The European Environment Agency (EEA) has updated its interactive virtual water quality maps, using the latest information communicated by the European Union member states.
Quality has declined slightly on European beaches but remains good. 100% of the bathing water in Cyprus, 97.3% of the water in Croatia and 95.4% of the water in Malta meets the “good quality water” criteria.
Further information on http://www.eea.europa.eu/pressroom/newsreleases/bathing-water-quality-remains-high

In the last few years, scientists have observed that the sharks living in the Mediterranean off the French coast are mainly young specimens.
According to Nicolas ZIANI, chairman and founder of the “Ichthyological Association for the Study, Research and Observation of Selachians in Nature” (AILERONS), the French coastline is being used as a nursery for sharks. To check this, four selachians were caught, marked and released in 2010. Other campaign are taking place this year with the further aim of placing satellite beacons on the captured sharks, particularly the blue shark. The beacons will be used over a 9-month period to geolocate the sharks when they come up to the surface and thus monitor their migration.

Competitors in the 2012 Vendée Globe, a non-stop, unassisted solo round-the-world race for monohull vessels, will be accompanied by three scientific yachts whose role will be to gather information about the air and water in the Southern Seas.
The collected data will be sent to Ifremer, Météo France, CNRS, Geomar and NASA. The boats’ course may obviously be altered to meet the scientists’ needs.
The three boats’ participation in the race forms part of the OceanoScientific Programme, launched in 2005, validated in 2009 and since given the “Grenelle de la Mer” label.

Tara Oceans has already covered 80,000 km. Having sailed along the coast of Chile, past Easter Island and through the Galapagos, the schooner is now spending two months in French Polynesia.
A study mission with an underwater glider and drifting buoys is planned of the coast of the Marquesas Islands.
The aim is to describe the plankton ecosystem around the islands and particular the iron content that they contribute.
The glider and buoys will be used to define the physical and chemical characteristics of the body of water, while the crew on board the Tara will be working hard taking biological samples.

The European Commission has put forward new regulations to restrict pollution and noise from jet skis, outboard motors and pleasure craft. The aim is to preserve the environment and improve the quality of holiday centres.
From now on, new propulsion engines must emit 20% less CO₂ and 34% fewer fine particles. Noise from these engines must also be limited. Another condition imposed by the Commission is that new habitable multi-hull boats must be designed so that they cannot capsize, or that they have sufficient floatability to remain afloat when upside down.

After the Palau 'archipelago (Pacific), the Maldives and Honduras, the Bahamas have announced that they are placing a prohibition on shark fishing and the sale, export and import of any shark-based products. From now on, the 630 000 km² of Bahamian territorial waters are a sanctuary for the species of sharks that visit them. In the Bahamas, diving among blacktip, sand tiger and spinner sharks earns nearly 80 million dollars a year for the local economy.

According to a survey published by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), 88% of European citizens would like to see the seafood products that they consume come from responsibly-managed stocks.

The survey has been published as the European Commission is in the process of revising the Common Fishing Policy in order to put a stop to over-exploitation. Between 54% and 72% of stocks in European fishing zones are thought to have been over-fished.

Three major aquariums have grouped together under the aegis of the World Ocean Network: Nausicaá in France, the Acquario di Genova in Italy and the Aquarium Finisterrae in Spain. Together, they have set up a “Mr Goodfish” programme to help consumers buy fish and, at the same time, preserve marine resources.

To preserve the Mediterranean ecosystem, the European Union is to propose to pay fishermen equipped with nets to collect plastic waste that is threatening marine life and send it to a recycling centre. The initiative should compensate them for the financial losses linked to the European Commission plan to prohibit the practice of throwing unprofitable but nevertheless edible fish back into the sea.
The cleaning operation should also protect marine species endangered by the ingestion of this plastic waste.

Scientist at Bangor University (Great Britain) have discovered that, off the coast of the Philippines, some sharks have no hesitation in coming into shallow water to take advantage of a unique service: having their skin cleaned by a little fish known as the cleaner wrasse. These great predators group together for this special treatment and the wrasses remove the dead skin and parasites from their bodies, which is vital to the sharks’ good health. It is therefore important to make the public aware of the need to protect these areas so that the wrasses can continue to offer their treatments to the sharks.

The Aldabra giant tortoise or Seychelles tortoise is one of the largest land-living tortoises, measuring up to more than 1.2 metres and weighing 220 kilos. It lives mainly on one island in the Seychelles, Aldabra, in the Indian Ocean. In 2000, researchers introduced these tortoises into the Ile aux Aigrettes reserve on Mauritius to save the ebony forest, which had become a victim of forest exploitation. The aim was to restore the ecology of the tropical forest by eating the fruit of the ebony trees and spreading their seeds through their faeces. Nearly 10 years later, the tortoises have accomplished their mission.