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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.

Ancient sacrificial altar discovered by divers

It is a significant find that will aid in the understanding of commerce and trade routes in the ancient world, around 218-210 B.C.

Jarrod Jablonski, president of GUE, said the find was a “remarkable piece of history”, exhibiting intricate wave patterns and Greek letters inscribed into its surface. Sixteen other unique artifacts were recovered by GUE technical divers working closely with submersibles from Brownie’s Global Logistics. The Sicilian government will study and preserve these artifacts.

Sensitive shark fins

Chris Avila, of Canadian Marine Aquaculture, described how he was trying to collect a 3mm DNA sample from each of the fins of a new shipment of sharks, a species of bamboo shark (Hemiscyllium halmahera).

They showed no signs of distress when handled and had not reacted to having their fins pinched lightly, which is a stress test done prior to the clipping. Nevertheless, Avila had lightly sedated them for the procedure.

17th century Dutch warship found off Tobago

During the battle between the French and the Dutch, who controlled Tobago at the time, the French flagship Glorieux, with her superior guns, sank the Dutch vessel on 3 March 1677.

Kroum Batchvarov, assistant professor of maritime archaeology and leader of the research team, said: “To find the Huis de Kreuningen—almost by accident, as she was outside the boundaries where we expected to find her—undiscovered and untouched for over 300 years was an exciting moment.”

The relative abundance of sharks was significantly higher in non-fished sites

Healthy reefs have more sharks

The present study examined shark distribution patterns, species-habitat associations, and marine reserve use with baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) along the entire Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) over a ten-year period.

Overall, researchers recorded 21 different shark species. The relative abundance of sharks was significantly higher in non-fished sites in the GBR Marine Park no-fishing zones relative to fished sites.

Thermal stress

A rapid chilling of superficial skeletal muscles (conductive cooling) creates a crippling weakening.

Thermal issues affect the comfort, performance and decompression stress experienced by divers. The impact varies with the timing, direction and magnitude of the thermal stress. Thermal protection can be provided by a variety of passive and active systems. Active systems should be used with particular care since they can markedly alter inert gas exchange and decompression risk.

British Steamer Nisbet Grammer

Historic steamship found in Lake Ontario

Shipwreck explorers Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville began their initial search for the vessel in September 2008.

What was thought to be an easy shipwreck to find turned out to be more of a challenge than they expected, Kennard said. Their search did, however, lead to several new discoveries in this area of the lake.

Kennard said they found the wreck of the Nesbit Grammer in late August 2014 in more than 500 feet of water about 8 miles from the shore of Somerset, N.Y., but he was unable to share the information at that time.

Astern of the wreck, Parks Canada underwater archaeologist Filippo Ronca measures the muzzle bore diameter of one of two cannons found on the site, serving to identify this gun as a brass 6-pounder

Historic Franklin Expedition shipwreck identified as HMS Erebus

Two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, were part of Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition in 1845 to find the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic Ocean to Asia.

The ships disappeared after they became locked in ice in 1846 and were missing for more than a century and a half until last month's discovery by a group of public-private searchers led by Parks Canada. It was not known until now which of the two ships had been found.