-
-
Recent News
- What shape are dolphins? Turning 2D images into 3D models.
- SCUBA Travel announce Diving Best Sellers of 2011
- Corals in trouble by middle of this century
- Creature of the Month: Giant Mussel, Pinna nobilis
- World-first discovery of hybrid sharks off Australia’s east coast
- Creature of the Month: Whale Shark
- Underwater Photography Guide announces Photo Competition Winners
- Mantas and Tuna on Red List of Endangered Species
- Greenhouse Gas Index Still Climbing
- Creature of the Month: Yellow Saddle Goatfish Work Together
-
Links
-
Tag Cloud
Acropora anemone Antarctic cleaner fish climate change Corallium rubrum creature of the month dead zone deep sea deep sea fishing environment EU extinction fishing giant mussel global warming Great Barrier Reef Heron Island jellyfish killer whale leatherback turtle marine reserve night dive Ningaloo Reef ocean acidification orca parrotfish pink coral Pinna nobilis red coral SCUBA News seafloor sealife seamount sea urchin soft coral squid submarine robots table coral Taiwan tuna turtle World Heritage list wrasse Yellow Sea
sharks and rays Archive
-
World-first discovery of hybrid sharks off Australia’s east coast
Scientists have discovered that sharks on Australia’s east coast display a mysterious tendency to interbreed, challenging several accepted scientific theories regarding shark behaviour. The Australian black tip shark (Carcharhinus tilstoni) and the common black tip shark (C. limbatus) have overlapping distributions along the northern and eastern Australian coastline. Using both genetic testing and body measurements, [...] -
Creature of the Month: Whale Shark
The biggest fish in the sea feeds on microscopic plankton. A filter feeder, the Whale Shark’s gills are specially modified to act like a sieve. As its teeth are redundant they are minute. It is one of only three sharks who filter feed, the other two being the Basking Shark and the aptly-named Megamouth. A slow [...] -
Mantas and Tuna on Red List of Endangered Species
The latest update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species reveals two species of Manta Ray are vulnerable, and the situation is particularly serious for tunas. Among the marine species classified as critically endangered – the most serious risk category – are staghorn and elkhorn coral, the hawksbill turtle and the Mediterranean Monk Seal. The marine realm though is very poorly covered in the IUCN Red List, comprising less than 5% of the species included. -
Ningaloo Reef On World Heritage List
UNESCO adds Ningaloo reef in Western Australia to its World Heritage List. One of the longest near-shore reefs in the world, Ningaloo Reef hosts annual whale shark gatherings and is home to numerous marine species including a wealth of turtles. -
Marble Ray is Creature of the Month
This month's featured creature is the giant Marble Ray. Three metres long it is not aggressive but watch out for the spines on its tail. -
Tags reveal Great White Sharks’ Beat
A tracking study of white sharks in the northeastern Pacific Ocean shows they follow a rigid migration route across the sea, returning to precisely the same spot on California coast each time they come back. Over tens of thousands of years, this behavior has made the population in the northeastern Pacific genetically distinct from other [...] -
Third of Pelagic Sharks Threatened with Extinction
The first study to determine the global conservation status of 64 species of open ocean (pelagic) sharks and rays reveals that 32 percent are threatened with extinction, primarily due to overfishing, according to the IUCN Shark Specialist Group. “Despite mounting threats, sharks remain virtually unprotected on the high seas,” says Sonja Fordham, Deputy Chair of the [...] -
Snorkeller killed by shark at St Johns, Egypt
A female French tourist was attacked and killed by a shark while snorkelling at the Saint John’s reefs in the Red Sea. The first fatal shark attack in Egypt for five years. The woman’s leg showed visible bite marks, and medics said she probably bled to death before being lifted to the surface. The shark was an [...] -
New initiative to reduce shark deaths
Today, the Shark-Marina, a not-for-profit company launches its strategy to prevent the deaths of millions of vulnerable and endangered species of shark. The initiative aims to win over the fishing community by working with game fishing societies, tackle manufacturers, competition sponsors and marinas to form community conscious policy. In the last five years over half [...] -
Basking shark mystery solved
Once thought of as a strictly cool-water species, basking sharks migrate to tropical waters each winter, according to research published in the June 2009 issue of journal Current Biology. “While commonly sighted in surface waters during summer and autumn months, the disappearance of basking sharks during winter has been a great source of debate ever [...]
