BEIRUT, Lebanon — Beaches across the planet emptied as COVID-19 spread in 2020, with the first full lockdowns in many places coinciding with sea turtle nesting season. With less noise, less tourist boat traffic, less fishing, less beach furniture clutter and less light pollution, the hazards and challenges for sea turtles nesting appeared to decline. […]
Tag: sea turtles
The surprising ways sharks keep the ocean healthy
Sharks, among the fiercest predators in the ocean, are also some of the most vulnerable. Three-quarters of open-ocean shark and ray species are threatened with extinction, primarily because of overfishing. For years, scientists have warned that these plummeting numbers could be catastrophic. Because sharks are top predators that help keep the food web in check, […]
Taskforce to tackle piracy, abductions and wildlife trafficking at sea to be launched
A new taskforce focused on taking down piracy, abductions and wildlife trafficking on sea is set to be launched later this year in the sub- region between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The program, dubbed Tripod, will focus on the shared territory around the Sulu and Celebes Seas to develop cross- border regional collaboration and […]
Hundreds of dead turtles wash ashore in Sri Lanka after cargo ship wreck
Hundreds of turtles have washed ashore after a ship caught fire and sank off the west coast of Sri Lanka in June in the country’s worst-ever marine disaster, a court in the capital Colombo has heard. A fire erupted on the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl on 20 May, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of […]
Illegal Fishing Is Devastating Kenya’s Sea Turtles
An alarming number of sea turtles have died over the past year in Marereni, on the central Kenyan coast, raising concerns among conservationists, researchers, and the local community that the animals could soon be eliminated from the region. Equally distressing are the all-too-preventable causes of their decline. According to the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research […]
Leaking Phosphate Plant Puts Tampa Bay’s Manatees At Risk
Tampa Bay is facing a potential environmental catastrophe that could jeopardize decades of efforts to improve water quality and wildlife habitat for manatees, dolphins, fish, and sea turtles. An ongoing leak at the former Piney Point phosphate plant site has already released more than a hundred million gallons of industrial wastewater directly into the bay. […]
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 […]
Petition: Marine Life Harmed Most By Plastic In Florida Than Any Other State
A recent report from the International oceanic advocacy group, Oceana, has singled out Florida as having more incidents of wildlife being harmed by plastics in the ocean than anywhere else in the United States. Ocean’s report discovered evidence of nearly 1800 marine animals becoming entangled in or swallowing plastic debris in the ocean dating back […]