Paleotempestology: Researcher Uncovers Prehistoric Hurricanes by Digging into the Past
New Orleans, Louisiana - Mar 26, 2007 14:14 EST
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita focused the international spotlight on the vulnerability of the U.S. coastline. Fears that a "super-hurricane" could make a direct hit on a major city and cause even more staggering losses of life, land and economy triggered...

Study: Changing Ocean Conditions Led to Decline in Alaska's Sea Lion Population
Vancouver, Canada - Mar 25, 2007 13:14 EST
A new study out of Alaska points out the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems, and the need for increased research and stronger science based management to address future concerns. Studies by a team of scientists at the North...

California Agency to Review Safety of Dive Program Following Deaths of Two Divers; 'Safety' Highest Priority
Sacramento, California - Mar 22, 2007 11:48 EST
Department of Water Resources (DWR) director Lester Snow today announced the formation of an independent expert task force to review the safety of its dive program. “The safety of our employees is our highest priority,” said DWR Director Snow. “This...

Melbourne Aquarium Fish Soon to be Swimming in 'Re-used' Water
Melbourne, Australia - Mar 21, 2007 13:26 EST
Melbourne Aquarium fish will be swimming in treated and re-used water in a new water-saving initiative announced today by Water Minister John Thwaites. Treated water will be re-used in freshwater and salt exhibits in an innovative project that will save up...

Researcher: Volcanic Plumbing Dictates Development of Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vents
Eugene, Oregon - Mar 21, 2007 13:13 EST
After years of results that repeatedly dogged him, University of Oregon geologist Douglas R. Toomey decided to follow the trail of data surfacing from the Pacific Ocean. In doing so, he and his collaborators may have altered long-held assumptions involving...

Study: Substantial Amount of Mercury Entering the Ocean Through Groundwater; 'Long Overlooked'
Woods Hole, Massachusetts - Mar 21, 2007 13:06 EST
Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have found a new and substantial pathway for mercury pollution flowing into coastal waters. Marine chemists have detected much more dissolved mercury entering the ocean through groundwater than from atmospheric and river...

New System Developed to Trace Origins of Marine Larvae; 'Elemental Fingerprinting'
San Diego, California - Mar 21, 2007 12:59 EST
Tracing the origins of marine animals can be extremely difficult, especially in the free-flowing, soup-like conditions of the ocean, but obtaining this information is vital not only for understanding these organisms but for managing and conserving them as well. Scientists...

Report: Overfishing Cited as Twenty of World's 162 Grouper Species Threatened with Extinction
Arlington, Virginia - Mar 21, 2007 12:55 EST
The first comprehensive assessment of the world’s 162 species of grouper, a culinary favorite and important commercial fish, found that 20 are threatened with extinction unless proper management or conservation measures are introduced. Eight species previously were listed by the...

WWF Releases List of World's Top 10 Rivers at Risk; 'Freshwater Ecosystems are Under Seige'
Washington, D.C. - Mar 20, 2007 15:21 EST
The Rio Grande is among the world's top ten rivers at risk, according to a report by the same name released today by World Wildlife Fund. The WWF report, World's Top 10 Rivers at Risk, names the world's rivers that...

Jurassic Crocodile is Unearthed in Oregon; 'Crocodile-like Creature' with a 'Fish Tail'
Eugene, Oregon - Mar 19, 2007 15:07 EST
An ancient sea-going crocodile has surfaced from the rocks of Crook County in eastern Oregon. Really. It's discovery by the North American Research Group (NARG), whose members were digging for Jurassic-age mollusks known as ammonites, is another confirmation that the...

Sheriff: Spiegel Grove Divers Had No Plan, Lacked Proper Equipment, Didn't Bring Enough Air Supply
Key Largo, Florida - Mar 18, 2007 16:03 EST
Monroe County Sheriff's Detectives are continuing their investigating of the deaths of three divers who entered the wreck of the Spiegal Grove Friday and never came out. Lead Detective Mark Coleman says he has discovered some reasons why this terrible tragedy...

Sheriff: Divers Apparently Lost in Spiegel Grove Wreck; Sole Survivor 'Went the Right Way and Got Out'
Key Largo, Florida - Mar 18, 2007 15:57 EST
More details are emerging about the deadly dive which killed three divers offshore of Key Largo Friday. Autopsies of the three victims are scheduled today and tomorrow by the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office. The survivor of the quartet who went...

Dive Industry Marketing Association Comments on Recent Spiegel Grove Diver Deaths; 'Unusual Occurrence'
San Diego, California - Mar 18, 2007 15:12 EST
DEMA is deeply saddened by the recent diver deaths on the former Spiegel Grove, an artificial reef sunk off the coast of Key Largo in 2002. This tragic incident is an unusual occurrence. Certified divers receive excellent training during their...

Report: Poachers Suspected as 1800 Olive Ridley Turtle Carcasses Found Along Indian Coast
Orissa, India - Mar 15, 2007 19:21 EST
Illegal fishing trawlers butchered around 1800 endangered Olive Ridley Turtles along the coast of Orissa during the current nesting season. Annually, thousands of these endangered species fall prey to trawlers used in illegal fishing off the state's coast. Trapped by sharp motor...

Scientists: Cultured Coral Could Help Repair Damaged Reefs; 'Will it Survive?'
Gainsville, Florida - Mar 15, 2007 19:11 EST
Coral might be the slowest-growing crop ever farmed by the University of Florida, but researchers say damaged reefs could be repaired faster if they perfect methods to cultivate the marine organisms. UF experts are raising seven species of coral at the...

Researchers: Dwarf Aquatic Plants' Hidden Ancestry Revealed; 'One of the Biggest Misunderstandings in Botanical History'
Vancouver, Canada - Mar 14, 2007 15:41 EST
A team of UBC researchers has re-classified an ancient line of aquatic plants previously thought to be related to grasses and rushes. The discovery clarifies what may be one of the biggest misunderstandings in botanical history. "It’s a classic case...

Aussie Researchers: 'Fat' Corals More Likely to Survive Stress of Global Warming
Queensland, Australia - Mar 14, 2007 09:38 EST
Australian scientists are throwing new light on the killers responsible for the mass death of corals under global warming. And one of their interesting findings is that ‘fat' corals cope with stress and survive the onslaught a lot better than...

Submariners Take Interest as Patent Filed for Simple Underwater GPS System
Washington, D.C. - Mar 13, 2007 18:26 EST
As any submariner can tell you, it’s not possible to use a satellite-based global positioning system (GPS) underwater. The dynamics of underwater acoustics simply do not allow for the constant communication from satellites that GPS requires to perform its...

Researchers: Ocean Survey Reveals Millions of New Genes, Thousands of New Protein Families
Rockville, Maryland - Mar 13, 2007 18:03 EST
Researchers from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) today announced the publication of several studies from the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition (GOS) in PLoS Biology (www.plosbiology.org) detailing the discovery of millions of new genes, thousands of new protein...

NASA: Huge Seas of Liquid Methane or Ethane Spotted on Saturn's Moon Titan; 'We've Long Hypothesized'
Washington, D.C. - Mar 13, 2007 16:47 EST
Instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft have found evidence for seas, likely filled with liquid methane or ethane, in the high northern latitudes of Saturn's moon Titan. One such feature is larger than any of the Great Lakes of North America...

Group: Labeling Farm-raised Fish 'Organic' Misleading; 'No Meaning' When Applied to Fish
Boston, Massachusetts - Mar 12, 2007 14:50 EST
In conjunction with the annual Boston Seafood Show, the Pure Salmon Campaign today issued a warning that American consumers are being misled by farm-raised fish currently being sold with an "organic" label. At issue are imported Norwegian, Irish and Scottish farmed...

Scientists: Crawling Robot Reveals How Fish Evolved
Washington, D.C. - Mar 9, 2007 16:36 EST
The first animal to crawl onto land from the ocean probably looked a bit like today's salamander, and researchers have wondered how it was able to switch from swimming to walking. Now, European scientists have built a robot with a...

Study: 'Stealth' Cephalopods Use Rapid Adaptive Camouflage at Night; 'Fine-tuned Night Vision'
Woods Hole, Massachusetts - Mar 9, 2007 16:27 EST
Cuttlefish are well-known masters of disguise who use highly developed camouflage tactics to blend in almost instantaneously with their surroundings. These relatives of octopuses and squid are part of a class of animals called cephalopods and are found in marine...

Worry as Florida Zoo Croc 'Maximo' Stops Feeding; 'He's Testing Us'
St. Augustine, Florida - Mar 9, 2007 15:53 EST
What do you do when a 1,250-pound crocodile turns into a diva? Take him away from his audience. Officials at the St. Augustine Farm and Zoological Park said Maximo has been refusing for about a month to cooperate for his daily...

Researcher:Cancer-fighting Properties Found in Bacterium Protecting Sea Life; 'An Uncultivated Symbiont'
Portland, Oregon - Mar 9, 2007 15:47 EST
An Oregon Health & Science University researcher believes the discovery of a gene cluster from a bacterium that protects a moss-like marine invertebrate from predators may be the first step toward engineering cancer-fighting drugs. Margo Haygood, Ph.D., professor of environmental and...

Research: Farmed Salmon Could Become an Invasive Species in Forest Streams
Portland, Oregon - Mar 8, 2007 19:25 EST
Ever since the Norwegians expanded commercial farming of salmon in the 1960s, the industry has continued to rapidly grow worldwide. It has expanded to such a degree that prices for farmed salmon have plummeted and, there is concern that farmed...

Group: Latest Warnings About Mercury in Fish Completely Ignore New Science
Washington, D.C. - Mar 8, 2007 19:11 EST
Today the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom said that in light of more recent and reliable science, the public should ignore the call for wide-ranging public warnings about mercury in fish issued by the Eighth International Conference on Mercury as...

Scientists: Link Uncovered Between Ocean's Chemical Processes and Microscopic Floating Plants
Arlington, Virginia - Mar 8, 2007 12:20 EST
Scientists have discovered that increased levels of ocean acidity and carbon dioxide concentrations have resulted in unexpected changes in oceanic chemical processes. Their research results are published in the March 7, 2007, issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Oliver...

Scientists: First Simultaneous Tagging Study of a Sperm Whale, Jumbo Squid Conducted; 'A Unique Opportunity'
Standford, California - Mar 8, 2007 12:16 EST
The sperm whale and its large prey, the jumbo squid, are among the deepest divers in the ocean, routinely reaching depths of 3,000 feet or more. Now, in a new study, a team of marine scientists reports the successful tagging...

'Float-a-Pet' Collar Uses Newest Technology to Automatically Keep Your Pet from Sinking
Pasadena, California - Mar 7, 2007 16:53 EST
Dog lovers often bring their beloved pets with them wherever they go, and this includes long walks in a park to a brisk jog at the beach. Just like people, not all dogs are able to swim by nature, so...

Researchers: Antarctic Ice Sheet's Hidden Lakes Speed Ice Flow into Ocean, May Dsrupt Climate
Greenbelt, Maryland - Mar 6, 2007 19:56 EST
Just as explorers once searched the vast reaches of Africa's Nile River for clues to its behavior and ultimate source, modern-day scientists are searching Antarctica for its hidden lakes and waterways that can barely be detected at the surface of...

Research: Location and Climate Change Key to Poverty, Abundance Among Alaska's Steller Sea Lions
San Diego, California - Mar 5, 2007 15:26 EST
A recent study by a team of 30 leading scientists, published in Fisheries Oceanography, suggests that a single climate change event may be the missing link that helps explain why some populations of Steller sea lions are on the brink...

Mexico Passes Shark Finning Ban, New Protections for Great White, Whale and Basking Sharks, Manta Rays
San Diego, California - Mar 3, 2007 14:40 EST
In a surprising move, the Mexican government has recently published sweeping new regulations and protections for sharks, including a shark finning ban, an extension of the moratorium on new commercial shark fishing permits, and extensive protections for great white sharks,...

Study: Critical Nutrients in Ecosystems Change when Fish Become Extinct
Ithaca, New York - Mar 3, 2007 14:07 EST
Ecosystems are such intricate webs of connections that few studies have been able to explore exactly what happens when a species dies out. Now, a Cornell study using computer simulations has teased out how the disappearance of a freshwater fish can...

Scientist: Colliding Ice Sheets Create 'Surprising' Zipper-like Pattern; 'Finger Rafting'
New Haven, Connecticut - Mar 2, 2007 16:04 EST
A study reported in Physical Review Letters demonstrates how ice sheets sometimes interlace when they meet, rather than riding over or under each other, and discusses the implications for other phenomena from plate tectonics of the Earth's surface to the...

Scientist: Temperature Resilient Corals May One Day Help Fragile Reefs; 'They are Complicated Animals'
Ithica, New York - Mar 2, 2007 15:59 EST
While humans can survive large temperature fluctuations, such species as corals are only comfortable within a 12-degree temperature range. And rising global temperatures appear to be threatening their survival, according to Drew Harvell, Cornell professor of ecology and evolutionary biology....

NASA Satellites Unearth Antarctic 'Plumbing System', Find Clues to Measuring 'Leaks'
Greenbelt, Maryland - Mar 2, 2007 15:48 EST
Imagine peering down from aboard an airplane flying at 35,000 feet and spotting changes in the thickness of a paper back book on a picnic blanket in New York City's Central Park. If you believe this impossible, NASA satellites are...

Research: Huge Underground 'Ocean' Found Beneath Asia; 'The Beijing Anomaly'
St. Louis, Missouri - Mar 1, 2007 20:05 EST
A seismologist at Washington University in St. Louis has made the first 3-D model of seismic wave damping — diminishing — deep in the Earth's mantle and has revealed the existence of an underground water reservoir at least the volume...

Oceanic and AERIS Recalling Digital Dive Computers Due to Decompression Hazard
Washington, D.C. - Feb 28, 2007 16:47 EST
Pelagic Pressure Systems is recalling about 2,800 Oceanic and AERIS digital dive computers due to a decompression hazard. When performing a switch from one gas to another during a dive, the dive computer's display will lock up and not return to...

Research: Iron in Pacific Northwest Rivers Fuels Phytoplankton, Fish Populations; Ocean Shelf a 'Capacitor'
Corvallis, Oregon - Feb 28, 2007 16:06 EST
A new study suggests that the iron-rich winter runoff from Pacific Northwest streams and rivers, combined with the wide continental shelf, form a potent mechanism for fertilizing the nearshore Pacific Ocean, leading to robust phytoplankton production and fisheries. The study, by...