New study dismisses Amazon River runoff as primary cause of sargassum blooms
A recent study suggests that ocean changes are the primary nutrient source for sargassum blooms since 2011, challenging previous hypotheses.
Marine Conservation News
Stars & lighthouses: Marine conservation that blends Pacific Islander wisdom and Western knowledge (commentary)
I’m in Nice, France, this week attending the U.N. Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for…
Indonesian women sustain seaweed traditions in a changing climate
NUSA PENIDA, Indonesia — Storm clouds loom overhead as Nyoman Mitri peers out at rows of seaweed lines stretching across the shallow tidal waters of Nusa Penida. Her weathered hands…
Indonesia halts most nickel mining in Raja Ampat, but allows one controversial permit
JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has revoked four out of five nickel mining permits in the Raja Ampat archipelago following a public outcry over mining in one of the world’s…
When our oceans can’t breathe, a sea change is needed (commentary)
When wildfires rage across landscapes, smoke fills our skies and chokes our lungs. It makes headlines, emergency measures are triggered, and communities rally to respond. We act because we can…
One-two punch for mangroves as seas rise and cyclones intensify
More than half of all mangrove areas worldwide may face “severe and widespread risk” from climate change-intensified tropical cyclones and rising sea levels by 2100, according to newly published research.…
Bumble Bee asks court to dismiss lawsuit alleging forced labor in tuna supply chain
U.S. canned tuna producer Bumble Bee Foods has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that it knowingly benefited from its suppliers’ use of forced labor by Indonesian workers.…
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…
Samoa’s new marine spatial plan protects 30% of the country’s ocean
Samoa, an archipelagic country composed of nine islands in the South Pacific Ocean, is on the frontline of climate change. Rising sea levels, ocean warming and acidification all pose significant…
Marine artificial upwelling, problematic climate solution slow to advance
Artificial upwelling is a geoengineering climate solution with a long history. The concept: mimic natural ocean upwelling by pumping cold, nutrient-rich seawater up from ocean depths via pipes to the…
From local planting to national plan, Belize bets on mangrove recovery
GALES POINT, Belize — On a narrow stretch of shoreline across from the Gales Point cemetery, Jamal Galves and the rest of the team from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research…
US pioneers restoration of deep water corals damaged by country’s worst oil spill
In the twilight depths of the Gulf of Mexico, about as deep down as a football field is long, U.S. Navy divers carefully snip small branches of corals with gloved…
Only a tiny % of the deep seafloor has ever been visually observed: Study
For national and international policymakers, decisions on how to regulate — and whether to allow — exploitative human activities such as deep-sea mining require good information. A new study suggests…
Mining companies use legal loopholes to move forward without environmental licensing off the Brazilian coast
Interest in deep-sea mining has increased globally in recent years. And even as the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N. body responsible for overseeing the activity in international waters, continues…
New map highlights complex web of marine migrations
Where are all the marine animals going? Given the vastness of the oceans, the countless species that live in them, and the lack of a global data set, it’s not…
Tuna fishing devices drift through a third of oceans, harming corals, coasts: Study
A recent study reveals that drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs), widely used in tuna fishing, have spread to more than a third of the world’s oceans. These devices harm ocean…
Coral reef research dominated by rich countries, plagued with inequities: Study
Most of the world’s coral reefs, and the communities that directly depend on them, are in the tropics, so one might imagine the research on them being led by scientists…
The blobby little sea squirt that stowed away across the Pacific to California
In 2023, biologists Lauren Stefaniak and Marie Nydam had time to kill before their university workshop on marine invertebrates began, so they drove to a marina not far from Los…
Climate change now threatens thousands of species on Earth
In the last decade, report after report has warned that the Arctic is heating up faster than ever, cities are scorching, the Amazon is blazing, boreal forests are shrinking and…
Cruise ships and intensified tourism in Mexico threaten whale shark habitat
In December 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than a dozen mega cruise ships were stationed in Bahía de La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, due to the tourism shutdown.…
Angling for answers, this saltwater fishing group boosts research for better conservation
Saltwater fishing is both big business and a pastime in the U.S., with millions of Americans working in the industry – from commercial trawlers to professional fishing guides and gear…
There’s something fishy about ‘blue economy’ proposals for sustainable marine management (commentary)
The “blue economy” emerged as a popular vision for sustainable ocean development during the 2010s, as communities across the world grappled with challenges of declining ocean health, economic crises and…
Annual ocean conference nets $9.1 billion for initiatives, despite US absence
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center's Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. BUSAN, South Korea — Delegates from more than 100 nations and thousands…
A Honduran reef stumps conservationists with its unlikely resilience
TELA BAY, Honduras — Viewed from the boat, the mighty elkhorn corals shimmer through the clear water, their tips grazing the surface and seeming to reach for the hull. But…
Blue whale decline in Sri Lanka tied to climate and human activity
MIRISSA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan waters are considered a haven for the largest creatures ever to have lived, the blue whale, a rare place for a resident, year-round population…
Scientists warn coral restoration can’t keep pace with global reef collapse
Coral restoration won’t save reefs from global warming, according to a recent study – at least, not the way we’re doing it now. The study, conducted by researchers at the…
‘We belong to one ocean’: Indigenous leaders push for seat at the table of high seas biodiversity treaty
This story is published through the Indigenous News Alliance. In Native Hawaiians’ genealogical stories, says Solomon Kahoʻohalahala, the coral polyp is considered the oldest ancestor, and they hold spiritual relationships…
Southeast Asia’s fisheries thrive despite decades of overfishing warnings: Study
Overfishing in Southeast Asia’s coastal waters has been reported since the 1970s, driven by overcapacity, high demand and population growth. While most studies point to the depletion of nearshore fisheries,…
Oil companies have downplayed extent of spills in Gulf of Mexico, investigation finds
One morning in early April 2024, Elías Naal Hernández set out with his fishing net to try his luck in the waters of Isla Aguada, off the coast of southeastern…
Whales and dolphins at risk as report reveals ecological decline in Gulf of California
Lorayne Meltzer has lived along the Gulf of California for 30 years. As an ecologist and director of a binational field station, she’s supported many scientists in their research into…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- 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
- Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
Oceans
- Global tracking study reveals marine megafauna hotspots lie largely unprotected
- First-ever assessment highlights threats to Atlantic cold-water corals
- Major coral loss in Vietnam’s first marine protected area: Study
- When heat waves hit, clownfish shrink to survive, study finds
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
- Indigenous Amazonians win landmark ruling against mercury pollution in Colombia
- Indigenous Bajo suffer child deaths & toxic sludge amid green energy push
- ‘Colombia’s Amazon peoples provide solutions’: Interview with José Homero Mutumbajoy
- Should mining companies consider no-go zones where isolated Indigenous peoples live? (Commentary)
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
