Achilles Tang

The remarkable journey of a green turtle from Indonesia into Australian waters is helping conservationists to track the migratory route of this species to the Kimberley-Pilbara coast - one of the few relatively pristine coastal areas left on Earth. View the full article

An assessment concludes that despite well-publicized concerns about some harmful effects of aquaculture, the technique may, when practiced well, be no more harmful to biodiversity than other food production systems. Aquaculture production of aquatic animals now accounts for about a third of the total supply and will probably remain the most rapidly increasing food production system worldwide through 2025, according to the author. View the full article

A new coastal marine park has recently been signed into law by the Government of Argentina. The park protects half a million penguins along with several species of rare seabirds and the region's only population of South American fur seals. It is the first protected area in Argentina specifically designed to safeguard not only onshore breeding colonies but also areas of ocean where wildlife feed at sea. View the full article

New evidence uncovered by oceanographers challenges one of the most long-standing theories about how species evolve in the oceans. Researchers propose that it was the climate, and its role in determining the availability of favorable oceanic habitat, that restricted the distribution of the species they studied rather than the presence of physical ocean barriers. In this new view, plankton are freely dispersed throughout the ocean but local conditions determine whether or not the species can 'take hold' and thrive. View the full article

A large number of North Atlantic right whales have been seen in the Gulf of Maine in recent days, leading right whale researchers to believe they have identified a wintering ground and potentially a breeding ground for this endangered species. View the full article

A widespread and severe coral bleaching episode is predicted to cause immense damage to some of the world's most important marine environments over the next few months. View the full article

Scientists recently attempted a disentanglement of a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. View the full article

Scientists have reported a rapid recovery of coral reefs in areas of Indonesia, following the tsunami that devastated coastal regions throughout the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. View the full article

Merry Christmas!!!!

Fish oil protects against deaths from heart problems, but doesn't provide a clear benefit in heart rhythm problems, according a new study. View the full article

The genes that in vertebrates establish the right and left sides of the body were thought to be of fairly recent origin, since fruit flies and nematodes don't have them. A new study shows that snails do use the same genes as vertebrates, suggesting that these genes arose more than 500 million years ago in the first bilaterally symmetric organisms. View the full article

Bell-bottoms... Designer jeans... Disco... Big hair... Gas shortages. Some icons of the 1970s are emblazoned in the memories of those old enough to remember. A few styles, to the dismay of many, have come back in vogue--oil-related crises among them. Broad anxiety over fuel manifested again in 2008, illuminating the dark side of the nation's continued oil addiction. View the full article

Deep inside the Frasassi cave system in Italy and more than 1,600 feet below the Earth's surface, divers found filamentous ropes of microbes growing in the cold water, according to a team of researchers. View the full article

Concern about increasing ocean acidification has often focused on its potential effects on coral reefs, but broader disruptions of biological processes in the oceans may be more significant, according to a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and an expert in coral reef ecology and marine biodiversity. View the full article

An interdisciplinary group of scientists has strongly linked sea ice changes to changes in Arctic land-surface temperatures and increased tundra greenness. View the full article

Marine scientists have developed the world?s first portable system for measuring cetacean hearing sensitivity. View the full article

For years, scientists have wondered why only males of the rarely seen family of beaked whales have "tusks," since they are squid-eaters and in many of the species, these elaborately modified teeth seem to actually interfere with feeding. View the full article

Scientists have shown that tiny crystals found inside bacteria provide a magnetic compass to help them navigate through sediment to find the best food. View the full article

The elevated carbon dioxide levels expected to be found in the world's oceans by 2100 will likely lead to physiological impairments of jumbo squid. View the full article

Rsearchers have created a microbial ecosystem smaller than a stick of gum that sheds new light on the plankton-eat-plankton world at the bottom of the aquatic food chain. The work may lead to better predictions of marine microbes' global-scale influence on climate. View the full article

Polar bears -- especially the marginal individuals like some sub-adult males -- could adapt to changes in ice and the ability to hunt seals by eating snow goose eggs. According to new calculations, bear movement should coordinate more and more with nesting as the Arctic warms, especially near Hudson Bay. View the full article

This article is an intervention of sorts, at least when it comes to simplifying one key aspect of the marine aquarium hobby - salinity (or specific gravity) testing. View the full article

Jay reviews different information resources for marine aquarist. View the full article

By understanding the carbonate system and using that knowledge to our advantage it is possible to encourage rapid calcification and growth in many of the calcifying organisms we maintain in captivity. View the full article

Recent research has suggested a 'best lamp' - but some caveats exist! View the full article