Time short to save vaquita by tackling illegal fish trade – Fewer than 60 individuals alive

Collateral Damage from EIA on Vimeo. LONDON, 20 September 2016 (EIA) – With distinctive markings around its mouth and eyes, the vaquita is one of the world’s most iconic marine mammal species – but with fewer than 60 left, it is doomed to extinction in the very near future unless immediate and meaningful action is […]

Great barrier reef obituary goes viral, to the horror of scientists – ‘The message should be that it isn’t too late, not we should all give up’

[Although this obituary is cleverly written, the GBR’s situation is bad enough, and overstating it isn’t helpful. Nevertheless, this was possibly the GBR’s worst year in its 600,000 year history, with 22 percent of the reef totally bleached. The inexorable trends in acidification and ocean warming suggest that we may still witness the death of […]

Report revels 56 percent of UK species have declined since 1970 and 1,199 species are threatened with extinction

By Dr. Barnaby Smith14 September 2016 (CEH) – The State of Nature 2016 UK report is launched by Sir David Attenborough and UK conservation and research organisations at the Royal Society in London this morning (Wednesday, September 14). Following on from the first State of Nature report published in 2013 the report reveals that over […]

Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted bluefin tuna spawning habitat in Gulf of Mexico – ‘Population shows little evidence of rebuilding’

30 September 2016 (Stanford University) – The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was one of the largest environmental disasters in history, releasing roughly 4 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. For Atlantic bluefin tuna, it occurred at the worst time of year, during peak spawning season, when eggs and larval fish that […]

The blob that cooked the Pacific Ocean

By Craig Welch10 August 2016 (National Geographic) – The first fin whale appeared in Marmot Bay, where the sea curls a crooked finger around Alaska’s Kodiak Island. A biologist spied the calf drifting on its side, as if at play. Seawater flushed in and out of its open jaws. Spray washed over its slack pink […]

Canada approves $36 billion LNG ‘carbon bomb’ on B.C. coast

By Derrick O’Keefe27 September 2016 (Ricochet) – On Tuesday evening in Richmond, B.C., three members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet announced the approval of a $36-billion liquefied natural gas development by the Malaysian-based multinational corporation Petronas, which would see natural gas moved by pipeline from the province’s northeast to a terminal on the coast, […]

Global warming increases U.S. flooding, and sewage hits the fan – ‘The true extent of sewage overflow is often undocumented and largely unknown’

21 September 2016 (Climate Central) – Record rainstorms across the U.S. in the past year have continued to make national news, causing billions of dollars of flood damage and killing dozens. But what has barely made headlines are that these floods often cause massive overflows of untreated sewage into streams, rivers, bays, canals, and even […]

Ocean acidification and pollution are silencing the seas

By Ivan Nagelkerken, Sean Connell, and Tullio Rossi19 September 2016 (Australian Geographic) – Despite appearances, the oceans are far from silent places. If you dunk your head underwater you’ll hear a cacophony of sounds from wildlife great and small, crashing waves, and even rain. And it’s louder still for creatures attuned to these sounds. However, […]

Can killer robots save ocean ecosystems? ‘Think of it as a video game’

By Kieron Monks18 September 2016 (CNN) – Few predators can match the devastating impact of the lionfish. Since arriving in US waters in the 1980s, these fearsome creatures have left a trail of destruction along the Atlantic Coast, from Rhode Island to Venezuela. Lionfish can reduce a flourishing coral reef to barren wasteland in a […]

Larger marine animals at higher risk of extinction, and humans are to blame

By Ker Than14 September 2016 (Stanford University) – An unprecedented pattern of extinction in the oceans today that selectively targets large-bodied animals over smaller creatures is likely driven by human fishing, according to a new Stanford-led study. “We’ve found that extinction threat in the modern oceans is very strongly associated with larger body size,” said […]

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