This June a U.S. federal agency proposed that a vast swath of Washington State’s Puget Sound region be granted federal protections to ensure the survival of an iconic killer whale population.

But area residents Tom and Margo Wyckoff, retired healthcare workers, were shocked to learn that Hood Canal, a barb-shaped fjord that slices a narrow path into the Olympic Peninsula, was excluded from the ruling.

“Critical Habitat” for Orcas Leaves Pockets of Vulnerability, Critics Say

A Navy diver submerged 2,000 feet, setting a record using the new Atmospheric Diving System (ADS) suit, off the coast of La Jolla, Calif., Aug. 1.

Chief Navy Diver (DSW/SS) Daniel P. Jackson of Navy Reserve Deep Submergence Unit (DSU) was randomly selected to certify the ADS suit for use by the Navy.

“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world,” said Jackson. “I am honored and privileged to be the first diver to go down to that depth.”

Navy Diver sets Record with 2,000 foot Dive

The Monroe Sheriff’s Office on Friday identified the woman who died while diving for lobster during this week’s mini-season as Judith Silcox, 47, of Cedar Creek Road in Palatka. Her boyfriend Ronald Maloy , 53, also of the same address, is still missing.

The couple had been staying at the Sunshine Key Campground on Ohio Key. A motor home, a pickup truck and a boat trailer registered to them were found at the campground, Becky Herrin, MSO spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. Their boat, a 22-foot center console Proline, was found anchored with a dive flag posted just off shore between Big Pine Key and Little Palm Island.

CDNN :: It Happens Every Summer: Florida’s Dead Lobster Diver Club

Six men and one woman left Dover in Kent early on Saturday and arrived at Cap Gris Nez in Calais, France, 12 hours later.

Each diver spent 30 minutes in the sea before running out of air. They then handed over the baton and refuelled.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Kent | Scuba divers finish Channel relay

“It was an unbelievable charge!” he says. “The shark’s skin felt like soft suede. Of all the members of the shark family that we encounter in Hawaii, the whitetip reef shark is considered to be the least aggressive.”

That said, Gough, a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) master instructor with more than 3,500 hours logged underwater, doesn’t advocate touching or disturbing any sea creatures — especially sharks. “I’m a professional diver who has done many dives with sharks,” he explains. “Do not attempt to do that on your own!”

Kauai delivers on underwater artistry

British waters contain 33 different species of shark, of which Blue and Mako are considered dangerous to man.

Mr Peirce told BBC News: “I am primarily a shark conservationist. Part of our job is to get some sense of sharks to the public and politicians.

“We are killing them at a huge rate, there is virtually no real threat from sharks to humans, the threat is entirely the other way round.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Cornwall | Five in first Cornwall shark swim

In 1946, the United States began a series of nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll to determine the impact of atomic bombs. Delgado, a noted marine archaeologist with the National Park Service, visited Bikini in the late 1980s to explore and document the condition of the sunken ships. His work is more than an archaeological study; it is the history of the nuclear age. This book chronicles the development of the bomb, its deployment in Japan, the preparations for the tests, the attempted clean-up afterward, and the beginning of the Cold War.

Ghost Fleet: The Sunken Ships of Bikini Atoll · Divehappy.com

Zoologists have developed a plan to save the Yangtze River dolphin, probably the world’s most endangered mammal, from extinction.

They hope to take some dolphins from the Yangtze and rear them in a nearby lake, protected from fishermen.

The species is threatened by overfishing which removes its food, industrialisation, boat collisions, and through being caught in fishing nets.

The most recent surveys found only 17 living individuals.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Last chance for China’s dolphin

Mark Coghill was relaxing Monday afternoon, fishing on his vacation on Fort Myers Beach, but a shark changed all that.

Coghill, from Greencastle, Ind., said another fisherman, who was fishing on the other side of the pier, hooked a 6-foot blacktip shark and didn’t let go. The shark pulled him off the pier into the water.

“The shark was kinda pulling him around,” Coghill said. “It was pretty exciting.”

The man, whose name Coghill never got, didn’t speak English very well, but motioned to onlookers that he couldn’t swim.

“No one helped,” he said. “I said, ‘I guess that’s my cue.’ ”

The News-Press: Local & State

Okay, if you can make it past the annoying hosts, the irritating music, and the distracting images on the screen, then I promise you’ll find a real jewel here. In this video, a scuba diver goes to the bottom of a pool, takes out his reg, and blows perfect ring-shaped bubbles. Then, he does other bizarre things with the bubbles, like making them chase each other, and attaching little red ribbons (?) to them. Evidently, this is what they watch on TV. In Japan.

Bizarre-o Video of Scuba Diver Blowing Perfect Bubbles - Divester