Residents and marine officials in British Columbia hope a changing tide will save her orphaned calf
A killer whale stranded off Canada’s west coast has died despite efforts to rescue her, but residents and marine officials hope a changing tide will save her orphaned calf.
On Saturday, members of the Ehattisaht First Nation, a coastal community along the north-western reaches of Vancouver Island, spotted an orca trapped on a rocky outcropping.
Continue reading...Fossil of giant river dolphin found in Peru, whose closest living relation is in South Asia, gives clues to future extinction threats
Scientists have discovered the fossilised skull of a giant river dolphin, from a species thought to have fled the ocean and sought refuge in Peru’s Amazonian rivers 16m years ago. The extinct species would have measured up to 3.5 metres long, making it the largest river dolphin ever found.
The discovery of this new species, Pebanista yacuruna, highlights the looming risks to the world’s remaining river dolphins, all of which face similar extinction threats in the next 20 to 40 years, according to the lead author of new research published in Science Advances today. Aldo Benites-Palomino said it belonged to the Platanistoidea family of dolphins commonly found in oceans between 24m and 16m years ago.
Continue reading...Discovery was made after First Nations tipped off ecologists about groups of fish gathering in a fjord off British Columbia
Deep in the hostile waters off Canada’s west coast, in a narrow channel surrounded by fjords, lies a coral reef that scientists believe “shouldn’t exist”. The reef is the northernmost ever discovered in the Pacific Ocean and offers researchers a new glimpse into the resilience – and unpredictability – of the deep-sea ecosystems.
For generations, members of the Kitasoo Xai’xais and Heiltsuk First Nations, two communities off the Central Coast region of British Columbia, had noticed large groups of rockfish congregating in a fjord system.
Continue reading...Girl, 13, taken to hospital with minor injuries after suspected shark attack at Bargara beach in Bundaberg
A teenage girl has been taken to hospital after being injured in a suspected shark attack in Queensland’s north.
Paramedics were called to Bargara beach in Bundaberg on Friday afternoon after reports of a shark attack.
Continue reading...Another 78 people taken to hospital after consuming delicacy, which is known to cause food poisoning
Eight children and an adult have died after eating sea turtle meat on Pemba Island in the Zanzibar archipelago, and 78 other people have been taken to hospital, authorities said on Saturday.
Sea turtle meat is considered a delicacy in Zanzibar but it periodically results in deaths from chelonitoxism, a type of food poisoning.
Continue reading...Scientists confirm cetacean’s presence but cite impact of climate change which has made North-west Passage ice-free in summer
Scientists have confirmed the presence of a whale off New England that went extinct in the Atlantic Ocean two centuries ago – an exciting discovery, but one they said that illustrates the impact of climate change on sea life.
Researchers with the New England Aquarium in Boston found the gray whale while flying 30 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, on 1 March. The whale, which can weigh 60,000 pounds (27,215kg), typically lives in the northern Pacific Ocean.
Continue reading...Leaking fuel and thousands of tonnes of fertiliser could harm marine ecosystems and affect coastal fishing communities
The sinking of a bulk carrier off the coast of Yemen after a Houthi missile attack poses grave environmental risks as thousands of tonnes of fertiliser threaten to spill into the Red Sea, officials and experts have warned.
Leaking fuel and the chemical pollutant could harm marine life, including coral reefs, and affect coastal communities that rely on fishing for their livelihoods, they said.
Continue reading...Four-metre shark euthanised after becoming beached on shore at Kingscliff on Tweed Coast
A great white shark washed up on to a beach on the New South Wales north coast, shocking locals and attracting a crowd of beachgoers.
The 4m shark was seen swimming close to shore near Kingscliff beach on the Tweed Coast on Monday morning, with lifeguards tracking its progress until it was beached.
Continue reading...Attack on juvenile is thought to be first known time a lone orca has hunted down a great white
It is a smash and grab that has stunned scientists: in less than two minutes, a killer whale attacked and consumed a great white shark before swimming off with the victim’s liver in its mouth.
Experts say the event off the coast of Mossel Bay in South Africa offers new insights into the predatory behaviour of orcas.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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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