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A Finnish brewery has recreated a Belgian beer from bottles that sank 170 years ago on a merchant ship in the Baltic Sea

Wreck beer recreated

The brew was reproduced thanks to elaborate research by Finnish and Belgian scientists who teamed up after the wreckage was discovered off Finland's Aaland Islands in 2010.

Divers exploring 40 feet down found only five bottles of beer next to 145 champagne bottles -- confirmed as the world's oldest drinkable bubbly -- in the long-lost wreck. The Government of the autonomous Åland Islands is the owner of the findings and had the beers analyzed at VTT Technical Research Center in Finland.

File photo of Bryde's whale (shot taken in Thailand)

Possible new whale species

About 50 baleen whales live in an underwater canyon off the Florida Panhandle, making them the only resident baleen whales in the Gulf of Mexico, have long been classified as Bryde's whales. Several other baleen species visit the Gulf, but this group is the only one known to live there year-round and new tests have now shown that these whales are unlike any other of their species. Their genetic makeup makes them different enough to be considered a distinct subspecies of Bryde's — or a new species altogether.

A starfish suffering from the wasting disease has begun to fall apart

Virus cause of sea star wasting disease

The first symptom is white lesions that appear on the surface of the starfish and spread rapidly, followed by decay of tissue around the lesions. Eventually, the sea stars' bodies begin to break down; Limbs pull away from the sea stars' bodies and organs exude through their skin and the starfish dies within a few days.

In a paper in this week's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, microbiologist Ian Hewson of Cornell University and colleagues present the results of genomic analysis of the virus prevalent in symptomatic sea stars.

A free-standing red mangrove tree growing in shallow water in the Everglades National Park

Mangroves protect coral from climate change

Coral reefs make up some of the most biologically diverse habitats on Earth and face many threats such as coastal pollution, dredging and disease. However, some of their most widespread threats involve warming ocean temperatures, solar radiation and increased ocean acidification. It is from these threats that corals are finding refuge under the red mangroves.

mating wounds
Mating wounds

Mating sharks and tonic immobility

So I asked leading shark ethologist and behaviourist, Professor Samuel 'doc' Gruber to elaborate. After pointing out how much pain women feel when they give birth, making the point that suffering has no effect on reproduction, he reminded me that sharks evolved their mating behaviours and the physical structures involved, separately from other animals.

Scars reveal humpback migration routes

Although humpbacks migrate between their polar feeding grounds and the warmer waters where they breed, the exact routes they take have remained a mystery. By studying the types of scars on humpback whales and how recently they were made, researchers from the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute can now determine routes the whales took before arriving in their breeding grounds off the west coast of South Africa, Namibia and Gabon.

Western Australia implements Internet shark tracker

In a world-first, the public is getting the opportunity to assist monitoring shark movements off the Western Australia coast in a bid to reduce the number of attacks. The Department of Fisheries has updated its Sharksmart website, which will digitally map all reported shark sightings from the public, surf lifesavers and other agencies.” We want to give beachgoers the latest information so they can make informed decisions about their water use," said Lisa Clack, manager of the department's shark response unit.

Loggerhead Turtle

Study reveals sea turtles can get the bends

Already at risk from oil spills, hunting and habitat destruction, sea turtles have another obstacle to contend with: decompression sickness, also known as the bends. Scientists claim the sickness has been diagnosed for the first time in loggerhead sea turtles, with individuals accidentally caught in fishing nets most likely to suffer.

Singapore airlines passenger stunned by hefty in-flight Wi-Fi bill

Singapore Airlines passenger Jeremy Gutsche claims he racked up an internet usage fee of $US 1171.46 in exchange for 155 page views. “I wish I could blame an addiction to Netflix or some intellectual documentary that made me $1200 smarter.

However, the Singapore Airlines internet was painfully slow, so videos would be impossible and that means I didn’t get any smarter … except about how to charge a lot of money for stuff. I did learn that,” wrote Gutsche on Trend Hunter.

Bangladesh creates its first marine protected area

"Bangladesh brings us excellent news as we prepare for the World Parks Congress, a once-in-a-decade event where the conservation community from around the world will gather to discuss and make progress in improving the management and expansion of protected areas on the land and in the oceans," said Dr. Cristián Samper, Wildlife Conservation Society’s president and CEO.