Some species, including blue whales, spend little time at the surface. So despite their overwhelming size, they can be hard to find and tough to study.
Chris Free, University of California, Santa Barbara
As the oceans warm, fish are moving to stay in temperature zones where they have evolved to live. This is helping some species, hurting others and causing a net reduction in potential catch.
The endangered Hector’s dolphins are found only in coastal seas in New Zealand, but conservation experts describe New Zealand’s proposed protection plan for the marine mammals as misleading.
The New South Wales government has turned its back on plans to create sanctuary zones covering 2.4% of waters around Sydney, despite evidence that these ‘no-take’ areas are crucial for protecting fish.
The world has some 500 million square kilometres of ocean. But just 55 million square kilometres remain untouched by intensive human activities such as fishing.
Much of the world’s ocean is teeming with ‘cryptic’ fish species, which are small and hard to spot. But a new technique shines a light on these fish, which may in turn help to keep our seas healthy.
Plankton has a chemical fingerprint that reveals where it came from. Scientists have now used this to track sharks at the opposite end of the food web.