After 82 years of a life devoted to saltwater crocodiles, John Lever still fondly recalls the first “saltie” he ever caught on Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River, about 500km north of Brisbane. The year was 1982, the crocodile was a three-metre long female and she’d just eaten “a lovely labrador dog” from a market garden in the […]
Trump administration cuts to NOAA threaten efforts to save sea lions from toxic plankton
Federal research and funding plays a crucial role in enabling scientists to monitor ocean conditions — including the domoic acid outbreak that is now killing hundreds of marine mammals up and down the California coast. “Everything we do — all that data we collect — it couldn’t be done without the federal government,” said Clarissa […]
Famous bonobo Kanzi, known for smarts & gaming, dies at age 44
Kanzi, the world’s most celebrated bonobo who learned to communicate and play Minecraft with humans, died last week in Iowa, U.S., at the age of 44. Ape Initiative, a research organization in the city of Des Moines dedicated to the study and conservation of endangered bonobos (Pan paniscus) and where Kanzi lived since 2004, said […]
The Wings of Spring
The wings of spring I see in trees the wings of spring Soon green will cover everything Life in its newest, Brightest light A season of renewal And sheer delight.
‘They’re smart now’: Australian fishers are on tenterhooks over shark encounters. Should swimmers be worried?
Moreton Bay charter boat deckhand Bryce Daly is starting to feel unsafe swimming the waters he’s grown up fishing. “You’ve always got a shark in the back of your mind,” the 32-year-old Jimboomba man says. Two shark encounters last month captured national attention and rocked coastal communities along the densely populated south-east Queensland coast. In […]
.jpg "Killer whale becomes mom for first time. See her ‘little pumpkin’ swim off Washington")
Killer whale becomes mom for first time. See her ‘little pumpkin’ swim off Washington
A killer whale has become a first-time mom after a peachy-orange calf was spotted swimming with her off Washington, a whale watching group said. The baby orca was discovered March 20 in the Salish Sea between Port Townsend and the San Juan Islands, the Pacific Whale Watch Association said in a March 25 news release. […]
Polar sea ice continues steep decline; but will a troubled world notice?
Sea ice extent is at record, and near record, lows for this time of year in both polar regions, leaving the planet increasingly vulnerable to the cascading effects of global warming. This March, the Arctic sea ice winter maximum reached its lowest extent in the 47-year satellite record, while the Antarctic sea ice summer minimum […]
Three Orangutans Rescued from Illegal Captivity Finally Returned to Their Forest Realm
In a heartwarming milestone for great ape conservation, Mary, a rescued orphaned orangutan, has been released into the jungles of Borneo following rehabilitation. After spending four years at the Bornean Orangutan Rescue Alliance (BORA) Rescue and Rehabilitation Center learning how to survive independently in the jungle, she has been allowed to return to her home […]