As part of a reef restoration study, researchers removed 20 specimens of the Caribbean giant barrel sponge from the Conch Reef off of Key Largo, Florida and then re-attached them using sponge holders consisting of polyvinyl chloride piping. The sponge holders were anchored in concrete blocks set on a plastic mesh base. Some sponges were reattached at a depth of 15 meters and some further down at 30 metres.

A record number of North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) calves have been found in winter nursery waters off the coast of Florida and Georgia this winter. No less then 39 calves have been confirmed by researchers, a number which breaks the old record from 2001 when 31 calves where spotted.

On January 22, 48 sperm whales were found stranded on Perkins Island, off the northwest coast of Tasmania, Australia Despite efforts to rescue the whales, only five specimens were alive by late Friday and three of them died during the night. Rescuers now hope that at least these two whales will be able to return safely to the sea.

I thought I would report on a few good news in the world of marine conservation. First of we are going to look at tuna fishing and the endangered Mediterranean Blue fin Tuna. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) an organization consisting of NGOs and governments surprisingly voted to cut tuna quotas in half (almost) in the Mediterranean as well as instituting a complete fishing ban during the spawning season in May and June when they meet at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.

This week, Chilean president Michelle Bachelet signed into law a measure that outlaws all whale hunting in the Chilean part of the Pacific Ocean. The law prohibits all types of whale hunting; both commercial and scientific.

Last week, a leaping 9-foot dolphin accidently ended up in an 18-foot boat in the Intracoastal Waterway near New Smyrna Beach, Florida. As the panicked animal tried to escape from the vessel, it repeatedly hit the two boaters, 64-year-old Norman Howard and his wife Barbara, with its powerful tailfin.

Normally associated with the cooler seas around the poles, Orca whales are now becoming an increasingly common sight off the coast of UK. The Orca whale – also known as Killer whale, Blackfish and Seawolf – is found in all the world’s oceans and in most seas, including the Mediterranean and Arabian Seas. It is however known to prefer the cool waters of the polar regions, which makes this boom in recent sightings around the British Isles quite surprising for marine biologists.

As we release more and more carbon dioxide from fossil fuel into the atmosphere, the world’s oceans become more and more acidic. Exactly how this will affect marine life remains unknown, but a paper published this week by marine chemists Keith Hester and his co-authors at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is now shedding some light on how a change in acidity affects sound waves under water.

A 23-year old Beluga whale at the Kamogawa Sea World aquarium in Japan has been trained to emit different noises for different items. As of now, the whale – whose name is Nack – emits a short, high-pitched sound to identify diving fins, a long and even more high-pitched sound for diving goggles, and a short, lower sound for bucket. When the sounds are recorded and played back to Nack, he is able to identify the corresponding object.

Divers enjoying the waters off Darwin, the northernmost island in the Galapagos, suddenly realised the presence of an amazing 33 feet (10 meter) albino whale shark (Rhincodon typus), and as if one sighting of an albino giant wasn’t enough, a snow-white southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) calf has now been spotted off the coast of Western Australia.

Common whale shark [...]

Today I thought I would report on some happy news, animal babies being born in aquariums around the country.
The first happy occasion is that a beluga whale in the Vancouver Aquarium has given birth to a health young female. The whale gave birth during open hours and the staffs as well as visitors watch the calf being born. This is [...]

The Bolivian Amazon (picture by: Thomas van den Berk)
The Bolivian River Dolphin has finally been graced with the acknowledgement that it is, in fact, a separate species from its close relative, the Amazon River Dolphin. Lighter in color, smaller, and having more teeth, are only a few of the things that separate this newly named species apart from the others. [...]

picture provided by: NOAA Ship DELAWARE II
Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has developed a new Right Whale listening buoy for the Massachusetts Bay. The buoys are designed to recognize the distinctive call of the Atlantic Right Whale which migrates throughout the bay. When heard, the buoys emit a signal to a web-site and marine warning system [...]

In December 2007, the Baji dolphin of the Yangtze river was declared extinct. A study has now revealed that the Yangtze finless porpoise might face the same destiny if no protective measures are taken, National Geographic News reports.
A new study has shown that Yangtze river porpoises are dying in part due to exposure to insecticides and mercury. The Yangtze [...]

According to an article published by The Guardian, scientists believe that krill have declined 80 per cent since the 1970s. Why this has happened remains unknown, but it might be due to global warming. According to estimates made by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), there is roughly 100 million tonnes krill left, while krill harvesting companies place the figure at [...]