Shipment of World’s Rarest Tortoise Intercepted on Way to Indonesia

Jakarta Globe – Madagascar police have arrested two men attempting to smuggle out nearly 200 threatened tortoises, including two dozen of the rarest species on Earth, a conservation group said on Thursday. The shipment was destined for Indonesia. The 26 specimens of Ploughshare tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora) seized comprise about five per cent of the estimated [...]

Explorers begin attempt to row to North Pole

The Telegraph -  They hope to make history by rowing 450 miles across the Arctic sea to the magnetic North Pole. The trip to the Pole, which they estimate will take between four to six weeks, has not been done before. It is only possible now because of more ice-melt in the Arctic, organisers said. [...]

Alarming ‘dead zone’ grows in the Chesapeake

By Darryl Fears -  A giant underwater “dead zone” in the Chesapeake Bay is growing at an alarming rate because of unusually high nutrient pollution levels this year, according to Virginia and Maryland officials. They said the expanding area of oxygen-starved water is on track to become the bay’s largest ever. This year’s Chesapeake Bay [...]

Diving into the abyss aboard Britain’s world-leading submarine rescue system

By Andrew Preston -  Eleven years after 118 submariners met a grisly death at the bottom of the ocean in the Kursk, a British team has developed the most advanced underwater rescue system in the world. Andrew Preston watches them go into action. The British co-pilot of the rescue vehicle speaks slowly and deliberately into [...]

Deep-ocean Sentinels Map Ocean Currents

Hydro International -  Three deep-ocean moorings have become the foundation for a new drive to measure change in currents linking the Pacific and Indian Oceans through the Indonesia Archipelago, considered a key factor influencing Australia’s climate. The moorings were deployed earlier this month as part of an international collaboration to monitor the Timor Passage and [...]

The shark whisperer – Scuba pioneer shares his experiences at Rookery Bay ELC

By Lance Shearer -  Stan Waterman is a living legend in the field of scuba and shark filming, a field in which the “living” part – staying alive – is a big part of the challenge. For him, “swimming with the sharks” was never just a metaphor. Looking piratical in a black eye patch, the [...]

Historic Spitbank sea fort in the Solent set to reopen

BBC News -  A Victorian sea fort is due to reopen as a private venue after a two-year restoration project. Spitbank Fort, which was built to defend the Solent and mainland from French attack, was sold for more than £1m to a property investor. Amazing Retreats, set up in 2010 by umbrella company Clarenco, restores [...]

Kalayaan ‘tourists’ spot 2 ships ‘destroying’ coral reefs

By Philip C. Tubeza -  Even from afar, one thing was obvious: They were not local. The congressmen who went on a “peace mission” to the disputed Spratly Islands on Wednesday spotted two foreign ships conducting quarrying operations and “destroying” coral reefs considered part of Philippine territory. A day after the trip, Eastern Samar Rep. [...]

U.N. Clears China Sea-Floor Plan

By Jeremy Page -  As China’s first manned deep-sea craft prepared for a landmark dive to 5,000 meters, or 16,400 feet, that surpasses current U.S. capabilities, a United Nations body approved Beijing’s plan to explore a swath of ocean floor between Africa and Antarctica for metal deposits. In the first of four planned dives, the [...]

Steven Spielberg and Gwyneth Paltrow fall foul of Italian beach laws

Tom Kington -  Steven Spielberg’s summer cruise around the coast of Sardinia in the company of his god-daughter Gwyneth Paltrow and friends has entered choppy waters after he fell foul of watchful Italian beachgoers, a vigilant coastguard and Italy’s strict rules on having fun. The Oscar-winning director anchored his 85 metre (280ft) motor yacht off [...]