» Marine Wildlife



“Earthworms of the sea” are being harmed by micro-plastic pollution

The Guardian reports, 2nd December 2013: “Tiny bits of plastic rubbish ingested by marine worms is significantly harming their health and will have wider impact on ocean ecosystems, scientists have found. Microplastic particles, measuring less than 5mm in size, have been accumulating in the oceans since the 1960s and are now the most abundant form […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Washing each synthetic garment can release “up to 1,900 plastic fibres” into the sea

BBC News, 27th January 2012, reports: “Microscopic plastic debris from washing clothes is accumulating in the marine environment and could be entering the food chain, a study has warned. Researchers traced the “microplastic” back to synthetic clothes, which released up to 1,900 tiny fibres per garment every time they were washed. Earlier research showed plastic […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

The death of albatrosses from plastic pollution – does it foretell our fate too?

The Guardian, 3rd November 2009, reports: “Chris Jordan’s startling photographs capture the deceased albatross chicks that have washed up on an island the north of the Pacific, their stomachs overflowing with plastic litter. To see these photographs, click here. It’s a discovery to appal a modern-day Captain Cook. A vast plastic terra incognita, composed of […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Film “Synthetic Sea” – how plastics have entered the marine food chain, and the consequences

This film “Synthetic Sea”  has been produced by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and records c. 2010 the results of a research project to evaluate the presence and impact of non-biodegradable plastic (man-made plastics) on the oceans and the life that lives there. The implications of the facts portrayed by this film are worrisome, to […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Film : Garbage Island: An Ocean Full of Plastic

Captain Charles Moore (USA) and the Algalita Marine Research Foundation has made a 3 part film (each part c. 20 mins) which records a research trip to measure and record the nature and extent of plastic pollution in the ocean gyregyre A circular pattern of currents in an ocean of the Pacific Ocean. This film […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Sea Shepherd locates whale poachers in the Southern Ocean

Sea Shepherd reports, 5th January 2014: “The Sea Shepherd Fleet has located all five vessels of the Japanese whale poaching fleet, including the Japanese factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, inside the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Steve Irwin, The Bob Barker and The Sam Simon are now in pursuit of the whaling fleet, driving them […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

NGOs ask: is OSPAR weakening in its resolve to protect the NE Atlantic?

In December 2013 we reported that OSPAROSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic made up of representatives of the Governments of the 15 signatory nations. had announced new measures to protect certain iconic marine species living in the seas of the NE Atlantic, see https://www.marinet.org.uk/ospar-announces-increased-protection-for-iconic-biodiversity-in-ne-atlantic.html. However a joint response […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Migratory bottlenose dolphins hit by virus on US eastern seaboard

The Guardian reports, 23rd December 2013: “More than 1,000 migratory bottlenose dolphins have died from a measles-like virus along the US eastern seaboard in 2013 and the epidemic shows no sign of abating. The death toll exceeds the 740 dolphins killed during the last big outbreak of the then unknown virus in 1987-88. “It is […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Portrait of a coastal nature reserve in Suffolk

Matt Shardlow writes in The Guardian, 25th December 2013: “The Dingle Marshes reserve is a flat expanse of reeds and rushes nearly half a mile wide and running a mile along the coast. Behind the ridge are a string of saline lagoons — a rare habitat, home to some very special little anemones, shrimps and […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

OSPAR announces increased protection for iconic biodiversity in NE Atlantic

The Oslo Paris Commission for the Protection of the NE Atlantic (OSPAROSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic made up of representatives of the Governments of the 15 signatory nations.) has announced, 19th December 2013, increased protection for species and habitats in the North East Atlantic. Their press release […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Scottish government criticised for failure in its “climate and wildlife policies”

The Guardian reports, 28th October 2013: “Alex Salmond’s government is failing to live up to many of its ambitious promises on climate change and protecting Scotland’s natural heritage, a study has concluded. The report by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) said that the Scottish government’s efforts to set new standards on climate and […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Serious decline in Scotland’s seabird colonies urgently warrants “marine reserves”, says RSPB

RSPB Scotland is warning that some of Scotland’s globally important seabird colonies could become extinct in parts of the country if the Scottish Government does not act quickly to protect them. Species like common guillemots, razorbills and puffins are struggling to cope with increasing challenges including a lack of food and the effects of climate […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Surfers encouraged to protect the reefs that provide their surfing

Terry Lilley, Hawaii (Underwater2web.com), has produced a short video film which explains the importance of marine reefs to surfers, and the challenges that these reefs are facing in order to retain their health and integrity. This short film is highly recommended http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it71Oic9g_A Source: Underwater2web.com, 29th August 2013.

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Remarkable photographs of jellyfish and planktonic life in the North Atlantic

The Guardian, 21st August 2013, presents spectacular images of jellyfish captured by marine biologists and photographers Matt Doggett and Richard Shucksmith in the seas off the Orkney Islands. Doggett and Shucksmith headed to the outlying islands of North Rona and Sula Sgeir, some 85 miles west of Stromness. The water was full of jellyfish and […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Marine life migrating to the Poles and cooler waters, probably due to climate change

The Guardian reports, 5th August 2013: “Rising ocean temperatures are rearranging the biological make-up of our oceans, pushing species towards the poles by 7kms every year, as they chase the climates they can survive in, according to new research. The study, conducted by a working group of scientists from 17 different institutions, gathered data from […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Exceptional film of Ni’ihau undersea caves, Hawaii

We provide here the link to a short film by Terry Lilley which records and illustrates the exceptional marine biodiversitybiodiversity Biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals. that exist in the hidden undersea caves of Ni’ihau, Hawaii, Pacific Ocean. Source: Underwater2Web, August 2013

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

Over 700 seals counted in the Thames estuary

The Guardian, 19th August 2013, reports: “More than 700 seals have been spotted in the Thames Estuary in the first ever count carried out by air, land and water. Conservationists and volunteers recorded 708 grey and harbour seals along the Thames in a survey stretching up the estuary to Tilbury, the Zoological Society of London […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

80% of waste plastic in the sea comes from land-based sources

The Guardian reports, 9th August 2013: “Green turtles are swallowing plastic at twice the rate they did 25 years ago, according to a new study. The finding is based on data collected across the globe since the late 1980s and analysed by researchers at the University of Queensland. Study leader and PhD candidate Qamar Schuyler […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

News from Sea Shepherd

Our readers will most probably wish to hear Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd by using the link – www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2013/05/13/an-anniversary-to-remember-1503 and listening to the new BBC programme entitled ‘Shared Planet’ that appears each Tuesday at 11.00am for another 28 weeks: See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02xf2qg

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS

New Marine Conservation Development

Becky Ingham, who worked with the RSPB, is now General Manager of Hookpod Ltd, tells us that her company has designed, developed and are now trialling a unique fishing device called the Hookpod that should prove to be a great asset to marine conservation as it can be employed to stop albatross and other seabirds […]

Please do share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS