Science
A new underwater acoustic camera can now locate and identify the specific sounds made by individual fish species in their natural habitat.
Giant relatives of great white and megalodon-like sharks, some reaching up to 8 metres in length, were roaming the oceans 115 million years ago, pushing back the known origin of large lamniform sharks by around 15 million years.
Fisheries
It has been revealed that the annual deaths of manta and devil rays in fisheries exceed 259,000 individuals, far more than previously estimated.
Disappointment continues as the UK and EU have chosen to ignore scientific advice and agree to unsustainable catch limits for at least 18 fish stocks during the UK-EU bilateral negotiations – the negotiations which set catch limits for the most stocks.
Federal fisheries officials have rejected a petition to list Oregon and Northern California Chinook salmon as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, leading conservation groups to contemplate pursuing legal action.
UK Overseas Territories
A new report is calling for urgent action after findings show that Caribbean coral reefs have declined dramatically with hard coral cover down by 48 per cent since 1980 and macroalgae up by 85 per cent due to climate stress, overfishing and disease.
Conservation
Orcas and Pacific white‑sided dolphins off the coast of British Columbia have been observed cooperating to hunt salmon.
As fish catches decline and sea levels rise in Douala, Cameroon, local residents are joining government and NGO‑led efforts to restore mangrove forests, which serve as crucial fish breeding grounds and coastal buffers.
Researchers have discovered that some polar bears in south-east Greenland are exhibiting changes in their DNA that could help them adapt to warmer temperatures and changing diets as the Arctic warms, providing valuable insights into how the species might respond to climate change.
Chemicals linked to microplastic pollution have been found to disrupt coral reproduction, adding another significant threat to the health and recovery of coral reefs.
Climate Crisis
A new study warns that international funding to help countries meet the global “30×30” biodiversity target is increasing but still falls billions of dollars short of what is needed to achieve the goal.
Concerns have been raised that global environmental negotiations are faltering, as consensus‑based processes frequently stall, sidelining scientific evidence and undermining effective action on climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
Survivors of the devastating 2021 Typhoon Rai in the Philippines have filed a lawsuit in the UK courts against oil company Shell, alleging that the company’s contribution to climate change intensified the storm’s impact and accusing it of deliberately misleading the public about the effects of fossil fuels.
Researchers are exploring the controversial idea of creating vast inland seas by flooding major below-sea-level basins, such as Egypt’s Qattara Depression
An MP has called for a nationwide ban on toxic plastic “biobeads” used in sewage works after hundreds of millions of the pellets washed up on Camber Sands beach.
Misc
This week’s wildlife photos.
“There are many analogies for a ruined terrestrial common, whether in the atmosphere as a result of carbon dioxide pollution, or in the oceans because of marine plastics. But arguably the largest in the world is caused by overfishing, where the absence of credible regulation endangers whole oceans and the billions of people who depend upon them. It is hard not to recognize several trending tragedies of that kind across the Northeast Atlantic this autumn.”
