Ocean Sentry
The area is the birthing habitat of the Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus), which is listed as the most “critically endangered” marine mammal species in the Mediterranean by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
December, 2017
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16 December
US military should end its war on the Okinawa dugong
Base construction will devastate this whole beautiful ecosystem and it will likely be a death sentence for the critically endangered Okinawa dugong, a manatee relative that counts the sea grass in these sheltered waters as one of its last good feeding grounds.
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15 December
Shock as more than 50 dolphins caught in Bay of Plenty fishing nets
A total of 44 dolphins have been caught by commercial fishers in the Bay of Plenty in the past year — and more than half died.
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15 December
The Cove now runs red with the blood of 15 Striped dolphin
After a week of Blue Cove days, the Cove now runs red with the blood of Striped dolphins.
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12 December
Rescuing whales ‘high-risk’ work government doesn’t want to do, DFO email shows
As whale rescuers wait for more direction from the federal government, an at-risk species continues to decline.
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10 December
Officials: Whales, after deadly year, could become extinct
North Atlantic right whales are among the rarest marine mammals in the world, and they have endured a deadly year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said there are only about 450 of the whales left and 17 of them have died so far in 2017.
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9 December
Noise from Hong Kong marine traffic poses threat to rare Chinese white dolphins, study shows
Noise from marine traffic in southern Lantau waters can significantly impair the hearing of Chinese white dolphins, posing a threat to their ability to find food and communicate, a study has shown.
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8 December
‘Deflated’ carcass declared 17th North Atlantic right whale to die this year
A badly decomposed carcass that washed up in Massachusetts is being counted as the 17th North Atlantic right whale to die during a brutal year for the endangered species. Endangered right whale population has lost 4 per cent of its members in 2017.
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8 December
Narwhals’ mixed-up response to fear could kill them
When confronted with a human threat, most animals either freeze or flee — but the narwhal does a mixture of both. This paradoxical response could make the toothed whales particularly vulnerable to the expansion of human activity in their Arctic habitat.
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7 December
Dead Mediterranean monk seal to be exhibited at museum in Turkey’s Antalya
A two-month-old Mediterranean monk seal, which was found when it washed ashore dead in the southeastern province of Antalya on Nov. 24, is set to be exhibited at Akdeniz University’s Faculty of Aquaculture Museum, Doğan News Agency has reported.
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7 December
Brutality in the Cove as 30-35 Striped dolphins slaughtered: Taiji
Today the hunters drove the first pod of 30-35 Striped dolphins this season into the cove. Cove Monitors noticed the black smoke from 10 banger boats in formation on the horizon just before 9am.
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6 December
The irrawaddy dolphin and finless porpoise are the closest they’ve ever been to extinction
The rare aquatic mammals have lost half their populations over the last half-century and human activity is said to be the main cause.