With more than 500 species of sharks in the world’s oceans, ranging from the 7-inch dwarf lantern shark to 35 feet long whale shark, sharks are found from polar waters to the equator and at the water’s surface to miles deep. Although there is considerable variation in feeding modes and body sizes, sharks are often […]
A new report sheds light on the future impacts of climate change on marine species across the United Kingdom. Focussing on 21 marine species listed as ‘threatened’ or ‘declining’, ranging from sharks and rays to seahorses and oysters, predictive models were used to forecast the impacts of climate change on ‘habitat suitability’. Factors such as […]
By Brittany Finucci of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and Cassandra Rigby of James Cook University: The deep ocean, beyond 200 metres of depth, is the largest and one of the most complex environments on the planet. It covers 84% of the world’s ocean area and 98% of its volume – and […]
The first-ever State of the World’s Migratory Species report has been launched by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), a UN biodiversity treaty, at the opening of a major UN wildlife conservation conference (CMS COP14). The landmark report reveals: Nearly all (97 per cent) of CMS-listed fish are threatened with extinction. While […]
Every year, around 70,000 turtles and 200,000 seabirds die as a result of being caught as bycatch in EU fishing fleets. Bycatch is when other marine species are unintentionally trapped by commercial fishing gear. This can account for up to 40% of total fishing catches, globally reaching as much as 38 million tonnes discarded per […]
Fin repair in sharks is common, though it is rarely full. Typically scar tissue forms in wounds, closing them, offering a small degree of regeneration. A marine biologist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, has documented a case of a silky shark with a regenerated dorsal fin, after […]
The Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project has released the first electronic atlas of priority areas for sharks, rays, and chimaeras. Sharks and rays are some of the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, and the ISRA project uses the best available science to identify regions across global waters most critical for the long-term survival […]
Protected marine areas are one of the essential tools for the conservation of natural resources affected by human impact —mainly fishing—, but, are they enough to recover the functioning of these systems? A paper published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science highlights the limitations of marine reserves in restoring food webs to their pristine state […]