Octopus bloom

Issue 44

About this edition: Meet the UK's cephalopod settlers, and learn what the consequences might be of this most recent octopus bloom / Find out about the fantastic work being done in Cape Verde to protect loggerhead turtles from poaching / Reel at the level to which the UK's fisheries have been broken, and the ramifications this has had on coastal fishing communities / Journey to Vanuatu to see how coastal culture and inshore reef life are under threat / Dive with great white in Canada - has the local population always been this populous?

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The cephalopod settlers

Intelligent, curious, and cryptic, the common octopus – a species once rarely spotted in the UK – has expanded its range to British shores once again. It started three years ago, when divers across the UK recorded sightings in their droves. But it turns out, that was just the advance party – fast forward to 2025, and the octopus have returned. And in greater numbers.

Bushes walking on sand

Every year, thousands of loggerhead turtles arrive to the Cape Verde Islands to nest. The West African archipelago is one of the most important nesting sites worldwide, and the only one in the eastern Atlantic. With poaching for turtle meat and eggs still rife across the islands, maintaining Cape Verde as a safe haven for the endangered species is a full-time, community effort.

The edge of obsolete

More than 100 years of overfishing and mismanagement has left British seas in a fragile state of depletion. As a result, 80% of UK seafood now comes from overseas imports. With both ecological systems and local economies teetering on the brink, the UK needs a plan.

Men of the sea

There was a time when fishing the nearshore reefs of Vanuatu’s small island of Lelepa was considered a ‘tabu’, reserved only for community gatherings and celebrations or in times of desperate need. Today however, with the growth of a population and a desire for imported products, its small-scale subsistence fishing has expanded into something else entirely.

Canada’s great white mystery

For many marine scientists, great white sharks are shrouded in mystery. What do they eat? When and where do they mate? How many are thriving in the ocean today? Now, as awareness grows over increasing numbers off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, researchers are determined to demystify a spectacular species that has become a pop-culture icon.

BEHIND THE LENS: Fred Buyle

Each issue, we chat with one of the world’s leading ocean photographers and showcase a selection of their work. In this edition, we speak with freediver and photographer Fred Buyle.

COLUMNISTS:

Ian Urbina, investigative journalist and director of The Outlaw Ocean Project, covers conservation concerns around the Saya de Malha Bank, the world’s largest invisible island.

Hugo Tagholm, ocean campaigner and executive director of Oceana UK, discusses the frustration of a failed UN Global Plastics Treaty and the resolute determination we all now need to drive the right kind of political will for change.

Cal Major, ocean advocate and founder of the charity Seaful, writes emotionally about her experience with a sperm whale entanglement off the isle of Raasay.

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Oceanographic Magazine uses beautiful photography and captivating storytelling to transport both the wonder and plight of the ocean into people’s homes. It is a magazine that aims to bring our blue planet to life, to connect and inspire.
About the ocean. For the ocean.