Ocean Sentry
Two containers filled with endangered totoaba fish – prized in China for their purported medicinal and libidinal qualities – were confiscated at Tijuana’s international airport, Mexican authorities said Thursday.
December, 2017
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29 December
Bali’s garbage problem reaches emergency level
The waste pollution in Bali of Indonesia is so bad that local authorities recently announced a “garbage emergency” across a six-km stretch of coast on the island.
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28 December
Polar ice is disappearing, setting off climate alarms
The short-term consequences of Arctic (and Antarctic) warming may already be felt in other latitudes. The long-term threat to coastlines is becoming even more dire.
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28 December
Overgrazing and climate change fuel wetlands depletion
Overgrazing, climate change and invasive plant species have been cited as the causes of depletion of wetlands.
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25 December
At least 400 rare marine animals perished in 2017
Thailand’s life aquatic faces a murky future after a year that saw sensitive species injured by humans, beached ashore or choked on trash.
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22 December
Algae growth reduces reflectivity, enhances Greenland ice sheet melting
New research shows algae growing on the Greenland ice sheet, the Earth’s second-largest ice sheet, significantly reduce the surface reflectivity of the ice sheet’s bare ice area and contribute more to its melting than dust or black carbon.
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20 December
Fish’s rapid response to climate change
When a chemical alarm cue is released into one of two flumes, the normal response for a fish is to swim down the flume without the chemical. But when the water is more acidic, some fish do not behave normally.
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20 December
Mussels of the European Arctic contain most microplastics – study
Tiny bits of plastic are contaminating mussels from the European Arctic to China in a sign of the global spread of ocean pollution that can end up on people’s dinner plates.
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20 December
A dynamic East Antarctic ice sheet has repeatedly grown and shrunk
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet locks away enough water to raise sea level an estimated 53 meters (174 feet), more than any other ice sheet on the planet. It’s also thought to be among the most stable, not gaining or losing mass even as ice sheets in West Antarctica and …
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19 December
Disappearing sea ice could lead to collapse of vital polar food chain
Algae on the underside of the ice makes a chemical that has been found throughout the food chain – and it’s under threat.
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18 December
Combination of warmer water, chemical exposure intensifies harmful effects in a coastal fish
Warmer water temperatures, combined with exposure to chemicals already known to be harmful to aquatic life, could threaten organisms that have temperature-sensitive sex determination.
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17 December
Debris dumped in Navi Mumbai mangroves
Several truckloads of construction debris have been dumped on the stretch under the cover of darkness in the past few days, local residents say.