Save Our Seas Foundation
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saveourseas.bsky.social
Save Our Seas Foundation
@saveourseas.bsky.social
1.3K followers 550 following 430 posts
The Save Our Seas Foundation supports marine projects in the areas of conservation, awareness, research and education.
https://saveourseas.com/
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saveourseas.bsky.social
To rebuild capacity, Matavee Chuangcharoendee and team are training conservationists, government staff, and divers in ethical tagging, which will lay the groundwork for smarter, science-driven protection of Thailand’s iconic sharks.
saveourseas.com/update/rebui...
Rebuilding confidence to advance shark conservation in Thailand
Sharks are more than just ocean predators — they are essential to maintaining balance in marine ecosystems as well as support livelihoods. In Thailand, their presence has supported diving tourism, whe...
saveourseas.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:09 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
As demand for fish maw transforms local fisheries in PNG'S remote Kikori Delta, the Piku Biodiversity Network Inc. works with communities to monitor and protect endangered species, and to keep tradition and sustainability in balance.
More in Yolarnie Amepou’s blog.
saveourseas.com/update/looki...
Looking forward: field updates from the booming fish maw fishery in Kikori
The resilient people of the Kikori region in remote Papua New Guinea have relied upon the estuarine and coastal environments of the Kikori-Purari River Delta to sustain themselves for hundreds, possib...
saveourseas.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:23 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
As we fast approach a conservation tipping point for sharks and rays, the upcoming CITES CoP20 is an opportunity for leaders to vote for stronger protections and to bring unregulated trade under international control.

Infographic by Kelsey Manners Dickson | © SOSF

#CITESCoP20

@wcs.org
November 10, 2025 at 2:57 PM
saveourseas.bsky.social
What began as simple interviews grew into an exchange of knowledge. Through trust and time spent with local fishers, new insights emerged that show overlooked pressures on Türkiye’s guitarfishes, while opening fresh lines of research.
More below in Ismet Seygu’s blog.
saveourseas.com/update/beyon...
Beyond Questions: Building Trust with Fishers
When we began interviewing fishers for this project, our approach was never limited to a set of questions and answers. Over time, by spending long hours in the field, we built trust with the fishers. ...
saveourseas.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
Scalloped hammerhead sharks are under severe threat in Benin, targeted by artisanal fisheries for their high-value fins. ECO-NATURE ONG is now documenting catches and trade to inform conservation and safeguard the species’ future.
More below in Rodrigue Plebe’s blog.
saveourseas.com/update/susta...
Sustainable Management of the Scalloped Hammerhead Shark in Benin
ECO-NATURE ONG and Save Our Seas Foundation Commit to the Species’ Conservation   ECO-NATURE (NATURE ECOLOGIQUE) is a Beninese NGO working to conserve biodiversity and promote the sustainable use of n...
saveourseas.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:31 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
To protect these species, experts recommend stronger international and national protections, including listing all manta and devil ray species under CITES Appendix I, enforcing fishing bans in critical habitats, limiting harmful fishing methods, and involving local fishers in management.
mantatrust.bsky.social Manta Trust @mantatrust.bsky.social · 2d
📖 A new study by Laglbauer et al. (2025) finds manta and devil rays at serious risk, with ~265,000 killed each year, mostly in small-scale fisheries.

#SaveTheMantas: www.mantatrust.org/save-the-man...
Petition: only.one/act/cites-2025
Read the study: research.mantatrust.org/laglbauer-et...
November 10, 2025 at 8:28 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
Perhaps not the nudibranch you're used to: this Melibe viridis, filmed in Indonesia, has a rather peculiar mouth. It has an oral veil, an expandable hood used for hunting. Using their veil as a fish net, they scour the seafloor and seagrass blades for small crustaceans.
November 7, 2025 at 5:16 PM
saveourseas.bsky.social
In the Colombian Caribbean, fishers and scientists are coming together to protect rays, often caught as bycatch. Through workshops, monitoring, and gear trials, local knowledge and science are uniting to reduce pressure on these essential species
More here:
saveourseas.com/update/fishi...
Fishing for Knowledge: Fishers Share Local Wisdom to Protect Rays in the Colombian Caribbean
In the heart of the Colombian Caribbean, small-scale fishers and scientists are joining forces to protect rays, one of the ocean’s most overlooked but essential species. These animals, often caught ac...
saveourseas.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:13 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
From childhood stories along the Cape Coast to leading the Shark Spotters GTP, Brandon Beukes' journey is one of returning home to family, community, and to the ocean that shaped him.
More below in Jamila Janna and Susie Taylor’s blog.

saveourseas.com/update/when-...

@sharkspotters.bsky.social
When there are sharks: Brandon Beukes, SS-GTP Coordinator
The inaugural Shark Spotters Graduate Training Programme (SS-GTP) successfully wrapped in June, with Brandon Beukes at the helm. For two years, he co-ordinated activities to ensure its smooth running....
saveourseas.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:51 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
New Study Reveals Persistent Illegal Trade in Protected Sharks with Calls to Strengthen World’s Wildlife-Trade Treaty to Prevent Extinctions.

@wcs.org
@fiu.bsky.social

🎥: Byron Dilkes
🎥: Open Planet Studios | Silverback Films
November 7, 2025 at 9:01 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
A new study reveals that critically endangered sharks continue to appear in alarming numbers in the world’s largest hub for the shark-fin trade. "This study reveals a systemic failure to uphold existing protections,” said lead author, Dr. Diego Cardeñosa.

newsroom.wcs.org/News-Release...

@wcs.org
New Study Reveals Persistent Illegal Trade in Protected Sharks, Calls to Strengthen World’s Wildlife-Trade Treaty to Prevent Extinctions
New York, NY (November 5, 2025) –  A new study published today in Science Advances reveals widespread non-compliance with international trade protections for endangered sharks, showing that global wil...
newsroom.wcs.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:57 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
Around a lone buoy off Andros, silky sharks gather and disperse in patterns still unfolding. Acoustic tags offer insight into their movements, and hint that some of these ocean wanderers may be far more homely than imagined.

More in Tristan Guttridge’s blog.
saveourseas.com/update/bouys...
Bouys will be bouys
In our last blog we told you about Andros, Bahamas, and the ‘buoy’ where we are studying silky sharks. These sharks are incredibly social; while scientists can define what this means (roughly non-rand...
saveourseas.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:11 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
Over seventy years after DNA’s structure was first described, its code is now helping Rodrigo Domingues understand Brazil’s endangered guitarfishes.
Genetic studies are showing us how these elusive rays evolve, adapt, and what it may take to ensure their survival.

saveourseas.com/update/four-...
Four letters, countless possibilities: Using DNA to protect Brazil’s Guitarfishes
In their article describing the double-helix structure of the DNA molecule, Watson and Crick, whose breakthrough was made possible by Rosalind Franklin’s critical X-ray diffraction data, wrote: “We wi...
saveourseas.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:28 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
DNA analysis from Hong Kong’s shark-fin markets reveals massive ongoing trade in critically endangered species such as oceanic whitetip and hammerhead sharks. The data show that tougher enforcement of CITES and fisheries rules is needed worldwide.

📷: Shawn Heinrichs
📷: James Morgan
November 5, 2025 at 9:19 PM
saveourseas.bsky.social
Climate change is driving coral reefs beyond their tipping point, pushing these vulnerable systems harder than they can push back. And there's a domino effect - marine species like turtles risk losing their habitat and food sources, swinging life on the reef into imbalance.

🎥: Rainer von Brandis
November 5, 2025 at 5:02 PM
saveourseas.bsky.social
Ghanaian fishers are turning decades of ocean knowledge into maps to serve the protection of shark-like rays, while learning new alternative livelihoods to ease the pressure on fragile marine species.
More below in Issah Seidu’s blog.
saveourseas.com/update/commu...
Community-Driven Solutions for Guitarfish and Coastal Sustainability
Shark-like rays, including guitarfishes and wedgefishes, are among the most threatened marine species globally. Their populations have been severely reduced due to overfishing and habitat loss. Some s...
saveourseas.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:45 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
As dawn rises over False Bay, marine scientist Dr Toby Rogers readies his team to track bronze whaler sharks. From Wales to South Africa, his work with @sharkspotters.bsky.social combines research and conservation to better understand these coastal predators.

saveourseas.com/update/when-...
When There Are Sharks: Toby Rogers, Research Manager at Shark Spotters
On board our research vessel, Xiphodon, as we chase the first light of dawn in search of the coppery bronze whalers, there is one figure who stands out: Dr Toby Rogers. Toby is the go-to person for th...
saveourseas.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:23 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
A conservation victory for green sea turtles was announced: a downgrade of the conservation status from Endangered to Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

🎥: Open Planet Studios | Silverback Films & Riverbank Studios
🎥: Jade Schultz
🎥: Moose
🎥: Sebastian Staines
November 4, 2025 at 5:24 PM
saveourseas.bsky.social
As the Mother City welcomes warmer days, the ocean splashed across Cape Town's architecture becomes an exciting reminder that the city harbours more than nightlife and urban adventure.

@pangeaseed.bsky.social's Sea Walls

📷: Yoshi Yanagita
🎨: Sonny Behan, Dulk, Motelseven, Yeye Weller
November 4, 2025 at 1:05 PM
saveourseas.bsky.social
The largest migration of animals occurs in the twilight zone of the ocean.
INNOVATE follows sharks and rays into this hidden realm to understand how their deep dives connect life from the surface to the abyss.
More below in Jorge Miguel Rodrigues Fontes’ blog.
saveourseas.com/update/innov...
INNOVATE - into the Twilight: Shedding Light on Sharks, Rays, and the Ocean’s Hidden Frontier
In the vast layer of ocean stretching from 200 to 1000 meters deep, billions of small fish and invertebrates rise and fall each day in the largest animal migration on the planet. These mesopelagic cre...
saveourseas.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:31 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
Once shark carcasses hit the market, most of the features needed for ID are gone. Texture, colour, and even meat density become the only clues.
Now, fisheries technicians in Seychelles are being trained to recognise various species.
More in John Nevill’s blog.
saveourseas.com/project/moni...
Monitoring the effectiveness of new shark protection laws in Seychelles
saveourseas.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:35 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
Found along the seafloor of every ocean in the world, sea urchins are not the simple, stationary pin-cushions that some people believe them to be. They have specialised adaptations which include many tiny tube feet, tentacles, that sprout amongst their sharp spines.
November 4, 2025 at 6:45 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
In less than a month, world leaders will meet at CITES CoP20, to vote on proposals to amend CITES Appendices, which will see the addition and removal of species, affecting the level of protection they receive from international trade.

Sign the petition here: only.one/act/cites-2025
Stop International Trade of Whale Sharks, Oceanic Whitetip Sharks, and Manta and Devil Rays
Add your name today to support greater regulations and protections for vulnerable sharks and rays.
only.one
November 3, 2025 at 1:00 PM
saveourseas.bsky.social
No two days look the same in Sri Lanka’s small-scale fisheries. With catch, gear, and routines shifting with weather and opportunity, Nimna Wickramasingha is learning that monitoring these systems means quickly adapting.

saveourseas.com/update/shift...

@blueresources.bsky.social
Shifting fisheries and shifting strategies
I first visited Valaichchenai on Sri Lanka’s East Coast for a week at the start of the year. The town has one fisheries harbour, nested in the Valaichchenai lagoon, mainly used by multiday boats. You ...
saveourseas.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:31 AM
saveourseas.bsky.social
In Sri Lanka’s bustling Valaichchenai Harbour, eDNA is offering vital insight into understanding which sharks and rays are caught by artisanal fisheries - a fisheries hard to monitor.

More in Nimna Wickramasingha’s blog.
saveourseas.com/update/stepp...

@blueresources.bsky.social
Stepping into the world of fisheries
My first encounter with mantas, mobula rays, hammerheads, silky sharks and many more gentle giants was at the Valaichchenai Fisheries Harbour, located on the East Coast of Sri Lanka. Caught as bycatch...
saveourseas.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:10 AM