Category Archives: Marine life

Houthis deny targeting underwater cables amid marine disaster warning

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Yemeni government warns of Red Sea environmental disaster after cargo ship struck by rebels last week

Houthi leaders have denied they have targeted critical underwater sea telecommunication cables, as Yemen’s UN-recognised government warned of an imminent marine environmental disaster if a cargo ship struck by the rebels last week was not quickly rescued.

The Rubymar, a Belize-flagged but British-owned bulk carrier, has been drifting in the Red Sea after it was struck by two missiles. The ship, which is feared to be in danger of sinking, is leaking an 18-mile oil spill and carrying 41,000 tonnes of volatile fertiliser.

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Killer whales trapped in drift ice off Japan’s Hokkaido coast escape

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Pod of orcas in north Japan freed themselves as gaps between the ice grew, officials say

A pod of killer whales trapped by drift ice off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island, have apparently safely escaped, officials have said.

The orcas were initially spotted by a fisher who reported them to officials in the town of Rausu, on the north-east coast of Hokkaido, on Tuesday morning.

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Global shark bite deaths doubled in 2023, with Australia high on the list

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Study finds ‘unprovoked’ attacks were more common for surfers than swimmers

Australia is home to a disproportionate number of deadly shark attacks, with isolated areas carrying a greater risk of fatalities, international research has found.

The 10 fatal attacks globally in 2023 doubled the five in the previous year, with four of last year’s deaths occurring in Australia.

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Sydney Harbour shark bite: NSW Ambulance apologises after staffer leaked photo of victim’s injuries

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Family of Lauren O’Neill told ‘we believe a NSW Ambulance staff member was responsible’ for leak after St Vincent’s hospital launched investigation

A New South Wales ambulance staff member is responsible for leaking an image of a shark bite victim’s injuries from inside the hospital, the state’s health department has revealed.

NSW Ambulance said in a statement on Thursday afternoon it had apologised to the family of Lauren O’Neill over the incident.

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Turtle deaths surge in Moreton Bay as advocates decry ‘loosey-goosey’ waterway policing

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Exclusive: Locals say ‘huge penalities and fines’ needed after deaths increased almost 90% in one year

Turtle deaths in a key south-east Queensland habitat have increased 87% in a single year and there are concerns that uncontrolled boating, four-wheel driving and discarded crab pots could result in more fatalities.

The annual turtle death toll average in the Bribie Island area – which includes Beachmere to Caloundra, Pumicestone Passage and Bribie Island – had been at 36 for a decade.

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Baby shark! Researchers may have captured first image of newborn great white

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California scientist and film-maker spot apparent pup – never before seen in the wild – in drone pictures

Researchers in California may have gotten the first ever look at a newborn great white shark, which they captured in drone images taken last summer.

The newborn animal has never before been spotted in the wild. But in July, the wildlife film-maker Carlos Gauna and Phillip Sternes, a biology doctoral student at the University of California, Riverside, glimpsed something unexpected in the waters near Santa Barbara on California’s central coast.

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Fears back-to-back cyclones may have damaged Great Barrier Reef

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Strong waves and sediment-laden freshwater pushed out from river catchments may have damaged parts of reef system, experts say

Back-to-back cyclones crossing the Great Barrier Reef have experts concerned vast flood plumes and heavy waves may have damaged parts of the world’s biggest coral reef system.

Reef scientists and conservationists went into the summer worried that an El Niño weather pattern would elevate the risk of mass coral bleaching.

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Australia not prepared for how Antarctic ice changes will hit economy, scientist warns

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Exclusive: Prof Matt King says accelerated melting could transform country and affect viability of some agricultural industries

A leading Antarctic scientist has urged the Albanese government to pay closer attention to abrupt changes under way in the southern continent, warning they will affect Australians in ways that are little understood and research into them is drastically underfunded.

The head of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, Prof Matt King, said he found it embarrassing how little was known about the local and global ramifications of changes including a historic drop in floating sea ice cover, the accelerating melting of giant ice sheets and the slowing of a deep ocean current known as the Southern Ocean overturning circulation.

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Norway to allow mining waste to be dumped in fjords

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Environmental campaigners say move will threaten marine life and put biodiversity at risk

Norway is to allow mining waste to be dumped in its fjords after the government won a court case against environmental organisations trying to block the plan.

After a 15-year dispute, the private company Nordic Mining has been given the go-ahead to dispose of 170m tonnes of mining waste at the bottom of the Førde fjord, which critics say will threaten marine life and put biodiversity at risk.

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Man may face prosecution for allegedly spearfishing three blue groper on NSW south coast

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The fish deaths on Plantation Point near Jervis Bay come less than a week after another man was caught spearing a blue groper at Cronulla

A man is under investigation by New South Wales state officials after he was allegedly caught illegally spearfishing three blue groper in an incident that has prompted calls for tougher penalties.

The man had been interviewed and was being assessed for prosecution by senior fisheries compliance officials after he allegedly killed two female groper and one male groper on Plantation Point near Jervis Bay on the south coast on 5 January.

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Surfer flown to hospital after South Australia shark attack

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Man suffers leg wound less than two weeks after a boy was killed by a suspected great white shark on the Yorke Peninsula

A surfer has been flown to hospital after being bitten by a shark off the South Australian coast.

The 65-year-old man was bitten on the leg after a shark attack that occurred about 200m offshore near Elliston, on the SA west coast.

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New Caledonia court bans shark culls amid environmental backlash

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Authorities had begun hunting sharks after a series of attacks in 2023 and say they will appeal the decision

A court in New Caledonia’s capital Noumea has ordered authorities to stop culling sharks, a practice brought in after a series of attacks last year, one of which killed an Australian tourist.

The administrative court said that the systematic culls were “disproportionate in regard to the aim of protecting human life,” in a judgment made public on 28 December.

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‘It’s beautiful’: bioluminescence lights up ocean in Tasmania and parts of NSW in glowing end to 2023

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‘Sea sparkles’ appeared at Hobart’s waterfront, the NSW mid-north coast and Sydney’s Manly, with hundreds delighting in the natural phenomenon

Revellers along the Hobart waterfront welcomed in the new year with the glow of fireworks in the sky – and bright, blue bioluminescence lighting up the ocean.

With an easterly wind bringing the “sea sparkle” to the east coast, onlookers were treated to a truly glowing end to 2023.

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California dazzled by ‘extremely rare’ killer whale sightings off southern coast

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A group of 10 orcas has been seen leaping into the air to catch prey, delighting watchers and experts for the past two weeks

Experts and whale watchers have been dazzled by a series of orca sightings off the southern California coast that are being described as “extremely rare”.

A group of 10 whales – including a calf just a few months old – has been spotted for the past two weeks off the coast of southern California, between Oxnard and San Diego. Images from social media show the giant creatures leaping into the air to catch dolphins and coming within feet of boats full of eager viewers.

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South Australian shark attack: tributes flow for ‘talented and dearly loved’ teenage surfer

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Khai Cowley, 15, was killed by a suspected great white shark off Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula

A teenage boy killed in a shark attack off the coast of South Australia has been remembered as a talented and dearly loved member of the surfing community.

The 15-year-old, identified by friends and a family member as Khai Cowley, was mauled by a suspected great white while surfing off the remote Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula west of Adelaide about 1.30pm on Thursday.

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Teenage boy killed in fatal shark attack near Ethel Beach in South Australia

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Body recovered from ocean off Dhilba Guuranda-Innes national park on the Yorke Peninsula

A teenage boy has died after a shark attack near Ethel Beach in South Australia, police say.

At 1.30pm on Thursday police received reports of a shark attack in Dhilba Guuranda-Innes national park, on the Yorke Peninsula.

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March of the red crabs: months of preparation for annual mass migration on Christmas Island

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Temporary roadside barriers set up to channel tens of millions of crabs migrating to the coastline

The welcome mat has been rolled out for scores of red crabs as they make their annual coastal dash on Christmas Island.

Each year, the first substantial rain of the wet season triggers tens of millions of adult red crabs to leave their forest homes, in the interior of the island, and march towards the coast to mate and spawn.

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‘I’ve never seen anything like this’: Japan says reason behind 1,200 tonnes of fish washing ashore is unknown

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The sardines and mackerel were found floating on the surface of the sea near the fishing port of Hakodate in Hokkaido

Officials in Japan have admitted they are struggling to determine why hundreds of tonnes of fish have washed ashore in recent days.

Earlier this month, an estimated 1,200 tonnes of sardines and mackerel were found floating on the surface of the sea off the fishing port of Hakodate in Hokkaido, forming a silver blanket stretching for more than a kilometre.

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Boston woman killed by shark attack while paddleboarding in Bahamas

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Woman was reported to have just gotten married and the man paddleboarding with her as her groom

A shark attacked and killed a Boston newlywed off the coast of the Bahamas on Monday, according to authorities and reports.

Local police said the woman, 44, was bit by a shark at about 11.15am in New Providence. The woman was paddleboarding with a man at the time of the attack, presumed to be her husband.

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Coles, Woolworths and Aldi ‘responsibly sourced’ salmon labels may be misleading, watchdog told

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Environmental groups allege some of the supermarkets’ salmon is from Tasmanian farms reportedly having ‘catastrophic’ impact on ancient Maugean skate

Major supermarkets may be misleading consumers that their salmon products are responsibly sourced as some is produced in Tasmanian farms that are “far from sustainable”, environmental groups say.

The Environmental Defenders Office, acting on behalf of four environmental groups, has made a complaint to the consumer watchdog, urging it to investigate whether “responsibly sourced” labelling on seafood products and promotional material used by Coles, Woolworths and Aldi have broken consumer law by misleading consumers.

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