Ocean Sentry
For the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale, the year has begun badly. One young whale that had become entangled in fishing lines was found dead in January off Virginia. Worse, not a single newborn has yet been spotted by scientists flying over the whale’s calving grounds off Florida and …
March, 2018
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8 March
Women are championing mangrove conservation in Nigeria
A women-led civil society group in Nigeria is empowering women and the whole community to protect Nigeria’s extremely productive but disappearing mangrove forests, which provide abundant services to the marine environment and people.
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8 March
West Coast sardine fishing closed for 4th year; ‘alarming’ 97% population decline
Sardine fishing nets will remain empty for a fourth straight year along the West Coast, where biologists are comparing the dramatic decline of the schooling fish to the infamous collapse that led to the downfall of Monterey’s once-thriving Cannery Row.
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7 March
Norway boosts quotas to revive whaling
Norway announced Tuesday a 28 percent increase of its annual whaling quota to 1,278 whales in a bid to revive the declining hunt amid international controversy.
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7 March
Diver films wave of plastic pollution off Bali on scale ‘never seen before’
A diver who filmed a huge “slick” of plastic floating in clear waters at a popular dive spot in Indonesia said he has “never seen anything like this scale” of ocean pollution before.
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7 March
Penguin habitat destroyed, chicks wiped out by storms battering New Zealand coastline
A summer fraught with extreme weather events has wreaked havoc on the breeding grounds of New Zealand’s little blue penguin species.
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7 March
Deep sea mining could destroy possible source of life on earth, warn scientists
One of the world’s most important sites of scientific interest has been officially designated as part of a mining exploration zone.
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7 March
In just 5 years, Mumbai has lost mangroves the size of 15 Wankhede stadiums
Even as the Union environment ministry reported an increase in Mumbai’s mangrove forest cover, a Bombay high court (HC)-appointed committee for mangrove preservation said the city has lost at least 22 hectares of mangroves between 2013 and 2018.
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7 March
Existing policies not enough to protect sardines–experts
Citing a recent study, experts said sardines are getting smaller and smaller, and they spawn earlier to adapt to heavy fishing pressure and changes in the environment.
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6 March
Seven in 10 nets used by fishermen are illegal and endanger rare marine wildlife: UAE
Seven out of 10 nets used by local fisherman are illegal, with the potential to kill marine wildlife, a snap inspection by environment inspectors has uncovered.
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6 March
Oxygen loss could be a huge issue for oceans
A major study into an ancient climate change event that affected a significant percentage of Earth’s oceans has brought into sharp focus a lesser-known villain in global warming: oxygen depletion.
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5 March
Thawing permafrost causing the ‘browning’ of northern lakes
The organic carbon found in permafrost is being released as the ice melts after ages of confinement in the soil, and making its way into Arctic and subarctic lakes and ponds, modifying their composition.