstrated what marine biologists have long suspected – seasonal fish migrationsNew research has finally demonstrated what many marine biologists suspected but had never before seen: fish migrating through the deep sea.The study, published this month in the Journal of Animal Ecology, used analysis of deep-sea photographs to show a regular increase in the number of fish in particular months,...

Use of ‘scrubbers’ to cut air pollution increases pollutants pumped into sea, UN report saysNew shipping pollution regulations introduced earlier this year could harm humans by contaminating fish and crustaceans with toxins, according to an internal report compiled by the International Maritime Organization and obtained by the Guardian.In the report the IMO, the United Nations agency responsible for regulating shipping, says that there is...

Oceans are clearest measure of climate crisis as they absorb 90% of heat trapped by greenhouse gasesThe heat in the world’s oceans reached a new record level in 2019, showing “irrefutable and accelerating” heating of the planet.The world’s oceans are the clearest measure of the climate emergency because they absorb more than 90% of the heat trapped by the greenhouse gases emitted by fossil...

Voracious purple urchins in waters of California and Oregon pose threat to kelp forests and risk upending delicate ecosystemsTens of millions of voracious purple sea urchins that have already chomped their way through towering underwater kelp forests in California are spreading north to Oregon, sending the delicate marine ecosystem off the shore into such disarray that other critical species are starving to death.A recent...

Floating boom finally retains debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, creator saysA huge floating device designed by Dutch scientists to clean up an island of rubbish in the Pacific Ocean that is three times the size of France has successfully picked up plastic from the high seas for the first time.Boyan Slat, the creator of the Ocean Cleanup project, tweeted that the 600...