Breaking Waves: Ocean News

When scientists discovered tunnels on the bed of the Bering Sea, they were baffled. Now they think they have found the culprit During an expedition in the cold waters of the Bering Sea, between Russia and Alaska, last summer, a team of scientists spotted neat lines of holes poked into the seafloor. But they did not know who – or what – had created them. Scientists on the German research vessel Sonne set about hunting for clues. They sifted through several hundred images captured by a camera towed above the seafloor. Continue reading...

David Speirs said protest was ‘a good thing’, but ‘there are some countries where your head would be cut off for doing that sort of protest’ Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Human Rights Watch and the Greens have criticised comments from South Australia’s opposition leader that protesters would face beheading in other countries. The state last week rushed through new anti-protest laws the day after a rally outside the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association conference in Adelaide briefly blocked traffic. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Ministers were warned about the risks of private equity entering the sector but did nothing. Now we’re paying the price The revelation should anger all who care about England’s rivers and beaches. Two decades ago, ministers were warned about private equity firms buying up water companies. In a briefing prepared for Britain’s competition regulator prior to the takeover of Southern Water, researchers raised the alarm that private equity-owned water companies would become “impossible” to regulate. Despite the 20-year transparency rule, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has not released the briefing. Its existence was uncovered by this newspaper. Though its full contents remain secret, its implications are clear: ministers were alerted to the devastating impact that this industry could have on England’s water supply, but they chose not to act. Since then, a tide of effluent has polluted England’s rivers. Following the privatisation of water companies in 1989, owners have enriched themselves while neglecting infrastructure and dumping vast quantities of untreated sewage. As investors have loaded water companies with debt, they have continued to pay dividends to their shareholders, which totalled £1.4bn last year. The public, meanwhile, have shouldered the costs. Water bills have risen. Last week, the industry apologised for these sewage spills and pledged to invest £10bn in infrastructure – to be paid for by increases in customer bills. Ruth Kelly, the former Labour cabinet minister who is head of the industry’s trade body, Water UK, said more should have been done to address the spillages. She was silent on the subject of dividend payments. Continue reading...

This week the multi-part RESCUE series continues with an examination of familiar products derived from the ocean that we use to support our ways of life, our well-being and our health: from vitamins and supplements to pain and cancer treatments. And we discuss the future of exploration and exploitation of resources as the bio-prospecting rush heats up. How are we regulating extraction from the ocean and seafloor? Who owns the proprietary rights to marine resources, and what criteria are applied to protect biodiversity, ocean ecosystems and future resource potential to revolutionize medicine and treat disease?