On Wednesday, governments responsible for 40 percent of the world’s coastlines and 20 percent of global fisheries announced a series of new commitments that comprise the world’s biggest ocean sustainability initiative. The fourteen countries, which combined control an ocean area the size of Africa, committed to sustainably manage their national waters by 2025 and encouraged […]
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, renowned for its coral reefs, is facing an unprecedented ecological catastrophe after a tanker ran aground offshore and began leaking oil. The 984-foot MV Wakashio ran aground on July 25 and began to break up due to rough waters, The Guardian reported. It contained about 220.5 tons of diesel […]
What do you get when you cross an American paddlefish with a Russian sturgeon? Scientists thought the answer would be nothing. The two endangered species, whose last common ancestor lived during the age of the dinosaurs, have been evolving separately for more than 184 million years, according to The New York Times. But when Hungarian […]
By Tara Lohan The conclusion to decades of work to remove a dam on the Middle Fork Nooksack River east of Bellingham, Washington began with a bang yesterday as crews breached the dam with a carefully planned detonation. This explosive denouement is also a beginning. Over the next couple of weeks, crews will fully remove […]
By Manuela Callari It can grow to a maximum of six inches (16 centimeters), change color depending on mood and habitat, and, like all seahorses, the White’s seahorse male gestates its young. But this tiny snouted fish is under threat. White’s seahorse, also called the Sydney seahorse, is native to the Pacific waters off Australia’s […]
By Alyssa Murdoch, Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle and Sapna Sharma Summer has finally arrived in the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, liberating hundreds of thousands of northern stream fish from their wintering habitats. Through the long winter, many have endured cramped, icy quarters with perilously low oxygen levels. Others have recently journeyed incredible distances from large […]
By Tim Radford German scientists now know why so many fish are so vulnerable to ever-warming oceans. Global heating imposes a harsh cost at the most critical time of all: the moment of spawning. “Our findings show that, both as embryos in eggs and as adults ready to mate, fish are far more sensitive to […]
Illegal fishing appeared to spike during the Philippines’ lockdown period as commercial fishers took advantage of reduced patrols to ply coastal waters that they’re prohibited from fishing in, satellite tracking data indicate. The months of March to May are prime fishing season in the Philippines, ahead of the start of the monsoon in July, when […]
Along many tropical shorelines, swampy mangrove forests create habitat for fish and buffer the impact of heavy waves. “Mangroves reduce the effects of climate change, protecting coastlines against erosion and rising sea levels and hurricanes or storm surge events,” said Alfredo Quarto, cofounder of the Mangrove Action Project. He says mangrove forests also store a […]