In September 2021, Colombian police received an alert from a shipping company urging them to inspect some cardboard boxes that were about to be exported to Hong Kong from El…
READER ADVISORY: This story contains images of dead cetaceans that some viewers may find disturbing. More than 100,000 dolphins, porpoises and small whales are killed annually, according to a new…
A vessel carrying thousands of tons of fertilizer has sunk in the Red Sea, raising fears of an environmental disaster in a part of the ocean known to harbor some…
The southern section of the Great Barrier Reef is undergoing extensive coral bleaching, according to researchers who recently surveyed the region. The discovery has raised fears that this fragile coral…
Marine protected areas intended to safeguard biodiversity in the ocean come in many different sizes and shapes. Some cover large swaths of the ocean, while others are smaller in scale.…
Migratory species that travel long distances in the ocean, including sharks, turtles and dolphins, face an unprecedented number of threats resulting from human actions. At the latest assembly of the…
Kamy Yeung said she wanted to do more scuba diving. So in 2014, she signed up to be a volunteer diver for a newly launched reef fish survey project in…
In later 2023, the international community concluded negotiations for a new ocean governance treaty, formally called the “Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)…
To bring seabirds back to Kaho‘olawe, you need to first find the cats. And to find the cats on Kaho‘olawe, you need to know where to find the bombs. Eleven…
LAMONGAN, Indonesia — Wawan has traded in stingrays for years out of the port in Lamongan, a district in Indonesia’s East Java province. At dawn, fishers are often seen returning…
ANTANANARIVO — With coral cover declining in Madagascar, Koraï, a Franco-Malagasy startup, has shifted its focus to coral reef restoration from its predecessor’s specialization in coral export. Jeimila Donty, its…
KARACHI — His sandaled feet drenched in black mud, Rashid Rasheed points to one of the mangrove nurseries he’s been looking after for the past few years. With wooden walls…
PHNOM PENH — In late December 2023, on a remote island in Preah Sihanouk province, off the southwest coast of Cambodia, a team of conservationists uncovered nine nests belonging to…
CENTRAL ARU, Indonesia — One afternoon last November, Natanel Ginobal, 67, drove his motorboat to check the mud crabs caught by the traps he had installed earlier the day. He…
Shark conservation groups in Thailand are calling for greater marine protections and improved traceability in shark trade supply chains following a study that identified threatened shark species in products commonly…
Palau has become the first nation to ratify the high seas treaty, a legally binding international agreement that seeks to protect and manage ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction. Other countries,…
TOLOWA DEE-NI' NATION, California — Three tribes along California's rugged northern coast made history in late September by designating the first Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area (IMSA) in the United States.…
1. Record heat in 2023 2023 is widely regarded as the hottest year on record, with monthly, seasonal and annual records spiking in the ocean and atmosphere, and repeated headlines…
In December, the Spanish government issued sanctions against 25 Spanish-flagged vessels that fished near the border of Argentina’s territorial waters between 2018 and 2021. The sanctions were for repeatedly turning…
We’ve been largely flying blind when it comes to fishing, shipping and energy production intel on our oceans, according to a new study that combines artificial intelligence with satellite technology.…
Norway’s parliament has officially voted to allow deep-sea mining to go forward in the Norwegian Sea, despite warnings from scientists and conservationists that it could damage the marine environment. This…
Studies of Pacific salmon find that they, and other migratory fish, play a key role moving nutrients from oceans, up rivers and into terrestrial ecosystems. But dams, climate change and other human interference has greatly diminished that role.
BINTAN ISLAND, Indonesia — Ever since Munsa was a young man, he would quietly paddle a small boat past the mangroves on Air Glubi Island into the Kawal Sea armed…
Scientists named hundreds of new to science species this year, including an electric blue tarantula, two pygmy squids, a silent frog, and some thumb-sized chameleons. These newly uncovered creatures give…
In August 2020, Peru introduced a regulation requiring foreign ships using the country's ports to carry an extra satellite device so authorities could more closely track the route and movements…
In 1862, German naturalist Eduard von Martens was part of a multiyear expedition to what was known then as the Far East. That July, he found himself in a fish…
On Dec. 20, the U.S. government auctioned off oil and gas drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico despite concerns the move could endanger a newly described and very rare…
Indonesia’s shark and ray trade is highly regulated but poorly monitored, opening the door for illegal activity alongside the legal sale and purchase of these fish and their products. Finding…
LOMBOK, Indonesia — Suhardi, 43, glides across a technicolor coral garden. Freediving down to the seafloor, he scoops up a handful of sand that he sprinkles over the reef. The…
The ocean plays an oversized role in regulating Earth’s climate and reducing human-produced greenhouse gas emissions. The watery realms of our planet capture about 25% of global carbon dioxide emissions…