A new NOAA report assesses the role National Marine Sanctuaries play in helping implement ecosystem-based management practices in U.S. waters. The report found the National Marine Sanctuary System’s impact was significant due to its role developing tools that allow the participation of numerous stakeholders, address multiple uses, and provide guidance on how to protect habitat and biodiversity while minimizing user conflicts…  Read More →

Blue whales are able to synchronize the pitch of their calls with an extremely high level of accuracy, and a very slim margin of error from call to call, according to a new study of the blue whale population in the eastern North Pacific. Results were published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The authors suggest that the uniform pitch used by blue whale populations could allow individual whales to locate potential mates by swimming... 

New research from the University of Sheffield has discovered that the deep open ocean, by far the largest habitat for life on Earth, is currently the most under-explored area of the sea, and the one we know least about…  Read More →

Representing the most comprehensive and authoritative answer yet to one of humanity’s most ancient questions — “what lives in the sea?” — Census of Marine Life scientists today released an inventory of species distribution and diversity in key global ocean areas…  Read More →

The numbers of top-level predators in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, such as halibut and swordfish, have decreased significantly over what existed 100 years ago, according to a new NOAA report released today by the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries…  Read More →

Betty, the bowmouth shark, appears to have fallen head over tail with a diver, Martin Sutcliffe, at the Sea Life Centre in Blackpool, U.K. When he dives in to her tank, the seven foot predator just ignores all the other divers and swims right over to nibble his hair and rub against his head and body…  Read More →

One of the largest-ever studies of the impacts of water quality pollution on coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef indicates that poor water quality – characterised by high turbidity and nutrients – increases the amount of seaweed and reduces the biodiversity of corals…  Read More →

A team of international scientists, including Dr Jody Webster from the University of Sydney, have taken part in a groundbreaking voyage to the Great Barrier Reef between February to April this year to acquire fossil coral reef cores from the edge of the continental shelf…  Read More →

Oil Response Chief: Risk Now ‘Very, Very Low’ for Oil to Travel to Florida Keys Via Loop Current; Risk ‘Will Go to Zero Once Well is Killed’ The head of the U.S. Government’s response effort to mitigate the Transocean/BP oil spill said that with the oil leak capped there is now little chance of oil remnants reaching the Florida Keys and the South Florida mainland…  Read More →

Scientists at the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) have discovered widespread coral bleaching in Sepanggar Bay, off Sabah waters. UMS Director of Borneo Marine Research Institute Prof Dr Saleem Mustafa said that these activities deserved serious attention due to the implications on marine biodiversity and coral reef fisheries in the state’s waters…  Read More →

Members of Diving With a Purpose, the National Association of Black Scuba Divers, and the National Park Service sanctuary have been diving, charting, mapping and doing other archeological work in the Florida Keys in search of the Spanish slave ship Guerrero, which sank near Carysfort Reef in Key Biscayne. The slaver was heading towards Cuba when it encountered the British warship Nimble. As a firefight ensued the Guerrero ran aground and sank, many... 

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Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument becomes first mixed UNESCO World Heritage Site in the U.S. Delegates to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 34th World Heritage Convention in Brasilia, Brazil, agreed July 30, 2010 to inscribe Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument as one of only 26 mixed (natural and cultural) World Heritage Sites in the World. Inscription of this remote... 

Divers, and other recreational water users are being warned that there is an influx of jellyfish including black sea nettles arriving in force at Southern California waters and bays…  Read More →

Papua New Guinea just north of Australia is offering a free visit if you can be the lucky winner by choosing a winning name for one of two little known scuba diving sites off it’s coastline…  Read More →