23 Jun 2026

Photo by Dylan Shaw   A vast area of winter sea ice has failed to form off West Antarctica’s Bellingshausen Sea, with scientists warning the region may now be entering a permanently reduced state with consequences for penguins, krill and some of the continent’s most significant glaciers. The gap was first reported in detail by […]

23 Jun 2026

Photo by Gerland Schömbs   French Polynesia has become the world’s largest contributor to the global 30×30 ocean protection target, after President Moetai Brotherson announced on 7 June that a further 520,000 km² of the territory’s waters will be fully protected from extractive industries. The move brings the total share of French Polynesia’s exclusive economic zone under full protection to around 30%, an area covering roughly 1.4 million […]

23 Jun 2026

Photo by Ian Hutchinson   The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has abandoned its plan to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a $368 million network of more than 900 instruments, after a bipartisan revolt in Congress. The agency confirmed on 18 June that it “will not proceed with further removal or descoping of equipment from the […]

23 Jun 2026

      Photo by Josiah Nicklas   International governance frameworks are poorly equipped to deal with the combined threat that ocean acidification poses to global food security, according to a new study led by researchers at the UCL Energy Institute, launched during the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa. The research, published in Environmental Research: Food Systems, maps […]

16 Jun 2026

Photo by Owen Wei   The UK and Japan have agreed a landmark Offshore Wind Compact worth up to £9 billion, unlocking Japanese investment into floating offshore wind projects and cementing the UK’s position as Japan’s leading clean energy partner in Europe. The agreement was signed by Prime Ministers Keir Starmer and Sanae Takaichi at Downing […]

16 Jun 2026

 Photo by Jack White   Over 10,000 seabirds, more than 1,000 dolphins and porpoises, approximately 500 seals, over 120 tonnes of protected sharks, skates and rays, and more than 1,000 endangered Atlantic salmon are being killed as bycatch in UK waters every year. Those are the headline findings of Hidden in the haul: The true scale […]

16 Jun 2026

Photo by Dear Sunflower   A dramatic surge in common octopus populations off the south-west coast of England has spread as far as Scotland and Wales, with sightings now reported across a range of coastal sites that would have been almost unthinkable just a few years ago. New findings from the Marine Biological Association (MBA) confirm that […]

16 Jun 2026

Photo by Kevin Krüger   Bass Rock and its neighbouring island of Craigleith in the Firth of Forth have been acquired by RSPB Scotland, marking the first time in more than three centuries that these celebrated seabird sanctuaries have been held in charitable ownership. The purchase, supported by £586,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, brings […]