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Video: Spanish Police Raid Island Drug-Smuggling Base.

Strikes between vessels and cetaceans have significantly increased worldwide in the last decades. The Canary Islands archipelago is a geographical area with an important overlap of high cetacean diversity and maritime traffic, including high-speed ferries. Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), currently listed as a vulnerable species, are severely impacted by ship strikes. Nearly 60% of sperm whales' deaths are due to ship strikes in the Canary Islands. In such cases, subcutaneous, muscular and visceral extensive hemorrhages and hematomas, indicate unequivocal antemortem trauma. However, when carcasses are highly autolyzed, it is challenging to distinguish whether the trauma occurred ante- or post-mortem. The presence of fat emboli within the lung microvasculature is used to determine a severe "in vivo" trauma in other species. We hypothesized fat emboli detection could be a feasible, reliable and accurate forensic tool to determine ante-mortem ship strikes in stranded sperm whales, even in decomposed carcasses. In this study, we evaluated the presence of fat emboli by using an osmium tetroxide (OsO4)-based histochemical technique in lung tissue of 24 sperm whales, 16 of them with evidence of ship strike, stranded and necropsied in the Canaries between 2000 and 2017. About 70% of them presented an advanced autolysis. Histological examination revealed the presence of OsO4-positive fat emboli in 13 out of the 16 sperm whales with signs of ship strike, and two out of eight of the "control" group, with varying degrees of abundance and distribution. A classification and regression tree was developed to assess the cut off of fat emboli area determining the high or low probability for diagnosing ship-strikes, with a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 100%. The results demonstrated: (1) the usefulness of fat detection as a diagnostic tool for "in vivo" trauma, even in decomposed tissues kept in formaldehyde for long periods of time; and (2) that, during

Pacific islands seek $500m to make ocean's shipping zero carbon - @bendohertycorro @guardianeco

Palau, Liberia, Marshal Islands and Panama Unite on Sanctions.

Virgin Islands Deny Grandeur of the Seas Call.

Spain's Canary Islands battles slick after ferry accident.

Chemical tanker Chemroad Journey breached and aground off Phu Quy island in Vietnam.

BC Ferries crews rescue six from sinking boats off Vancouver Island.

Iranian box ship veers off to starboard and rams HK's Magazine Island.

Island mayor threatens suit as oil spill spreads.

China has deployed a network of sensors and communications capabilities between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands in the northern South China Sea. These capabilities are part of a "Blue Ocean Information Network" (蓝海信息网络) developed by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), a state-owned company, to aid in the exploration and control of the maritime environment using information technology. The network constructed in the northern South China Sea between early 2016 and 2019 is referred to as a demonstration system. However, future plans for the Blue Ocean Information Network involve expanding the sensor and communications network to the rest of the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and other ocean areas far from Chinese territory. While the Blue Ocean Information Network is largely cast as an environmental monitoring and communications system, the military utility of its sensing and communications functions makes its development important to monitor.

Hong Kong boat crash off Lamma Island kills 36.

A couple of mariners stranded on an uninhabited Micronesian island were saved when a U.S. Navy plane spotted their "SOS" message written in the sand.

A problem in the engine room led to flooding on board a fishing boat off Alaska's Aleutian Islands, forcing the crew to abandon ship, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.

Around forty migrants died in the Mediterranean on Sunday, according to survivors of the journey who arrived on the southern Italian island of Sicily.

Around forty migrants died in the Mediterranean on Sunday, according to survivors of the journey who arrived on the southern Italian island of Sicily.

Iran's official IRNA news agency is reporting that the Iranian government has released a MARSHALL Islands-flagged cargo ship today.

Iran's official IRNA news agency is reporting that the Iranian government has released a MARSHALL Islands-flagged cargo ship today.

Boat with dozens of migrants runs aground off Greek island, at least three dead.

MARSHALL Islands Urges Cap on Shipping Emissions