Police in Japan, one of the world’s biggest consumers of whale meat, have arrested two foreign environmental activists for trying to free whales penned in a bay, a police spokesman said yesterday.

Japanese scientists have identified a new species of living baleen whale after examining the skeletons of several specimens caught in the 1970s. Full Stor

A previously unidentified species of whale has been recorded by researchers. The creature is a close cousin of the blue whale and has been given the formal scientific name Balaenoptera omurai, reports the journal Nature.

Seagrass, a vital but largely overlooked component of the world’s oceans, is being destroyed by ignorance and inaction, threatening millions of people and many species of marine animals, according to a new report published today.

The United States Navy has agreed to cut its use of a controversial low-frequency sonar system, which could be harming marine mammals, especially whales and dolphins, an environmental group has said.

On a cold and dark autumn evening, the Trir Frakkar restaurant in Reykjavik is packed with groups of mainly foreign diners pondering whether to opt for the fish course or go for something a bit more beefy.

Members of the European Parliament have demanded an end to the use of sonar devices believed to cause the strandings and deaths of dolphins and whales. Full Story

The first of 13 U.S. ships due to be scrapped in Britain sailed into port, to cries of protest from environmentalists who have won a first round in a campaign to stop their dismantling.

Nearly one in three sea turtles may be killed by fishing each year, suggests a new global study. Full Story

A judge ordered a company this week not to begin breaking up four decrepit and polluted U.S. ships at a British port until the end of hearings next month on the plans.