November 2019

The shortfin mako shark fishery of the north Atlantic is one of those that fisheries scientists have claimed to be potentially sustainable. It has been used to promote the idea that all shark fisheries can become sustainable, with the United States in the lead.

But in the meantime, the species has become globally endangered, and now, when other countries are urgently fighting for protection for the shortfin mako shark, the United States and the European Union have blocked it at the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

aquaSketch

Interview with owner and inventor Mark Hagan, whose scrolling sketch pad with 30 feet of waterproof mylar and smaller wrist model with 8 feet of mylar allows divers and researchers to write and draw on paper underwater (6 minutes). For more information, go to: aquasketch.com

The submarine was found by the Lost 52 Project, which locates lost U.S. World War II submarines, and is the first U.S. submarine discovered off the coast of Japan. Japanese records indicate that the sub was sunk by a 500-pound bomb dropped by a naval bomber in February 1944.

HMS Urge—part of Britain's 10th Submarine Flotilla—left the Mediterranean island of Malta on April 27, 1942 but never made it to its destination of the Egyptian port of Alexandria. Until its discovery this summer, the reason for both the ship's disappearance and its final resting place were unknown. The discovery of HMS Urge suggests it sank in 1942 after hitting an explosive marine mine placed by an enemy German warship.