The world is beginning to face a shortage of available oil tankers, which is driving up freight costs and threatens to disrupt global oil flows even further.
The desert nation of Namibia, located on the Atlantic coast of southern Africa, has literally plunged into the so-called “blue economy.” With massive farms of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, the country is on its way to becoming a major exporter of seaweed-derived products. The industry provides jobs and also serves as a carbon sink.
A collapsing glacier and a landslide are likely to have triggered the mudslide disaster in Nepal.
An iceberg larger than Manhattan has broken away from the Petermann Glacier. The iceberg, which broke away on 4 August, measures 76 square kilometres and is 150 metres thick – the largest in the Arctic since 2020. The European Space Agency (ESA) compares its size to the New York island of Manhattan. From a Swedish […]
Norway will continue to drill for oil in the Barents Sea even if the EU extends its moratorium on such activities, according to Norway’s Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Labour Party). Continued activity in the Barents Sea benefits both Norwegian and European interests, says Terje Aasland in an interview with the Reuters news agency ahead of […]
The sperm whale, the world’s largest toothed whale, has the largest brain on Earth. It also produces complex clicks which, according to a new study, resemble human speech. The study, published in the *Proceedings of the Royal Society*, is based on analyses of recordings made of sperm whales in the waters off the island of […]
During a night dive in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, documentary filmmaker Johan Candert manages to film a wobbegong shark catching its prey. “In the hundreds of dives I’ve done here, I’ve never seen that,” says Mark Erdmann, an ecologist specialising in coral reefs, who lives and works in Raja Ampat for much of the year.
The Arctic has become a faster alternative for ships transporting goods between Europe and Asia, reports the Financial Times. This week, the Chinese company Sea Legend is launching a regular service on what the shipping company calls the “ice route” through the Arctic Ocean. The company will be transporting containers between Ningbo in China and […]
Western Europe is experiencing its hottest summer to date, and the sea has never been warmer during the month of July.In Western Europe, a persistent high-pressure system has made the period from June to July the hottest on record, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The heat is exacerbated by dry ground, which […]
What’s it like to swim alongside some of the ocean’s largest predators? Join underwater photographer Göran Ehlmé, one of the first people in the world to dive with and film orcas. “It was naturally a bit nerve-wracking at first,” he says.
Large numbers of young great white sharks are expected off the Californian coast as the El Niño weather phenomenon intensifies, and researchers are warning of a ‘shark summer’. The sharks are not coming alone – the warm water from the south is also bringing with it stingrays and venomous sea snakes. Normally, colder, nutrient-rich water […]
Invasive species from the Strait of Hormuz could cause “super-spread” and biological chaos, researchers warn in a new study. ´If you’d set out to design the worst-case scenario, I’m not sure you could have done any better,´ the lead author tells The Guardian. The 1,500 cargo ships that have been stranded in the Strait of […]
The removal of fuel from the tanks of the battleship Ilmarinen, which sank during the Continuation War in 1941, has been completed, reports Finnish broadcaster Yle. The operation, which began in mid-July, removed around 60,000 litres of oil from the wreck. An estimated 40,000 litres of oil remain in the Ilmarinen’s tanks. The plan is […]
Nuclear reactors are being shut down, cargo barges are running aground and tourists keen to go swimming are met with mud. For the third time in a decade, water levels in the Danube, the Rhine and other major rivers are extremely low. ´The summer season is already over as far as boat trips are concerned,´ […]
Humanity has now used up the Earth’s renewable resources for this year. 30 July marks this year’s ‘Earth Overshoot Day’. We are currently using nature’s resources 73 per cent faster than the Earth’s ecosystems can recover – a rate that would require us to have 1.73 Earths, according to the Global Footprint Network, which carries […]
‘Shark Guard’ is a follow-up to the documentary ‘Ocean Dreams’, a film about the ocean’s resilience when we leave it in peace. Here, we get a glimpse behind the scenes as the team encounters a group of sharks.
Seals, sea lions and walruses have unique hearing abilities – they are the only mammals that can hear well both in water and in air. How this works has been clarified in a study that also reveals when this ability first emerged. The study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society, was carried out by […]
7,000 metres down in the Indian Ocean, where no sunlight reaches, there are ecosystems unlike anything else. The main players? Whale carcasses. ´It is an exceptional discovery,´ says Björn Källström, a marine biologist and researcher at the Maritime Museum and Aquarium. A spectacular whale graveyard has been discovered on the seabed of the Indian Ocean […]
The authorities in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) are to carry out a survey to gauge public opinion on the establishment of offshore salmon farms. In response, hundreds of islanders have joined forces and publicly opposed this large-scale industry. Text: Marika Griehsel They argue that invaluable natural heritage will be damaged and that the local […]
Overnight alone, Ukraine claims to have attacked around 20 Russian oil and gas vessels in the Black Sea. The new strategy involves extending an intensive offensive from the Sea of Azov. ´ The first round of the naval battle is over. Now we’re taking the Black Sea,´ explains Ukraine’s drone commander Robert “Majdar” Brovdi, according […]
‘The Intelligence of Manta Rays’ is a follow-up to the documentary “Ocean Dreams”, a film about the ocean’s resilience when we leave it in peace. When it is given a chance to heal, life can return. In this feature, Mark Erdman, an ecologist specialising in coral reefs, shares his knowledge of manta rays.
Using state-of-the-art imaging systems, an international research expedition has confirmed the existence of a host of new deep-sea species off the coast of Brazil. These were found in what is known as the ‘mesopelagic zone’ – the part of the ocean that boasts by far the greatest biodiversity on the entire planet but which is […]
Fish have feelings; they feel pain and distress just like land animals, even though many of us do not think of them in the same way as we do, for example, dogs or cats.
