"Tom Dettweiler makes his living miles down. He helped find the Titanic. After that, his teams located a lost submarine heavy with gold. In all, he has cast light on dozens of vanished ships. Mr. Dettweiler has now turned from recovering lost treasures to prospecting for natural ones that litter the seabed: craggy deposits rich in gold and silver, copper and cobalt, lead and zinc."

"According to Professor Ian Simmonds of the University of Melbourne, it is a combination of the melting sea ice and the atmospheric warming that is happening globally that is responsible for the high rate of warming in the Arctic."

"VANCOUVER - Seabirds eat everything from twine, candy wrappers and Styrofoam, and their stomach contents show there's been a dramatic increase in plastic pollution off the Pacific Northwest coast in the last four decades, a new study suggests."

"Lakes across eastern Japan are being contaminated with radioactive cesium from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, and scientists are warning of a growing problem in Tokyo Bay.

Radioactive mud carried down rivers is slowly accumulating in the lakes, in some cases making fish and shellfish dangerous to eat.

"Humane Society International called it a 'monumental decision' and a 'watershed moment for the global movement to protect sharks.' The conservation group Shark Savers said it 'could be the best news for the oceans in some time.' The major development? The Chinese government announced Tuesday that it would ban the serving of shark fin soup, a prized and expensive delicacy, at official banquets."

"PANAMA CITY, Panama, July 4, 2012 (ENS) - South Korea startled International Whaling Commission delegates today by announcing that the country plans to start 'scientific' whaling off its shores."

"LONDON -- A global study mapping human diseases that come from animals like tuberculosis, AIDS, bird flu or Rift Valley fever has found that just 13 such diseases are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths a year."

"TOKYO — The nuclear accident at Fukushima was a man-made disaster rooted in government-industry collusion and the worst conformist conventions of Japanese culture, a high-level parliamentary inquiry concluded on Thursday, in a report that also warned that the plant may not have stood up to earthquake damage — a worrying concern as the quake-prone country starts to bring its reactor fleet back online."

"MIRISSA, Sri Lanka — In early April, whale watchers off this country’s southern coast were greeted by a disturbing sight: the lifeless body of a 60-foot-long blue whale floating in the water about 12 miles offshore.

The body was swelling rapidly, and suckerfish swarmed across its skin. Even more unsettling was the condition of its tail, which had been nearly severed from the body.

"TOKYO -- Protesters thronged the wide streets in front of the prime minister’s office in Tokyo over the weekend, and across the country they gathered about a quarter-mile from the entrance of a nuclear plant. They shouted “No to the restart” and parked cars in front of the plant’s access road to block workers from coming or going, according to Japanese media."