Perfect sunny weather and clear diving conditions gave Manly scuba divers a chance to smash their goal in the underwater hunt for potatoes.
Over 100 divers joined Dive Centre Manly’s Underwater Treasure Hunt at Cabbage Tree Bay.  Smashed potatoes were on the menu as this bunch of enthusiastic divers searched the seabed for soggy spuds.
And they smashed another goal too, raising over $1,460 for ocean protection. All donations go to Project AWARE Foundation, a global non-profit protecting our ocean planet, one dive at a time

The decline of Caribbean coral reefs has been linked to the recent effects of human-induced climate change. However, new research led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego suggests an even earlier cause. The bad news – humans are still to blame.

Fishing nations of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) today agreed to protect oceanic whitetip sharks based on a U.S. proposal, while an Australian proposal to ban intentional setting of purse seine nets on whale sharks (to catch associated aggregations of tuna) was stalled by Japan.

A local fundraiser's focus was to help put a stop to the cruel practice of "finning," which is depleting the world's shark population.
Some larger species of sharks have rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth designed for ripping and tearing flesh, can smell one drop of blood in a million drops of water, and can dislocate and protrude its upper jaw to help it grab and hang onto prey.

A prestigious Hobart restaurant plans to take shark fin soup off its menu as a campaign heats up to stop the killing of millions of sharks each year just for their fins.
The Me Wah Restaurant says it uses imported imitation shark fin from Japan in its $16-a-bowl "superior shark fin" dish.
But the award-winning Chinese restaurant said the soup would be taken off the list at its next menu change to reflect changing attitudes.

The discovery of a new species of hammerhead shark may sound like bad news for swimmers. But shark bites are rare, and it turns out this may be worse news for sharks.
The shark, as yet unnamed, closely resembles the scalloped hammerhead shark, a species currently up for protection as an endangered species due to the high commercial demand for its fins.

The Costa Rican government has announced that it will propose the inclusion of the scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini) in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
They believe that this species meets the conditions and criteria for an inclusion in Appendix III, in accordance with the Resolution Conf 9.25 (Rev CoP 15).

Monday, European Union nations backed a complete ban on the practice of removing sharks' fins before throwing the fish back into the sea to die.
The EU nations said they want all boats in their waters and EU-registered boats anywhere in the world to land sharks with their fins attached. The proposals still need the support of the European Parliament before they can become law.
EU fisheries chief Maria Damanaki said the law would "ease control and help us eradicate shark finning," which she called cruel to the animals and a vast waste of resources.

Scientists say the market for shark fin soup is the likeliest reason for the sharp drop in blue shark numbers over the last 30 years.
They discovered that the sharks feed in exactly the same places in the ocean that long-line fishing boats operate, which means they get caught along with other target fish.
The researchers add that such regions are ideal places to implement so-called marine protected areas, where fishing is banned, to safeguard blue sharks and other vulnerable species.

The spectacular snouts of sawfish are revealed as complete hunting weapons, sensing prey and killing them.
The saws, which can grow more than a metre long in some species, have previously been identified as able to sense prey by their electric fields.
Now, researchers have filmed the fish impaling prey on the teeth of the saws.
They suggest in Current Biology that sawfish are more active hunters than previously thought, which could help in their much-needed