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Following our report about divers being charged tax on their personal photo equipment, we wrote to the Mexican tourism minister and contacted some embassies to seek their comments and clarification on the matter. The Mexican Ministry of Tourism never responded to any of our inquiries or requests for comment, and we had to reach out to several Mexican embassies and press them for an answer before we got the following reply from Mexico's embassy in Toronto, Canada.  

For many divers heading to Southeast Asia, their flight times have gotten a lot longer. Prior to the Russians invasion of Ukraine, many airline routes traversed Russian airspace en route to Southeast Asia. With the closure of Russian airspace to some international carriers, including many in Europe, airlines have been forced to seek alternate routes. For some flights from Europe, this is especially problematic, as Russia stands directly in the way.

Florida International University (FIU) marine scientist Yannis Papastamatiou, Ph.D. candidate Sarah Luongo, and a collaborative team of researchers wanted to uncover some of the mysteries of the white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) that gather seasonally around Guadalupe Island, Mexico. 

Plastic pollution is a gigantic problem. Our beaches and waters are littered with plastic, marine life ingests it or gets ensnared and particles are entering our food web and organisms. Microplastics are everywhere now.

This finding, published in Scientific Reports, reveals a previously unknown mathematical capability in these aquatic animals. Led by Prof. Dr. Vera Schluessel from the Institute of Zoology, the study sheds light on the cognitive abilities of fish, challenging assumptions about their intelligence.

This publication may be thought of as a dive publication by many of our readers but our scope is actually a bit wider. It is really about water and the realm under the surface, and the lifeforms we may encounter there.

So of course we are intrigued and chuffed to learn that subsurface oceans of water may exist even on Pluto. At least, that is what a closer study of photos taken by NASA's New Horizons mission seems to conclude.

These findings will cause us to re-evaluate the possibilities for the maintenance of liquid water on small, icy worlds that are far from the Sun.

Lynnae Quick, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Seagrasses need nutrients to thrive, particularly nitrogen (N). Up to now, it has been assumed that the nitrogen is taken up by the seagrasses through leaves and roots from the surrounding seawater and sediment.

However, in many of the regions where seagrasses are most abundant, there is little nitrogen to be found. Furthermore, while nitrogen is abundant in the sea in its elemental form (N₂), seagrasses cannot use it in this form. 

Scientists have discovered that the baleen plates of toothless whales can reveal how these mammals adapt to environmental changes over time. By examining the baleen plates, which held a chemical record of their feeding patterns, scientists could find out how changes in the whales’ feeding habits corresponded with the changing climate cycles.

After a study involving humpback and right whales in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, they published their findings in the Frontiers in Marine Science journal.