In a future shaped by climate change, only the strong – or heat-resistant – will survive. MORE

Manta rays, close to the heart of every diver, are at risk of extinction. The time is now to protect them! If you take a PADI course in 2013 you can choose the Project AWARE limited edition manta ray card and make a donation to help protect manta rays.

FACT: Manta ray catch has nearly quadrupled in seven years according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In Miami, the world’s leading plastics associations launched a Progress Report on the Global Declaration of the Plastics Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter originally announced in March 2011 at the 5th International Marine Debris Conference.

Conservation groups are celebrating today’s European Parliament vote to close loopholes in the European Union ban on shark finning (slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the body at sea), the culmination of six years of campaigning and debate.

Members of the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the European Commission’s proposal to impose the best practice for finning ban enforcement: a prohibition on removing shark fins at sea. The measure faced formidable opposition from representatives of Spain and Portugal, Europe’s leaders in catch of oceanic sharks.

Are the planet’s oceans doomed to become its waste bin? Marine litter  – plastics, wood, metal, rubber, paper and other debris – from human activity continues to invade and pollute oceans and seas, posing a serious threat to the coastal and marine environment worldwide.