New York

Beneath the Sea update

Together with the Beneath the Sea’s team of Directors and volunteers, they create a weekend of excitement, education, special events, and parties to celebrate the underwater arts, education, and science. Throughout this dynamic weekend, Beneath the Sea presents to the interested and involved public information illustrating the sea changes of our times, an update for all members of our ocean community.

Humpbacks in the South Pacific
Humpbacks in the South Pacific. Home to some of the largest reservoirs of biodiversity on the planet, which support abundant fisheries, marvelous deep-water coral ecosystems and diverse marine life, the high seas are also throughways for whales, sharks and other migratory species.

High Seas Treaty: Historic agreement to protect international waters reached at UN after 20 years of negotiations

The legal framework provides a crucial mechanism in setting up vast marine protected areas (MPAs) in the high seas. The historic treaty plays a critical role in the enforcement of the 30x30 pledge that countries had made in December 2022 at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada. The 30x30 target aims to protect a third of the sea (and land) by 2030.

The announcement by conference president, Rena Lee of Singapore, was met by a standing ovation from delegates, who had worked long days and nights to finalize the deal.

Explore the Underwater Jungle! LIDA Film Festival

There’s a jungle off the California coast. It is lush, and green, and filled with a marvelous diversity of life. It is every bit a wilderness, with a complex eco-system that is both resilient and fragile. And if you were to look at the islands poking their heads above the water about an hour outside of Ventura, you’d be surprised to be using those words. The islands look barren and dry. Hardly the place for thick jungles of plants and trees.

Photo of humpback whale breaching.
Humpback whales have been increasingly spotted in the New York Bight.

Is New York Bight now a supplementary feeding site for baleen whales?

An increased presence of baleen whale species has been observed in the waters off New York and New Jersey, suggesting that they may be using the area as a supplementary feeding ground.

In boat surveys conducted from 2017 to 2019, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Columbia University observed humpback, fin and minke whales foraging in the New York Bight. A paper on their findings was published in the Marine Biology Research journal.

Two more dive shows postponed

On Friday 29 Jan and only a few hours apart, we received similar updates from the organisers of the New Jersey-based Beneath the Seas dive show and the Swedish Dive Show, Dykmässen, which in recent years have been taken place in Gothenburg in the Swedish West coast. Both announced that they will be postponing their respective events until next year due to the restrictions being imposed because of the pandemic.

Beneath the Seas writes:

Press Release

Drew Richardson, Richard Lutz, BTS, Beneath the Sea Awards, diving awards, Rosemary E Lunn, X-Ray Mag, Boot Dusseldorf, Bill Ziefle, Wendy Benchley, Wayne Hasson, Aggressor Fleet, Peter Hughes, Dancer Fleet, DAN, Divers Alert Network
Dr Drew Richardson (r) pictured with Fourth Element's Paul Strike (l) at the Boot Dusseldorf Dive Show

BTS Announces 2016 'Divers of the Year' Awards

This year the annual New Jersey scuba diving show celebrates a major milestone. It was founded in 1976, making this the 40th year BTS has recognised divers in the fields of the arts, education, environment, service and science.

2016 DIVER OF THE YEAR

Environment - Wendy Benchley

Diving Pioneer - Captain Wayne Hasson

Science - Dr Richard A. Lutz

Service - Dr Drew Richardson

Education - Bill Ziefle

Thousand Islands Wrecks of St. Lawrence River

Within a day’s drive from New York City is a wreck junkie heaven, with numerous shipwrecks to explore along the St. Lawrence River on the US-Canadian border, in the area called the Thousand Islands. Larry Cohen and Olga Torrey give a sampling of the wrecks in the region popular with both the American and Canadian diving communities.