In 1995, eight wolves were released in Yellowstone National Park from a white truck that had traveled 700 miles from Alberta, Canada. They were the first people to live in the park for 70 years, and the return of the most legendary predator to the most well-known national park in the world sparked research that […]
Tag: Coral Reefs
Pet food for cats and dogs being sold containing endangered sharks
Unwitting owners are feeding endangered sharks to their cats and dogs, according to a new study. Scientists discovered that numerous brands contained endangered species but simply specified nonspecific components like “ocean fish,” implying that most customers are unaware. “We believe the majority of pet owners are likely to be nature enthusiasts, and we believe most […]
Geneticists have identified new groups of tiger sharks to protect
Tiger sharks sometimes swim thousands of kilometers—far enough to move among oceans. Their flexible diets and adaptable behaviors set them up to be successful jet-setters, zipping around the world and mingling with far-flung members of tiger shark society. But new research shows that tiger sharks from different ocean regions aren’t as chummy with one another […]
Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of
When the X-Press Pearl container ship caught fire and sank in the Indian Ocean in May, Sri Lanka was terrified that the vessel’s 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil would spill into the ocean, causing an environmental disaster for the country’s pristine coral reefs and fishing industry. Classified by the UN as Sri Lanka’s “worst […]
European tuna boats dump fishing debris in Seychelles waters ‘with impunity’
In 2019, when Jeremy Raguain turned up for a cleanup campaign on Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, he bagged a marine monstrosity like no other: a beached fish aggregating device, or FAD. It was a massive tangle of buoys, netting and fishing ropes weighing hundreds of kilograms. The fishing aid, like most FADs, […]
POLL: Seaspiracy Controversial Documentary: Should marine life be treated as seafood or as wildlife?
If you’re wondering how detrimental eating fish is, sea for yourself: In the new Netflix documentary Seaspiracy, director Ali Tabrizi lays bare how commercial fishing devastates marine animals—and what will happen if humans continue to consume fish. Created by the same team that made the illusion-shattering feature Cowspiracy, Seaspiracy goes below the surface to reveal […]
POLL: Should there be a worldwide ban on fishing with explosives?
Nighttime falls on the fishing port of Chimbote, a city on Peru’s Pacific coast in Huarmey province. Almensor Gómez, an artisanal fisherman, prepares to leave home with five fellow fishers. But they aren’t going fishing. Instead, the group will stand guard tonight against poachers who use bombs to fish. Armed with handguns, shotguns “and who […]
Sharks Are Vanishing From Many of the World’s Reefs
A landmark study by Global FinPrint reveals sharks are absent on many of the world’s coral reefs, indicating they are functionally extinct — too rare to fulfill their normal role in the ecosystem. Of the 371 reefs surveyed in 58 countries, sharks were not observed on nearly 20 percent, indicating a widespread decline that has […]