Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Some of the most stunning reefs in the "Coral Triangle", the world's richest area of coral biodiversity, have been destroyed by crown-of-thorns starfish, which feed by spreading their stomachs over coral.
That's the dismal result of a survey last month of reefs around Halmahera, an Indonesian island at the heart of the triangle, which stretches from the Philippines to the Malaysian peninsula to the Solomon Islands.
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Monday, January 28th, 2008
The world's biggest tectonic plate under the Pacific seems to be tearing apart, forming a new mid-ocean ridge and two distinct plates.
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Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Cuba has thrown a lifeline to the Caribbean's endangered and critically endangered marine turtles with a ministerial resolution ending all harvesting of marine turtles.
Such a resolution, ending Cuba's long standing harvest of 500 critically endangered hawksbill turtles a year, has been sought by conservationists for more than a decade. It will benefit turtles hatching on beaches throughout the Caribbean and coming regularly to feed in Cuban waters.
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Japanese whaling within Australian waters in Antarctica is illegal and should be stopped, a court ruled on Tuesday. It is now up to the Australian government to decide whether to enforce the injunction.
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Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
China's surprise crackdown on plastic bags, announced on Tuesday, will prohibit the production and distribution of ultra-thin bags beginning June 1.
Every year, tens of thousands of whales, birds, seals, and turtles die from contact with ocean-borne plastic bags. The animals may mistake the bags for food, such as jellyfish, or simply become entangled. Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down, so even when an animal dies and decays after ingesting a bag, the plastic re-enters the environment, posing a continuing threat to wildlife. While most plastic bags eventually break down into tiny particles, smaller sea creatures may still eat the sand-sized fragments and concentrate toxic chemicals in their bodies.
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Friday, January 11th, 2008
SCUBA News have two copies of the Marsa Alam dive guide and log book to give away. To win your copy, name three of the 16 dives sites included in the Marsa Alam pack (visit the publishers - http://www.travellingdiver.com/ - to find out.) To enter e-mail your answer, together with your name and address, to SCUBA News before 31 January 2008.
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