May 31, 2020 By Lynda Mapes Seattle Times
The coronavirus pandemic has upended and refocused orca field research in Northwest waters this season. Some scientists are beached. Others are investigating the effect on endangered southern resident orcas of suddenly much quieter home waters in the Salish Sea, the transboundary waters between the United States and Canada including Puget Sound.
May 29, 2020 By Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis The Washington Post
A top official at the Environmental Protection Agency informed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Alaska late Thursday that the EPA would not formally object at this point to the proposed Pebble Mine, a massive gold and copper deposit where mining could damage the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.
May 28, 2020 Mongabay In a new study, biologists used photographic identification and satellite telemetry techniques, combined with citizen science, to record the first inter-country movement of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in Southeast Asia.
May 28, 2020 By Bob Berwyn Inside Climate News
Climate researchers racing to calculate how fast and how high the sea level will rise found new clues on the seafloor around Antarctica. A study released today suggests that some of the continent’s floating ice shelves can, during eras of rapid warming, melt back by six miles per year, far faster than any ice retreat observed by satellites.
May 27, 2020 By Australian Institute of Marine Science SciTechDaily
Big and strong cyclones can harm coral reefs as far as 1000 kilometers away from their paths, new research shows. A study led by Dr. Marji Puotinen from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) sounds a warning about the way strong cyclone winds build extreme seas that affect coral reefs in Australia and around the world.