Polar bears exposed to chemical cocktail from melting ice

By Mark TamhanePosted Fri Aug 6, 2010 6:03pm AEST Polar bears, the icon of the Arctic, are under threat from the twin challenges of climate change and chemicals that are not breaking down in the region’s cold waters. Research published in the journal Science of The Total Environment shows the retreat of sea-ice in the […]

With some sea-lion populations in swift decline, feds call for closing Aleutian fisheries

The population of Steller’s sea lions is declining so rapidly in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands that the Obama administration is calling for the emergency closure of commercial mackerel and cod fishing there. The fishing industry, largely based in Seattle, is alarmed and worried such measures could eventually lead to restrictions on parts of the $1 billion-a-year […]

Sea Shepherd flight observes Gulf dolphin swimming ‘frantically in circles’

By Bonny SchumakerMonday, July 26, 2010 Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s “aviation wing” has been extremely busy in the Gulf of Mexico for the past couple of months, and especially this past month. In keeping with the strong emphasis being put on collaboration, Sea Shepherd has been working with other NGOs as well as local people […]

Animal autopsies in Gulf yield a mystery

By SHAILA DEWAN Published: Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 5:16 a.m. GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle lay belly-up on the metal autopsy table, as pallid as split-pea soup but for the bright orange X spray-painted on its shell, proof that it had been counted as part of the Gulf of Mexico’s continuing […]

NOAA count confirms critical status of endangered right whale: About 30 remain in the eastern Pacific Ocean

After more than a decade of monitoring the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, scientists have released the first count of one of the world’s most endangered group of whales. Approximately thirty right whales inhabit the eastern Pacific Ocean, they reported on Tuesday — slightly more than previously thought. Whether enough remain to prevent […]

Illegal fishing endangers Red Sea marine life

By Salama Harby, Wael Naguib; editing by Deng Shasha SOUTH SINAI, Egypt, June 27 (Xinhua) — Looking at the dead fish on the Ras Mohammed nature reserve shores of the Red Sea, Mohammed Salem said those who murdered the fish were criminals and should be put behind bars. “During the last few days, we found […]

Toxic metals threaten whales — ‘I don't see any future for whale species except extinction’

By ARTHUR MAX (AP)24 June 2010 AGADIR, Morocco — American scientists who shot nearly 1,000 sperm whales with tissue-sampling darts discovered stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals in the animals that they say could affect the health of both ocean life and the millions who eat seafood. A report Thursday noted high levels […]

Severe impacts of Chile salmon farms on coastal ecosystem discovered

ScienceDaily (June 22, 2010) — Until recently, the disastrous scale of the threat posed by salmon farms to the fauna and National Park of the Aysén region of southern Chile was entirely unknown. The unexpected discovery was made by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization and the University of Göttingen, who […]

Fishing industry starving whales of food

By Samantha Hayes Sun, 20 Jun 2010 6:00p.m. A marine biologist says he’s discovered a new threat to whales that has nothing to do with Japanese boats. Steve O’Shea studies beached whales in New Zealand and believes the fishing industry is starving them of their food supply. Twenty-one pilot whales have beached themselves at Aotea […]

The secret talks that threaten two decades of whale conservation

By Michael McCarthy, Environment EditorTuesday, 22 June 2010 The future of the international whaling moratorium, one of the world’s great conservation achievements, is being decided behind closed doors today and tomorrow, after whaling’s governing body went into a secret session to discuss proposals that would end it. The future of the international whaling moratorium, one […]

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