Category Archives: Marine life

‘Best slow TV ever’: scientists mount cameras on endangered sea lions to map Australia’s ocean floor

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Eight females from two seal colonies have filmed almost 90 hours across more than 500km, helping scientists map 5,000 sq km of habitat

The Australian sea lions glide and dart through underwater tunnels, over seagrass beds and rocky reefs, searching for a meal and dancing with dolphins around a giant bait ball of fish – all the action captured by a camera stuck on their back.

“I can watch this stuff for hours,” says Prof Simon Goldsworthy. “It’s like the best slow TV ever. You just don’t know what you’re going to see next.”

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Two dolphins found dead on banks of Thames in London

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One dolphin was discovered near Chelsea Harbour Pier, the other on the riverbank at Greenwich

Two dolphins have reportedly been found dead on the banks of the Thames in London, after one was spotted in the river last week.

The common dolphin was seen multiple times from late morning on Thursday, and was described as appearing to be “struggling with the tide”.

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Charity appeals for people to stay away from dolphin in Thames

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Rescue body says dolphin spotted on Thursday may be further disoriented by human interference

People have been urged to stay away from a dolphin spotted in the River Thames.

The common dolphin had been seen several times near Putney Bridge, south-west London, on Thursday, and had appeared to be “struggling with the tide”, but had not been seen since.

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Sick sea lions stranded on California coast as experts fear algae poisoning

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At least 23 sea lions with suspected domoic acid poisoning rescued from Santa Barbara and Ventura beaches

Sea lions are stranding themselves on a long stretch of the California coast in what experts say could be a sign of widespread poisoning by a harmful algae bloom this summer.

The Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute (Cimwi) said that since 26 July, it had been inundated by daily reports of sick sea lions along the shoreline in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

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Australian government ‘deeply disappointed’ by Japan’s decision to expand commercial whaling target list

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Japanese government confirms it will allow whalers to catch and kill up to 59 fin whales, a species conservationists consider vulnerable

The Australian government is “deeply disappointed” by Japan’s decision to add the world’s second-largest whale species to the list of species its commercial whale hunters will target.

Tanya Plibersek, the environment minister, attacked Japan’s decision to hunt fin whales – the world’s second-longest whale and considered vulnerable.

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Wildlife enthusiasts called on to help record dolphins and whales on UK coast

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National Whale and Dolphin Watch organisers say data collected will help with research into marine mammals

Hundreds of wildlife enthusiasts are expected to gather along UK coastlines over the next 10 days to count and record whales and dolphins.

The National Whale and Dolphin Watch, taking place from 26 July to 4 August, is hosted by the Sea Watch Foundation and aims to get volunteers to observe and record sightings of the UK’s most impressive marine mammals.

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Wild sharks off Brazil coast test positive for cocaine, scientists say

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Latest research shows how illegal drug consumption by humans is harming marine life

Wild sharks off the coast of Brazil have tested positive for cocaine, according to new study by Brazilian scientists, in the latest research to demonstrate how illegal drug consumption by humans is harming marine life.

According to a study entitled Cocaine Shark and published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, scientists dissected the bodies of 13 sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon lalandii) caught in fishermen’s nets off a beach in Rio de Janeiro.

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Large pod of pilot whales almost wiped out after stranding on Orkney beach

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Rescuers including vets rush to save 12 survivors from 77-strong group lying on Sanday shore

Dozens of long-finned pilot whales have died after a 77-strong pod came ashore on an Orkney beach in what could be the biggest mass stranding in decades.

Twelve of the animals at Tresness beach, on the island of Sanday, were still alive, but according to rescuers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), it was thought unlikely they could be saved.

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Shark bites teen training to be a lifeguard in Florida

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Teen’s injuries weren’t considered life-threatening in shark attack, which are rare incidents, though Florida is US and world leader

A shark bit a Florida teen on the leg during a lifeguard training camp on Monday morning, officials said.

The attack on the 14-year-old boy in question occurred near the Ponce Inlet lifeguard tower shortly before noon, Volusia county beach safety officials said. The lifeguard trainee had been practicing water entries when he landed on a shark.

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More than 100 dolphins stranded in shallow water around Cape Cod

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Volunteers work to herd Atlantic white-sided dolphins found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, into deeper water

More than 100 dolphins have become stranded in the shallow waters around Cape Cod on Friday in what an animal welfare group is calling “the largest single mass stranding event” in the organization’s 25-year history.

A group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, about 100 miles south-east of Boston, in an area called the Gut – or Great Island at the Herring River – which experts have said is the site of frequent strandings, due in part to its hook-like shape and extreme tidal fluctuations.

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Florida shark attack leaves man in critical condition

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Swimmer off Fernandina beach was rescued by Nassau county marine unit after distress call from boat on Friday

A shark attack off Florida’s Atlantic coast left a man with a “severe bite to his right arm” on Friday, authorities say, leaving him in critical condition from blood loss.

The Nassau county sheriff’s office marine unit, which was patrolling off the coast of Fernandina beach near the Florida-Georgia border, said it had received a distress call from a boat on Friday and had applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

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Set more ambitious climate targets to save Great Barrier Reef, Unesco urges Australia

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Reef escapes being classed ‘in danger’ for now but the government must submit a progress report to World Heritage committee by February

Unesco has urged Australia to set more ambitious climate targets for the Great Barrier Reef in a list of recommendations to preserve its status as a world heritage site.

The report, published in Paris late on Monday, did not recommend the reef be placed on a list of sites “in danger” – a threat that has hung over the reef for years – when the 21-country world heritage committee meets next month.

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Pirates of the Caribbean actor Tamayo Perry dies in shark attack

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The actor, who also appeared in Blue Crush and Hawaii Five-0, was a lifeguard and professional surfer, described as a ‘legendary waterman’

Pirates of the Caribbean actor Tamayo Perry has died following a shark attack in Hawaii.

Perry, who also appeared in Blue Crush and Hawaii Five-0, was surfing at Malaekahana beach on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when he died on Sunday afternoon.

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Native American tribe wins right to hunt gray whales off Washington coast

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Makah people, whose right to hunt whales is noted in treaty, granted waiver by US government to kill two or three a year

After facing decades of legal and bureaucratic hurdles, the Makah Tribe in Washington has won approval from the US to resume whale hunting for the first time in 25 years.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) Fisheries announced on Wednesday that it would grant the tribe a waiver, allowing the Makah “a limited subsistence and ceremonial hunt” under an 1855 treaty. The Makah will be permitted to hunt up to 25 eastern North Pacific gray whales over 10 years.

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Iceland grants country’s last whaling company licence to hunt 128 fin whales

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Conservationists criticise ‘disappointing’ and ‘dangerous’ move to allow harpooning of fin whales after curbs last year

Iceland has granted a licence to Europe’s last whaling company to kill more than 100 animals this year, despite hopes the practice might have been halted after concerns about cruelty led to a temporary suspension last year.

Animal rights groups described the news as “deeply disappointing” and “dangerous”.

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Low-flying drones could disrupt whale migration off Australia’s east coast, experts warn

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In high-density places such as Sydney many drones may hover over an animal at once, amplifying disturbance pressure

As whales migrate up Australia’s east coast in the coming months, drones are hot on their tails. But experts are warning that low-flying drones seeking a viral shot can disrupt the whales’ migration patterns and may even place their mating season at risk.

Grace Russell, a PhD candidate at Southern Cross University who studies marine mammals with drones, said whales had been known to exhibit disturbance behaviours when drones were flown near them at low altitudes.

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Sharks attack three swimmers off two Florida beaches

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Woman, 45, sustains ‘significant trauma’ and has part of arm amputated, as two teens injured in second attack

Two separate shark attacks at Florida beaches wounded three swimmers, including two teenagers, prompting some popular vacation spots to temporarily close, according to authorities.

A shark bit a 45-year-old woman at about 1.20pm on Friday while she swam at Watersound beach, along the coast of Walton county, Florida, in the eastern part of the state.

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Tiger shark regurgitates whole echidna, leaving Australian scientists ‘stunned’

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Mammal was likely swimming between Queensland islands when it ‘just got unlucky and got snapped’ – spikes and all – in apparent world-first

The last thing a group of scientists busy tagging marine animals along the coast of north Queensland expected to see was a shark regurgitate a fully intact echidna – but that is exactly what happened.

In what is believed to be a world-first, researchers from James Cook University, including former PhD student Dr Nicolas Lubitz, were tagging marine wildlife off the coast of Orpheus Island between Townsville and Lucinda in May 2022.

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‘Knight in spiny armor’: could lobsters help save Florida’s dying corals?

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A three-year study found that the spiny lobsters’ urine scared off predatory worms and snails who snack on the delicate organisms

An unexpected champion has emerged in the increasingly grave battle to save Florida’s imperiled coral reefs: spiny lobsters that urinate in the water and scare off predatory worms and snails seeking to feast on the delicate organisms.

The finding is one of the more bizarre conclusions of a three-year study by scientists from the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC), who are also warning it may already be too late for some species of coral to survive without significant human assistance.

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New Zealand man filmed trying to ‘body slam’ an orca in actions described as ‘idiotic’

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Department of Conservation fines 50-year-old after seeing footage of stunt on social media, and described his behaviour as ‘a blatant example of stupidity’

The actions of a New Zealand man filmed jumping off a boat in what appears to be an attempt to “body slam” an orca have been described as “shocking” and “idiotic” by the country’s Department of Conservation.

In a video shared to Instagram in February, a man can be seen jumping off the edge of a boat into the sea off the coast of Devonport in Auckland, in what appears to be a deliberate effort to touch or “body slam” the orca, the department said. He leaps into the water very close to a male orca, as a calf swims nearby, while someone on board the boat films it. Others can be heard laughing and swearing in the background.

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