marine life

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When Seattle Phones Ping, It's a Sign Whales Are Near

The AP looks at a popular WhatsApp chat group that alerts members to sightings

(Newser) - Peter Bates was dropping his car at the mechanic this month when a notification pinged on his phone: Killer whales were approaching his Seattle neighborhood. He hopped on a bus toward the water, then an electric bike. He was pedaling along a shoreline trail when orcas' black fins and white...

In Canada, a Puzzler Over Great White Sharks

Five have washed up in a year, an unusually high number, and scientists are unsure what's going on

(Newser) - Earlier this month, a 14-foot great white shark washed up on a shore in Nova Scotia, Canada, and it's a head-scratcher for ocean scientists on two fronts. First, the adult shark was seemingly healthy on all fronts, and they can't determine what caused its death, reports Live Science...

Scuba Divers Rescue Baby Shark Trapped in Odd Place

Connecticut couple diving in Rhode Island found juvenile creature stuck in a work glove

(Newser) - A Connecticut couple's scuba diving trip in Rhode Island on Monday turned into a mission to rescue a baby shark. Deb and Steve Dauphinais of Glastonbury, Connecticut, were diving on the sand flats off Jamestown, Rhode Island, when Deb Dauphinais spotted the 16-inch juvenile shark with its head stuck...

Pair Accused of Trafficking Sea Cucumbers Could Get 25 Years

Zunyu Zhao, Xionwei Xiao plead guilty to illegal importation of endangered species worth $10K

(Newser) - Wildlife traffickers pleaded guilty this week in federal court in California to illegally importing endangered sea cucumbers—which are prized in China for food and medicine and as a reputed aphrodisiac—from Mexico. Zunyu Zhao and Xionwei Xiao were charged with conspiracy and illegal importation of brown sea cucumbers worth...

Watch Out for This Surfboard-Swiping Sea Otter
Surfing Otter Eludes
Capture Again
updated
Jul 20, 2023 11:38 AM CDT

Surfing Otter Eludes Capture Again

Officials say 'Otter 841' has been aggressively going after surfers off of Santa Cruz, California

(Newser) - A sea otter that has drawn national attention for its unique ability to steal surfboards from surfers and then hop aboard them continues to elude capture, reports the Los Angeles Times . This week, for example, California wildlife officials went out to the otter's known area by boat and put...

Cruise Passengers Get a Gory Welcome to Port: the 'Grind'

Ship arrived in Faroe Islands as 78 pilot whales were being slaughtered, a centuries-old tradition

(Newser) - It's not a sight you especially want to see as your cruise ship pulls into port. But as Ambassador Cruise Line's Ambition approached Torshavn, the capital of Denmark's self-governing Faroe Islands, over the weekend, the water was red with blood, leaving passengers horrified. What happened on Sunday,...

Aggressive Orcas Set Their Sights on Elite Yacht Race

Pod of killer whales goes after boats taking part in around-the-world Ocean Race near Spain

(Newser) - A pod of killer whales bumped one of the boats in an endurance sailing race as it approached the Strait of Gibraltar, the latest encounter in what researchers say is a growing trend of sometimes-aggressive interactions with Iberian orcas. The 15-minute run-in with at least three of the giant mammals...

UN Chief Says New Treaty Gives Oceans a 'Fighting Chance'

Members adopt first treaty to protect high seas marine life

(Newser) - Members of the United Nations adopted the first-ever treaty to protect marine life in the high seas on Monday, with the UN's chief hailing the historic agreement as giving the ocean "a fighting chance." Delegates from the 193 member nations burst into applause and then stood up...

Mexico to Track Down World's Most Endangered Sea Mammal

Search is on in Sea of Cortez for elusive vaquita porpoises; there may only be 8 left

(Newser) - Mexican officials and the conservation group Sea Shepherd said Monday that experts will set out in two ships in a bid to locate the few remaining vaquita marina, the world's most endangered marine mammal. Mexico's environment secretary said experts from the United States, Canada, and Mexico will use...

Surprising Species Are Finding Home in Pacific Garbage Patch

Coastal creatures are thriving far from their native homes, with unknown consequences

(Newser) - Communities of coastal creatures are thriving far from home in the swirling trash soup that is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch . Researchers have found dozens of creatures normally found near coasts—including crustaceans, sea anemones, mollusks, and worms—surviving and reproducing on plastic waste in the huge patch between Hawaii...

UN Members Sign Treaty That Affects Half of Earth's Surface

Pact will protect biodiversity of marine life in the high seas

(Newser) - For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas, representing a turning point for vast stretches of the planet where conservation has previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws. The UN Convention on the Law of the...

Whale Makes 'Amazing' but Heartbreaking Journey

Humpback with broken back made 3.1K-mile trek from Canada to Hawaii but likely won't live long

(Newser) - It's a story both inspiring and heartbreaking, and one that marine wildlife experts have been monitoring with admiration and deep concern. For at least the last decade, a humpback whale named Moon has been on the radar of scientists at the Fin Island whale research station off of British...

Diver Captures Amazing Giant Octopus Encounter
Diver Captures 'Mind-Blowing'
Giant Octopus Encounter
in case you missed it
Nov 13, 2022 7:13 AM CST

Diver Captures 'Mind-Blowing' Giant Octopus Encounter

It 'was giving me a hug,' she says

(Newser) - Canadian high school teacher Andrea Humphreys has done almost 700 dives, and she says she's never experienced anything as "mind-blowing" as her encounter with a giant Pacific octopus. She says that when she started filming the creature during a dive off the east coast of Vancouver Island, it...

Since Russia War Began, These Creatures Are Dying in Droves

Scientists think loud noises from invasion may disrupt navigation of dolphins, porpoises, whales

(Newser) - The human death toll from the Russian invasion of Ukraine is believed to be in the tens of thousands so far. But marine mammals in the Black Sea, directly to the south of Ukraine, are also dying in droves, and scientists think the loud sounds that accompany battle are to...

Fossil Discovery Spurs Believers in Nessie
Fossil Discovery Spurs
Believers in Nessie
NEW STUDY
Aug 5, 2022 1:39 PM CDT

Fossil Discovery Spurs Believers in Nessie

Study suggests ancient plesiosaurs lived in freshwater bodies of water, though not Loch Ness

(Newser) - A new study offering some of the best evidence yet for ancient long-necked reptiles living in freshwater lakes has been seized upon by believers in the Loch Ness Monster. Plesiosaurs, small-headed beasts with flippers that disappeared from the fossil record 66 million years ago, certainly inhabited Earth's oceans. There...

Marriage Proposal Ends in 2 Arrests, $25K in Fines

Celebratory balloons were subsequently popped, fell in ocean off Miami

(Newser) - A marriage proposal and subsequent celebration aboard a yacht in Miami has been overshadowed by the arrest of two people and more than $25,000 in fines for others involved. Their alleged crime: dumping balloons. A bystander recorded video showing dozens of balloons decorating a yacht docked at Bayshore Landing...

Dolphins May Be Surprise Victims of Russia's War

More than 100 have been found dead on Black Sea shores, with some pointing to noise pollution

(Newser) - Dolphins are turning up dead in the Black Sea, which experts say could be a consequence of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Since war began in February, Turkey has recorded a rise in dolphin deaths across its Black Sea coast. More than 100 dolphins had been found dead before the...

Mass Die-Off Hits 'Unsung Heroes' of Coral Reefs

Up to 95% of sea urchin populations are dying in areas across the Caribbean

(Newser) - For the first time in decades, scientists have observed a massive die-off of sea urchins in the Caribbean, which could serve as another devastating blow to coral reefs. Widespread deaths of at least three species of sea urchins—the West Indian sea egg, rock boring, and black sea urchins—have...

Scientists Looking for Wreck Find Life 6 Miles Below Sea
Scientists Looking
for Wreck Find Life
6 Miles Below Sea
in case you missed it
Jan 15, 2022 6:30 AM CST

Scientists Looking for Wreck Find Life 6 Miles Below Sea

Search for USS Johnston turns up deepest squid and jellyfish ever found

(Newser) - A dive last year to the depths of the Philippine Sea not only revealed a closer look at the deepest shipwreck ever , but signs of life few suspected to be hiding up to 6 miles beneath the waves. Days before researchers came across the presumed wreckage of the USS Johnston,...

After Ship Sinks, Dead Turtles With Throat Damage Wash Up

A dozen dolphins have been found dead as well

(Newser) - Nearly a hundred carcasses of turtles with throat and shell damage, as well as a dozen dead dolphins and a blue whale, have washed ashore in Sri Lanka since a container ship burned and sank , raising fears of a severe marine disaster. Ecologists believe the deaths were directly caused by...

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