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Corals depend on symbiotic algae to survive and build coral reefs. Increased ocean temperatures due to climate change can cause these symbiotic algae to be expelled from the coral, an event known as bleaching, which often leads to death.

Scientists from University of Miami placed corals in tanks and subjected them to increased water temperatures to gain insights into how they may react to global warming by replicating ocean conditions that would lead to both mild and severe coral bleaching.

The central African country of Gabon is providing an invaluable nesting ground for a vulnerable species of sea turtle. During a survey of nearly 600 km of Gabon's coastline, scientists from the University of Exeter uncovered the Atlantic’s largest breeding colony of olive ridley turtles. Study results estimate that there could be up to 9,800 turtle nests per year, compared with around 3,300 in French Guiana and 3,000 in Brazil.

The smalltooth sawfish is the first documented examples of viable parthenogens living in a normally sexually reproducing wild vertebrate.

The researchers analysed telltale markers called microsatellites in 190 sawfish that reveal how related their parents are. In seven fish, the markers suggested their parents were identical to them. The analysis revealed that the seven fish came from three different mothers.

In many cases, stock assessment is based on fishery-dependent data generated from fish markets or creel surveys. The assumption is: that the lower the catches in a certain unit of time, the smaller the stock of fish should be.

However German researchers have just shown that some fish species show enhanced gear-avoidance behaviour in regions with high angling intensity compared to fish exposed to low levels of exploitation near marine protected areas. The consequence is the impression that there are fewer fish in the sea, which does not necessarily agree with underwater reality.

Although seagrass meadows occupy less than 0.2 percent of the world's oceans, they are responsible for more than 10 percent of all carbon buried annually in the sea, according to a research paper published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The paper, "Seagrass Ecosystems as a Globally Significant Carbon Stock," is the first global analysis of carbon stored in seagrasses.

According to Gibraltar’s department of the environment, an artificial reef protested by Spain is now “exploding with life”. Initiated two years ago, the 70 concrete blocks sunk near Gibraltar airport’s runway are already home to a large range of marine species from octopuses to triggerfish.

HMS Tamar was a 4,600 tons displacement sail and steam-powered Royal Navy troopship launched in Britain in 1863. She served as a supply ship from 1897 to 1941 and gave her name to the shore station HMS Tamar in Hong Kong (1897 to 1997).

In 1897 Tamar was hulked as a base ship and used as the Hong Kong receiving ship and served as the 'name' ship for R.N. headquarters until it was replaced by the shore station, which was named HMS Tamar, after the ship.

According to scientists, around 200 artificial reefs made of tires are in existence worldwide, notably in waters off the United States, Japan, Malaysia and Israel. In most cases, such efforts were halted after tires were found to be unstable.

The shark travelled from the chilly waters off Nova Scotia to the warm, inviting ocean near Venezuela to the clear waters of Puerto Rico and then north again to the waters where he was first caught.

NSU’s Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) began tagging mako sharks in 2009 to study their migratory patterns and now undertakes expeditions worldwide to study them. The school’s marine experts have tagged mako sharks as far away as Mexico and New Zealand. In addition to makos, they have also tracked tiger, oceanic white tip and sand tiger sharks, as well as blue marlin.