Free Republic

One of the new OSD species – a hydrothermal vent limpet, Lepetodrilus marianae. Credit: Chong Chen, Hiromi Kayama Watanabe, and Miwako Tsuda ================================================================================= Ocean biodiversity is under significant threat due to global changes, but new initiatives like the Ocean Species Discoveries, coordinated by the Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance, aim to rapidly describe and publish findings on marine species. This innovative approach reduces the usual decades-long delay in species description, directly contributing to the conservation efforts needed to protect vulnerable marine habitats and their undiscovered inhabitants. Accelerating Biodiversity Research Accelerating global change continues to threaten Earth’s vast biodiversity, including in the...

New imagery released by the U.S. on Monday makes the strongest case yet that sectarian Iranian forces attacked at least one petrochemical tanker in the Gulf of Oman, a long-time naval analyst told USNI News on Monday. Taken from a Navy MH-60R Seahawk, the new photographs show a similar scene as a grainy black and white video U.S. Central Command released on Thursday. In them, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy fast attack craft come alongside the Japanese-owned petrochemical tanker M/V Kokuka Courageous and removed what CENTCOM said is a limpet mine. “Limpet mines are attached to a vessel via...

This post has been updated with a statement from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The crew of a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer rescued 21 merchant mariners from a tanker that was allegedly attacked in the Gulf of Oman, officials told USNI News on Thursday afternoon. USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) responded to a Thursday morning distress call from the tanker M/V Kokuka Courageous, according to U.S. Central Command spokesman Army Lt. Col. Earl Brown. “U.S. Naval Forces Central Command received the calls from the M/V Front Altair and M/V Kokuka Courageous, who were operating in international waters of the Gulf of Oman,”...