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In between the sunlit shallows and the dark, deep ocean lies an inky realm where few people have ever been. Stretching from about 30 to 150 metres, the mesophotic zone (meaning “middle light”) is an awkward depth. It lies just beyond the reach of regular scuba divers and it’s usually what aquanauts inside multimillion-dollar submersibles merely glimpse as they plunge deeper.

However, a new generation of scientists is pushing the limits of diving to discover the secrets of this ecological zone. “There’s so much to see, and everything seems new,” says Erika Gress from James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. “It’s like a different world.”

To access the mesophotic zone, divers use equipment called rebreathers, which don’t exhale bubbles...

A Japanese whaling company has sparked an angry response from animal rights campaigners after it started selling whale meat from vending machines in an effort to boost consumption. Kyodo Senpaku, whose vessels led Japan’s whaling fleet during its controversial expeditions to the Southern Ocean, opened its first kujira(whale meat) “stores” at two locations in Tokyo this month after a successful trial late last year.

The machines sell a variety of whale meat products, including canned items containing meat imported from Iceland, bacon, steaks and red meat that can be eaten raw as sashimi. Prices range from 1,000 (£6) to 3,000 yen.

Although whale meat was a staple source of protein in Japan during postwar food shortages, consumption declined after the 196os as pork, chicken and...

Nearly two-thirds of coral reef shark and ray species worldwide are threatened with extinction, reports a new study in Nature Communications. This build on a study in 2020 that found that reef sharks across the globe are in decline, missing from 19% of the world’s coral reefs. At the time, this was the greatest decline of reef sharks ever recorded, but these recent results suggest that the extinction risk of coral reef sharks and rays, as a percentage of threatened species, is almost double that of all 1,199 known shark and ray species.

“The findings highlight the need for immediate conservation action for these species through local protections, fisheries management and enforcement, and Marine Protected Areas,” stress the authors of the new study.

Coral reef ecosystems ar...

An amazing project is unfolding in the remote Queensland town of Port Douglas which showcases the best science has to offer our society. They’re building a new ark for coral. And there isn’t a moment to lose. Great Barrier Reef Legacy, headquartered in Port Douglas, is working with Traditional Owners, industry and corporate partners, scientific collaborators, government organizations, and tourism operators to establish the world’s first Living Coral Biobank.

Like the mythical Noah’s ark, this project aims to conserve the genetic diversity of hard coral species and catalogue, collect, and store living fragments, tissue, and genetic samples from 400 coral species on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), and 400 coral species from all over the world.

Found worldwide, coral reefs are kn...

According to a new study, climate change is changing the behaviors of the marine fishes living in coral reefs. This study found that as climate causes bleaching, this affects coral reef butterflyfishes (genus Chaetodon), which eat coral. Hangry butterflyfishes make poorer fight-or-flight decisions that lead to unnecessary fights, so they expend precious limited energy, and this could potentially threaten their very survival due to an increased risk of starvation.

This study was something of an accident. An international team of researchers, led by marine macroecologist Sally Keith, a senior lecturer at Lancaster University, were working on an ongoing study of 38 species of butterflyfishes living on 17 Indo-Pacific reefs off Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Christmas Island.

I...

Underneath the calm turquoise waters off eastern Thailand, a rapidly spreading disease is killing corals over vast stretches of the sea floor, and scientists fear it may be getting worse because of climate change.

Yellow-band disease – named for the colour it turns corals before destroying them – was first spotted decades ago and has caused widespread damage to reefs in the Caribbean. There is no known cure.

But it was detected for the first time off Thailand’s eastern coast just last year, near the popular tourist city of Pattaya, and has already spread over roughly 600 acres (240 hectares) of the sea.

“I haven’t seen anything like this before,” said marine scientist Lalita Putchim, of Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources.

“Everywhere we went we saw it, and w...

The world’s nations have reached a historic agreement to protect the world’s biodiversity. After two weeks of negotiations, what is officially known as the Kunming-Montreal Global biodiversity framework was passed early on Monday. Here are five key takeaways and memorable moments from the conference.

1. 30% and rising

The 30 x 30 pledge is the central pillar to this agreement – countries agreeing to protecting 30% of land and water by 2030.

Not securing agreement on this key ambition would have been a deal breaker for the whole agreement.

Even before the meeting started in Montreal more than 100 countries had signed up. 

So during the talks when there were suggestions the pledge might be watered down, the nations championing 30 x 30 were quick to push back.

“We cannot af...

The effects of human activity from climate change to pollution are “devastating” marine life, with nearly a tenth of underwater plants and animals assessed so far threatened with extinction, the latest Red List of Threatened Species showed on Friday, December 9. The report’s release coincided with a UN summit on nature in Montreal where the UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged countries to end an “orgy of destruction” and pass a deal to halt and reverse habitat loss.

More than 1,550 of some 17,903 marine plants and animals assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are at risk of extinction, according to the latest list, which acts as a barometer of biodiversity and is published several times a year.

“It shows that we are having qu...

Scientists discover the first evidence that marine conservation helps to reduce climate change. Marine protected areas act as a safeguard for oceans, seas, and estuaries. These regions help in the preservation of the plants and animals that are native to these waters, but the advantages of protected areas go well beyond their boundaries. A group of experts describes how marine protected areas support ecological and social adaptation to climate change and help in the sequestration of carbon in a study that was recently published in the journal One Earth. 

“Marine protected areas are increasingly being promoted as an ocean-based climate solution...

Sharks have received what conservationists say are vital new trade protections. Several shark species were added to a list of species whose trade is restricted to prevent them being “traded to extinction”. The decision was made on Friday at a global summit in Panama. The meeting takes place against the backdrop of an ongoing global extinction crisis.

Other animals given additional protections in the international wildlife trade treaty, known as CITES, include dozens of freshwater turtles and frogs.

“Over a million species are at risk of extinction if we do not change the way we treat wildlife,” said Matthew Collis, deputy vice president for conservation at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

“Governments at CITES have shown they are beginning to grasp the scale of the cha...