Ocean Sentry
Last week, several dozen dead and dying Magellanic penguins were discovered on beaches throughout south Brazil, apparent victims of an oil spill. So far more than 140 penguins have been transfered to animal care facilities to be cleaned and rehabilitated, while an untold number more have already perished from contaminated …
June, 2011
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8 June
600 dead penguins wash up in Uruguay
About 600 dead penguins have washed up on Uruguay”s Atlantic coast over the past few days. Experts are trying to determine what has killed the animals. A navy statement says the latest batch is 200 dead Magellan penguins discovered on the shore at La Paloma about 200 kilometers east of …
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8 June
Seabirds face fishing lines menace
Hundreds of thousands of seabirds are being killed every year by longlines set to catch fish, despite efforts to tackle the problem, researchers have warned. Birds such as albatrosses, shearwaters and fulmars are being accidentally caught by hooks on the lines which can be more than 60 miles long, and …
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1 June
Acid oceans turn ‘Finding Nemo’ fish deaf
Clownfish, the spectacular tropical species feted in the movie Finding Nemo, appear to lose their hearing in water slightly more acidic than normal. At levels of acidity that may be common by the end of the century, the fish did not respond to the sounds of predators. The oceans are …
May, 2011
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18 May
Penguin salvage is a ‘disaster’
The operation to save penguins oiled during the wrecking of the bulk carrier, MS Oliva, at Tristan da Cunha in March is probably an “unmitigated disaster”, despite the best efforts of the islanders and a small team from local seabird conservation group Sanccob. Dr Ross Wanless, seabird division manager of …
April, 2011
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30 April
Over 200 puffins found dead along the coast of the Cantabrian Sea
Natural death or caused by human activity? An usual event has taken place during the past month of March. The north coast of Spain has seen an abnormal amount of birds from this fragile and beautiful species get washed up along the shore. The coordinator for GIAM (Iberian Group for …
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19 April
Mercury on the rise in endangered Pacific seabirds
Using 120 years of feathers from natural history museums in the United States, Harvard University researchers have been able to track increases in the neurotoxin methylmercury in the black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes), an endangered seabird that forages extensively throughout the Pacific. The study shows that the observed increase in methylmercury …
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12 April
Antarctic Penguin Population Declines with Krill
Two species of Antarctic penguins have declined sharply over the past 30 years as their chief food source has been devastated by a combination of other predators, over-fishing, and rapidly melting sea ice caused by global warming, according to a new study released here Monday by the National Academy of …
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10 April
South Africa’s photo-op penguins show signs of decline
“The African Penguins have been decreasing, by 60 percent now, since 2004, so that”s why we are all very worried,” said Lorien Pichegru of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology. “There”s 26,000 pairs left and that”s the lowest number ever recorded. At the beginning of the 20th century we …
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5 April
Seabird, fishing conflicts studied
U.S. researchers say a new study could help reduce the number of albatrosses and other far-ranging seabirds killed by getting caught in longline fishing gear. Scientists at Duke University in Durham, N.C., say new models using remotely sensed physical and biological data could bring down the number of bird casualties …
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4 April
Penguin rescue operation under way after south Atlantic oil spill
On an island chain located halfway between Africa and Argentina, local authorities say a massive penguin rescue operation is under way. A mix of island officials and resident volunteers are struggling to save tens of thousands of Northern Rockhopper penguins threatened by an oil spill in the remote stretches of …
March, 2011
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23 March
Rats, fishing hooks threaten isolated branch of albatross, Canadian researchers find
Canadian researchers studying one of the world”s most isolated bird populations have proven that 170 albatrosses living on a remote island in the Indian Ocean represent a unique species — one threatened not only by precariously low numbers, but also by harmful fishing practices in surrounding waters and egg-eating rats …