February 2021

Belugas are gregarious, highly sociable and they regularly form small groups, or pods, which may contain between two and 25 individuals, with an average of 10 members.

Pods tend to be unstable, meaning individuals tend to move from pod to pod. Their behaviour, which includes sophisticated vocal repertoires, suggest that this marine mammal lives in complex societies. It has long been thought belugas formed social bonds around females that primarily comprise closely related individuals from the same maternal lineage, but this hypothesis has never been documented.

Four of the six baleen whale species found in the western North Atlantic Ocean (humpback, sei, fin and blue) have changed their distribution patterns in the past decade.

Using 281 passive acoustic recorders moored to the sea floor from the Caribbean Sea to Greenland, researchers from the United States and Canada monitored the movements of the whales from 2004 to 2014. The findings of their study was published in the Global Change Biology journal.

Researchers at Michigan State University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa have been uncovering clues as to why some corals bleach while others are resistant, information that could help reefs better weather warming waters in the future.

The team analysed the biochemistry of corals using mass spectrometers to understand what set resistant corals apart from susceptible ones. The scientists found that two different communities of algae lived within the corals. Inside the algae cells were compounds known as lipids.

According to a new study published in Science Advances, sawfish are no longer found in half of the world’s coastal waters, as they are being threatened by extinction due to overfishing and habitat loss.  

Of the five sawfish species, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists the largetooth sawfish (Pristis pristis), smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) and green sawfish (Pristis zijsron) as critically endangered, and the dwarf sawfish (Pristis clavata) and narrow sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata) as endangered.

Researchers conclude the northward range shift demonstrates water temperatures within their preferred temperature range of juvenile white sharks are becoming harder to find.

The animals have historically remained in warmer waters in the southern California Current; Between 1982 and 2013, the northernmost edge of the juveniles' range was located near Santa Barbara (34° N).

The two wooden cargo vessels, known as GAD23 off Goodwin Sands in Kent and WA08 in the Thames Estuary in Essex, have been protected by scheduling. This means recreational divers can dive them but their contents are protected by law and must remain in situ.

On 22. February 1945 nine Fairey Barracuda from 821 Naval Air Squadron are launched from the aircraft carrier HMS Puncher in the North sea on a minelaying operation along the western coast of Norway, or more specifically Karmsundet which is a narrow strait south of the coastal town of Haugesund.

After almost a year of restrictions and lockdowns, stir-crazy holidaymakers are eager to getaway. With vaccines now being administered and more on the way, travel is finally on the horizon. According to a recent report of the European Travel Commission (ETC), the number of European citizens planning to travel abroad during the spring of this year has marked a 20 per cent increase compared to November 2020 figures.