Competition for fish stocks with fisheries to feed humans could be forcing seabirds to go hungry, according to new research. The study, published Dec. 6 in the journal Current Biology, reveals that seabirds’ share of fish has dropped by nearly 20 percent over a span of 40 years. Expanding large-scale fisheries, meanwhile, have increased their […]
Tag: pollution
The female park rangers protecting turtles from traffickers in Nicaragua
The lights draw uncertain lines under the blanket of stars that joins the sea to the sky at El Ostional Beach in southern Nicaragua, 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border with Costa Rica. The silence of the darkness is interrupted by the noise of waves crashing on the shore and the clicks of flashlights […]
‘The most intellectual creature to ever walk Earth is destroying its only home’
During my years studying chimpanzees in Gombe national park in Tanzania I experienced the magic of the rainforest. I learned how all life is interconnected, how each species, no matter how insignificant it may seem, has a role to play in the rich tapestry of life – known today as biodiversity. Even the loss of […]
The UK is Illegally Endangering Porpoises, Court Rules
A European court has ruled that the UK has not been properly protecting its declining population of harbor porpoises, breaking its international commitments. The European Court of Justice, Europe’s top court on issues surrounding regulatory law, has said that the UK is breaking the law due to its failure to designate enough areas to keep […]
Orca ‘apocalypse’: half of killer whales doomed to die from pollution
At least half of the world’s killer whale populations are doomed to extinction due to toxic and persistent pollution of the oceans, according to a major new study. Although the poisonous chemicals, PCBs, have been banned for decades, they are still leaking into the seas. They become concentrated up the food chain; as a result, […]
POLL: Do We Need an International Agreement to Halt Mass Extinction?
We are in the midst of the sixth major extinction event in the history of the planet — one that is entirely human-caused. And this alarming and ever increasing rate of extinction shows no sign of halting. Based on estimates of total global biodiversity and annual rate of species loss, well over 10,000 species could […]
Cocaine in rivers harming endangered eels, study finds
Tiny amounts of cocaine flushed into rivers cause eels to become not only hyperactive but to suffer from muscle wastage, impaired gills and hormonal changes, a study has found. The impact of traces of cocaine on the physiology of European eels could be hindering their epic migrations through the oceans to reproduce, according to researchers […]
The impact of plastic on our oceans
Around 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans, with these vast, wondrous bodies of water an essential part of our planet’s lifecycle. Plastic, however, is a serious threat to our oceans, and the wildlife that are so dependent on them. Ocean pollution is a huge issue, with plastic a particularly prominent pollutant. Researchers […]