May 11, 2020 By Larry Pynn Hakai Magazine
The ongoing recovery of the endangered Guadalupe fur seal is one of the feel-good nature stories of North America. Thought to have been driven extinct in the 1800s because of hunting for its fur, a remnant population survived. The species now numbers as many as 40,000—mainly off Baja Mexico and California. But jubilation over the recovery is tempered by the fact that fur seals are washing ashore dead or dying.
May 8, 2020 By Mark Price Science X
A 10-foot tiger shark fitted with a satellite tracker has stunned researchers by proving the species is capable of crossing entire oceans.The nonprofit OCEARCH, which documented the trek, says the female shark named Sereia made a 4,000-mile transoceanic journey from Africa, across the Indian Ocean, to within 800 miles of Indonesia’s coast.
May 7, 2020 By Elizabeth Claire Alberts Mongabay
A team of international researchers developed a method of using DNA analysis to trace the origins of shark fins, and to determine if vulnerable and endangered species were being trafficked.
May 6, 2020 By Peter Schwartzstein National Geographic
After decades of hunting, Mediterranean monk seals now have a sanctuary on the “Alcatraz of Greece.” But will it be enough to prevent their extinction?
May 6, 2020 By Peter Ruegg ETH Zurich
Over the period 1982 to 2011, a cooling trend was recorded in surface waters in some parts of the Southern Ocean around the Antarctic continent, specifically in the area south of 55 degrees latitude. In a paper just published in the journal AGU Advances, the scientists use a series of simulations to show that sea-ice changes are the most probable cause for the cooling of the surface waters in the Southern Ocean.