08 Sep 2025
Photo by NOAA Scotland has announced new restrictions on bottom trawling across offshore Marine Protected Areas, representing what officials describe as a “major milestone” in marine protection, though environmental groups have criticised the measures for deliberately leaving the most heavily fished areas open. The fisheries management measures, coming into effect from 16th October, cover twenty MPAs […]
08 Sep 2025
Photo by Robert Reid A massive volunteer-led effort to restore California’s devastated kelp forests has achieved remarkable success, with 5.8 million purple sea urchins removed from coastal waters and kelp canopy coverage increasing by 20-50% in restoration sites. The unprecedented community-driven intervention has begun reversing a decade-long ecological crisis that saw purple sea urchin populations explode […]
12 Aug 2025
Photo by Stephanie Harlacher Record-breaking sea temperatures drive unprecedented changes The UK’s seas have experienced their warmest start to any year since records began, with average surface temperatures in the seven months to the end of July more than 0.2°C higher than any year since 1980, according to BBC analysis of provisional Met Office […]
05 Aug 2025
Photo by Yannis Papanastasopoulos Ocean oxygen levels are declining at an unprecedented rate, with new research revealing that ancient episodes of deoxygenation caused widespread collapse of deep-sea fish populations, offering a stark warning for marine ecosystems facing accelerating oxygen loss today. A groundbreaking study published in Communications Earth & Environment demonstrates how mesopelagic fish […]
05 Aug 2025
Photo by Teo D Scientists have discovered extensive communities of marine life thriving in some of the deepest and most extreme environments on Earth, revealing ecosystems that challenge fundamental assumptions about the limits of life in the ocean’s most remote depths. A Chinese-led international research team using the crewed submersible Fendouzhe found flourishing chemosynthesis-based […]
22 Jul 2025
Photo of a beach in Penzance by Dominik Pearce In a sweeping snapshot of environmental change and ecological resilience, the Marine Biological Association (MBA) has published its latest South‑West Marine Ecosystems – The State of South‑West Seas in 2024 report. Drawing on a mix of scientific research and grassroots observation, the report paints a vivid picture […]
15 Jul 2025
Photo by Sindy Sussengut The Ocean Census, a global initiative launched in 2023 by The Nippon Foundation in collaboration with the UK-based ocean research institute Nekton, aims to discover at least 100,000 new marine species within the next ten years. As part of this ambitious effort to accelerate marine biodiversity discovery, the Ocean Census has […]
06 Jul 2015
This is a key development and doesn’t seem to have been reported on the official websites. Hence this interesting source: World Ocean Council: ‘The U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) last week adopted a formal resolution to develop a legally-binding treaty for the conservation of marine biodiversity on the ‘high seas’. The new ocean regulations are proposed […]