Archive

The Republic of Palau has banned sunscreen and other related products containing chemicals that are known to be harmful to coral reefs. President Tommy E Remengesau, Jr, of the Republic of Palau, signed The Responsible Tourism Education Act of 2018 into law earlier this week. In doing so, Palau becomes the first country to ban […]

…..yet Reef Safe’s manufacturer continues to market the killer At last, coral reefs are finally getting some significant protection. Hawaii and Bonaire have just banned sunscreens containing the sun-blocking chemical oxybenzone. Furthermore, 13 United Nations World Heritage sites have banned sunscreen use onsite. While the toxic effect of oxybenzone has been known for some time, […]

The Mu Koh Similan National Park – often referred to as ‘the Similan Islands’ or ‘the Similans’ – re-opened to visitors last week with a raft of new regulations to promote sustainable tourism with the intention of preserving the natural beauty of the islands. The Similans, part of southern Thailand’s Phang Nga province and most […]

Hammerhead sharks are one of the easiest sharks to identify, thanks to their hammer-shaped heads, and are a great species of shark to dive with. They can be found at a variety of top dive destinations including Cocos Island off Costa Rica, Malepelo Island in Colombia, and the Galápagos Islands. Divers can also enjoy hammerhead […]

Adventurous diving is irrevocably linked to air travel, but if we divers are to be ecologically responsible, should we consider giving up globe-trotting to fin through exotic dive sites? After all, human-induced climate change is caused, by and large, by carbon emissions, and according to a study published in Nature Climate Change in May, eight […]

The first global database of marine parks and conservation efforts is being created to help establish what is working and where more protection is urgently needed. James Cook University researchers in Australia say the database will lead to better marine parks by helping to bridge critical gaps in marine conservation planning. Dr Jorge G Álvarez-Romero from the […]

By Thomas Linley & Alan Jamieson From an unmanned submersible, protected by a casing of stainless steel almost an inch thick and a window made from super strong sapphire crystal, we can observe the life that thrives at our planet’s most extreme and darkest depths. Thanks to technology and sheer material strength, we can temporarily trespass into […]

Restoration Project Increases Fish Stocks Fivefold A project using former dynamite fishermen to protect and restore coral reefs has had a dramatic impact on an island in Indonesia with fish stock in protected areas increasing by as much as fivefold in two years. The programme was set up by the French non-profit Coral Guardian in the isolated […]

The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch non-profit organization, this week launched a $20 million system in the San Francisco Bay which is the first large-scale attempt to rid the oceans of plastic. System 001 is being towed 450km (240 nautical miles) offshore for a two-week trial before continuing its journey toward the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 2,200km […]

All over the world, sea turtles are swallowing bits of plastic floating in the ocean, mistaking them for tasty jellyfish, or just unable to avoid the debris that surrounds them. Now, a new study out of Australia is trying to catalog the damage. While some sea turtles have been found to have swallowed hundreds of […]