In China's Olympic co-host city Qingdao, sea breezes that usually bring relief from baking summer temperatures now bring a cloying stench from a massive algae bloom that locals fear will harm the city's bucolic image during the Games.

Mr Tony Killeen TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food opened a major conference organised by Bórd Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) - BIM/Fish Ireland 2008 Conference - on innovation and sustainability in the seafood industry.

The Marine Institute’s SmartBay system - a network of surface and sub-surface buoys, cables and communications systems designed to provide real-time information about the environment in Galway Bay and to support and stimulate the environmental technology industry sector in Ireland - has been selected as one of the first collaborative projects to be undertaken at the new IBM Centre of Excellence for Water Management. 

Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Seán Power, T.D. has launched a new website, which will provide information on the nature of the seabed, physical habitats and water depths.

Celebrations to mark World Ocean Day at the Galway Atlantaquaria drew over 1,500 people on Sunday 8 June, raising awareness of the role of the oceans in climate change, while giving families a fun day out in the fascinating world of the underwater.

The European Union has very close connections with the sea - its 27 Member States have shores on two oceans and four seas and their jurisdictional waters stretch from sub-tropical waters to areas approaching the North Pole.

The weather buoy M5, which played such in important role in predicting and recording the record wave heights off the coast last December, is back in action again.

Galway Atlantaquaria - in conjunction with the Marine Institute and Fáilte Ireland/West - will host the biggest World Ocean Day celebrations to-date in Galway on Sunday 8th June 2008.

Ireland has been admitted to the prestigious 'White List' of top performing shipping states in the world.

A unique international scientific mission - to investigate the increasing mortality of salmon at sea - has sailed from the port of Killybegs aboard the Marine Institute’s research vessel, RV Celtic Explorer.