The World Heritage Committee decided to remove the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) from the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger, despite IUCN’s recommendation to the contrary. “Threats from tourism, invasive species and overfishing are still factors and the situation in the Galapagos remains critical”.  Read More →

Deep-sea trawling is damaging the UK’s sponge beds and threatening a potential source of medical cures, scientists have warned.  Read More →

A new technique to harmlessly extract DNA from dolphin breath could assist conservation efforts aimed at marine mammals.  Read More →

New findings by international research group suggest that sea level will likely be 30-70 centimetres higher by 2100 than at the start of the century even if all but the most aggressive geo-engineering schemes are undertaken to mitigate the effects of global warming.  Read More →

Scientists aboard a U.S. research ship have started an around-the-clock search for elusive signs of oil lurking beneath the Gulf of Mexico’s surface in what they jokingly “Operation Dipstick”.  Read More →

JUST 600 metres away from the Great Barrier Reef, the jewel in Australia’s crown, a less spectacular but more ancient reef has been discovered.  Read More →

What has happened to the 4.9 million barrels of oil from the busted Macondo well? Some say it’s all dispersed – others say it’ll be around for months.  Read More →

None of the proposed technologies will stop sea levels rising this century and swamping low-lying lands, a modelling study finds.  Read More →

The Census for Marine Life has found that the most bio-diverse waters so far studied are around Australia and Japan. These each feature almost 33000 species. However, this could change as some highly diverse areas such as Indonesia and Madagascar have yet to report.  Read More →

The giant horned turtles of the Pacific became extinct later than we thought – and we were to blame. The half-tonne meiolaniid turtles were thought to have died out 30 to 40,000 years ago. With no signs of human interference, climate change was blamed. Now butchered turtle remains have been found in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.  Read More →

SCUBA Travel have updated their guide to diving Spain, including Tenerife and the excellent diving around the Medes Islands – http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/europe/spain.html  Read More →

It has been widely reported that the build up of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air, which is caused by human behavior, will likely lead to climate change and have major implications for life on earth. But less focus has been given to global warmings evil twin, ocean acidification, which occurs when CO2 lowers the pH of water bodies, thus making them more acidic. This lesser known phenomenon may have catastrophic effects on all sea life.  Read More →

The latest issue of SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) is now freely available on-line. In this issue: diving India, Philippines underwater photo gallery, diving Thailand, win a dive computer, creature of the month and the marine environmental news from around the world.  Read More →

Just weeks after BP capped its broken Deepwater Horizon well, the plumes of oil and dispersant in the Gulf’s deep waters have gone.  Read More →

Wildlife experts have announced an ambitious plan to rescue hundreds of turtle nests and eggs from the potential impacts of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The strategy has never been used before on such a massive scale.  Read More →