European Coastal Pollution Harms Ecosystems, Study Finds
The bodies of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina), which live in estuaries or along coastlines where industrial activities take place, are highly contaminated. This is the result of a European study, involving Spanish participation, which warns of the danger to all the other species that share their ecosystem from ports throughout Europe, even in the Mediterranean.
Shipwreck causes oil slick and threatens penguin colony on South Atlantic island
A vessel has grounded on Nightingale Island, part of the Tristan da Cunha UK overseas territory in the South Atlantic, causing an oil slick around the island which is home to nearly half the world’s population of northern rockhopper penguins. 1,500 tonnes of heavy crude oil from the MS Olivia, is leaking into the sea.
Illegal Sand-Mining Threatens Sea Turtle Population, St Kitts-Nevis
The biodiversity of St Kitts and Nevis, including the sea turtle population, is under threat due to the increase in illegal sand-mining that is taking place.
Toxin Found in Fishes That Clogged US Marina
High levels of domoic acid were found in the sardines, which may have distressed them off the Los Angeles coastline and caused them to swim into the Redondo Beach marina.
Surprisingly Few White Sharks Off California Coast, First Census Finds
Satellite tagging studies have demonstrated that white sharks in the northeast Pacific make annual migrations from coastal areas in Central California and Guadalupe Island, Mexico, out to the Hawaiian Islands, and then they return to the same regions of the coast year after year.
The Lost Emperors
A small colony of emperor penguins on an island off the West Antarctic Peninsula is gone, and the most likely culprit is loss of sea ice caused by warming. Most emperor penguins breed on sea ice, called fast ice, which attaches to the ice shelves and coastlines. This is the first time the disappearance of a colony has been documented.
Trade group sues over polar bear critical habitat, Anchorage, Alaska
Designation of critical habitat does not automatically block development but requires federal officials to consider whether a proposed action would adversely affect the polar bear’s habitat and interfere with its recovery.The lawsuit is the first filed in opposition to the critical habitat designation.
Dead Baby Dolphins and Oil Wash in on the Gulf Coast
There are troubling signs all is not right with the Gulf. In other words, the coast is far from clear.
Pilot Whales Die on New Zealand Beach
A pod of 107 pilot whales stranded on a remote New Zealand beach have died, including 48 that were put down, the government’s conservation department said.