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 […]
Tag: plastic pollution
As the rest of world tackles plastics disposal, the U.S. resists
For the first time ever, international shipments of plastic waste came under global control this year. That’s because disposable plastic — a major pollutant of the world’s waters and atmosphere, fodder for incinerators, occupier of overflowing landfills, and material for costly recycling — was added to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements […]
6 Ways Humans are Responsible for Mass Bird Deaths
There are numerous ways in which we unknowingly cause harm to birds and other wildlife. Let’s take a look at some of the common practices that are harming bird populations around the world: 1. Windmills Wind turbines are a green energy source that helps offset our dependence on fossil fuels and our contribution to greenhouse […]
Over 47 tons of plastic found at US marine reserve – and an entangled seal
In a span of just over three weeks, more than 47 tons of plastic waste were removed from America’s largest protected marine reserve, sometimes directly off animals, a stark reminder of the scourge of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. An expedition spent 24 days clearing 10 miles of shoreline in the atolls and islands […]
Norway Planning Auditory Experiment Using Whales
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and other welfare groups are calling attention to a planned experiment in Norway using captured minke whales, according to an email from Animal Welfare Institute. Organizations are urging the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to revoke an approval that could be harmful to whales. According to permits discovered by AWI, the […]
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, […]
Wisdom, the World’s Oldest Wild Bird, Hatches Another Chick
In a refreshingly heartwarming story earlier this month, the world’s oldest known wild bird has hatched yet another chick. Wisdom the Laysan Albatross is believed to be at least seventy years old, and is nesting in the Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge, a small island in the North Pacific. Wisdom is believed to have hatched […]
The graceful albatross – immortalized in a centuries-old poem as an omen of both good and ill – is under siege.
This is the story of the “Grey-Head.” It’s but a single member of a large family of albatross called Diomedeidae. Major research studies published recently, warn of twin threats facing the already-endangered bird. Each is different. Each is insidious. In general, the albatross carries higher burdens of mercury in its body than any other bird […]