This week's In the News section deals with the Year of the Ocean. The six sites discussed provide information of various types about, and related to this topic. The United Nations declared 1998 as the International Year of the Ocean to bring attention to the "importance of the marine environment."

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Presented to the US Coral Reef Task Force on March 5, this report contends that in 1998 coral reefs all around the world "appear to have suffered the most extensive and severe bleaching and subsequent mortality in modern record," in excess of 70 percent in some areas. Corals "bleach" when they lose much of their symbiotic algae in response to the stress from elevated temperatures, and last year's...

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The first Web site (1) is the online counterpart to Discovery Channel's famous Shark Week, offering sharks facts, images, and games. The Underwater Times presents the latest shark-related stories from online news sources in this Web site (2). The next Web site (3) is the home page of the Shark Research Insitute, which promotes sharks as a sustainable natural resource for the dive tourism industry....

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Offered by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), CSIRO Marine Research Web site contains multiple levels of valuable information. The organization's mission is to "understand its oceans by conducting research in the sustainable use of Australia's marine resources, the ocean's role in climate, and the effective conservation of the marine ecosystem...

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This web site is an article from National Geographic News, which describes the link between "the explosion of sea lice in farmed fish populations and the decline of Scottish sea trout." In addition to the article, visitors can view a dynamic map of Shieldaig in western Scotland.

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ReefBase, a comprehensive Web portal for information on coral reefs, is presented by the World Fish Center based in Malaysia. Intended for use by reef managers, scientists, and the general public, ReefBase aims to "facilitate better understanding of the interdependence between humans and coral reefs, in order to benefit management and conservation efforts of these important resources." ReefBase...

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In a study published in the journal _Nature_, co-authors Ramsom Myers and Boris Worm concluded that 90 percent of the world's large fishes have disappeared from the world's oceans over the past fifty years, attributing this phenomenon to industrial fishing. Utilizing data from the past 47 years, Myers and Worm looked at the precipitous decline in the populations of species such as tuna, marlin,...

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If you've ever been to the central coast region of California, it's hard not be impressed with the natural beauty of the various landforms, vegetation, and animal life around the area, and we haven't even started talking about what's in the ocean. Created in order to preserve and protect this unique habitat in 1992, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) is larger than either Yosemite...

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How does the United States government work to protect the nation's fish, migratory birds, aquatic species, and public lands? Part of this job is accomplished by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC) program. First-time visitors should look over the SHC Vision to get a sense of the program's formal mission and read a fact sheet about its activities. The Community...

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