Every summer a whopping 57,000 beluga whales return to the western reaches of the Hudson Bay in Northern Canada. Once in the Hudson Bay the whales swim to two very specific locations: The estuaries of the Nelson and Churchill rivers. While the migration is recognized as one of the biggest migrations of belugas in the world, what drives them to these two specific estuaries remains a mystery.
In an attempt to better understand the strong homing instincts of the beluga whales, their feeding behaviors and the role they play in these estuary ecosystems a new three-year study has been launched. Mission Blue’s partner, the Pew Environment Group has teamed up with Canada’s Manitoba conservation Department of Fisheries and Oceans on the study. …

By Saul Rosser (Operations Director of Aquarius Reef Base)
This morning we sent six of our friends to live beneath the sea. They submerged before us and then surfaced a short time later in an underwater research station 46 feet down. We now watch them on closed circuit television screens in our control room and see them turning the research station into a home.
Today, Lead Habitat Technician James Talacek, Habitat Technician Ryan Lapete, Dr. Mark Patterson, Dr. Dale Stokes, Dr. Sylvia Earle and renowned underwater cinematographer D.J. Roller moved into Aquarius where they will spend seven days sharing the excitement, the adventure, and the wonder of living beneath the sea.
This mission is focused on celebrating the 50 years that have passed since Jacques Cousteau put history’s first habitat, Conshelf I, 33 feet underwater off Marseille, France.…

A lot goes into keeping the aquanauts living safely 60 feet underwater for days at a time in Aquarius Reef Base.
A watch desk located on dry land is responsible for overseeing the saturation and the safety of the aquanauts in the habitat. The operations manager and diving safety instructor, Roger Garcia explains, “what we do at the watch desk during the missions is monitor the habitat and diving operations 24/7.”
Watch the short video to learn a few of  the things that go into keeping the aquanauts safe while diving and living 60 feet below the oceans surface.…

Aquarius Reef Base has been called an “underwater space station.”  It has also been called a “time machine for scientists.” Located 60 feet below the surface, on a sand patch off the coast of Key Largo, this unique underwater laboratory has supported ground-breaking research and has allowed scientists to collect important data on surrounding marine ecosystems.
Now you too can explore the world’s only operating underwater laboratory by joining a Google+ Hangout. There, you’ll learn about Aquarius and the work it supports and you will also get to ask Mission Blue’s founder and National Geographic Explorer-in- Residence Dr. Sylvia Earle, who is currently living and working in Aquarius questions.
Dr. Earle and a team of aquanauts are currently living underwater, conducting coral and sponge biology and celebrating 50 years of human exploration on the sea floor.…

Today, aquanauts living and working 60 feet underwater in Aquarius, the world’s only functioning underwater laboratory, joined a conversation with a community of ocean lovers, educators, explorers and interested members of the public via a Google+ Hangout.
As well as answering questions, during the Hangout, the 4 aquanauts also showed participants, their home for the week and talked about their research projects.
The overall mood was light-hearted — Mission Blue founder and National Geographic explorer-in-residence, Dr. Sylvia Earle teased divers swimming around outside of Aquarius, while those leading the hangout also superimposed masks and snorkels on those participating in the hangout.  The humor, though, did not denote the seriousness of the event’s underlying message— save Aquarius.
Indeed, the current mission, dubbed Mission Aquarius, may very well be the last for this two-decade old underwater lab.…

Out of respect and admiration for Bob Marley, Paul Sikkel, an assistant professor of biology at Arkansas State University, named a marine parasite species, Gnathia marleyi, after the famed Jamaican reggae singer.
The creature is a tiny crustacean within the family of Gnathiids that researchers say is found exclusively in the Caribbean. The tiny creatures can be found hiding amongst coral rubble, algae and sponges.
Early-stage G. marleyi feed on fish host blood, limph or mucus, but when they reach adulthood they become free-living, non-feeding, benthic organisms.
Researchers say that while about 80 percent of all organisms found on coral reefs are parasitic, their importance to the ecology of marine life is not all fully understood.
Sikkel and his research team say that the family Gnathiid are among the most ecologically important and interesting marine parasites due to the role they play in fish disease transmission.…

By Deb Castellana
Training is well underway for Dr. Sylvia Earle and her team of aquanauts in Key Largo, Florida. The team is preparing for the upcoming expedition being dubbed Mission Aquarius. On Sunday, July 16th, the team will dive down to Aquarius Reef Base, where they will live 63 feet below the surface of the ocean for 6 days off the coast of Key Largo, FL. Aquarius Reef Base is the last remaining underwater laboratory in the world, and Mission Blue will be there both to celebrate 50 years of underwater exploration, and also to bring awareness to the looming funding cuts ahead. This may well be the last mission of Aquarius.
“Being able to study the animals and plants in their home using an underwater habitat gives me the gift of time,” Dr.…

Ocean advocate Céline Cousteau and cartoonist Jim Toomey — (the Creator of Sherman’s Lagoon) — have teamed up with the World Resources Institute to bring you a short animated film titled Coral Reefs: Polyps in Peril.
Using a touch of humor and scientific facts, the film introduces the unique biology of coral reefs. It also highlights some of the serious threats that these fragile ecosystems face including overfishing, pollution and climate change issues.
If you have not had a chance to watch the short film watch below and learn about some of the steps you can take to protect the world’s coral reefs!…

Coral reefs around the world are at risk due to global climate change. However, a new study may serve as a sign of hope for the long-term existence of coral reefs.
Professor Richard Aronson at the Florida Institute of Technology and his colleagues discovered, by taking core samples of a coral reef off the coast of the Pacific coast of Panama, that a 6,000-year-old reef had literally “shut down” for an extended period of time. Yet, the reef still managed to survive and flourish once corals emerged from their period of dormancy.
“These [Panamanian] reefs were shut down for 2,500 years,” Aronson says, “that represents about 40 percent of their entire history.” The study suggests that despite dramatic shifts in climate, dormant periods helped ensure long-term survival of the vibrant reefs that populate the waters off the coast of Panama today.…