Photo: Oceanic White Tip Shark with Pilot Fish, (c) Daniel Botelho
CITES is widely recognized as one of the most effective and best-enforced international conservation agreements. It offers protection to more than 30,000 species around the globe and has been instrumental in preventing the extinction of numerous plants and animals. The 16th meeting of CITES will be held from March 3–14, 2013, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Advocates are pushing for the adoption of three shark proposals and one manta ray proposal, to include these species on Appendix II at CoP 16 (porbeagle, oceanic whitetip, and hammerhead sharks (scalloped, great, and smooth), and manta rays).
Fishing has drastically depleted shark and ray populations over the past 60 years. Of the shark and ray species assessed by scientists for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),  30 per cent are threatened or near-threatened with extinction.…

For many people, coral reefs are the only part of the ocean they ever see. Shallow tropical reef areas such as this heart shaped reef allow us to explore its wonders – using just a mask and fins, giving us just a small taste of the magnificent colonies that exist below – farther offshore and in the deep ocean.
For many researchers the circle of life starts with coral reefs. Why? Coral reefs are a critical part of the ocean ecosystem — teeming with sea life that relies on them for survival. And this sea life is important to our economy, providing millions of people around the globe with food, coastal storm protection, and jobs.
Unfortunately, coral reefs are threatened by a growing number of natural and man-made stresses.…

The oldest known living wild bird in the world gave birth Sunday to a healthy hatchling. The 62-year-old bird, “Wisdom,” last made headlines in 2011, when the albatross survived the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami. In this photo,  Wisdom (left) attempts to nudge her mate off the nest for her turn at incubating the couple’s egg. She’s 62; the male is presumed to be much younger. In her lifetime, she has survived numerous disasters including tsunamis, tropical storms, hurricanes, longline fishing and plastic pollution.
Wisdom has defied the odds in many aspects: She’s already lived nearly twice as long as the average Laysan albatross. She was given her name after being tagged by a U.S. Geological Survey researcher in 1956.  The USGS estimates that since being tagged, Wisdom has flown an estimated 2 million to 3 million miles, or “four to six trips from the Earth to the Moon and back again with plenty of miles to spare.”…