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Seascape: the state of our oceans

  • Charles Saunders shows off an enormous dungeness crab, caught as part of a population survey by the Nuxalk Guardian Watchmen.

    ‘It was like the wild west’
    Meet the First Nations guardians protecting Canada’s pristine shores

    From crab monitoring and bear patrols to rescue operations, the watchmen are the official eyes and ears of indigenous communities
  • A view shows Anemones at the Jan Mayen Vent Fields on the Arctic Mid-Oceanic Ridge at a depth of around 500m, in this undated handout picture. University of Bergen, Centre for Deep Sea Research

    WWF
    Norway sued over deep-sea mining plans

    WWF-Norway says the government has breached the law ‘without adequately assessing the consequences’
  • Two small Korean girls and a woman stand in front of an aquarium as a white whale looks at them through the glass

    ‘Free Bella’
    Campaigners fight to save lonely beluga whale from Seoul mall

    Five years after her last companion died and the aquarium’s owner pledged to free her, Bella still languishes in a tiny tank amid shops
  • Jackass Penguin, Stony Point, Betty's Bay, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa / (Spheniscus demersus)<br>FKNHCP Jackass Penguin, Stony Point, Betty's Bay, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa / (Spheniscus demersus)

    Penguins in peril
    Why two bird charities are taking South Africa’s environment minister to court

    Conservationists say Barbara Creecy has failed to implement vital changes to stop fishing around colonies amid fears African penguins could be extinct by 2035
    • A middel-aged white woman sits on a rock by the sea, wearing a wetsuit and surrounded by other wetsuits

      The search for the perfect wetsuit
      Is there one that doesn’t harm the planet?

    • Ban Khun Samut Chin, a coastal village in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, has been slowly swallowed by the sea over the past few decades. This has led to the relocation of the school and many homes, resulting in a dwindling population

      Four kids left
      The Thai school swallowed by the sea – video

    • An octopus on the seafloor wrapped around a camera

      How do you follow My Octopus Teacher?
      With crocodiles, otters and a new book

    • a large white cruise ship in a body of water

      Cruise ship arrives at New York City harbor with dead whale caught on bow

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Explore

  • Tonnara fishers hook tuna

    ‘A frenzy of bodies in the chamber of death’: Italian fishers fight to preserve an ancient tradition

    A sustainable technique for catching tuna that goes back thousands of years is on the verge of extinction in Italy – but not for a lack of fish
  • a male humpback whale penetrating another male

    Gay, lesbian and intersex whales: our queer sea has much to teach us

  • Basking shark

    ‘I’m happy we’re not killing them any more’: Ireland’s last basking shark hunter on the return of the giants

  • Fishers push a boat on the beach at San Juanico on the coast of north-west Mexico

    How a US mining firm sued Mexico for billions – for trying to protect its own seabed

  • A Sea Shepherd thermal drone monitors the Vaquita Refuge in the Sea of Cortez, in an ongoing operation to defend the world’s most endangered marine mammal from illegal fishing. Photo Credit: Eli Hausman, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society If you need more context, you could add that the drone was launched from one of our sentry ships, The Seahorse, which is present in the Vaquita Refuge nearly 24/7 with the cooperation of the Mexican Government.

    Eyes in the sky: why drones are ‘beyond effective’ for animal rights campaigners around the world

  • Penguins watch the Noosfera, Ukraine’s Antarctic research vessel, which keeps the Ukrainian and Polish bases supplied.

    ‘He took five bullets and returned to work on plankton’: the double lives of Ukraine’s Antarctic scientists

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Discovered in the deep

  • An octopus on an underwater mountain off the coast of Chile

    Dragons, sea toads and the longest creature ever seen found on undersea peaks off South America

  • Close up of a Ryukyuan pygmy squid (Idiosepius kijimuna) attached to a blade of seagrass

    Discovered in the deep: tiny ‘sucker-bum squid’ with martial arts moves

  • Small pearly grey octopuses among rocks with beige anemones among them

    Discovered in the deep: an octopus’s garden in the shade

  • Fossil plankton from half a billion years ago. These tiny algae measure much less than a millimetre in size. It is believed they evolved their colonial structure to avoid being eaten by early animals.

    Discovered in the deep: the ancient plankton that fill a major evolutionary gap

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In pictures

  • Andreas breaking ice following a freedive in Trollfjorden

    Ice dives, walrus snaps and whale encounters: the man telling extreme stories of an Arctic at risk

  • Ban Khun Samut Chin, a coastal village in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, has been slowly swallowed by the sea over the past few decades. This has led to the relocation of the school and many homes, resulting in a dwindling population

    6:03

    Four kids left: The Thai school swallowed by the sea – video

    Ban Khun Samut Chin, a coastal village in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, has been slowly swallowed by the sea over the past few decades. This has led to the relocation of the school and many homes, resulting in a dwindling population
  • Iceland, 2011

    Moments of magic and bliss: Chris Burkard’s ocean photography

    Outdoor and surf photographer Chris Burkard has explored the seven seas capturing their diversity and dynamic beauty. His work especially in the colder regions find the dymanic beauty of our ocean and a source of inspiration deserving of our respect and stewardship
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Explainers

  • Aerial view of a diamond mining vessel with a helipad at sea

    Deep-sea mining: why is interest growing and what are the risks?

  • A house destroyed by marine erosion and rising sea levels in the town of El Bosque, Mexico.

    ‘It’s absolutely guaranteed’: the best and worst case scenarios for sea level rise

  • Crew member organises net as a purse seine fishing boat sets out looking for salmon.

    Have we reached peak fish?

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