Widespread adoption of products labelled “biodegradable” will not significantly decrease the volume of plastic entering the ocean or the physical and chemical risks that plastics pose to marine environment, accord to a United Nations report released today.

From ScubaEarth: This is the Caribbean with an English twist. Tea time on Barbados is a serious daily event, but you don’t have to enjoy a “cuppa” to take to the sea. You will, however, need to know how to pronounce the name of the island’s signature dive, the wreck of an ex-Greek freighter, 110 metre/365 foot Stavronikita, although most divers simple call it the Stav.

From ScubaEarth: This island nation has been described as a kite and its tail, with the kite being St. Vincent and the smaller Grenadines as the long tail that flutters underneath it. With such an expanse of the Caribbean off its shores, divers can expect a wide swath of undersea experiences. This starts with St.

From ScubaEarth: Even before you learn to dive, the Great Barrier Reef looms large on your travel radar. But, once you become a diver, this more than 2,000-kilometre/1,250 mile stretch of undersea adventure will become an obsession. The barrier reef is such a vast destination that it must be visited in small chunks and there are several gateways along the coast of Queensland from which to access it. The main hub is Cairns, where many day boats and live-aboards depart.

Featured from PADI.com: For having so many small islands, the area of Micronesia is a giant in the dive world. You can spend a lifetime island-hopping and still have more to discover. Although there are a number of island states in the area, the main destinations — Palau, Yap, Chuuk and Guam — evoke images of world-class undersea adventure.

Featured from ScubaEarth: Hawai’i is several destinations in one, as each of the major islands has its own unique dive experience. But, while each island is unique, almost 30 percent of everything you see can only be seen in the islands of Hawai’i. From December to May, the waters off all of Hawai’i fill with the haunting song of humpback whales.

Featured from ScubaEarth:
 
All the beautiful islands that make up French Polynesia have the capacity to inspire even the hardest heart to romantic yearning. With wafts of frangipani on every soft breeze, a thousand shades of electric blue in every lagoon, coconut palms placed perfectly on every soft sand beach, the islands that make up the nation of Tahiti are beyond compare.

The hunting ability and growth of sharks will be dramatically impacted by increased CO2 levels and warmer oceans expected by the end of the century, a University of Adelaide study has found.
Published today in the journal Scientific Reports, marine ecologists from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute report long-term experiments that show warmer waters and ocean acidification will have major detrimental effects on sharks’ ability to meet their energy demands, with the effects likely to cascade through entire ecosystems.

Cuba on Wednesday launched an initiative to protect sharks in some of the most pristine habitat for the predators whose populations have been in steep decline.
The action plan, reached through two years of collaborative research with the New York-based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), will impose size and capture limits on fishermen, set aside protected areas and create closed seasons for shark-fishing, officials said.

International explorer and 100% AWARE partner Paul Rose joined a Thames foreshore clean up on 30 September and called on Londoners to 'do the right thing' and make sure their rubbish goes in the bin, not in the river.