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 An evaluation on the United Nations’ March 2023 agreement to establish a UN Treaty to Protect the High Seas



An evaluation on the United Nations’ March 2023 agreement to establish a UN Treaty to Protect the High Seas

This evaluation by Deborah Wright looks at the nature of the agreement made in March 2023 to establish a Treaty that will protect the oceans’ High Seas, and create Marine Protected Areas covering 30% of their High Seas. A look at the UN high seas treaty

A Brief History of Oil Pollution in the Oceans, featuring Torrey Canyon incident

Written by Brian Morgan, Marinet member — a short biography about Brian Morgan is available on his Marinet blog page.   The Torrey Canyon Incident This article relates to oil pollution at sea, and especially the far reaching effects of the Torrey Canyon incident. The Torrey Canyon was an oil tanker, en route from Kuwait […]

Is Fish Biodiversity slipping through the net of governance proposed by the new UN High Seas Treaty?

We provide here access to an article in connection with the UN High Seas Treaty, titled “High Seas fish biodiversity is slipping through the governance net”, published in Nature Ecology and Environment Vol. 3 pages 1273-1276 (2019). In addition, we offer a Marinet Commentary.  

We provide here a Marinet Briefing Paper on mass extinction events, with a particular focus on processes and the ocean, in order to provide an expanded documentary record of evidence in connection with our film WTF? – Where’s The Fish?

In the Marinet film WTF? – Where’s the Fish?, produced by Sarah Mallabar and narrated by Chris Packham, Marinet makes the forecast that the ocean could be facing a new mass extinction by 2050 where 94% of marine species have become extinct unless there is a fundamental change in mankind’s actions which impact on the […]

Deep Sea Mining : the nature of the resource, and the threat to ocean integrity

We provide here the text of an article written for The Huffington Post, 20th October 2015 by Prof. Richard Steiner (formerly University of Alaska, now Oasis Earth), the opening of which reads: “Adding to concerns about the disastrous decline in ocean ecosystems, now there is another emerging threat — deep sea mining. While shallow water […]

“Ocean Drifters” : The Importance of Plankton – video

We provide here the video titled “Ocean Drifters, a secret world beneath the waves”, a short film about planktonplankton Plankton is a generic term for a wide variety of the smallest yet most important organisms form that drift in our oceans. They can exist in larger forms of more than 20cm as the larval forms […]

Sea Shepherd’s Capt. Paul Watson’s 7th July 2014 statement on whaling in the Faroe Islands

7th July, 2014 Note to All the Pro-Whale Murdering Sea Shepherd Haters in the Faroe Islands Commentary by Sea Shepherd Founder Captain Paul Watson Sea Shepherd is dedicated to eradicating the obscenity of whaling worldwide We don’t care what you call us, or what you think of us. All your name calling, lies, accusations and […]

BBC documentary on British whaling history

The BBC has produced, June 2014, a television documentary about Britain’s whaling history. It is supported by a number of short video films on its website. These are: “Whale products and whaling in the 18th and 19th Century”. Click here “Ships of the British whaling fleet in Antarctica”. Click here “Arrival at South Georgia” — […]

Eminent independent scientists IPSO say than man-made ocean stress factors are far graver than previous estimates

We provide here the introductory text, with link to the main report, of the International Programme on the State of the Ocean, 2013, which states that man-made physical changes to the planet’s oceans — de-oxygenation, acidification, warming — (which the authors refer to as the “deadly trio”) are combining together, in conjunction with over-fishing, to […]

Krill Fisheries, the Next Collapse?

Peter Waller kindly sent in the following item from Erwin Vermeulen of Sea Shepherd, who wrote the following article on the mass krill harvesting now taking place in the Antarctic Sea, a sure threat to the food chain leading to the elimination of much dependent wildlife. Source: Sea Shepherd     The industrial smoke stacks […]

Scottish Marine Atlas published

Based on comprehensive scientific evidence made from data and analysis, Scotland’s Marine Atlas was published on 16th March 2011 as ISBN 9870755982547. Copies of the atlas together with a school pack have already been sent to all schools in Scotland. The e-book was made fully available on 27th March 2013 and can be located by […]

New Deep Ocean Exploration Video

We provide here a eighteen minute illustrated talk by Robert Ballard, US Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, about new and forthcoming ocean exploration projects.

Species of tuna fish to be found in the world’s oceans

We provide here information about the various species of tuna fish to be found in the world’s oceans. This information gives an indication of their commercial importance and whether they are being fished sustainably. Principal information is sourced from Marinelife.about.com and Wikipedia. Tunas are large, powerful fish that are distributed worldwide from tropical to temperate […]

“The Sounding of the Whale” — Book Review

The Sounding of the Whale is a remarkable book, an astounding piece of research that presents subtle, original arguments in a stylish and readable (if sometimes mannered) prose. Burnett’s subject is the development of whale science in the 20th century, which takes in the work of zoologists, palaeontologists, biological oceanographers, ecologists, neurologists and mathematicians, among others. The individual scientists are brought to life and their work is beautifully contextualised. Burnett shows us the many ties that bound whale scientists, disastrously, to the whaling industry. He also does a wonderful job of placing the science of cetology in its institutional settings, both academic and political.

Film of California’s Central Coast Kelp Forest

Film of the marine life to be found in the kelp forests off California’s Central Coast. The marine life in these kelp forests is some of the most diverse in the world and this exceptional film and commentary, made by Terry Lilley (marine biologist and former pro-surfer) and his assistant Sue Sloan, records a world of extraordinary beauty, colour and diversity.

Sea Shepherd commences new campaign in the Southern Ocean

Captain Paul Watson provides the background, in interview format, to the 2011/12 Sea Shepherd campaign in the Southern Ocean to halt whaling by Japan. This is the eighth campaign that Sea Shepherd will have undertaken in the Southern Ocean.

North Pacific and Alaska Humpback Whale population recovering from near extinction

Humpback whales of the North Pacific and Alaska have rebounded dramatically from near extinction half a century ago and now number at least 21,000 animals, according to the most comprehensive count of the species ever undertaken.

‘The Ocean Planet’ publication by Marinet

In this publication we review the serious challenges which our seas and oceans now face, and we outline proposals for fundamental changes in marine management to solve this crisis.