Indian Ocean

The USS Edsall (DD-219), a Clemson-class destroyer sunk during World War II, has been discovered 200 miles east of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. The wreck was located during a hydrographic survey by the Royal Australian Navy, using advanced robotic technology. 

Commissioned in 1920, the Edsall served in the Mediterranean and later in the Pacific. Known as the "Dancing Mouse" due to her agility, she was part of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet and played a critical role in defending Allied territories.

The UK government has agreed to renounce sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and hand it to Mauritius, a significant move that could transform the future of these remote islands in the Indian Ocean. This agreement also paves the way for the potential return of the few remaining people who were forcibly displaced from their homes on the islands decades ago.

The study, led by Michael J. Williamson, analysed data from over 700,000 shark detections across the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean between 2013 and 2020. It reveals that grey reef sharks are showing signs of distress. As coral ecosystems are impacted more and more by pollution and climate change, these sharks are reducing their time on the reefs. Instead, they are expanding their ranges and spending more time away from their ranges.

In La Réunion, an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France, small-scale fishers often use surface longlines targeting tuna and billfish, but this sometimes leads to the accidental capture of sharks.

The EU-funded ASUR project is researching innovative methods to reduce the incidental catch of sharks by these longlines, bringing together scientists and fishermen to tag and release sharks and to test equipment designed to reduce shark mortality.

Recent studies have employed sophisticated satellite tracking technology to follow hawksbill sea turtles to their most frequented feeding grounds in the Indian Ocean. These advances have allowed researchers to gain unprecedented insights into the turtles' precise movements and behaviours at depths previously unobserved.

Pygmy blue whales are the smallest members of the blue whale family, but that's the only small thing about them: they can reach up to 24 meters long.

Despite their enormous size, blue whales have been difficult to observe in the Southern Hemisphere as they live offshore and don't jump around like the humpback whales; thus, for some regions, their population structure, distribution and migration routes remain poorly understood. In particular, little is known about the blue whales in the northern Indian Ocean.