While we often overlook the smaller life forms in favor of their cuter, more charismatic counterparts, the impact of increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on less visible species could have enormous ramifications.

The documentary series – Whales of the Mediterranean Sea – will be shown at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Wednesday October 8, 2008 at 4:10pm.

Good news about the marine environment seems to be an increasingly rare occurrence these days. However, there was only celebration in Chile yesterday after a Government announcement declaring Chilean waters a Whale Sanctuary.

The race to save the vaquita, a tiny porpoise living in the northern Gulf of California, began in earnest this week with the launch of an international campaign in Ensenada, Mexico.

I was concerned to read today that the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has downgraded the status of the majority of the world’s humpback whale populations.

The problem with science has always been its poor track record in wide distribution among the community. Marine science is no exception.

“Dead zones” containing too little oxygen for fish to breathe are growing as global temperatures increase. Warmer water dissolves less oxygen, so as temperatures rise, oxygen vanishes from oceans.

The first comprehensive review on the ecology and conservation of Mediterranean bottlenose dolphins will be soon published.

When people ask me what they can do to help the oceans, my immediate response is to say, “don’t eat shrimp!” Shrimp fisheries are the most destructive in the world and eating shrimp can be one of the worst things you can do to the oceans and to coastal communities.

Trading on our reputation as the greatest of all whale-loving nations, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has seriously let the people of Australia down this week, not to mention the whales.

Genevieve Johnson takes you around the world to understand issues that are important to people and local communities.

Marine Protected Areas, also known as MPAs or sometimes marine reserves or Sanctuaries, are the equivalent of national parks and protected areas on land. Learn more about MPAs and the challenges they face.

“Sanctuaries of the Sea” revisits the ancient Mediterranean and its marine and cultural diversity. Today, much of the biodiversity of this sea is under threat, including its unique cetacean populations. Can creating Marine Protected Areas for cetaceans help protect their declining populations, as well as the species and habitats they depend on for survival?

The Cetacean Alliance web site is an attempt to raise awareness, promote marine conservation, and prevent the decline of dolphins living in Mediterranean coastal waters. It contains information about science, conservation, education and what you can do to help the coastal dolphins of the Mediterranean region.

Giovanni and Joan run the Earthwatch program – “Dolphins of Greece”. Joan and the Earthwatch volunteers jump into one zodiac, Giovanni, Silvia, Chris and I, into another.

Amvrakikos Gulf offers abundant prey resources allowing the local bottlenose dolphin population to thrive. However, only 30 kilometers away, around the island of Kalamos, over fishing has resulted in prey depletion and ecosystem collapse. Consequently, only a handful of endangered short-beaked common dolphins remain today. We meet scientists, educators and local fishermen to discuss their relationship with dolphins, and the state of sea around their community. Could what is happening to the common dolphins of Kalamos, also explain why they are disappearing throughout the Mediterranean Sea?

Driftnets are large floating nets, which may be employed in the open ocean or along the coast, often stretching for many miles. They are designed to trap and entangle large fish such as tuna and swordfish. The largest driftnets used were more than 50 kilometers (30 miles) in length, extending to a depth of 30 meters (one hundred feet) from the surface.

“A Fishy Business -The Illegal Driftnet Fishery”, focuses on an indiscriminate and destructive fishery. Despite multiple bans, the fishery continues in the Mediterranean Sea, putting populations of migratory fish, sea turtles and cetaceans at risk.

Sperm whales are cosmopolitan animals. They inhabit the blue waters of all of the world’s oceans and are often found in deeper offshore areas around canyons and trenches. They can also be found close to shore around volcanic islands such as the Azores, the Galapagos and the Canary Islands, where steep drop-offs run along the coast.

“Life in the Trenches” is an expedition through the Ionian Sea in search of the little known and endangered Mediterranean Sperm Whale. We join Dr. Alexandros Frantzis of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute in Greece, onboard the Research Vessel Nereis. In the Ionian Sea, we discover a socializing sperm whale family, and study their behavior as they welcome a newborn calf into the group. However, the future for this calf and its family is uncertain.