Traditional protection proves more successful for clams in American Samoa – Mongabay
For coastal Indigenous communities in American Samoa, giant clams are deeply rooted in fa‘a Sāmoa (the Samoan way of life) and local food systems…According to the findings of a study published in PeerJ, it is village-based protections like fa‘asao (fishery closures) that have helped conserve giant clams lying in the islands’ shallow water coral reefs. The authors found that the highest clam densities and species are located in remote sites and areas under traditional village enforcement, outperforming federally designated no-take zones on the most populated island….
Disease-carrying microplastics in the air we breathe – Mongabay
A new study from Indian megacities identifies inhalable microplastics as an emerging air pollutant. These micron-sized particles not only bypass barriers in the nose to reach the lungs but also carry pathogens that could find a host in human body and multiply…
500,000 Barrels of DDT in the Sea: Interview with documentary directors on California coast crisis − Mongabay
“Out of Plain Sight,” directed by journalist Rosanna Xia and filmmaker Daniel Straub, documents the legacy of mass amounts of DDT waste dumped off the California coast decades ago, with environmental consequences continuing today….
15 years after the BP oil spill disaster, how is the Gulf of Mexico faring? – Mongabay
The Deepwater Horizon disaster on April 20, 2010, was the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, releasing an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico…Fifteen years later, the gulf ecosystem shows a complicated picture of both resilience and lingering damage, with some species, like brown pelicans, recovering, while others, like humans, dolphins and deep-sea corals, continue to struggle with long-term health impacts.
Mexican fishers relocate in wake of sea level rise, raising job concerns – Mongabay
The isolated Pacific nation is trying to build its first football team amid a battle for survival against rising sea levels…
Shrimp farms threaten Mexico’s mangroves and the jaguars that inhabit them – Mongabay
Western Mexico’s rapidly expanding shrimp farms, many of which are illegal, are contributing to the deforestation of the Pacific coast’s mangroves, an important habitat for jaguars…
Seabird poop is recipe for coral recovery amid climate-driven bleaching – Mongabay
Researchers have found that nutrients from seabird poop led to a doubling of coral growth rates and faster recovery after bleaching events, promoting overall resilience…
Can the circular economy help the Caribbean win its war against waste? – Mongabay
For decades, a graveyard of corroding barrels has littered the seafloor just off the coast of Los Angeles. It was out of sight, out of mind — a not-so-secret secret that haunted the marine environment until a team of researchers came across them with an advanced underwater camera…Startling amounts of DDT near the barrels pointed to a little-known history of toxic pollution…but federal regulators recently determined that the manufacturer had not bothered with barrels. (Its acid waste was poured straight into the ocean instead.)…
U.S. East Coast adopts ‘living shorelines’ approach to keep rising seas at bay – Mongabay
Excerpt: Along the U.S. East Coast, communities are grappling with the dual destructive forces of rising sea levels and stronger storms pushed by climate change, resulting in effects ranging from ‘ghost forests’ of saltwater-killed coastal trees in the Carolinas, to inundations of New York City’s subway system. While the usual response has been to build […]