We are not at risk of running out of oxygen due to climate change, but ocean creatures are – and that will harm the whole planet.
Scientists have been consistently documenting environmental changes at research sites like this one in the Cascade Mountains for decades.
US Forest Service
There have been just six verified sightings of the pygmy blue whale off Sydney in 18 years. Rare sightings like these are crucial, because the giants are considered ‘data deficient’.
Just because coral is dying, doesn’t mean marine life in reefs will end. New research found dead coral hosted 100 times more microscopic invertebrates than healthy coral.
Bubble-net feeding is when whales blow bubbles from their nose to encircle their food, trapping their prey into a tight ball. A citizen scientist was the first to capture this behaviour in Australia.
Bycatch is a serious problem within commercial fishing.
Efraimstochter/Pixabay
Climate change has already made tropical oceans too hot for some marine species to survive. As they flee towards the poles, the implications for ecosystems and human livelihoods will be profound.
Australia is considering removing humpback whales from the threatened species list after their numbers rebounded in recent decades. But the mammals face new threats.
A big coral bommie in the lagoon at Norfolk Island.
John Turbull
The election of the Biden administration raised hopes of a new dawn in US environmental protections. But left-right views will continue to stymie progress, just as they do in Australia.
A sea cucumber living on the Great Barrier Reef inter-reef seafloor.
Kent Holmes/Nature Ecology and Evolution
Looking a bit like enlarged woodlice, ancient trilobites crawled along the seabed and had an exoskeleton made of calcite — nature’s version of a suit of armour.
Partially protected areas don’t have more wildlife than unprotected areas. They consume conservation resources and occupy space that could otherwise be allocated to more effective protection.
Plastic in the ocean is eaten by over 700 species, but just a few items are responsible for the most deaths.
The radiodont Anomalocaris, with its large stalked eyes, is considered a top predator that swam in the oceans more than 500 million years ago.
Katrina Kenny
Our study on weird ancient marine animals called radiodonts supports the idea that vision played a crucial role during the Cambrian Explosion, a rapid burst of evolution about 500 million years ago.
Jaime Bran/Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
This newly discovered ancient monk seal is challenging previous theories about how and where monachine seals evolved. It’s the biggest breakthrough in seal evolution research in about 70 years.