Tiny isopod is dubbed Pentaceration forkandbrewer in push to engage community with climate-threatened life in local waters
New Zealand scientists have named a tiny snowflake-like crustacean after a Wellington brewery, in an attempt to boost the public’s interest in local marine life.
The roughly 1.5mm marine isopod was found in the silty depths off New Zealand’s southern east coast. It helps decompose organic material that drifts to the seabed.
Continue reading...An Australian-led study using seal-shaped decoys found underside lighting disrupted ability of great whites to see silhouettes against sunlight above
Using LED lighting on the underside of surfboards or kayaks could deter great white shark attacks, new research suggests.
In an Australian-led study using seal-shaped decoys, underside lighting disrupted the ability of great whites to see silhouettes against the sunlight above, reducing the rates at which the sharks followed and attacked the artificial prey. The brighter the lights, the more effective the deterrent was.
Continue reading...Early signs of success seen in area where native European oysters were fished to local extinction by early 1900s
Thousands of oysters released into the Firth of Forth appear to be thriving again after a century-long absence from the Scottish estuary since they were lost to overfishing.
Marine experts from Heriot-Watt University who have helped reintroduce about 30,000 European flat oysters to the estuary said divers and underwater cameras showed they were doing well.
Continue reading...Most recent fatality marks 17th beluga to die at Niagara Falls, Ontario, aquarium since 2019
A fifth beluga has died at Canada’s Marineland, as questions mount over the future of both the controversial theme park and one of the world’s largest populations of captive whales.
The most recent fatality marks the 17th beluga to die at the Niagara Falls aquarium since 2019.
Continue reading...National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration investigates discovery of remains of common dolphin
The butchered remains of a dolphin were found on a New Jersey beach, and federal authorities are investigating.
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center, which responds to reports of dead or distressed marine animals that come ashore in New Jersey, said the remains of a common dolphin were found on Wednesday on the beach in Allenhurst, just north of Asbury Park.
Continue reading...Bondi beach’s newest residents may look strange to human eyes, but goose barnacles are a normal part of the natural marine environment
Goose barnacles look as strange as their name, with a long, noodle-like stalk emerging from smooth white plates. The crustacean, also known as percebes, is also extremely expensive – in Europe, where it’s enjoyed as a delicacy, a kilo might cost hundreds of dollars.
And this week, a bunch washed up at Horseshoe Bay, south of Adelaide.
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Continue reading...Residents and marine scientists unable to identify pale masses, as myriad theories are blown out of the water
They are slimy on the outside, firm and spongy on the inside and surprisingly combustible. And in recent months, they have been washing up on the shores of Newfoundland.
The depths of the Atlantic have long held mysteries, but the riddle of the mysterious white “blobs” spotted on the beaches of the eastern Canadian province has baffled both residents and marine scientists.
Continue reading...Tanya Plibersek claims Labor is protecting 52% of its ocean territory, but experts say that is ‘misleading’
Scientists have challenged Tanya Plibersek’s claim that Australia is protecting more than half of its oceans and has “blitzed” a 30% target, arguing industrial longline fishing will still be allowed in some areas the government says it is conserving.
The environment minister told a “global nature positive summit” in Sydney on Tuesday the government had quadrupled the size of the sub-Antarctic Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve, a world heritage area about 4,000km south-west of Perth.
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Continue reading...Study uncovers vivid and poignant accounts of reefs as high as houses off countries including UK, France and Ireland
Only a handful of natural oyster reefs measuring at most a few square metres cling on precariously along European coasts after being wiped out by overfishing, dredging and pollution.
A study led by British scientists has discovered how extensive they once were, with reefs as high as a house covering at least 1.7m hectares (4.2m acres) from Norway to the Mediterranean, an area larger than Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...Pen-chan defies expectations to be reunited with keeper safe and sound after swimming 30 miles in open sea
A fugitive penguin in Japan has been found safe and sound two weeks after escaping into the sea and paddling for miles in what her keeper called a miracle.
Pen-chan, a female Cape penguin born and raised in captivity, who had never swum in the open sea before or fended for herself, absconded from an event in the central Aichi region on 25 August.
Continue reading...Eels use tail-first technique to back up digestive tract of fish towards oesophagus before coming out of gills
It sounds like the plot of a horror movie – a predator swallows its prey only for the creature to burst out of its captor’s body. But it seems Japanese eels do just that.
Scientists in Japan have discovered that when swallowed by a dark sleeper fish, the eels can escape.
Continue reading...Animal rights groups had claimed beluga named Hvaldimir, which was found dead last month, had been shot
A beluga whale that rose to fame in Norway after its unusual harness prompted suspicions that the creature was trained by Russia as a spy died after a stick became stuck in its mouth, police have said.
The lifeless body of the whale, named Hvaldimir – a combination of the Norwegian word for whale and the first name of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin – was found floating in the sea on 31 August by a father and son fishing in Risavika Bay, southern Norway.
Continue reading...Hvaldimir rose to fame in Norway after his harness sparked suspicions he was Russian spy
Animal rights groups have said that gunfire killed a beluga whale that rose to fame in Norway after its unusual harness sparked suspicions the creature was trained by Russia as a spy.
The organisations Noah and One Whale said they had filed a complaint with Norwegian police asking them to open a criminal investigation.
Continue reading...Seabirds are in a precarious position as their breeding areas are threatened by climate breakdown and overfishing
Five seabirds have been added to the UK’s conservation red list, meaning they are at dire risk of local extinction.
The government has been urged to act as the arctic tern, Leach’s storm petrel, common gull, great skua and great black-backed gull join other seabird species such as the puffin on the list after severe population declines.
Continue reading...Stings needing medical attention surge by 41% as rising sea temperatures due to the climate crisis boost reproduction
Costa Brava resorts in Spain’s north-east are struggling to cope with an influx of jellyfish as rising sea temperatures facilitate reproduction and drive species farther north.
Between May and August almost 7,500 people on the Catalan coast sought medical attention for jellyfish stings – a 41% increase on last year. The stings are painful and can have unpleasant consequences for anyone with compromised immunity.
Continue reading...Operation to free young animal from ropes and buoys conducted ‘very carefully’
A humpback whale has been freed after being entangled in ropes in Sydney Harbour.
Jessica Fox, the second vice-president of volunteer organisation Orrca, confirmed the rescue late on Friday morning.
Continue reading...Zoo staff brought Magic to Sphen’s side to process the loss, and the penguin colony joined in his mournful call
Sydney gentoo penguin Sphen, whose same-sex love story made him and partner Magic an equality symbol worldwide, has died.
The couple shot to fame in 2018 when news of their same-sex male relationship in a Sydney aquarium made global headlines.
Continue reading...Divers demand end to fishing of rays after mutilated carcasses discovered at Chowder Bay on Sydney’s north shore
Jayne Jenkins found the sandy floor of Chowder Bay on Sydney Harbour a mess of fishing lines, hooks and ray carcass, last Saturday morning.
Fins had been chopped from two bull rays, the diver told Guardian Australia. One had a big split across its head – Jenkins identified it as Stumpy, a well known ray that had its tail chopped off in previous years.
Continue reading...Group finds elusive deep sea fish that has washed up in California only 20 times since 1901
A group of people kayaking and snorkeling off the San Diego coast made an unusual discovery when they came across an oarfish, a rarely seen deep sea fish that has washed up in California only 20 times in over a century.
The 12ft-long silvery fish was found floating dead in the water last weekend. The group, along with marine experts, helped bring the creature ashore for study.
Continue reading...Pilot whale that beached itself in 1973 was infested with thousands of parasitic nematodes that may have eaten away at its blowhole
A vial of white parasitic worms left for decades in a Tasmanian museum may help solve a timeless mystery: why do whales strand themselves on beaches?
The worms were collected from the blowhole of a pilot whale that beached itself in 1973 and then stored in Launceston’s Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery.
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