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Thousands of small “pyramids” are being planted off the Philippines’ famous Boracay resort island in an effort to bring its nearly destroyed coral reefs back to life, an environment group said Thursday.

Over 300 of the structures were planted this week off Boracay’s coast and eventually about 5,000 will be placed in the sea, according to Sangkalikasan (Nature) which is behind the effort.

“This is like putting garden soil for ideal growth on land. We are doing the same concept in the sea,” Jose Rodriguez, vice chairman of the group, told AFP.

Boracay, famed for its stunning white sand beach and clear waters, is one of the Philippines’ top tourist destinations with nearly one million people visiting the island last year.

But unsustainable development and the ever-growing number of tourists h...

This weekend, thousands of recreational scuba divers in the Midwest with gather in Chicago for the annual Our World-Underwater Scuba Show.

Among the many new products and programs to be available to diving enthusiasts is a new Cave Diving certification program being introduced by the National Association of Scuba Educators (NASE).

Developed following NASE

Overfishing of EU fisheries is costing

The toothfish, found in southern waters, is an unlovely creature. All gawping mouth and bulging eyes, it was called the ugliest fish on the planet by Greenpeace.

But when it arrives on a plate under a more appealing name, Chilean sea bass, it is becomes a tasty

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A wildlife charity has asked that a new network of Scottish marine protected areas (MPAs) have specific measures to protect whales and dolphins.

MSPs are debating plans for two special areas of conservation (SACs) in the Sound of Barra in the Western Isles.

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) said species such as Risso’s dolphin and minke whale needed protection.

An announcement on the MPA network is expected this year.

Under Scottish government proposals, the marine protected areas would cover parts of the Moray Firth and the sea off the Western Isles and Aberdeenshire.

WDCS said the waters provided habitats for minke whales, Risso’s dolphins and white-beaked dolphins.

The society has asked people living on the nearby coasts to back its call for greater protection for the an...

Noise from ships stresses whales nearby, researchers have shown.

Ships’ propellers emit sound in the same frequency range that some whales use for communicating, and previous studies have shown the whales change their calling patterns in noisy places.

Now, researchers have measured stress hormones in whale faeces, and found they rose with the density of shipping.

The species studied in the Bay of Fundy in Canada, the North Atlantic right whale, is listed as endangered.

It had been thought that hunting by the Basque people a few hundred years ago brought a robust population down to barely sustainable levels.

But recent research suggests the big population decline happened much earlier, for reasons that are unclear.

Dr Rosalind Rolland of the New England Aquarium in Boston, US, who led the ...

Five killer whales have been named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit which argues they deserve the same constitutional protection from slavery as humans.

A US judge is considering a complant by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (Peta) against SeaWorld.

It is reportedly the first time a US court has heard legal arguments over whether animals should enjoy the same constitutional protections as humans.

SeaWorld’s legal team said the case was a waste of time and resources.

The marine park’s lawyer, Theodore Shaw, told the court in San Diego: “Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the ‘We the people’… when the Constitution was adopted.”

He said that if the case were successful, it could have implications not just on how other marine parks or zoos operate, but even on the poli...

There are reasons for optimism about the future of the world’s fish stocks despite their currently dire state, said the Prince of Wales at the launch of a report from his green think-tank.

Fisheries in Transition details 50 case studies of successful management in various parts of the world.

The prince said the issue was dogged by a “debilitating fatalism”.

His International Sustainability Unit (ISU) is aiming to build constructive dialogue between industry and ecology.

The report is the first offering on fisheries from the ISU, which aims to continue the kind of work done by the Prince’s Rainforest Project on a larger range of issues.

Speaking at Fishmongers’ Hall in the City of London, the prince said it was “critically urgent” that countries find better ways of dealing with over-fishing...

The number of fish and seafood products certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has shot up by 41% in the UK over the last year, as retailers and supermarkets respond to consumers