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Who would have thought that the day would come when I would publicly state that there are more important things in life than diving. After all, the aquatic environment has been my passion and calling for as long as I can remember. I was that toddler on the beach collecting starfish and small crabs in my red bucket, the public swimming pool was my preferred playground after school, and I specialised in aquatic ecology for my master's degree, not to mention taking up diving early on and becoming an underwater photographer.

Released earlier this month, the Global Reef Expedition: Cook Islands Final Report contains critical information on the health and resiliency of coral reef ecosystems in the Cook Islands.

To understand sea turtle behavior around ocean plastics, the research team compared how sea turtles in a lab setting reacted to smelling odors of turtle food, ocean-soaked plastic, clean plastic and water.

The turtles ignored the scents of clean plastic and water, but responded to the odors of food and ocean-soaked plastics by showing foraging behavior. This included poking their noses out of the water repeatedly as they tried to smell the food source, and increasing their activity as they searched.

Some land animals like rats and shrews use their whiskers to explore, forage and move around. For the first time, a team of researchers, led by Robyn Grant of Manchester Metropolitan University, were able to show that pinnipeds too use their whiskers in a similar fashion.

The study, published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology A sought to measure and compare whisker movements and control amongst three pinniped species—California sea lions, harbor seals and Pacific walruses.

This scenario may one day become reality. And to be efficient, such robots would need to be maneuverable and stealthy, and be able to closely mimic the movements of the marine creatures.

Scientists like Keith W. Moored are working on the next generation of underwater robots by studying the movements of dolphins and whales. "We're studying how these animals are designed and what's beneficial about that design in terms of their swimming performance, or the fluid mechanics of how they swim."

It was due to be held this upcoming weekend - Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 March 2020.

The organiser regrets the inconvenience caused. A future date that will be announced as soon as possible.