26 Jan 2026

Photo by Igor Francetic   More than 100,000 whales, dolphins, porpoises and other marine species were reported in Scottish seas during 2025, making it a record year for marine megafauna sightings according to the Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust. Common dolphins, once considered rare summer visitors, made up more than 35 per cent of all […]

26 Jan 2026

Photo by Max Shirko   A prolonged data transmission failure affecting inshore vessel monitoring systems has left the Marine Management Organisation without live positional information from an unknown number of fishing vessels, five months after equipment supplier Succorfish stopped forwarding data amid an unresolved contract dispute. The issue, which began on 11 August 2025, continues […]

26 Jan 2026

Photo by Ricardo Resende   Fishermen in Alaska and Norway are reporting significant increases in cod catch rates using LED lights in fishing pots, with some vessels achieving catches two to three times higher than competitors using traditional baited traps alone. Frank Miles, who fishes out of Kodiak in southern Alaska, told Hook and Net magazine about […]

26 Jan 2026

Photo by Ray Aucott   Thailand’s Andaman Coast dugong population may have fallen by more than half in recent years, as more dead or stranded animals wash ashore pointing to a larger biodiversity crisis in the world’s seas. The Andaman Coast is home to one of the largest dugong populations in the world, with 273 […]

20 Jan 2026

Photo by Jakob Owens   The High Seas Treaty officially entered into force on 17 January 2026, marking a historic milestone for global ocean protection. However, the UK remains excluded from decision-making as Parliament has yet to ratify the landmark agreement despite being one of the first countries to sign it in 2023. The treaty, […]

20 Jan 2026

Photo by Nicholas Doherty   The UK has secured a record 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity in Europe’s largest ever offshore wind auction, with contracts awarded at prices 40% cheaper than building new gas power plants. The seventh allocation round (AR7) awarded 8.2 GW of bottom-fixed offshore wind and almost 200 MW of floating offshore wind […]

20 Jan 2026

Photo by Catherine Breslin   Scientists have revealed that floating algae blooms are expanding worldwide, with artificial intelligence analysis uncovering a potential regime shift from a macroalgae-poor ocean to a macroalgae-rich ocean. Researchers at the University of South Florida and NOAA used AI to scan 1.2 million satellite images and found blooms are expanding across the ocean. […]

20 Jan 2026

Photo by Hugh Whyte   Vast areas of the Caribbean’s deep waters are being mapped and studied for the first time as part of a UK-led science expedition that could uncover new species. The Beyond the Reef expedition is part of the UK Government’s Blue Belt Programme, which supports UK Overseas Territories in the protection of over […]