The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act represents a multiyear effort by lawmakers, under pressure from animal-rights and ecological organizations such as the Animal Welfare Institute and Oceana, to ban the trade of shark fins. 

Seventeen states and three U.S. territories have banned or restricted the intrastate sale of shark fins, but instituting a federal framework is critical as fins imported and sold in the U.S. can come from endangered or threatened shark species, or from sharks that were finned.

A new bottlenose dolphin subspecies has been identified, and it is found only in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, according to a study published in the Journal of Mammalian Evolution.

Called the Eastern Tropical Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus nuuanu), it is smaller than other common bottlenose dolphins, and is likely to prefer the deep offshore waters between southern Baja California and the Galapagos Islands. 

During the day, glassfrogs hide under leaves and become almost transparent, leaving only their eyes, bones and internal organs visible. This camouflage is so effective that they can sleep peacefully during the day, in preparation for the night, during which they hunt for prey. 

Scientists have long wondered how glassfrogs are able to bring about their "cloak of transparency."