The Republic of the Marshall Islands is now home to the world’s largest shark sanctuary. The Nitijela, the Marshallese parliament, unanimously passed legislation this week that ends commercial fishing of sharks in all 1,990,530 square kilometers (768,547 square miles) of the central Pacific country’s waters, an ocean area four times the landmass of California.

“We salute the Republic of the Marshall Islands for enacting the strongest legislation to protect sharks that we have seen,” said Matt Rand, director of global shark conservation for the Pew Environment Group, which is spearheading efforts to establish shark sanctuaries, where targeted fishing for these species is prohibited. “As leaders recognize the importance of healthy shark populations to our oceans, the momentum for protecting these animals continues to spread across the globe.”

read more at pewenvironment.org

Giant squid – some weighing as much as 20 pounds – have been washing up on beaches in Orange County the past few days delighting (or perhaps horrifying) locals.

There are hundreds of squid carcasses washed up on beaches all over San Clemente and Oceanside.

While people walking on beaches might not be fond of stepping on the squid, or trying to dodge them, fisherman in Newport Beach couldn’t be happier with their catch of the day.

“They’re hauling in bagfuls of jumbo squid,” reports KCBS correspondent Michele Gile.

One sports fishing expedition on Wednesday came back with 990 of the large creatures.

read more at cbs news

Scotland’s largest ever mass whale stranding was averted yesterday after marine experts said the mammals had broken into smaller groups and moved back into deeper water .

The pod of pilot whales, about 20 of which had severe head injuries, was spotted late Thursday night as the mammals attempted to beach themselves on the rocky shore of a remote Scottish island. Dozens of healthy whales had also followed them into the shallow water raising fears that up to 100 of the animals could strand themselves.

The pod was discovered moving back and forth along the Loch Carnan coastline in South Uist in the Western Isles, Scotland, showing signs of distress.

Volunteers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) travelled overnight to reach the animals, and members of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were also involved with the rescue, and were poised to use inflatable pontoons to push the whales back out to sea.

Local fishermen also helped to encourage the whales back into deeper water.

Scottish SPCA senior inspector Calum Watt said: “We were alerted to the possibility of a mass stranding yesterday evening and are now co-ordinating with the BDMLR.

read more at telegraph.co.uk