All You Need to Know about the Aug. 17-28 Wildlife Trade Conference in Geneva, Switzerland

The Government of Bangladesh announced the declaration of the Nijhum Dwip Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the northern Bay of Bengal to safeguard critical spawning grounds for the country’s most valuable fish species and some of the world’s largest populations of endangered dolphins, porpoises, sharks, rays, and marine turtles.

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club has announced donations totaling over $60,000 to local nonprofits in the Coney Island community, including a $20,000 donation for the New York Aquarium’s local marine conservation efforts.

Over 2,200 runners and volunteers from 24 countries worldwide have Run for the Wild organized to support the conservation of orang-utans, sharks and rays -- an annual run organized by the Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Program (WCS Malaysia) in partnership with Swinburne Sarawak and Sarawak Biodiversity Centre.

An international study published today in the journal Current Biology discovered that only 13 percent of the ocean can still be classified as wilderness.

The three-story, 57,500-square-foot exhibit building, with 9 dynamic galleries, will drive awareness of the importance of sharks to the health of the world’s ocean; educate visitors about the severe threats sharks face; and inspire guests to protect the surprisingly diverse and beautiful marine wildlife here in New York.