Increasing coral bleaching will be worst for the most biodiverse reefs along the equator, impacting the livelihoods and nutrition of the people who depend on them.
Sea cucumbers convert organic material that accumulates on the seafloor into biomass.
Philip Wade/Flickr
Sea cucumbers have been overharvested for centuries. At the same time, coral reefs have declined as well. Research suggests that saving the former may help restore the latter.
Marine protection represents our best strategy to reverse declining biodiversity. But protected areas also provide a low-tech and cost-effective way for the fishing industry to safeguard stocks.
Governments all over the world are propping up overfishing. Now scientists have penned an open letter calling on trade ministers to implement stricter regulations against harmful fisheries subsidies.
At a depth of more than 60 metres, the gorgonians are healthy, colourful and in good condition, protected from the rise in temperature.
Alexis Rosenfeld/Unesco
In the Mediterranean, heat waves are decimating underwater forests that are essential to ecosystems. The gorgonians seem to be better able to resist in the depths, but this refuge may only be temporary.
Photogrammetry, a technique where 3D information is extracted from photographs, is reducing the guesswork in counting – and understanding – the world below the ocean surface.
A school of grunts on a sunken World War II German submarine in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina.
Karen Doody/Stocktrek Images via Getty Images
Avery Paxton, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
When ships sink, they add artificial structures to the seafloor that can quickly become diverse, ecologically important underwater communities.
The industrialization of the fishing industry and changes in the environment have raised many issues about the management of our fisheries.
(Fanny Fronton)
Open ocean sharks are globally threatened with extinction. Knowing where they are helps us protect them. Here, new research into silky sharks reveals priorities for conservation.
An Atlantic guitarfish swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.
NOAA SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory/Flickr
China and Russia have been blocking international plans to protect marine life in East Antarctica. Will next week’s special meeting in Chile break the deadlock? Australia hopes so.
The first comprehensive audit of marine life around Australia, deploying an army of volunteer research divers alongside scientists, has revealed southern reefs are suffering the most.
Soviet whalers manning mechanized harpoons in 1960.
Marka/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The Soviet Union was a latecomer to industrial whaling, but it slaughtered whales by the thousands once it started and radically under-reported its take to international monitors.
New data shows coral cover in the Great Barrier Reef is at a record high, despite a disturbing decade of marine heatwaves, cyclones and floods. While the data is robust, it can be deceptive.
The sound of the marine environment has been underestimated, mainly because it is not audible to the human ear.
(Shutterstock)
Thomas Uboldi, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)
The ocean is often considered a silent universe. But many recent studies highlight the importance of the soundscape for many marine species, both large and small.
An underwater forest formed by the purple gorgonian (Paramuricea clavata) off Marseille at a depth of 60 metres.
Romain Bricoult / CC BY-NC-ND
For the opening of the One Ocean Summit in Brest from February 9 to 11, 2022, France’s marine research institute looks at promising avenues of research to protect the planet’s largest ecosystem.
The world needs to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. We won’t achieve this goal without using new technology to patrol and preserve marine protected areas.
South African marine biodiversity is unique and valuable and the Wild Coast is an especially rich part of that heritage.
Peter Unger via GettyImages