World's largest marine protected area created

The Pacific Island nation of Kiribati has established the world’s largest marine protected area – a California-sized ocean wilderness of rich coral reefs threatened by over-fishing and climate change.

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) consists of eight coral atolls and two submerged reef systems in a nearly uninhabited region of 410,500-square-kilometre (158,453-square-mile) located near the equator in the Central Pacific between Hawaii and Fiji. 

Australia
Two new shark species found  
Marine researchers say they have discovered two new species of wobbegongs, which also are called carpet sharks, off  the waters off Western Australia. Finding the floral banded wobbegong and dwarf spotted wobbegong means that there are now eight known types of wobbegong sharks.  

Shark species face extinction 
Nine new species of sharks, including the scalloped hammerhead, are to be added to the official list of animals at global risk of extinction.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) will add them to its "red list" of vulnerable species later this year after recent analyses showed over-fishing has reduced some populations by as much as 99 per cent.  

Scientists are particularly concerned at the rapid decline of the scalloped hammerhead, which the IUCN will list as "endangered" - its second highest of five levels of concern. 

There are 126 sharks listed as at risk of extinction - defined by the IUCN as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable. The smooth hammerhead, the shortfin mako, the bigeye thresher and the common thresher will be listed as vulnerable. 

Tiger, dusky and bull sharks will either be classed as vulnerable or "near threatened" - a category defined as close to the threshold for risk of extinction. The silky shark will also be classed as near threatened.