The most threatened species in the shark and ray Class are the sawfishes; all the world’s species are classified by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) as Critically Endangered. The US population of smalltooth sawfish has declined by an estimated 99% while European sawfish are assumed extinct.
Environment
800 Manatees Die in Florida Waters in 2013
A manatee munching down on some sargassum. Credit: USGS – Sirenia Project View full size image It has been a bad year for Florida manatees. Very bad. As of Dec. 13, a total of 803 manatees had died in the… Read More ›
What To Do With Nuclear Dump Sites in The Sea
More than four decades after the U.S. halted a controversial ocean dumping program, the country is facing a mostly forgotten Cold War legacy in its waters: tens of thousands of steel drums of atomic waste. From 1946 to 1970, federal… Read More ›
New Research, Concerns about the Plastisphere
BOB CHAMBERLIN / Los Angeles Times Students from the University of San Diego bring up a water-collection device to gather minuscule pieces that make up the plastisphere, a result of decades of plastic pollution. OFF THE COAST OF SAN DIEGO… Read More ›
Australia Sets Baits To “Cull” Sharks
A new strategy to reduce fatal shark attacks is being implemented in Western Australia with baits being set and killing zones designated near popular beaches. The State Government is creating zones along beaches in Perth and the south-west where sharks… Read More ›
5 Easy Ways To Protect Our Oceans
Neptune 911 is about ocean education for everyone, from every continent’s coastline and all the earth between. The California Coastal Commission has offered five easy ways we can each help our ocean’s health: Leave beaches, parks, and neighborhoods cleaner than… Read More ›
540 Scientists Predict “Hot, Sour, Breathless” Oceans
Seth Borenstein reports for Associated Press: WASHINGTON (AP) — Greenhouse gases are making the world’s oceans hot, sour and breathless, and the way those changes work together is creating a grimmer outlook for global waters, according to a new… Read More ›
Microscopic Life in the Plastisphere
VAST AMOUNTS OF of plastic debris floating in the ocean are supporting new forms of microscopic life and whole new ecosystems. Scientists writing in the journal Environmental Science & Technology are collectively calling this new life the ‘plastisphere’. Previous studies have thoroughly… Read More ›
X Price Launches Ocean Ambassador Program
XPRIZE (www.xprize.org), the global leader in incentivized prize competitions, today announced its largest commitment to date – a multi-year effort to launch three additional ocean XPRIZEs by 2020, as part of the XPRIZE Ocean Initiative. To accompany the Initiative, XPRIZE… Read More ›
Oceans Turning Acidic At Unprecedented Rate
Editor’s Note: More news about the state of ocean acidification from the Washington Post this morning: The world’s oceans are turning acidic at what’s likely the fastest pace in 300 million years. Scientists tend to think this is a troubling… Read More ›