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Yannick BESTAVEN a été le premier à franchir la longitude du cap Sud de la Tasmanie : une entrée dans le Pacifique très rapide après les lenteurs de l'Indien, mais le plus grand océan du monde ne semble pas très coopératif sous la Nouvelle-Zélande… Alors quel est donc ce cap qui n'est pas répertorié comme tel lors d'un tour du monde ? Un cap que Jean-Pierre DICK avait débordé par le Nord lors de la dernière édition quand il était passé par le détroit de BASS…

Growing Ship Traffic Threatens Blue Whales.

Team Telefónica snatched victory from CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand to win a thrilling first stage of Leg 2 by one minute and 57 seconds and strengthen their position at the top of the overall leaderboard.

Telefónica remporte ce soir le premier acte de l'étape entre Le Cap et Abu Dhabi. Après plus de 15 jours de course, une minute et 57 secondes le sépare seulement de CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, deuxième !

Team Telefónica and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand have mutually agreed to drop plans to lodge protest against each other following a nail-biting finish in the first stage of Leg 2.

Skipper Chris NICHOLSON paid tribute to the winners after CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand were pipped to the finish by Team Telefónica in the climax of an epic duel between the two boats.

C'était une arrivée toute en douceur, au petit matin de l'océan Indien. Groupama sailing team a franchi la ligne d'arrivée du port secret à 02h04''19' UTC aujourd'hui. Sur les visages de l'équipage français, des sourires de soulagement malgré une quatrième place qui n'est pas idéale.

Hearts have been in mouths today as five multimillion dollar Volvo Open 70s were hoisted 40 feet in the air and onto a ship that is expected to begin transporting them to the start of the second stage of Leg 2 tomorrow.

For the second time in two legs, Team Sanya are facing a test of resource and resolve just to continue in the race but for skipper Mike SANDERSON there is no doubt they will be back ready to pounce in time for Leg 3.

Team Sanya est arrivé aujourd'hui à Madagascar. Course suspendue pour hauban cassé, l'équipage va y organiser la réparation de son gréement. Ou comment 11 marins de la Volvo Ocean Race débarquent sur le territoire malgache.

The continued accumulation of sand within the iconic ring-shaped reefs inside Maldivian atolls could provide a foundation for future island development new research suggests. Islands like the Maldives are considered likely to be the first to feel the effects of climate change induced sea level rise, with future island growth essential to counter the threat of rising sea levels.

Photos: Disco creatures of the deep.

Ships have been translocating species around the world for hundreds of years but attempts to understand and manage this issue date back only three decades. Here we review the assessment and management of risks from vessel biofouling and ballast water over this time period from an Australian and New Zealand perspective. We detail a history of successes and failures at the science-policy interface that include international guidelines for biofouling management and the recent ratification of a ballast water convention. We summarize the efficacy and costs of current treatment options, and highlight the practical challenges and policy implications of managing the diffuse and succinct bio-invasion risks that shipping creates pre- and post-border. We then use the lessons learnt over the last 30 years to recommend a future empirical strategy.

In pictures: Australian Geographic's photo prize winners.

Although submarine canyons are internationally recognized as sensitive ecosystems and reported to be biological hotspots, regional studies are required to validate this consensus. To this end, hydrographic and benthic biodiversity data were collected during three cruises (2016-2017) to provide insights on the benthic patterns within South African canyon and non-canyon offshore areas. A total of 25 stations, sampled at 200-1000 m depth range, form the basis of the multivariate analysis. Diversity gradients were calculated and then differences were compared across substrate types and depth zones represented within 12 canyon and 13 non-canyon stations. Significant differences in both substrate and depth were evident, despite measures being highly variable. This observation of varying diversity in different substrates is in line with previous studies. No clear pattern was observed for species diversity (delta+). However, non-canyon stations overall showed a higher diversity in comparison to canyon stations. A notable peak in diversity is observed in canyon areas in the 401-500 m depth zone. Species richness followed an opposing pattern, as it decreased with depth and was consistently higher in canyon areas. These results align with the well-defined influence of depth-related variables on the distribution of taxonomic groups and the substrate available, at various scales. The eutrophic characteristic of the Benguela region may have attributed to the insignificant diversity differences between canyon and non-canyon stations. To assess the benthic species structure in canyon and non-canyon areas, we converted the 108 benthic species into a gamma+ matrix. We then modelled the biological response to predictor variables (substrate and depth). Although the canyon and non-canyon areas have an overlapping species composition, the main effects (canyon vs. non-canyon, depth, and substrate) showed significant differences. Thirteen species were characteristic of canyon areas, whilst