Today marks the beginning of the OSPAR Commission meeting in Bergen, Norway. In case you are wondering what this actually is, we thought we’d give you a bit of background on the Commission and what it is that they do. OSPAR is the result of the 1992 unification of two international Conventions related to the … Read more
For thousands of years, the Gulf of Cádiz has been known for its ecological importance, as seen in ancient clasical texts mentioning the abundance of its fisheries and the presence of numerous animal species. From the fantastic stories of Strabo, who defined tuna as the “pigs of the sea” because they would feed off the … Read more
Last week, our CEO tweeted an interesting article (Why wartime wrecks are slicking time bombs), highlighting the impact of World War II on the oceans. According to the study by Trevor Gilbert and Dagmar Etkin, between 2.5 million tons and 20 million tons of oil are contained in the thousands of ships on the continent … Read more
While marine pollution poses serious long-term threats to the Baltic Sea, the most acute threat to its ecosystem is short-sighted industrial-scale commercial fishing practices. Their destructive impact is magnified by the systematic failure of the Baltic coastal governments to vigorously enforce existing laws and regulations on catch limits, by catch control, and habitat preservation. Last … Read more
The international marine conservation organization’s research catamaran, the Oceana Ranger, in collaboration with Fundación Biodiversidad, has just finished an expedition in Palma de Mallorca. The odyssey lasted almost three months, of which the last two weeks were spent in the Balearic Islands. Oceana has discovered many of the most threatened ecosystems of the Mediterranean among … Read more
The crew aboard the oceanographic ship “Gago Coutinho” weighed anchor yesterday to study the “Condor” and “Voador” seamounts. The Condor seamount, located along the island of Faial, is the first stop for the scientific mission that set sail yesterday from Horta aboard the oceanographic ship Gago Coutinho, of the Portuguese Navy. There, 22 miles from … Read more
Sea turtles have been swimming the oceans for more than 100 million years. They have persisted through natural predators, climatic changes and even the mass dinosaur extinction. They have proven to be important ecologically, economically and culturally both in the United States and abroad. Nonetheless, modern day human activities are killing sea turtles at a … Read more
Oceana is proposing the creation of a new marine protected area in Andalusia that would extend the number of protected hectares off Doñana National Park and nearby waters from 4,000 to 80,000. The international marine conservation organization, now in its forth year in the area and in collaborating with Fundación Biodiversidad, has found endangered species … Read more
Sea turtles have played vital roles in maintaining the health of the world’s oceans for more than 100 million years. These roles range from maintaining productive coral reef ecosystems to transporting essential nutrients from the oceans to beaches and coastal dunes. Major changes have occurred in the oceans because sea turtles have been virtually eliminated … Read more
Sharks are extremely vulnerable species which have been fished by European Union vessels at home and around the world without any management for decades. Globally, 21% of shark, ray and chimaera populations are threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List. In the Northeast Atlantic the figure is even higher with 26% threatened and … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
Oceana in Europe gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.
