marine life

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For These Gray Whales, a Troubling Trend Continues
3 Unwanted Letters for
Gray Whales: U-M-E
new study
Jan 31, 2021 11:30 AM CST

3 Unwanted Letters for Gray Whales: U-M-E

'Unexplained mortality event': Scientists worry about prolonged spike in deaths

(Newser) - Back in 2019, scientists reported an alarming spike in the number of deaths of gray whales along the Pacific Coast. Now, a new study in the Marine Ecology Progress Series journal confirms the trend continued through 2020. In what they term an "unusual mortality event," researchers have counted...

US Marine Animals Are Drowning in Plastic—Literally

Report mentions 1.8K cases of animals consuming or being entangled in plastic since 2009

(Newser) - Plastic pollution is taking a disastrous toll on marine animals in the US, particularly those threatened with extinction, according to a new report . It tells of 1,792 cases in which 40 different species of animals consumed or were entangled in plastic since 2009. Of those, 88% involved animals that...

'Biggest Environmental Story That No One Knows About'

West Coast groundfish are back on the menu

(Newser) - A rare environmental success story is unfolding in waters off the West Coast. After years of fear and uncertainty, bottom trawler fishermen—those who use nets to catch rockfish, bocaccio, sole, Pacific Ocean perch, and other deep-dwelling fish—are making a comeback here, reinventing themselves as a sustainable industry less...

Fish Can't Survive Without Its 'Saw.' A Man Cut It Off

Florida man faces year in prison after pleading guilty to killing endangered smalltooth sawfish

(Newser) - A Florida man accused of removing an appendage from an endangered species may now be going to federal prison for it. CNN reports that Jacksonville's Chad Ponce, 38, could face a year behind bars and have to pay a $50,000 fine after witnesses say they saw him kill...

Stingrays Injure 500 in California
Stingrays Injure
500 in California
Sep 5, 2019 8:40 AM CDT

Stingrays Injure 500 in California

An unpleasant surprise at 4 local beaches over Labor Day weekend

(Newser) - Hundreds of beachgoers saw out the unofficial end of summer with sand, surf, and stings. That's the report from four local beaches in Southern California, where 500 or so visitors suffered injuries over Labor Day weekend when stingrays went on the attack. The Orange County Register puts the number...

'People Would Be Outraged' by Teen's Find Off Calif. Coast

Alex Weber has pulled out more than 50K golf balls over the last two years

(Newser) - Two years ago, a central California teen began what NPR calls a "Sisyphean task"—hauling hundreds of pounds of golf balls off the ocean floor, only to have them reenter the sea as golfers from five nearby golf courses (including Pebble Beach) hit them right back in. Alex...

They Were Dying by the Millions. Now, a Creature Comeback

Starfish are popping up again on the West Coast

(Newser) - Starfish are making a comeback on the West Coast, four years after a mysterious syndrome killed millions of them. From 2013 to 2014, Sea Star Wasting Syndrome hit sea stars from British Columbia to Mexico. The starfish would develop lesions, then disintegrate, their arms turning into blobs of goo. The...

A Tough-to-Watch Shark Video Results in Arrests

3 men in Florida charged with animal cruelty over video of shark dragged by high-speed boat

(Newser) - Florida anglers who allegedly filmed themselves brutally dragging a shark behind their boat at high speeds are now facing felony charges. Robert Benac, 28, Michael Wenzel, 21, and Spencer Heintz, 23, have been charged with aggravated animal cruelty in Florida for the video that surfaced five months ago , reports the...

One Less Reason to Fear Great White Sharks

Creatures swim farther and deeper than previously thought

(Newser) - In what is probably good news for swimmers, new research shows great white sharks in the Atlantic Ocean swim deeper and farther out to sea than previously thought. Researchers on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, setting of the movie Jaws , say Atlantic great whites were previously thought to be coastal huggers...

Baby Dolphin Dies After People Can't Stop Touching It

It was dead by the time a rescue group arrived

(Newser) - A baby dolphin that beached itself on the shores of Mojacar in southeastern Spain was quickly surrounded by a mob of curious beachgoers, many out for a good selfie, reports Newsweek . The calf was likely sick or had become separated from its mother, and someone called the local emergency number....

Navy-Trained Dolphins Tapped for Rescue Mission

Fewer than 40 vaquita porpoises are left in the world

(Newser) - Your mission, dolphins, should you choose to accept it: Rescue a rare porpoise threatened with extinction. That's the assignment for a group of US Navy-trained dolphins that Mexican officials hope will save the endangered vaquita, the BBC reports. The plan is for the dolphins to find the pint-size porpoises,...

Blob-Like Intruders Infesting Pacific Coast

Pyrosomes are ripping fishing nets and washing up on beaches

(Newser) - They are called "unicorns of the sea" and they are infesting the Pacific Coast, destroying fishing nets and puzzling scientists, the Guardian reports. The tiny blob-like creatures are infesting some stretches of the West Coast as far north as Alaska so badly that fishermen can't catch anything. The...

&#39;Unicorn of Mollusks&#39; Uncovered in Philippines
After Centuries, Scientists
Find Live Giant Shipworm
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 23, 2017 10:33 AM CDT

After Centuries, Scientists Find Live Giant Shipworm

Rare species is like the 'unicorn of mollusks'

(Newser) - The giant shipworm is actually an extremely long clam—and it is so rare that although it has been known to science for centuries, researchers are only now getting a look at a live one for the first time. Five 3-foot-long specimens found in a lagoon full of rotting wood...

Why This One Dead Sea Creature Is Such a Big Deal

Only about 30 vaquita are left, with another carcass found in Gulf of California

(Newser) - Not even military dolphins could save this vaquita. The carcass of one of the endangered porpoises, whose Spanish name translates to "little cow," was discovered floating near the Baja California shoreline Sunday in the latest blow to a rapidly diminishing population, NBC Los Angeles reports. The vaquita was...

People Who Saw This Fish Fear a Quake Is Coming

Multiple specimens of rarely seen sea creature turn up in Philippines

(Newser) - Every couple of years, a mysterious rare fish that resembles a serpent washes up on some beach , generating buzz about the bony sea creature and worries about earthquakes until it fades from memory again. In what National Geographic pegs as a "poorly understood phenomenon," it's happened again,...

Deal Creates World's Biggest Marine Protected Zone

24 countries, EU finally reached agreement

(Newser) - The countries that decide the fate of Antarctica reached a historic agreement on Friday to create the world's largest marine protected area in the ocean next to the frozen continent. The agreement comes after years of diplomatic wrangling and high-level talks between the US and Russia, which has rejected...

Minivan-Sized Sea Sponge Is New to Science

It was found deep in waters off Hawaii

(Newser) - Researchers in Hawaii have been absorbed by a sea creature they discovered last summer, and their findings are pretty big. The team of scientists on a deep-sea expedition in the waters off Hawaii discovered what they say is the world's largest known sponge. The creature, roughly the size of...

Surprise Ocean News: The Octopus Is Booming

Cephalopods increasing in changing waters

(Newser) - You don't have to look far to find bad news about the world's oceans— overfishing , unhealthy coral reefs , you name it—but one group of sea creatures seems to be doing quite well in this changing world: cephalopods. A study in Cell Biology finds that octopuses, squid, and...

Plastic-Laden Plankton Poop Polluting the Ocean Depths
Plankton Poop Could Now
Do Harm Instead of Good
NEW STUDY
Mar 1, 2016 7:00 AM CST

Plankton Poop Could Now Do Harm Instead of Good

Plastic is moving around ocean waters via feces

(Newser) - The amount of plastic in our oceans is now popping up as gigantic islands and set to outpace the global fish population by 2050. But it's also settling ever so slowly on the ocean floor in the form of plankton poop. And because plastic-laden poop is lighter and falls...

There's Something Seriously Wrong With Our Seabirds

Seabirds that soared for 60M years crashed in just 60 years

(Newser) - There are nearly 350 species of seabirds roaming the planet, ranging from the wandering albatross (with the world's largest wingspan) and the child-size emperor penguin (the only bird to breed in Antarctic winters) to tiny storm petrels that dance on the water as they eat, reports the Guardian . But...

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