Urban birds stay up significantly later than their rural counterparts, according to research that highlights the impact of light pollution on wildlife. The study, based on recordings submitted by bird enthusiasts to a popular species identification and mapping website, showed that light pollution caused birds to sing for an average of 50 minutes longer each […]
Tag: sea turtles
SpaceX Rocket Debris Is Polluting a Turtle Nesting Beach in Mexico
A peaceful stretch of beach in northern Mexico is now a dumping ground for rocket debris—some of it from one of the world’s most powerful private space companies. According to CNN, melted plastics, steel fragments, and blue adhesives from recent SpaceX launches are littering Bagdad Beach in Tamaulipas. This area is home to Kemp’s ridley […]
Microplastics in sea turtle nests could cause a dangerous gender imbalance
Scientists are finding microplastics everywhere they look for them. A new study finds these tiny plastic particles in sea turtle nests on a remote Malaysian island. Researchers warn that microplastics could alter nest temperatures, potentially skewing the sex ratio of incubating turtles that could further endanger species already facing significant challenges. Up to 1,700 green […]
Male blue-lined octopuses inject females with venom during sex to avoid being eaten, study shows
Male blue-lined octopuses inject females with venom during sex, paralysing their larger mates to avoid being eaten, new research has found. The blue-lined octopus is a tiny, highly dangerous cephalopod found commonly in shallow reefs and tide pools. One of the four species of blue-ringed octopus, it uses an extremely potent neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin – […]
Juvenile sea turtles don’t just drift—they swim
Scientists don’t have much insight into what sea turtles do in their early lives once they’ve hatched on land and ventured out into the ocean. But researchers looking at dispersal movements of the young turtles found evidence of them being active swimmers rather than passive drifters. In a study published in Proceedings of the Royal […]
Thousands Of Turtles Washed Up Dead On Indian Coastline
Over a thousand olive ridley sea turtles have mysteriously washed up along the shores of Tamil Nadu, India, sending shockwaves through conservation communities. This once-endangered species, known for gathering in large numbers during breeding season, has long been considered a symbol of successful wildlife protection efforts. But this grim discovery suggests something has gone terribly […]
Atlantic puffins are perilously attracted to artificial light, new study shows
As the long summer days of August turn into nights, a few dozen volunteers gather in the small community of Witless Bay, a tiny town on the Atlantic coast about a half-hour’s drive south of St. John’s, capital of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. After a briefing by a coordinator from conservation NGO […]
‘They’re stuck’: Cape Cod seeing more whale, turtle and dolphin strandings
While Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is known as a popular vacation destination in the north-east US, it has built a reputation for an entirely different reason this year: animal strandings. Dolphins, whales, seals and turtles are turning up in large numbers on the beaches of the famous peninsula in a phenomenon that has experts scrambling to […]