Category Archives: Marine life

Florida’s manatees are dying in record numbers – but a lawsuit offers hope

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US wildlife agency agrees to review protection for habitats after conservationists sue over mass die-offs from poor water quality

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has agreed to update critical habitat protections for manatees after legal pressure from environmental groups, as the animals continue to die in record numbers.

More than 1,000 manatees died in Florida last year, wiping out more than 10% of the state’s population, the deadliest year on record. The unusually high mortality rate for the threatened mammals has continued into 2022, with 562 deaths in the first five months.

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Whale watching season starts early as humpback population bounces back

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Not long ago, the humpback was almost wiped out, now its numbers are booming in what conservationists say is a ‘wonderful success story’

People across Australia’s east coast are catching an earlier than expected first glimpse of breaching humpback whales as they migrate north, and scientists say the reason why is a conservation success story.

Whale watchers were treated to a spectacular show in Sydney on Monday as two humpback whales surged from the water metres from their boat. Dr Wally Franklin, director of the Oceania Project, said sightings have also been reported off the coast of Merimbula, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads, the Gold Coast and Hervey Bay, as the whales journey north from the Antarctic to the Great Barrier Reef.

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Australian scientists discover ‘biggest plant on Earth’ off WA coast

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Genetic testing has determined a single 4,500-year-old seagrass may have spread over 200 sq km of underwater seafloor – about 20,000 football fields

About 4,500 years ago, a single seed – spawned from two different seagrass species – found itself nestled in a favourable spot somewhere in what is now known as Shark Bay, just off Australia’s west coast.

Left to its own devices and relatively undisturbed by human hands, scientists have discovered that seed has grown to what is now believed to be the biggest plant anywhere on Earth, covering about 200 sq km (77 sq miles, or about 20,000 rugby fields, or just over three times the size of Manhattan island).

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Ailing orca stuck in France’s River Seine to be lured to sea using drone with loudspeakers

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A drone emitting orca sounds will be used in attempt to guide the animal, whose health is fast deteriorating

An orca lost in France’s River Seine is to be guided back to sea using sounds made by the species under a last-ditch plan to save the animal’s life.

The local prefecture said it would monitor the animal, also known as a killer whale, from a distance with a drone while emitting orca communications in an attempt to guide it back to the sea, following a meeting with national and international scientists, including marine mammal specialists.

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European fishing fleets accused of illegally netting tuna in Indian Ocean

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Reports handed to EU claim vessels likely to have entered coastal states’ waters where stocks are dwindling

European fishing fleets have been illegally netting tuna from dwindling stocks in the Indian Ocean, according to data presented to EU authorities and analysed by expert groups.

EU purse seine (a type of large net) fishing vessels were present in the waters of Indian Ocean coastal states, where they were likely to have carried out unauthorised catches, and have reported catches in the Chagos archipelago marine protected area and in Mozambique’s exclusive economic zone.

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Dugong sees red: Pig the sea cow predicts Labor will win Australian election (sort of)

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In completely unscientific experiment the Sydney Aquarium resident sided with a tortoise and crocodile in predicting Anthony Albanese victory

Pig came out of the deep, a slow-moving mass in search of an answer to the question arresting the mind of the nation: who will emerge from the federal election victorious?

The dugong’s performance was precise and assured. A red and blue toy representing each major party were dropped into Pig’s enclosure, and after mere moments consulting his mystic powers, he disappeared below the water’s surface.

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Rejection of Arctic mine expansion bid offers hope for narwhal population

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Conservationists and Inuit community relieved at decision on Canadian iron mine that threatened ‘extirpation’ of cetacean

The expansion of an iron ore mine in the Arctic that would have increased shipping and led to the “complete extirpation of narwhal” from the region has been blocked.

After four years of consultations and deliberations, the Nunavut Impact Review Board rejected a request from Baffinland Iron Mines Corp asking to significantly increase mining on the northern tip of Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. The area is home to one of the world’s richest iron ore deposits, and the densest narwhal population in the world.

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Bleached sea sponges found in New Zealand waters for first time

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Extreme ocean temperatures blamed for turning sea sponges white in more than a dozen sites on southern coastline

Sea sponges off New Zealand’s southern coastline have been found bleached bone-white for the first time, following extreme ocean temperatures.

A group of scientists from Victoria University of Wellington were alarmed to discover the sponges, which are typically a rich chocolate brown, were bleached in more than a dozen sites near Breaksea Sound and Doubtful Sound in Fiordland.

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Australian authorities to buy out fisheries citing climate crisis

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$20m permit buyback aims to help recovery of jackass morwong, redfish, john dory and silver trevally

The federal government will spend $20m to buy out fisheries in Australia’s south-east in part because the climate crisis is affecting population numbers of some species, making current fishing levels unsustainable.

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority will buy back vessel permits in the south-east trawl fishery, which is the largest commonwealth-managed fin fish fishery in Australia.

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Migrating turtles don’t really know where they’re going, study shows

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Hawksbill turtles often travel circuitous routes for short distances – one swam 1,306km to reach an island just 176km away

How migrating animals like sea turtles navigate hundreds to thousands of kilometres across the open ocean has intrigued biologists since Charles Darwin. But some sea turtles might not really know where they’re going, new research suggests.

Analysis by an international team of scientists has mapped the movements of hawksbill turtles as they swam from their nesting grounds in the Chagos Archipelago to foraging sites also in the Indian Ocean.

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Vaquita porpoise could survive … but only if illegal fishing stops immediately

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DNA study finds rarest cetacean, only found in Gulf of California, has enough genetic diversity to recover – if gillnet ban is enforced


Scientists studying the DNA of the world’s smallest cetacean and rarest marine mammal, the vaquita porpoise, have made a surprising and bittersweet discovery.

With a tiny population of fewer than 10 individuals left, the mammal was assumed by conservationists to be at a similar risk of harmful mutations and inbreeding as other species with small gene pools.

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Could Anglesey’s tidal energy project drive a new energy revolution?

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Experts say Wales has huge potential for generating renewable marine power, yet, so far, ambitious schemes have been ignored

On the stunning and craggy coastline of Holy Island in north Wales, work has started on a construction project to generate energy from one of the world’s greatest untapped energy resources: tidal power.

The Morlais project, on the small island off the west of Anglesey has benefited from £31m in what is likely to be the last large grant for Wales from the European Union’s regional funding programme. It will install turbines at what will be one of the largest tidal stream energy sites in the world, covering 13 square miles of the seabed.

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Killers confronted: humpback whale turns on orca pod in rare encounter

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Footage shows five-year-old humpback in Canadian waters stalking and ambushing group more used to role of attackers

An aggressive humpback whale appeared to turn the tables on a pod of orcas off the Canadian coast, stalking then ambushing the group that more usually would have been attacking it.

The rare occurrence took place on the Salish Sea between British Columbia and Washington state and was witnessed and recorded by enthralled tourists on a whale-watching trip.

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Bleaching of marine sponges observed in warming Tasmanian waters for the first time

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Scientists say bleaching could be ‘canary in the coalmine’ for climate impact as eastern Tasmanian sea temperatures rise

Bleaching in marine sponges in temperate waters off Tasmania’s east coast has been observed for the first time, with scientists warning the discovery could be an indicator of climate change in deeper reef systems.

Researchers at the University of Tasmania’s Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies used seafloor surveys to discover the bleaching of cup sponges in the Flinders commonwealth marine reserve after heatwave events.

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Free wooden bellyboard hire scheme aims to cut plastic pollution

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Surf Wood for Good aims to tackle waste caused by polystyrene bodyboards by lending beachgoers UK-made wooden boards

A new initiative is offering free bellyboard hire across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to discourage the use of polluting plastic boards.

Surf Wood for Good aims to tackle the waste caused by polystyrene bodyboards, which are usually imported and single-use, by lending beachgoers British-made wooden boards.

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Thieving sea lions break into salmon farm and gorge on feast of fish

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Conservationists say the farms are a danger to sea lions and other marine mammals, who can become entangled in their nets

Dozens of thieving sea lions in western Canada have spent the last few weeks gorging on fish after brazenly slipping into an industrial salmon farm – and ignoring all attempts to make them move on.

Cermaq, the aquaculture giant with operations in Norway, Chile and Canada, says the wily predators were able to evade netting and electric fences in late March as part of a “breach event” at the Rant Point farm near Tofino in British Columbia.

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Coral bleaching under way at Ningaloo reef as Western Australia battles heat

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Every photograph of bleached corals a reminder we’re not doing enough to tackle climate crisis, conservationists say

Conservationists say they have have recorded evidence of coral bleaching under way at Ningaloo off Western Australia’s north-west coast.

It comes just as the Great Barrier Reef on the other side of the country undergoes another devastating mass bleaching event.

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Seabed regulator accused of deciding deep sea’s future ‘behind closed doors’

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The ISA, obliged to frame industry rules by 2023, drops reporting service and is accused of lacking transparency in plans for mining
• Podcast: The race to mine the deep sea

The UN-affiliated organisation that oversees deep-sea mining, a controversial new industry, has been accused of failings of transparency after an independent body responsible for reporting on negotiations was kicked out.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is meeting this week at its council headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, to develop regulations for the fledgling industry. But it emerged this week that Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB), a division of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), which has covered previous ISA negotiations, had not had its contract renewed.

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Great Barrier Reef authority confirms unprecedented sixth mass coral bleaching event

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Aerial surveys show almost no reefs across a 1,200km stretch escaping the heat, prompting scientists to call for urgent action on climate crisis

The Great Barrier Reef has been hit with a sixth mass coral bleaching event, the marine park’s authority has confirmed, with aerial surveys showing almost no reefs across a 1,200km stretch escaping the heat.

The Guardian understands a United Nations mission currently under way to check the health and management of the reef will be briefed on the initial findings of the surveys as early as Friday in Townsville.

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Conservationists call for ban on explosives to scare seals at salmon farm in federal waters off Tasmania

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Federal government has not ruled out the use of underwater explosives and ‘bean bag rounds’ in trial off north-west Tasmania

Environment groups have called on the federal government to rule out the use of explosives and guns loaded with “bean bag” rounds to scare seals at a proposed salmon farming trial in commonwealth waters off the north-west coast of Tasmania.

Under Tasmanian laws, the companies are allowed to use underwater explosives, known as “seal crackers”, to deter predators at farms in state waters. Other authorised measures include shooting seals with fabric coated plastic shells containing lead shot, known as bean bag rounds and darts with blunt tips known as “scare caps”. Official documents show some seals have been killed.

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