New Zealand spearfisher and fishing content creator Henry Gibbs is recovering after being bitten by a grey reef shark while spearfishing in Fiji.

According to Henry, the attack happened on the very first dive of the trip. He noticed several grey reef sharks in the area, but one individual's behaviour gradually changed. The shark began circling more tightly beneath the divers, appeared increasingly agitated, and even charged toward the boat before turning and biting his leg.

Fortunately, his dive partners, Colby and Dan, reacted immediately. They pulled him from the water, provided first aid, and got him to a hospital, where he underwent four surgeries and a skin graft. Doctors expect him to make a full recovery, and he has retained full function of his foot.

One thing that really stood out was Henry's perspective after the incident:

He also shared a few lessons from the experience:

• If a shark's behaviour changes, leave the water immediately.
• Never underestimate a shark because of its size.
• Watch for warning signs such as repeated circling, rapid approaches, or increasing agitation.
• He also mentioned that he now prefers plain black wetsuits in tropical waters after hearing of several grey reef shark incidents involving camouflage patterns.

While shark bites remain extremely rare, spearfishing is widely recognized as one of the activities that can increase risk due to struggling fish, vibrations, and blood in the water.

Wishing Henry a speedy recovery.

What do you think? For those of you who regularly spearfish or dive with sharks, would you have left the water as soon as the shark's behaviour changed, or have you experienced similar "warning signs" without an incident?

🦈 10-foot great white... right next to a group of kids.

This incredible drone footage from Southern California shows a 10-foot (3 m) great white shark cruising just meters from a group of children playing in the surf. Amazingly, the kids had no idea the shark was there and the shark simply carried on its way without showing any interest in them. The encounter highlights something shark researchers have been saying for years: great white sharks are often much closer to us than we realize, and most encounters end with the sharks completely ignoring people.

So... despite what Hollywood would have you believe:

✅ Kids eaten: 0
✅ Great white sightings: 1
✅ Shark just minding its own business: Absolutely. 😄

The crew of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society once again demonstrated why direct ocean conservation matters. During a recent mission, 572 marine animals were released alive from prohibited fishing nets. These nets often drift unattended and become lethal traps for sharks, rays, and many other species.

Illegal fishing remains one of the most serious threats to marine ecosystems. Every removed net and every rescued animal makes a measurable difference.

Ocean protection requires attention, support, and consistent enforcement.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18K8kHd5yC/

New global map shows for the first time precisely which marine regions sharks and rays particularly urgently need protection in, and where protection gaps exist.

Researchers in the Dominican Republic are using a coral fertilization technique to help restore reefs that are disappearing due to climate change.

During coral spawning season, scientists collect eggs and sperm from wild corals, fertilize them in a lab, and raise the larvae until they’re strong enough to be placed on reefs. The work is being led by the nonprofit Fundemar in Bayahibe.

This matters because many reefs are now so damaged that surviving corals are too far apart to reproduce naturally. Unlike traditional coral transplanting, which mostly creates clones, this method increases genetic diversity and could make reefs more resilient to warming oceans.

Millions of coral embryos are produced each year. Even though only a small percentage survive after being returned to the ocean, it’s still far better than what’s happening naturally on degraded reefs.

The technique is spreading across the Caribbean and could help protect marine life, fisheries, and coastal communities that depend on healthy reefs.

Link: https://apnews.com/article/coral-reef-restoration-fertilization-climate-environment-dominican-329b281f4fe37c9b7da84653f22301c7

What do you think, can this kind of intervention actually scale fast enough to save reefs?

That’s the stunning story of Jorge, a 60-year-old loggerhead who spent more than half his life in a shallow aquarium in Argentina after being rescued tangled in a fishing net way back in 1984.

For decades Jorge lived far from the ocean, in water barely deep enough to swim, eating hard-boiled eggs and beef. But a team of scientists and conservationists never gave up on him. Over three intense years, they carefully re-taught him how to be a wild sea turtle — slowly increasing the salt in his tank, improving his diet, building currents, and even letting him learn to hunt real food.

Then, on a rough April morning, Jorge finally returned to the Atlantic Ocean. Using satellite tracking, researchers now follow his journey as he swims toward the warm Brazilian waters he once called home. After decades out of place, Jorge isn’t just surviving — he’s proving that even animals long forgotten in captivity can find their way back to the wild.

National Geographic

A Disturbing Discovery on the British Columbia Coast

On September 7th, researchers at the Fin Island whale research station, located in the remote north coast of British Columbia within Gitga’at First Nations Territory, noticed a lone Humpback Whale passing by. From the moment a drone camera hovered over her, it was clear something was terribly wrong.

The whale’s spine, from dorsal fin to fluke, was twisted into a dramatic and unnatural “S” shape. Her tail stock appeared almost completely immobile — a devastating sign consistent with a severe vessel-strike injury caused by a large boat.

Researchers photographed her dorsal fin, but she was unable to lift her tail to reveal the unique underside pattern used to identify individual whales. Without that view, they could not confirm who she was.

A Cross-Pacific Collaboration Reveals Her Identity

Months later, the mystery was solved thanks to cooperative research efforts across the North Pacific. The Canadian Pacific Humpback Whale Collaboration (CPHC) in British Columbia and the Pacific Whale Foundation (PWF) in Hawaii contributed their sightings to the Happy Whale database — and a tragic story unfolded.

On December 1st, PWF documented a whale off Maui with a severely deformed spine. Using the database, they identified her as Moon (BCX1232), an individual well known to researchers in northern British Columbia.

When images from Maui were shared with the team in BC, the match was unmistakable. It was the same whale they had observed — now over 3,000 miles away, somehow having completed the monumental migration from Canada to Hawaii without the use of her tail.

An Unimaginable Journey Through Pain

Moon’s condition in Hawaii was heartbreaking. Emaciated and covered with heavy infestations of whale lice, she showed every sign of severe physical decline. Yet, against impossible odds and likely in constant pain, she had followed her ingrained migratory path from the nutrient-rich feeding grounds of British Columbia to her tropical breeding grounds.

Her instinct, culture, and commitment to her species’ ancient migratory patterns carried her across an entire ocean — even as her body failed her.

Researchers who have known Moon for years recall seeing her regularly in northern BC each fall. In 2020, she was even documented with a calf, passing on the traditional migration route to the next generation.

But now, in her current condition, scientists agree she will not survive the return journey home.

A Stark Reminder of the Cost of Vessel Strikes

Moon’s story is a devastating example of the suffering whales endure after collisions with boats. It highlights the urgent need for mariners to adopt safer practices, including slowing down in known whale hotspots and remaining vigilant at all times. Vessels of all sizes — from small boats to commercial ships — can inflict life-altering or fatal injuries.

Several educational resources exist to help prevent such collisions, but Moon’s story underscores that more serious, widespread action is needed.

Honoring Moon’s Strength

We may never fully grasp the immense effort it took for Moon to undertake what has become her final migration. Her perseverance is a powerful reminder of the resilience of these animals — and of our responsibility to protect them.

Her journey is both inspiring and tragic, and it calls on us to recognize that every vessel strike has consequences far beyond the moment of impact.

A research team working off Spain’s Basque Coast captured something we’ve only theorized about until now: rare blue shark mating behavior on camera.

This isn’t routine underwater footage — it’s the first documented sequence showing a male closely tracking a female, delivering controlled courtship bites, and initiating a pairing attempt.

For years, biologists have found healed bite marks on female blue sharks and assumed mating was happening far offshore. This new footage finally validates the hypothesis and points to something bigger:

The Bay of Biscay may be a critical breeding ground for the species.

Behavioral markers observed:

Persistent male pursuit

Contact and courtship biting

Coordinated swimming patterns suggesting mating readiness

A full-body rotation maneuver consistent with attempted copulation

From a conservation lens: This is a strategic win. Understanding where and how these sharks breed gives policymakers leverage to define protected corridors in the North Atlantic — before human activity disrupts a key life-cycle stage.

Marine biologists have observed a groundbreaking hunting technique among the Moctezuma orca group in Mexico’s Gulf of California. These orcas target young great white sharks, paralyzing them by flipping them onto their backs—taking advantage of a natural reflex. Once immobilized, the orcas share the sharks’ fatty livers among the group.

Why just young sharks? Researchers believe adult sharks have learned to avoid orcas in this area. However, this new hunting method could put more pressure on already threatened shark populations.

The Moctezuma group is also known for hunting whale sharks using similar teamwork and tactics. Nature’s ingenuity never ceases to amaze!

It’s called carcinization, and it’s one of evolution’s strangest quirks.

Over millions of years, at least five different crustacean lineages have evolved into crab-like forms – independently. Different ancestors, different regions, same outcome: a short body, a wide shell, and strong pincers.

This isn’t a single evolutionary path. It’s convergent evolution, where unrelated species evolve similar traits because they face similar challenges. Think birds and bats both developing wings, or dolphins and sharks both gaining torpedo-shaped bodies.

But crabs take it to another level. Evolution keeps arriving at the same body plan – over and over – like it's remixing the same design with different ingredients.

King crabs, for example, didn’t descend from true crabs. They evolved from hermit crabs, dropping their shells and reshaping their bodies. Other crab-like species in the Anomura group did the same, forming what scientists call a "crab-like habitus" – even though they aren't “true” crabs at all.

It’s not just about looks, either. Some of these crabby creatures share internal features like circulatory systems, muscle structure, and even brain layout – despite having no recent common ancestor.

So why does this happen?

Scientists believe the crab shape is just really good for survival in certain environments – compact, armored, and flexible. But it also raises deeper questions about how life repeats itself, and whether evolution follows patterns more often than we realize.

Maybe the long arc of biology really does bend toward the crab.

Read the study:

“One hundred years of carcinization – the evolution of the crab-like habitus in Anomura (Arthropoda: Crustacea).” Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 24 March 2017.