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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.