The mystery of an underwater noise that for years confounded Navy sonar operators in the North Pacific Ocean has been solved by a San Diego-based research team.

An unexpected visitor arrived off the coast of North East Lincolnshire on Christmas morning. A killer whale, nicknamed Noel by RSPCA workers, was reported to have been seen stranded at Stallingborough.

The 11-foot-long whale has well-defined hip sockets that suggest the animal had legs. Full Story

A whale that beached itself in Japan this summer has turned out to be the most complete specimen ever seen of a rare species, scientists have said. Full Story

The annual gray whale migration is under way and volunteers are marking their 25th anniversary as they set up observation stations along the Oregon coast to help visitors catch a glimpse of the swim to Mexico.

Japan signed a secret pact with Britain, the Netherlands and Norway on whaling in the Antarctic Ocean when those four nations and the Soviet Union finalized a treaty on catch quotas in 1962, according to Foreign Ministry documents declassified Monday. <

Ireland has threatened to go to the European Court of Justice to keep Spanish fishing boats out of its coastal waters in what the country’s fisheries minister warned could become a “a war of the seas”.

Initial reaction to the accident was grotesque in ways both expected and unexpected. Other shipping in the area, for example, took advantage of the chaos to wash out their own fuel tanks with sea water. Experts reported that several beaches were affected

The 30-year-old Marine Mammal Protection Act has been credited with reducing the number of dolphins killed each year but some say the law is in danger of being weakened in the upcoming Congressional session.

European Union fisheries ministers agreed last week on emergency measures aimed at saving from extinction several species of fish – mainly cod – in setting next year’s fishing quotas.