ocean

Plastics Industry Loses Legal Bid Against Chile’s Landmark Bag Ban

Plastics Industry Loses Legal Bid Against Chile’s Landmark Bag Ban

Chile’s Constitutional Court ratified a bill that bans plastic bags across the country after rejecting an appeal from the plastics industry. Last month, Chile’s Congress unanimously approved the ban in order to protect the environment and especially the ocean. Shortly after, the Santiago-based Association of Industrial Plastics (Asipla) launched a legal challenge to overturn the […]

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    12-Year-Old Girl Invents Plastic-Detecting Robot to Save Our Oceans

    12-Year-Old Girl Invents Plastic-Detecting Robot to Save Our Oceans

    For 12-year-old Anna Du a love of the ocean and marine animals inspired her to build a device that hunts for microplastics. These tiny plastic particles are barely visible to the naked eye, but they pollute aquatic ecosystems around the world, posing a serious threat to marine life. “One day when I was at Boston […]

    A Turning Point in NYC’s Fight for Ocean Health

    A Turning Point in NYC’s Fight for Ocean Health

    By Emy Kane The introduction of bill No. 936 by New York City Councilman Rafael Espinal, Jr. marks a veritable tipping point in the spread of single-use plastic straw bans across the globe. From Taiwan to Portland, the city-wide takeover our team began with our Strawless in Seattle campaign has certainly taken off and created […]

    Gillnet Fishing Blamed for Killing Up to 100 Baby Hammerhead Sharks in Honolulu

    Gillnet Fishing Blamed for Killing Up to 100 Baby Hammerhead Sharks in Honolulu

    Up to 100 hammerhead shark pups were found dead Tuesday morning near Keehi Lagoon in Honolulu. Experts suggested that gillnet fishing could be the culprit. Authorities at the state’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement have opened an investigation after the baby sharks were discovered by the La Mariana Sailing Club, according to local media. […]

    10 Most Common Types of Beach Litter Are All Plastic

    10 Most Common Types of Beach Litter Are All Plastic

    The Ocean Conservancy released on Wednesday its International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) report, a compilation of litter collected from a one-day cleanup of beaches and waterways worldwide. For the first time since the report’s inception more than 30 years ago, the 10 most common items picked up by volunteers around the world were made of plastic. […]

    Belize’s Incredible Barrier Reef Recovers From ‘In Danger’ Status

    Belize’s Incredible Barrier Reef Recovers From ‘In Danger’ Status

    Thanks to a series of conservation measures enacted by Belize’s government, the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System—one the world’s most incredible, diverse ecosystems—has been removed from the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger sites. The historic decision came this week during a World Heritage Committee meeting in Bahrain, just five months after the Belizean […]

    Starfish Make Comeback After Mysterious Melting Disease

    Starfish Make Comeback After Mysterious Melting Disease

    Starfish appear to be making a stunning comeback in the West Coast after a mysterious “melting” disease decimated their numbers five years ago. The invertebrates that survived the die-off developed a genetic resistance protecting them from the pathogen, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found. The disease […]