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In the past, coral research has focused on radar and sonar mapping of the seafloor. With this kit, which is being used for the first time, biological samples can also be collected for analysis.

Currently on board the Okeanos Explorer’s Hohonu Moana, the compact kit can quickly extract tissues and preserve the sample’s DNA for analysis. This enables scientists to archive large amounts of the genetic material. Doing so can reveal important information about the evolutionary relationships amongst species.

Developed by roboticists from Queensland University of Technology, this is the world's first robot designed to search and destroy (so to speak) the dreaded crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS). It does this by seeking them out, identifying them and then administering a lethal injection of bile salts.

Its creators, Dr Matthew Dunbabin and Dr Feras Dayoub, equipped the robot with GPS, stereoscopic cameras for depth perception, thrusters to improve stability, pitch-and-roll sensors as well as the pneumatic injection arm.

Back when intrepid men donned hard hats to plumb the depths, they didn’t leave the surface without a trusty sheath knife. Wood-handled beauties like the brass-encased Morse MK V are works of art, and they make a great collectors item. But I can’t imagine any reason why I’d take one underwater.

Near sanctuary zones at Mangrove Bay and Coral Bay, marine biologists tagged 83 reef sharks. They then tracked the sharks' movements in order to find out how much protection the marine park provides the sharks. Over a two-year period, the movements of blacktip reef sharks, grey reef sharks and sicklefin lemon sharks at Ningaloo Reef were examined.

SS Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, was a 280-foot (85 m) sidewheel steamer which sank in a hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas in September 1857, along with more than 420 passengers and crew and 14 tonnes of gold with an estimated value of $300 million on today's market.

With so much money on the line, ownership of the loot has been entrenched in legal battles ever since its discovery by Columbus-America Discovery Group in 1989.

Dubbed Jiffy Lube2 by researchers, the 63-kilogram mako is making waves amongst scientists studying sharks. The shark swam 17,700 kilometres using a route that researchers at Nova Southeastern University had never seen before: looping the Atlantic twice, venturing north far north to Nova Scotia south to the Bahamas. “This is the only shark that’s made this double southerly migration,” said Mahmood Shivji, director NSU’s Guy Harvey Research Institute, which has tracked a total of 130 sharks since 2008.

Adding to the list of deep-sea creatures, a Nova Southeastern University's (NSU) Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography researcher recently found a never-before seen species from the deep waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico.

The three females specimens found ranged in size from 30-95 mm in length. Looking at a photo of the fish, one quickly understands how anglerfishes get their common name.

The bell was successfully recovered the 7th of August. Mr. Allen's team led the operation using his yacht M/Y Octopus, which is equipped with a state-of-the-art remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Once restored, the bell will respectfully serve as a tangible and fitting memorial for the 1,415 lives lost when the Bismarck sunk the ship in the North Atlantic.

Brighton (UK) coroner, Veronica Hamilton-Deeley, concluded the deaths on June 17 last year were the result of diving accidents, after hearing from witnesses and medical experts. However, the Maltese authorities accuse Mr Martin, 55, of Rustington, West Sussex, of being 'negligent in his obligations'.

Look up a chambered nautilus in a book or on the web will reveal they are in the same class of mollusks as octopuses, squid and cuttlefish. The first thing that sets this cephalopod apart from the rest of the group is that the nautilus date back more than 500 million years, and were once the dominant form of life in the ocean. And to share a night dive with one of these true living fossils is a very fortunate event.

It's large, fan-like fins wave and flare like the skirts of a Flamenco dancer, revealing vibrant shades of rust and orange with flashes of royal blue as it hunts its prey under the cover of night. As beautiful as its dance may be, one prick from one of its long dorsal spines will inflict a very painful burning sensation.

Renowned diving physiologist Dr Neal W Pollock filmed a EUROTEK TEKTalk where he discussed the foundations of decompression physiology, M Values and what Gradient Factors are.

Pollock is the Research Director at Divers Alert Network (DAN) and a Research Associate at the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology, Duke University Medical Center. Both positions are based in Durham, North Carolina.