Belize project seeks out heat-resilient corals to protect its reefs
HOPKINS, Belize — Heaters, pumps and computerized meters rigged to an everyday picnic icebox may seem like a high school science project. But this heat stress tank may hold the…
Marine Animals News
Whale shark hotspot discovered along the Great Barrier Reef
The whale shark — a shark, not a whale — is the largest fish in the world, roughly the length of a city bus. Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), which live…
There’s hope for sunflower sea stars, with their killer unmasked and reintroductions pending
There's hope for an iconic ocean predator that has mostly disappeared from California’s coastlines: the sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides). The population began to plummet in 2013, following an outbreak…
Argentina pushes pipeline exports through protected Patagonian waters
San Matías Gulf, on the northern coast of Argentina’s Patagonia region, is one of the most biodiverse areas in the Argentine Sea. The Valdés Peninsula — a UNESCO World Heritage…
New report warns 54% of turtles and tortoises are at risk of extinction
“Most people have a turtle story, whether that's seeing a turtle at an aquarium, having a turtle as a pet as a kid, or they helped one cross the road,…
Microbiomes may be corals’ secret weapon against climate change: Study
As ocean temperatures set new heat records, coral reef scientists are on a mission to identify which species and reefs can tolerate heat stress the best. But how and why…
Encouraging signs from a no-fishing zone in Comoros could inspire others
The phrase malezi mema in Comorian loosely translates to “parenting well.” A fishers’ group of the same name on the island of Anjouan in Comoros is trying to provide a…
Former poachers guard Cabo Verde’s endangered sea turtles
Seven years into patrolling on Cabo Verde’s islands, Roni Nelson Batista Ramos now protects endangered sea turtles on the beaches where he once poached them. A few decades ago, he…
‘Nothing about us without us’: Inuit leader Sara Olsvig on ocean politics
Sara Olsvig is a veteran advocate for Indigenous rights at international meetings, maneuvering with some success even at institutions not known to be particularly adaptive. “Through the many decades of…
Malaysia’s turtle egg buyback scheme saved thousands — but is it sustainable?
On the moonlit beaches of Terengganu state, on Malaysia’s east coast, green sea turtles have been returning for generations to lay their eggs. For just as long, people have collected,…
Sri Lanka Supreme Court orders $1 bn payment in X Press Pearl marine disaster
COLOMBO — In a landmark ruling, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered the owners and operators of the MV X-Press Pearl to pay $1 billion in compensation for the devastating…
Saving polar bears and beluga whales: Interview with Alysa McCall
Before pivoting her focus to the Arctic, Alysa McCall worked extensively in the grassland ecosystem. There, the interventions required for ecosystem restoration and wildlife protection were much less complicated. You…
Evolution in overdrive as Baltic cod shrink due to fishing pressure, study shows
The eastern Baltic cod has shrunk dramatically in size in recent decades due to rapid evolution — changes at the genetic level — caused by decades of intensive fishing, a…
Conservationists raise sharks to restore reefs in waters around Thailand
KHAO LAK, Thailand — Conservationist Ying Pemika Choovanichchanon holds a small basket in her hands, careful not to disturb the leathery brown pouches nestled inside. When she shines a light…
Global tracking study reveals marine megafauna hotspots lie largely unprotected
A global study tracking nearly 13,000 individual marine animals has uncovered a sharp disconnect between where these animals actually spend their time and where marine protections exist. The findings raise…
Canada’s Pacific Coast hit hard by trawling, with limited transparency: Report
Trawling vessels pursuing fish are damaging marine ecosystems in Canada’s West Coast waters and could be operating illegally in some cases, and yet they work with insufficient transparency, a new…
Restoration, protection aim to save Belize’s coral reef from extreme heat and disease
PLACENCIA, Belize — After Hurricane Iris decimated the coral reef at Laughing Bird Caye National Park in 2001, many wrote off the UNESCO World Heritage site as a coral graveyard.…
Will temperate seas act as refuge for coral reefs? Not in time, study says
Climate change has already caused significant declines in coral reef coverage globally and is expected to do much further damage in coming decades. Some scientists have held out hope that…
Seismic noise from oil companies threatens Amazon River Mouth marine life
As oil companies push for drilling on the Amazon coast, an underwater war silences the ocean’s most vocal creatures.
A Kenya marine biodiversity credit program restores mangroves — and livelihoods
MARERENI, Kenya — The scorching afternoon sun stretches across the semiarid landscape of Marereni, in Kenya’s Kilifi county, where salt and sea shape both the land and the lives that…
With coral-rich Churna Island now an MPA, Pakistan takes baby steps on ocean protection
KARACHI — From the sands of Manjhaar Beach on the far outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, an island is just visible 10 kilometers, about 6 miles, offshore. Mist rising from the…
Two coasts, one struggle for octopus fishers battling overfishing and warming waters
ASTURIAS, Spain, and YUCATÁN, Mexico — On a mild February morning, Isaac Blanco quickly places half a sardine into each cage as his brother, Julio, steers their boat along the…
Illegal fishing and its consequences: the human toll of migration in Senegal
“I lost my sons, nephews, and grandson in this tragedy. I lost my older brother’s son. I can say that I lost almost ten relatives in this shipwreck. It is…
Endangered humphead wrasse gets a lifeline from facial recognition tech
Among the many spectacular reef fishes swimming the Indo-Pacific corals, from Africa to Oceania, is the big-eyed, bulge-faced, thick-lipped, blue-green humphead wrasse, also known as the Napoleon wrasse. It’s among…
EU remains major wildlife trafficking hub, report finds
The European Union remains a major hub for global wildlife trafficking, with nearly 5,200 seizures reported in 2023. The confiscations mostly involved critically endangered European eels (Anguilla anguilla), timber and…
Glass eel smuggling booms despite bans, leaving species on the brink
Tiny, translucent and no longer than a finger, juvenile European eels, also known as glass eels, might not look like much. But demand for these slippery creatures, particularly in East…
When heat waves hit, clownfish shrink to survive, study finds
Clownfish are known for their remarkable ability to change sex to survive. Turns out, one species, clown anemonefish (Amphiprion percula), popularized in the Pixar hit movie Finding Nemo, have yet…
On its 50th anniversary, ‘Jaws’ continues to provoke shark conservationists
The movie Jaws, released on June 20, 1975, was one of the very first Hollywood summer blockbusters, and remains one of the highest-grossing films of all time, adjusted for inflation.…
Another way to check the health of a coral reef: Study the microbes in the seawater
Prochlorococcus, a genus of bacteria that’s key to oxygen production in the ocean, tends to disappear when faced with marine pollution. It lives throughout the sunlit layer of tropical oceans…
Researchers race to understand disease killing Caribbean corals at unprecedented rates
This May, divers found stony coral tissue loss disease on corals in Laughing Bird Caye National Park, Belize, for the first time. The team from Fragments of Hope, a nonprofit,…
New method can detect nearly every coral genus in Japan from water samples
Sending scuba divers down to survey corals is time-consuming and expensive. In recent years, scientists have developed other methods to determine what kinds of corals are down there just by…
Pay-to-release program reduces shark deaths, but backfires in some cases
Researchers behind an incentive-based fisheries program in Indonesia have reported a drop in shark and ray bycatch, but also warned of an unexpected rise in the intentional capture of these…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Satellite data show burst of deforestation in Myanmar rare earth mining hotspots
- Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- 15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
Oceans
- Scientists call for stronger action to save Indonesia’s vanishing seagrass meadows
- Antarctic conservation summit closes with stalemate on MPAs & krill fishing rules
- Norway’s proposal to double krill harvests raises tension at Antarctic conservation summit
- Nickel mining threatens Raja Ampat ecosystems, communities & conservation: Report
Amazon Conservation
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
Land rights and extractives
- Lithium mining may threaten a precious resource — water: Voices from the land (commentary)
- Indigenous guardians successfully keep extractives out of Ecuador’s Amazon forests
- Amid Venezuela’s illegal gold heist are armed groups, gangs & elites, report says
- Indigenous women in Peru use technology to protect Amazon forests
Endangered Environmentalists
- Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
- Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
