X-Ray Mag #140

A newly discovered wreck in southern Kalmarsund in Sweden has turned out to be considerably older and more significant than first thought.

A proposed dredging project at Port Everglades in Florida has been halted after regulators withdrew a key permit application, easing pressure on nearby coral reefs.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has announced the seizure of approximately 50,000 shark fins in a major, coordinated enforcement effort targeting the global wildlife trade.

Archaeological excavations reveal vessels from medieval trade to early modern shipping.

To encounter a great white shark in the water is to witness evolutionary perfection in motion—power, precision and unquestioned authority. For millions of years, these animals have ruled the seas. But today, that same evolutionary advantage may be placing them in danger.

Archaeologists have uncovered a well-preserved Roman-era shipwreck and cargo at the bottom of Lake Neuchâtel, which provides new insights into ancient trade routes and transportation systems.

Hidden among coral rubble and sandy burrows lives a creature no larger than a hand, yet possessing one of the most complex visual systems known on Earth: the mantis shrimp.

New research shows nudibranchs can regenerate parts of their nervous system, offering insights into brain repair.

New research shows southern right whales are under increasing stress, with declines driven by changing ecosystems and reduced food abundance.

New data shows shark bite incidents stabilised in 2025, with fewer cases reported in the United States and no indication of long-term increase.

For many divers, the question of whether fish feel pain answers itself the moment we enter their world. We see it in the way fish respond to danger and interact with one another. They are not passive or mechanical, but responsive and engaged with their surroundings. Yet despite this, the widespread belief that fish do not feel pain has persisted for decades and been repeated often enough to be accepted as fact.

While divers move through water guided by sight and sound, many marine animals experience an entirely different world—one shaped by faint electrical currents. Every living creature produces tiny electrical fields, created by the movement of muscles and nerves. To most of us, these signals are invisible. But to some animals, they are as clear as light.

Marine archaeologists have identified the wreck of the Danish battleship Dannebroge, lost during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, in waters just outside the Danish capital.

A new partnership between the Shark Trust and BSAC is calling on divers to help identify where sharks and skates lay their eggs—an often hidden stage of their life cycle.

When we slip beneath the surface, the ocean can feel like a silent world. But sometimes, when we just wait and listen, it comes alive with fish voices—grunts, knocks, growls, squeaks and pulses—sounds from 360 degrees around, which sound surreal. Scientists are only just beginning to understand these vocalisations made by fish. 

For decades, divers and scientists alike believed that sharks roamed every ocean on Earth—except one. The icy waters of Antarctica were thought to be simply too cold, too extreme, for any shark to survive. But the ocean, as it so often does, has revealed yet another surprise.