In a series of 40 action-based initiatives, the European Union is investing $3.71 billion to advance ocean sustainability and conservation in 2024, the bloc’s environment commissioner said. The announcement was made at the Our Ocean Conference in Greece and is the largest pledge by the EU since the conference began a decade ago, a press […]
State lawmakers in Florida have passed a bill, HB321, to ban intentional balloon releases and charge intentional balloon releases as littering infractions. The bill passed with overwhelming support in the state’s House of Representatives and Senate in March. Now it awaits signing into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. “What goes up must come down, […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is launching an emergency response in Lower Florida Keys waters after reports emerged of smalltooth sawfish displaying abnormal behaviors such as spinning and whirling. In addition to the abnormal behavior reported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), as of March 24 there were more than […]
Researchers at Drexel University have shared promising findings on the development of a self-heating concrete, which could not only save people the hassle of shoveling out the sidewalk on a snowy day, but it could also reduce the use of salt to deice walkways. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), salts used for […]
Orca whales are familiar residents of West Coast waters. The black and white marine mammals are often seen swimming in groups, diving and slapping their tails against the water’s surface. Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) believe that a group of 49 killer whales seen hunting sperm whales and other marine animals in […]
Quick Key Facts Ocean Plastic: The Basics The Earth’s oceans are teeming with life — and with plastic. In fact, by 2050, it’s expected that there will be even more plastic in the ocean than fish. Adding to the 150 million tons already in marine environments, eight million tons of plastic reaches our oceans every […]
In the past eight years, the Great Barrier Reef — the largest coral reef in the world, stretching 1,429 miles — has experienced five mass bleaching events, tied by scientists to climate change. Most recently, corals around six islands in Turtle Group National Park, located about 6.2 miles off Australia’s Queensland Coast, have seen extensive […]
Healthy coral reefs are complex ecosystems that serve as the feeding and spawning habitat for thousands of fish, molluscs, crustaceans and many other marine species. Reefs are not only colorful, but full of sounds, and it is this vast array of noises that is the focus of a new study by scientists at the Woods […]
Researchers have discovered a variety of large plastic pieces in the guts of dead sea turtles found in the eastern Mediterranean. Some of these plastic items include bottle caps and a Halloween toy in the shape of a witch finger. A team led by the University of Exeter and the North Cyprus Society for the […]