Ocean Sentry
The bodies of hundreds of mummified penguins in Antarctica aren’t a sign of an ancient illness that swept through the icy continent, nor are they the remains of a penguin massacre by a ravenous predator.
September, 2018
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17 September
Could a ban on fishing In international waters become a reality?
The jury is in on marine reserves: They work. Research has repeatedly shown that fish numbers quickly climb following well-enforced fishing bans, creating tangible benefits for fishers who work the surrounding waters. In fact, many experts believe fishing will only be sustainable if marine reserves are expanded significantly.
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16 September
Tens of thousands of walruses are stranded on this Alaskan beach
Every fall, the animals find themselves stranded on beaches when there’s no ice left for them to set up shop. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, last year’s haulout on the Chukchi Sea beach, which started in the first week of August, was the earliest on record.
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15 September
Endangered sea turtles will have to go it alone as NGO disbands
A lack of successors is to blame for the impending closure of Yakushima Umigame-Kan, whose members have been patrolling and cleaning up a beach here for more than three decades.
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15 September
Mexico arrests ‘hitman’ for trafficking endangered fish
Mexico has arrested an alleged drug cartel hitman on charges of trafficking the critically endangered totoaba fish, a species whose swim bladder can fetch up to $20,000 on the black market in China.
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15 September
IWC rejects Japan’s proposal to lift commercial whale hunting ban
A Japan-led proposal to lift a 32-year ban on the commercial hunting of whales has been rejected by a global body for the conservation of the mammals.
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14 September
Sea turtles that eat 14 pieces of plastic have 50 per cent chance of dying, CSIRO study finds
Scientists have drawn a link between the amount of plastic a sea turtle consumes and its likelihood of death, with an estimated half of all sea turtles having plastic in their gut, according to CSIRO researchers.
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14 September
Endangered orca J50 dead, says Centre for Whale Research, but scientists hold out hope
According to a U.S. non-profit conservation group, the Pacific coast’s endangered southern resident killer whale population has dropped from 75 to 74.
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13 September
Appetite for shark fin soup drives massive shark population decline
Consumers need to stop demanding shark fin soup and other products in the absence of robust laws and sustainable practices regulating shark overfishing, research co-authored by the Sea Around Us initiative at UBC has found.
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13 September
Beluga whales adopt lost narwhal in St. Lawrence River
An unusual visitor has been hanging out in the St. Lawrence River for the past three years: A narwhal, more than 1,000 kilometers south of its usual range. But the lone narwhal is not alone — it appears he has been adopted by a band of belugas.
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13 September
99.99% of plastic in the world’s oceans ‘hidden out of sight’
Computer models show more than 393 million tons of plastic is in our oceans, but just 246,000 tons of plastic is on the surface.
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12 September
Cruel 6 to 25 minute deaths of whales shot with exploding grenade harpoons revealed
The report, which has been submitted to the IWC and, ironically, is intended to demonstrate the improvements in hunting methods instead reveals that almost 20% of the whales shot by grenade tipped harpoons suffer between 6 and 25 minutes after being struck by harpoon containing an explosive penthrite grenade before …