Criminal Charges Filed Against Los Angeles Sushi Bar For Selling Whale Meat; 'A Plate Of An Endangered Species'
Los Angles, California - Mar 11, 2010 18:25 EST
Federal prosecutors late last night filed a criminal complaint that charges a Santa Monica sushi restaurant and one its chefs with selling Sei whale meat. Sei whales are listed as an endangered species, and the sale of all whale meat is...

Criminal Charges Files Against Los Angeles Sushi Bar For Selling Whale Meat; 'A Plate Of An Endangered Species'
Los Angles, California - Mar 11, 2010 18:25 EST
Federal prosecutors late last night filed a criminal complaint that charges a Santa Monica sushi restaurant and one its chefs with selling Sei whale meat. Sei whales are listed as an endangered species, and the sale of all whale meat is...

Scientists Turn To The Sea And Discover The 600 Million-Year-Old Origins Of Vision
Santa Barbara, California - Mar 11, 2010 17:21 EST
By studying the hydra, a member of an ancient group of sea creatures that is still flourishing, scientists at UC Santa Barbara have made a discovery in understanding the origins of human vision. The finding is published in this week's...

Taiwanese Couple Pleads Guilty To Illegally Trading Protected Black Coral; 'Their Conduct Will Not Be Permitted'
Washington, D.C. - Mar 11, 2010 16:38 EST
Two Taiwanese nationals pleaded guilty today in federal court in the U.S. Virgin Islands for conspiracy to ship internationally protected black coral into the United States in violation of federal wildlife statutes, the Department of Justice announced. Gloria Chu and Ivan...

U.S. Set To Declare Loggerhead Turtles Endangered Species; 'Overwhelming Evidence' Links Fishing To Decline
Washington, D.C. - Mar 10, 2010 18:39 EST
Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC), the world's oldest sea turtle research and protection group, today applauded the proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to designate Northwest Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles as...

Criminal Charges Files Against Los Angeles Sushi Bar For Selling Whale Meat; 'A Plate Of An Endangered Species'
Los Angles, California - Mar 11, 2010 18:25 EST
Federal prosecutors late last night filed a criminal complaint that charges a Santa Monica sushi restaurant and one its chefs with selling Sei whale meat. Sei whales are listed as an endangered species, and the sale of all whale meat is...

Criminal Charges Filed Against Los Angeles Sushi Bar For Selling Whale Meat; 'A Plate Of An Endangered Species'
Los Angles, California - Mar 11, 2010 18:25 EST
Federal prosecutors late last night filed a criminal complaint that charges a Santa Monica sushi restaurant and one its chefs with selling Sei whale meat. Sei whales are listed as an endangered species, and the sale of all whale meat is...

Scientists Turn To The Sea And Discover The 600 Million-Year-Old Origins Of Vision
Santa Barbara, California - Mar 11, 2010 17:21 EST
By studying the hydra, a member of an ancient group of sea creatures that is still flourishing, scientists at UC Santa Barbara have made a discovery in understanding the origins of human vision. The finding is published in this week's...

Taiwanese Couple Pleads Guilty To Illegally Trading Protected Black Coral; 'Their Conduct Will Not Be Permitted'
Washington, D.C. - Mar 11, 2010 16:38 EST
Two Taiwanese nationals pleaded guilty today in federal court in the U.S. Virgin Islands for conspiracy to ship internationally protected black coral into the United States in violation of federal wildlife statutes, the Department of Justice announced. Gloria Chu and Ivan...

U.S. Set To Declare Loggerhead Turtles Endangered Species; 'Overwhelming Evidence' Links Fishing To Decline
Washington, D.C. - Mar 10, 2010 18:39 EST
Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC), the world's oldest sea turtle research and protection group, today applauded the proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to designate Northwest Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles as...

Study: Ocean Geoengineering Scheme No Easy Fix For Global Warming; 'There Remain Many Uncertainties'
Southampton, UK - Feb 20, 2010 18:36 EST
Pumping nutrient-rich water up from the deep ocean to boost algal growth in sunlit surface waters and draw carbon dioxide down from the atmosphere has been touted as a way of ameliorating global warming. However, a new study led by...

Researchers: Carbonate Veins Reveal Chemistry Of Ancient Seawater; 'A Major Challenge For Earth Scientists'
Southampton, UK - Feb 11, 2010 17:52 EST
The chemical composition of our oceans is not constant but has varied significantly over geological time. In a study published this week in Science, researchers describe a novel method for reconstructing past ocean chemistry using calcium carbonate veins that precipitate...

Research: Single-celled Creature Tackles The Challenge Of Homebuilding Beyond The Abyss
Southampto, UK - Feb 11, 2010 17:47 EST
Evidence from the Challenger Deep-– the deepest surveyed point in the world's oceans-– suggests that tiny single-celled creatures called foraminifera living at extreme depths of more than ten kilometres build their homes using material that sinks down from near the...

UN: Whales, Dolphins And Porpoises Suffer High Death Rate As By-catch In Fishing Nets
Bonn, Germany - Feb 4, 2010 16:36 EST
Toothed whales are currently suffering from a major threat which is unsustainable loss from by-catch in fishery operations. For 86% of all toothed whale species, entanglement and death in gillnets, traps, weirs, purse seines, longlines and trawls poses a major...

Research: 'Primordial Soup' Not The Origin Of Life; Hydrothermal Vents 'Kick-started Early Life'
Düsseldorf, Germany - Feb 3, 2010 16:37 EST
For 80 years it has been accepted that early life began in a 'primordial soup' of organic molecules before evolving out of the oceans millions of years later. Today the 'soup' theory has been over turned in a pioneering paper...

Japan: Flagless Sea Shepherd Vessel Attacks With Illegal Laser Weapon
Tokyo, Japan - Feb 22, 2010 22:15 EST
Japanese research whalers in the Antarctic claim they have come under attack from an illegal laser weapon aboard the flagless Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Bob Barker. The text of Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research press release from the incident...

Japanese Whalers: Sea Shepherd Engages In Repeated 'Desperado' Attacks
Tokyo, Japan - Feb 18, 2010 19:07 EST
Japanese research whalers in the Antarctic have come under repeated attacks by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society over the last two days. The Japanese researchers said the activists approached the Nisshin Maru and repeatedly shot acid and paint projectiles....

Japanese: Sea Shepherd Attempts To Foul Prop Of Nisshin Maru, Repeats 'Foolhardy Actions'
Tokyo, Japan - Feb 16, 2010 22:59 EST
Japan’s Antarctic whale research (JARPA II) mother ship Nisshin Maru is being subjected to another hawser attack by the Dutch-registered vessel Steve Irwin. The hawser aims to disable the rudder and propeller of the Nisshin Maru. From around 08:00JST (1200hrs NZDT; 1000hrs...

Governments Agree To Protect Endangered Sharks Under Un-Backed Treaty; 'A Decisive Step Forward'
Manila, The Philippines - Feb 16, 2010 21:26 EST
A landmark agreement to protect shark species threatened with extinction was reached today by over 100 countries signed up to a United Nations-supported wildlife treaty, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The 113 countries that are party to the UNEP-administered...

Whale Wars: Sea Shepherd Activist Boards Japanese Vessel In Attempted Citizen's Arrest
Tokyo, Japan - Feb 15, 2010 20:53 EST
In another strange twist to the on-going battle between Japanese research whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, activist Peete Bethune boarded the Japanese vessel Shonan Maru 2 in an attempt to make a citizen's arrest of the vessel's captain,...

Shark Pups Born In Bizarre Caesarean Released Back Into Wild; 'They Have Grown Strong And Healthy'
Auckland, New Zealand - Mar 10, 2010 17:40 EST
Eight baby School shark pups born in a bizarre caesarean section at Kelly Tarlton’s last year are being released back into the wild this week. The pups made international headlines last November when they were born, premature but healthy, from a gash their...

Aussie Researchers Document Shark And Manta Ray 'Clean, Wax And Polish' Stations Along Great Barrier Reef
Townsville, Queensland - Mar 8, 2010 17:48 EST
Sharks and manta rays gather in large numbers at special spots on the Great Barrier Reef and Osprey Reef for a regular “clean, wax and polish”. Researchers at James Cook University set up cameras at a number of spots on the...

Ancient Corals Hold New Hope For Reefs; 'Remarkably Successful In Surviving Large Environmental Disturbances'
Queensland, Australia - Feb 28, 2010 19:15 EST
Fossil corals, up to half a million years old, are providing fresh hope that coral reefs may be able to withstand the huge stresses imposed on them by today's human activity. Reef ecosystems were able to persist through massive environmental...

Research: Fish Use 'Secret' Ultraviolet Vision To Distinguish Between Species
Sydney, Australia - Feb 28, 2010 18:45 EST
In a remarkable new finding, scientists have reported that certain coral reef fish use ultraviolet (UV) vision to tell the difference between their own and other similar species. Indeed, the otherwise rather plain-looking Ambon damselfish may even be able to...

Professor: Warmer Seas Herald Decreasing Clouds And Rain; 'The Reef And The Rainforest Live In A Type Of Symbiosis'
Lismor, Australia - Feb 25, 2010 16:45 EST
As ocean temperatures rise, the world’s corals might stop producing natural cloud seeding chemicals and less rain will fall – potentially affecting the lush rainforests on Australia’s east coast. This is the dire prediction made by Associate Professor Graham Jones, a...

Tuna Commission Set To Decide The Future Of Mediterranean Bluefin As Populations 'Poised For Collapse'
Marrakech, Morocco - Nov 18, 2008 21:25 EST
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) will meet from November 17- 24 in Marrakech, Morocco to make decisions on measures to save Mediterranean bluefin tuna from collapse. ICCAT meets this year with mounting evidence of the...

Researchers: New Coral Reef Discovered In The Seychelles; Not 'visible To The Occasional Snorkeller'
Essex, United Kingdom - Oct 23, 2008 17:08 EST
Researchers from the Department of Biological Sciences have discovered a previously unknown coral reef in the Seychelles. Dr Dave Smith and Dr Dave Suggett visited Curieuse Island as part of an ongoing study funded by Mitsubishi Corporation in conjunction with the...

Top Shark Scientist Awarded Gilchrist Medal For Contribution To Marine Science In South Africa
San Francisco, California - Jul 24, 2008 16:56 EST
The Shark Research Institute is proud to announce that Leonard Compagno, Ph.D. has been awarded the Gilchrist Medal for “outstanding contribution to the enhancement of marine and coastal science in South Africa, including the Southern Ocean". The Gilchrist Memorial Medal was...

Russian Deep-sea Divers Missing In Egypt; 'Safety Rules Were Ignored'
Cairo, Egypt - Nov 22, 2007 11:08 EST
The search for Russian divers who failed to resurface in the Red Sea has been suspended for the night. The three divers failed to return to their boat after attempting a particularly deep dive near Elphinstone reef. The rescue operation...

South Africa Surfer Attacked By Great White Shark Hours Before 'Jaws' Broadcast; 'Lucky To Be Alive'
East London, South Africa - Nov 5, 2007 15:55 EST
A South Africa surfer was recovering in hospital yesterday after being attacked by a monster shark – just hours before the movie Jaws was being rebroadcast on national TV. The shark, believed to be a Great White, shattered Lee Mellin’s surf...

International Tourism Operators Against Elimination Of Las Baulas National Park In Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa Rica - Nov 6, 2009 17:38 EST
10 international tourism agencies that promote Costa Rica as an ecotourism destination have expressed their discontent with bill 17.383, supported by the country's president, to downgrade Las Baulas Marine National Park to a Mixed Wildlife Refuge and allow development therein....

Sea Turtle Wildlife Refuge In Costa Rica Bulldozed By Farming Company; 'Total Disrespect Of Our Courts'
San José, Costa Rica - Sep 8, 2009 22:01 EST
Agropecuaria Caletas S.A., has continued the destruction of wetlands within the Caletas Ario National Wildlife Refuge, created in 2006 to protect nesting olive ridley and leatherback sea turtles, disregarding the mandates of the Environmental Tribune of the Ministry of Environment. Last...

Sea Turtle Satellite Tagging Expedition At Cocos Island, Costa Rica Swims Into Action
Forest Knolls, California - Sep 3, 2009 15:58 EST
A 10-day sea turtle tagging research expedition to Cocos Island National Park, Costa Rica successfully outfitted three green turtles and one hawksbill turtle with satellite transmitters in order to follow their movements, as part of a long-term research project to...

Study: Caribbean Coral Comprehensively 'flattened' Over The Last 40 Years
East Anglia, U.K. - Jun 9, 2009 21:54 EST
Coral reefs throughout the Caribbean have been comprehensively 'flattened' over the last 40 years, according to a disturbing new study by the University of East Anglia (UEA). The collapse of reef structure has serious implications for biodiversity and coastal defences –...

Shark Attacks Surfer In The Galapagos Islands; Foot, Hand Severely Injured
Guayaquil, Equador - Jan 13, 2009 13:01 EST
A surfer has been bitten by a shark while surfing off a beach in the Galapagos Islands. The surfer, identified as Gonzalo Vasquez Alcivar, 22, suffered serious injuries to the leg and hand. The attack occurred last Saturday,...

Researcher Creates 'Boutique' Fish Farms For Ugandans To Combat Lake Victoria's Depleted Fish Supplies
Jerusalem, Israel - Feb 9, 2010 17:27 EST
In a unique project to combat depleted fish supplies in Lake Victoria, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Makerere University in Kampala, have established 'boutique' fish farms in small villages around the Lake's shore in Uganda. Predators Local fishermen...

Researcher: Tsunami Waves Reasonably Likely To Strike Israel; '5 Meters High And As Far As 2 Km Onshore'
Haifa, Israel - Nov 5, 2009 09:38 EST
"There is a likely chance of tsunami waves reaching the shores of Israel," says Dr. Beverly Goodman of the Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa following encompassing geoarchaeological research at the port of Caesarea....

Study: Could Cannon Balls From The Early 19th Century Really Sink Warships?
Haifa, Israel - Jul 20, 2009 21:06 EST
A joint experiment carried out by researchers from the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa and staff of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. has solved the riddle that has been puzzling researchers ever since they...

Japanese Corals Change Sexes On The Sea Floor; 'Males Are Less Expensive To Maintain'
Tel Aviv, Israel - Feb 20, 2009 18:18 EST
Trees do it. Bees do it. Even environmentally stressed fish do it. But Prof. Yossi Loya from Tel Aviv University's Department of Zoology is the first in the world to discover that Japanese sea corals engage in "sex switching" too. His...

UAE Environmental Ministry Issues Decree To Regulate Hunting Of Sharks
United Arab Emerates - Sep 28, 2008 18:28 EST
Minister of Environment and Water, Dr. Rashid Ahmed bin Fahd, has issued a ministerial decree on bye-laws of Federal Law no. 23 of 1999 dealing with the use, protection and development of water resources in the UAE. According to the decree,...

Research: Antarctic Krill Provide Potent Carbon Sink in Southern Ocean; Counteracts 35 Million Cars
British Antarctic Survey, Antartica - Jul 19, 2006 21:35 EST
Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Scarborough Centre of Coastal Studies at the University of Hull discovered that rather than doing so once per 24 hours, Antarctic krill 'parachute' from the ocean surface to deeper layers several times during...

Scientists: Unprecedented Number of Walrus Calves Stranded by Melting Sea Ice
Woods Hole, Massachusetts - Apr 13, 2006 18:19 EST
Scientists have reported an unprecedented number of unaccompanied and possibly abandoned walrus calves in the Arctic Ocean, where melting sea ice may be forcing mothers to abandon their pups as the mothers follow the rapidly retreating ice edge north. Nine lone...

Two new lakes found beneath Antarctic ice sheet; could contain unique ecosystems
Lake Vostok, Antarctica - Jan 30, 2006 00:00 EST
Lying beneath more than two miles of Antarctic ice, Lake Vostok may be the best-known and largest subglacial lake in the world, but it is not alone down there. Scientists have identified more than 145 other lakes trapped under the...

Research: El Nino events affect whale breeding
South Atlantic - Jan 11, 2006 00:00 EST
New research shows that global climate processes are affecting southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) in the South Atlantic. A thirty-year study by an international team of scientists found a strong relationship between breeding success of whales in the South Atlantic...

Global Warming Can Trigger Extreme Ocean, Climate Changes
San Diego, California - Jan 4, 2006 00:00 EST
New research produced by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, helps illustrate how global warming caused by greenhouse gases can quickly disrupt ocean processes and lead to drastic climatological, biological and other important...