September 21, 2020 By Elizabeth Claire Alberts Mongabay
A new study has found a 45% decline in the biomass of important fish species in West Hawai‘i’s reefs across a 10-year period.
August 11, 2020 By Francesca Edralin Mongabay
Glass sponge reefs may have outlived the dinosaurs, but they may not survive much longer. In May, Stevenson and her colleagues published a study in Scientific Reports that warns that the impacts of climate change will likely weaken glass sponges’ skeletal strength and filter-feeding ability.
July 17, 2020 By Elizabeth Claire Alberts Mongabay
Coral reefs are often called the “rainforests of the sea” because they harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity of any ecosystem in the world. But as sea temperatures rise, coral reef systems are suffering mass bleaching events, leading to widespread mortality. One way to try and restore coral reef systems is coral reef gardening or “outplanting,” a method of growing coral fragments in a nursery and transferring them to ailing reef systems.
July 9, 2020 By Aryn Baker Time
A series of international policy meetings in 2020 was meant to set global targets for managing fish populations, restoring biodiversity and controlling pollution. As it did with so much this year, the coronavirus pandemic put those talks on hold. Nonetheless, environmentalists, scientists, policymakers and ocean advocates are working desperately to keep the momentum going, aware that this might be the last, best chance they have to reverse the tide.
June 24, 2020 By Doug Johnson Hakai Magazine
After a fishing boat ran aground on a fragile atoll, the consequences for the ecosystem were alarming—and curious.