Category Archives: Rivers

Wolverine fish and blind eel among 212 new freshwater species

Posted on by

Report from Shoal on 2021’s newly described species shows ‘there are still hundreds and hundreds more freshwater fish scientists don’t know about yet’


Scientists are celebrating 212 “new” freshwater fish species, including a blind eel found in the grounds of a school for blind children and a fish named Wolverine that is armed with a hidden weapons system.

The New Species 2021 report, released by the conservation organisation Shoal, shows just how diverse and remarkable the world’s often undervalued freshwater species are, and suggests there is plenty more life still to be discovered in the world’s lakes, rivers and wetlands.

Continue reading...

Severn Trent and Anglian Water pledge to do more to protect rivers

Posted on by

Water firms commit to improving sewage discharge practices after government pressure

Severn Trent and Anglian Water say they will accelerate efforts to protect rivers after the government and regulators called on the sector to do more.

Last month, the environment minister Rebecca Pow called on water companies to significantly improve their practices in England and Wales to support the local environment.

Continue reading...

Sydney Harbour turns brown as authorities warn against swimming after floods

Posted on by

Heavy rainfall can cause untreated sewage containing viruses and bacteria to flow into waterways posing health risks to swimmers

Pollution washed into Sydney’s beaches and waterways could linger for days, with state authorities urging swimmers to exercise caution after the flood disaster.

Sydney Harbour turned brown as a result of storm water carrying soil and debris, and algal blooms have appeared on the usually pristine sands of Hyams beach in the Jervis Bay region.

Continue reading...

Yellowstone at 150: busier yet wilder than ever, says park’s ‘winterkeeper’

Posted on by

From the return of wildlife to the pressures of tourism and the climate crisis, Steven Fuller has seen it all in his nearly 50 years watching over America’s oldest national park

• Read more: Native Americans are at the heart of Yellowstone. After 150 years, they are finally being heard

As “winterkeeper” at Yellowstone national park, Steven Fuller lives in a rustic cedar-shingled cottage, built in 1910, set on a hill a short walk from the majestic Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

On balmier days, with the windows open, he can hear the roar of the 308ft Lower Falls tumbling into the chasm. In autumn, he is treated to the sound of bugling bull elk in rut or, in the middle of night, the howls of wolves.

Continue reading...

Drugs have dangerously polluted the world’s rivers, scientists warn

Posted on by

Pharmaceutical pollution poses ‘global threat to human and environmental health’, major study finds

Humanity’s drugs have polluted rivers across the entire world and pose “a global threat to environmental and human health”, according to the most comprehensive study to date.

Pharmaceuticals and other biologically active compounds used by humans are known to harm wildlife and antibiotics in the environment drive up the risk of resistance to the drugs, one of the greatest threats to humanity.

Continue reading...

‘A national tragedy’: Māori drowning rate causes alarm in New Zealand

Posted on by

Māori have a strong ancestral relationship to the ocean involving hunting and fishing for seafood, but that can come at a cost

Aquatic safety instructor Clayton Wikaira is leaning against a small inflatable boat, his hair wet from the sea, speaking to a group of six university students who have just learned how to safely dive for kaimoana (seafood). The students’ attention is waning in the hot midday sun – they are tired from an early morning start, a hike around the rocks of Auckland’s Whangaparaoa peninsula, and hours spent diving in the open ocean for kina (sea urchin). Some look at their phones, others chomp on pizza. But as he starts telling a story, their ears prick up.

“I thought I could swim to Australia when I was young. I thought I was fit, strong,” he starts.

Continue reading...

Brazilian turtle breeders shot dead along with teenage daughter

Posted on by

Activists mourn deaths in Amazon state of Pará as bodies of José Gomes, Márcia Nunes Lisboa and their daughter found by son

Police in the Brazilian Amazon state of Pará are investigating the killing of three members of the same family who were shot dead at the riverside home where they bred turtles.

The deaths happened on the island of Cachoeira da Mucura, on the banks of the Xingu River, in São Félix do Xingu and regional media named the victims as José Gomes, his wife Márcia Nunes Lisboa and her teenage daughter, Joane Nunes Lisboa.

Continue reading...

‘Babies here are born sick’: are Bolivia’s gold mines poisoning its indigenous people?

Posted on by

The government has been criticised for apparent inaction as evidence mounts that mercury contamination is causing illness in fishing communities

Outside a small brick house shared by four families, Daniela Prada, who is heavily pregnant, gathers guava leaves to make a tea for her two-year-old son.

“My baby gets sick a lot,” she says, boiling a pot of water in her outdoor kitchen. “He always has diarrhoea and last night he had a fever. Most of the time I give him natural medicine.”

In an identical house nearby, town leader Oscar Lurici says fevers are a part of life in Eyiyo Quibo village on the Beni River in northern Bolivia. People of all ages suffer from debilitating head and body aches, bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea, memory loss and tiredness. Some children show signs of cognitive development delays.

Continue reading...

Meet Mr Trash Wheel – and the other ingenious tools that eat river plastic

Posted on by

From ‘bubble barriers’ to floating drones, a host of new projects aim to stop plastic pollution before it ever reaches the ocean

The Great Bubble Barrier is just that – a wall of bubbles. It gurgles across the water in a diagonal screen, pushing plastic to one side while allowing fish and other wildlife to pass unharmed.

The technology, created by a Dutch firm and already being used in Amsterdam, is being trialled in the Douro River in Porto, Portugal, as part of the EU-supported Maelstrom (marine litter sustainable removal and management) project.

Continue reading...

Batman loach returns: fish feared extinct found in Turkey

Posted on by

Scientists working on the Search For The Lost Fishes project have spotted the freshwater Batman River loach, which has not been seen since 1974

A freshwater fish that scientists thought was extinct has been found in south-east Turkey, after an absence of nearly 50 years.

“I’ve been researching this area for 12 years and this fish was always on my wishlist,” said Dr Cüneyt Kaya, associate professor at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University. “It’s taken a long time. When I saw the distinctive bands on the fish, I felt so happy. It was a perfect moment.”

Continue reading...

‘Killing us slowly’: dams and drought choke Syria’s water supply – in pictures

Posted on by

The dwindling flow of the Euphrates River combined with Turkey’s occupation of Alouk water station has disrupted access to water for 460,000 people

Continue reading...

Vast area of Scottish Highlands to be rewilded in ambitious 30-year project

Posted on by

Affric Highlands initiative to restore nature will involve tree planting, restoring peat bogs and connecting wildlife habitats

A large swathe of the Scottish Highlands stretching between the west coast and Loch Ness is to be rewilded as part of a 30-year project to restore nature.

The Affric Highlands initiative aims to increase connected habitats and species diversity over an area of 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres), incorporating Kintail mountain range, and glens Cannich, Moriston and Shiel. Plans include planting trees, enhancing river corridors, restoring peat bogs and creating nature-friendly farming practices.

Continue reading...

Brussels battles old prejudices as it frees unloved river from its vault

Posted on by

City aims to reopen parts of Senne but centuries-held view of it as toxic sewer remains surprisingly strong

While Paris’s winding Seine has been an inspiration for some of the greatest works of romantic art and literature, the unloved Senne running through Brussels has been buried away under concrete for the last 150 years, condemned by locals as little more than a sewer and cause of disease and unhappiness.

As a constant flood risk and source of cholera, it was vaulted in, built over and hidden from sight. Now, however, Belgium’s capital is preparing to stage an inauguration ceremony that officials hope will help force a rethink among Bruxellois about their centuries-held prejudices against the waterway.

Continue reading...

Delta blues: why estuaries are the canaries in the climate crisis coalmine

Posted on by

These fragile ecosystems are where the impacts of the climate crisis are often felt first, say experts

The Ebro delta appears to be in robust health, to a casual observer. There is water gurgling in the canals and irrigation channels, and what appears to be a mighty river flowing into the sea. The dazzling green rice fields are dotted with ibis, egrets and redshanks.

However, all is not what it seems. The Ebro, the only one of Spain’s three great rivers that flows into the Mediterranean, is one of the most abused and exploited in Europe.

Continue reading...

Refugees hit hardest as deadly floods sweep across continents

Posted on by

Death toll rises as storms continue to rip through communities, destroying homes and livelihoods

As heavy rains and floods dominate headlines around the world, displaced people and those living in conflict zones are among the worst affected.

Wind and heavy rain from monsoons and typhoons has bombarded much of Asia. There have also been downpours and flash floods in parts of Latin America and Africa.

Continue reading...

Salmon nearly boiled alive in Pacific north-west heatwave captured on video

Posted on by

A conservation group recorded the video in the Columbia River on a day when water temperatures breached 70F

Salmon in the Columbia River were nearly boiled to death when water temperatures rose during the Pacific north-west’s record-shattering heatwave, according to a conservation group that has documented the disturbing sight.

In a video released on Tuesday by the non-profit organization Columbia Riverkeeper, a group of sockeye salmon swimming in a tributary of the river can be seen covered in angry red lesions and white fungus, the results of stress and exposure to extreme temperatures.

Continue reading...

‘Gamechanging’ £10m environmental DNA project to map life in world’s rivers

Posted on by

eBioAtlas programme aims to identify fish, birds, amphibians and land animals in freshwater systems from the Ganges to the Mekong

Concealed by the turbid, swirling waters of the Amazon, the Mekong and the Congo, the biodiversity of the world’s great rivers has largely remained a mystery to scientists. But now a multimillion-pound project aims to describe and identify the web of life in major freshwater ecosystems around the world with “gamechanging” DNA technology.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and UK-based environmental DNA (eDNA) specialists NatureMetrics have launched a partnership to take thousands of water samples from freshwater river systems like the Ganges and the Niger delta to identify the fish, birds, amphibians and land animals that live in and around them.

Continue reading...

London boat dwellers protest against plans they say could leave them homeless

Posted on by

Boaters fear that the Canal and River Trust’s plans to trial ‘water safety zones’ will lead to a big reduction in mooring spaces

The sun shone, the water sparkled and the trumpets blared as a flotilla of boat dwellers staged a protest in east London on Sunday about proposals they say will drive them out of their homes.

Dozens of boats, bearing banners with slogans such as “Boats are homes” and “Stop the boat cull”, contributed to a carnival atmosphere as they made their way along the River Lea in Hackney.

Continue reading...

A journey down WA’s mighty Martuwarra, raging river and sacred ancestor

Posted on by

Traditional owners are standing together to protect the Fitzroy – a ‘beautiful, living water system’. Just watch out for the bird-sized spiders …

A Nyikina man, Mark Coles Smith, and his fellow travellers began their 400km journey down the mighty Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) on a flood plain covered in giant spiders.

“Bird-sized” spiders were clinging to the canopy, jostling for space on branches protruding above flood water that stretched for kilometres in every direction.

Continue reading...

UK ranked last in Europe for bathing water quality in 2020

Posted on by

European Environment Agency judges only 110 British coastal and inland sites to be excellent

Swimmers in the UK hoping to enjoy waters certified clean and healthy this summer have been let down again. Only 110 coastal and inland sites were judged excellent in the latest bathing water quality data from Europe’s environmental watchdog.

Most of the UK’s bathing sites were not classified in 2020, however, because Covid-19 restrictions prevented sampling. This meant that out of 640 sites, 457 received no verdict in the rankings, compiled annually by the European Environment Agency and published on Tuesday.

Continue reading...