Three Nations Create Giant Reserves for Ocean Life
The presidents of Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Colombia announced historic protections to safeguard sea turtles, sharks, and a variety of other creatures off their coasts. Friday’s announcements add to a series of recent actions designed to safeguard whales, sharks, sea turtles, tuna, and other creatures off the coasts of Central and South America.
Successful conservation efforts pay off for humpback whales
Efforts to protect humpbacks from their most fearsome predator— human beings— are having an impact. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced that most populations of humpback whales are being removed from the Endangered Species listing.
Sargassum Watch Warns of Incoming Seaweed
Sargassum beaching events in the Caribbean, West Africa, and other regions have received wide media attention, prompting action by regional governmental agencies and environmental groups seeking to understand this new phenomenon.
One of the World’s Biggest Fisheries Is on the Verge of Collapse
Encompassing 1.4 million square miles, the South China Sea is one of the world’s most important fisheries, employing more than 3.7 million people and bringing in billions of dollars every year. But after decades of free-for-all fishing, dwindling stocks now threaten both the food security and economic growth of the rapidly developing nations that draw on them.
Hawaii Is Now Home to an Ocean Reserve Twice the Size of Texas
President Barack Obama on Friday turned to the ocean to create the largest protected area anywhere on Earth—a half-million-square-mile arc of remote Pacific waters known for both exceptional marine life and importance to native Hawaiian culture.
New map shows alarming growth of the human footprint
Scientists say a new map of the ecological footprint of humankind shows 97 percent of the most species-rich places on Earth have been seriously altered…
Sea temperature and the lunar cycle predict the arrival of jellyfish in Israel
Large swarms of jellyfish reach the coast of Israel when the sea temperature ranges between 28.2 and 30 degrees Celsius and during the full moon, according to a new study. The study reveals, for the first time, the link between sea temperature and the lunar cycle and the arrival of swarms of Jellyfish s along the coast of Israel.
Will Cinque Terre turn away tourists?
The fishing villages of Cinque Terre, Italy, now rely solely on tourism, but ironically, the only way to preserve them might be to cut the number of visitors by half.
A Turtle Saver, NC
Sea turtles that nest in North Carolina are listed as endangered species in part because many beaches have become dangerous or undesirable places for nesting. One of the biggest issues is light pollution.