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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/marine-animals/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2026 10:17:25 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Marine Animals</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/marine-animals/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Nations at southern bluefin tuna meeting stop short of adopting new seabird protections</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/nations-at-southern-bluefin-tuna-meeting-stop-short-of-adopting-new-seabird-protections/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/nations-at-southern-bluefin-tuna-meeting-stop-short-of-adopting-new-seabird-protections/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2026 10:17:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/15063719/6_B_Wandering_albatrosses_South_Georgia_Jamie_Latimer-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332681</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic Ocean, Asia, Atlantic Ocean, Australia, Belgium, East Asia, Europe, Global, Indian Ocean, Japan, New Zealand, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean, Polynesia, Southern Ocean, and Taiwan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Bycatch, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Saltwater Fish, Seabirds, Tuna, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Seabird protections drew debate at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), held Oct. 5-8 in Brussels. The eight-member multilateral body that manages the stock has long struggled to curb seabird deaths caused by longline fishing targeting southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) across several oceans. This year’s meeting [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Seabird protections drew debate at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), held Oct. 5-8 in Brussels. The eight-member multilateral body that manages the stock has long struggled to curb seabird deaths caused by longline fishing targeting southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) across several oceans. This year’s meeting saw a modicum of progress on the issue. Based on recent modeling, the parties agreed on 13 priority seabird species for conservation efforts and designated high-risk areas for them. However, the designations don’t carry any new mandatory protections: Due to the reluctance of some members, the commission stopped short of adopting proposed conservation measures for the high-risk areas, most notably tighter seabird bycatch mitigation requirements. Oliver Yates, head of the marine program at BirdLife International, a U.K.-based NGO, told Mongabay that the identification of high-risk areas was “a good step forward” but said it was a problem that “they&#8217;ve not then adopted any management action to accompany the fishing activity in those spatial areas.” “[T]hey recognise bycatch of seabirds is a very serious issue but again agreed to do nothing about it,” Yates, who attended the Brussels meeting, added in a text message. There are more than a dozen RFMOs in the world, with some overlapping geographically but managing different fish stocks. The map shows the five best-known and most commercially important RFMOs, which focus on tuna and tuna-like species. Image courtesy of Pew Charitable Trusts. Sources: U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO Map Catalog.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/nations-at-southern-bluefin-tuna-meeting-stop-short-of-adopting-new-seabird-protections/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/nations-at-southern-bluefin-tuna-meeting-stop-short-of-adopting-new-seabird-protections/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332681</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Eavesdropping on Malaysia’s dolphins: Interview with marine bioacoustician Saliza Bono</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/eavesdropping-on-malaysias-dolphins-interview-with-marine-bioacoustician-saliza-bono/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/eavesdropping-on-malaysias-dolphins-interview-with-marine-bioacoustician-saliza-bono/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2026 12:28:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashley Yeong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/14115427/Saliza4-IndoPacificHumpback-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332551</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Environment, Fellows, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Monitoring, Oceans, Research, Whales, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s coastal waters are home to 27 species of marine mammals. These include protected species like the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis), Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris), Indo-Pacific finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides), dugongs (Dugong dugon) and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus). But few Malaysians know about these sea animals, and even fewer are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s coastal waters are home to 27 species of marine mammals. These include protected species like the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis), Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris), Indo-Pacific finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides), dugongs (Dugong dugon) and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus). But few Malaysians know about these sea animals, and even fewer are aware that there is a scientist who studies the vocal communications of these aquatic mammals. Meet Saliza Bono, the bioacoustics officer at MareCet, the country’s only NGO dedicated to research and conservation of marine mammals. Saliza, 32, who also leads the NGO’s Langkawi Dolphin Research Project, studies marine mammal sounds, as she believes learning about these animals is the first step toward saving them. Her research focuses on the impacts of underwater noise, particularly on Indo-Pacific humpback and Irrawaddy dolphins in Malaysia. Saliza Bono is a bioacoustician at Malaysia’s only marine mammal conservation organization, MareCet. Image courtesy of MareCet. In an interview with Mongabay via video call, the marine biologist discusses her journey into bioacoustics, how underwater noise pollution impacts dolphin behavior and the challenges of her research. Mongabay: How did you get interested in becoming a bioacoustician? Saliza Bono: I think I saw my very first dolphin when I was in Australia. As a 10-year-old, I was amazed at how these are mammals. They have lungs like us but live underwater. I was so curious, and I wanted to know more. Then I heard the term &#8220;marine scientist,&#8221; and I knew I wanted to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/eavesdropping-on-malaysias-dolphins-interview-with-marine-bioacoustician-saliza-bono/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/eavesdropping-on-malaysias-dolphins-interview-with-marine-bioacoustician-saliza-bono/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332551</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chinese squid tied to labor abuses finds an easy route into Western markets</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/chinese-squid-tied-to-labor-abuses-finds-an-easy-route-into-western-markets/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/chinese-squid-tied-to-labor-abuses-finds-an-easy-route-into-western-markets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2026 07:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/12143406/1-fishers-with-squid-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332241</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, East Asia, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, Forced labor, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Fishing, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Natural Resources, Oceans, and Supply Chain]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In recent years, a series of high-profile investigations implicated the Chinese fleets targeting squid in international waters in illegal fishing practices, environmental violations, and poor working conditions, including forced labor and deaths at sea. They’ve also identified abusive working conditions in Chinese squid-processing factories. The revelations received widespread public attention, including from elected officials in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent years, a series of high-profile investigations implicated the Chinese fleets targeting squid in international waters in illegal fishing practices, environmental violations, and poor working conditions, including forced labor and deaths at sea. They’ve also identified abusive working conditions in Chinese squid-processing factories. The revelations received widespread public attention, including from elected officials in the U.S. and Europe. Yet a Mongabay analysis shows that Western markets have continued to import Chinese squid products in large quantities. The findings raise concerns about regulatory gaps, lack of transparency and consumer awareness, and the difficulty of adopting effective measures to prevent products linked to abuses from entering the market. “For us, the main problem is that the product, in this case from the Chinese fleet, enters the European market and is difficult to distinguish,” Edelmiro Ulloa, director of the Vigo Shipowners&#8217; Cooperative in Spain, told Mongabay. According to Ulloa, the Spanish fleet, which is based in Vigo and fishes for squid primarily in international waters off Argentina, faces unfair competition. “On Chinese vessels, the working conditions are not only poor, but truly worrying,” he said. According to Ulloa, differences in production standards, including lower labor costs, result in Chinese squid prices being as much as 40% lower than Spanish squid prices. In 2025, China was the world’s leading exporter of frozen squid and cuttlefish products, which represent the vast majority of international trade in these species, with a total export value of $1.6 billion, according to data from ITC Trade Map, a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/chinese-squid-tied-to-labor-abuses-finds-an-easy-route-into-western-markets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/chinese-squid-tied-to-labor-abuses-finds-an-easy-route-into-western-markets/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332241</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8216;Patrick&#8217; sea star went viral, but Argentine deep-sea canyon held 57 new species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/patrick-sea-star-went-viral-but-argentine-deep-sea-canyon-held-57-new-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/patrick-sea-star-went-viral-but-argentine-deep-sea-canyon-held-57-new-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 22:11:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13154333/10-Deep-Sea-Sea-Star-Patrick-Star-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332462</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Argentina, Atlantic Ocean, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, Deep Sea, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, New Discovery, Oceans, Research, Saltwater Fish, Science, Species, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A sea cucumber with two horn-like appendages sits on the mud in the deep South Atlantic Ocean. Scientists named it Loki, after the horned Norse trickster god. Loki lives 2,577 meters (8,455 feet) below the surface, nearly eight Eiffel Towers deep. Loki (Peniagone sp.) is one of 57 species new to science that researchers identified [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A sea cucumber with two horn-like appendages sits on the mud in the deep South Atlantic Ocean. Scientists named it Loki, after the horned Norse trickster god. Loki lives 2,577 meters (8,455 feet) below the surface, nearly eight Eiffel Towers deep. Loki (Peniagone sp.) is one of 57 species new to science that researchers identified from Argentina’s Mar del Plata Canyon, according to the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census. The team also found five new genera. It took them two weeks. “The deep sea holds some of the least understood ecosystems on Earth,” Michelle Taylor, head of science at Ocean Census, said in a press release. A standout discovery of the workshop, this striking deep-sea holothurian (sea cucumber) was named &#8220;Loki&#8221; for its prominent horned appendages, reminiscent of the god in Norse mythology. Captured in high-definition in-situ video and images on the seafloor of the Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon, it represents one of up to 10 new holothurian species uncovered during the Argentina workshop. Image courtesy of ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute. Most of the specimens came from a 2025 expedition that turned the deep sea into must-watch TV. That July and August, the research vessel Falkor (too) sent a remotely operated vehicle named SuBastian into the canyon and livestreamed the dives. More than 4 million people tuned in live, according to Ocean Census. Many came for a plump orange sea star that looked like Patrick Star from the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants. Patrick, it turns out, is not a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/patrick-sea-star-went-viral-but-argentine-deep-sea-canyon-held-57-new-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332462</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Shedding light on the sea: Interview with Thai photographer Sirachai Arunrugstichai</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/shedding-light-on-the-sea-interview-with-thai-photographer-sirachai-arunrugstichai/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/shedding-light-on-the-sea-interview-with-thai-photographer-sirachai-arunrugstichai/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 14:17:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pratch Rujivanarom]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13090630/working-pic-Sirachai-Arunrugstichai-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332379</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Media, Oceans, Photos, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Marine biologist and photojournalist Sirachai “Shin” Arunrugstichai has taken many notable photographs in Thailand, from white bleached coral reefs to beaches blackened by oil spills. He shot the viral, award-winning photo of orphan baby dugong (Dugong dugon) Marium being hugged by her carer. Many of Shin’s works have ignited public awareness of marine [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Marine biologist and photojournalist Sirachai “Shin” Arunrugstichai has taken many notable photographs in Thailand, from white bleached coral reefs to beaches blackened by oil spills. He shot the viral, award-winning photo of orphan baby dugong (Dugong dugon) Marium being hugged by her carer. Many of Shin’s works have ignited public awareness of marine conservation in Thailand. He recently took part in a scientific study on necrophilia behavior in squids, which was inspired by his photographs. In an interview with Mongabay, Shin, 39, talks about his career journey, recent research and how his work can make a difference. Trained as a marine biologist, Thai photojournalist Sirachai Arunrugstichai has a passion for taking pictures of marine wildlife and telling stories through photographs. Image courtesy of Pratch Rujivanarom. Mongabay: Can you tell me how the research about necrophilia behavior in squid began? Sirachai Arunrugstichai: I was working at Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar from 2019 to 2020. We found ghost fishing nets wrapped around an entire reef. So, our team went diving to retrieve the net. I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be two squids mating. I thought it was strange, so I swam closer. I found that one squid was trapped in the net while another was outside, mating with it. I felt it was very unusual that a dying squid would still be mating. However, after I finished photographing them, I noticed that the trapped squid was actually already decaying. Its tentacles were completely severed, and there were&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/shedding-light-on-the-sea-interview-with-thai-photographer-sirachai-arunrugstichai/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332379</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Endangered angelshark is still traded in Brazil despite import ban</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/endangered-angelshark-is-still-traded-in-brazil-despite-import-ban/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/endangered-angelshark-is-still-traded-in-brazil-despite-import-ban/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Oct 2026 18:34:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/08144635/stalls-in-the-Porto-Alegre-Public-Market-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331970</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Shark Meat Nation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, Governance, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Saltwater Fish, Sharks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — “Good choice!” said the clerk at one of the fish stalls in the Porto Alegre Public Market when Mongabay asked about the peixe anjo, which means “angel fish” in Portuguese, in mid-September. “We sell a lot of these. It’s really good, and it doesn’t have any bones.” The same product was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — “Good choice!” said the clerk at one of the fish stalls in the Porto Alegre Public Market when Mongabay asked about the peixe anjo, which means “angel fish” in Portuguese, in mid-September. “We sell a lot of these. It’s really good, and it doesn’t have any bones.” The same product was for sale by at least four other fishmongers in the traditional market of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul state, in the South of Brazil. Prices were attractive, ranging from 30 to 37 reais per kilo ($5.70 to $7). The problem is that the “angel” isn’t just any fish — it’s a shark. More specifically, an angelshark, and in Brazil, that means three of the world’s most endangered shark species: Squatina guggenheim, the angular angelshark; S. occulta, the hidden angelshark; and S. argentina, the Argentine angelshark. And fishing of these species is prohibited in Brazil. For many years, the Brazilian government authorized the import of angelsharks from neighboring countries. According to data from the Federal Revenue Service obtained by Mongabay through the Freedom of Information Act, 48 metric tons of S. guggenheim meat and 194.6 metric tons of S. argentina entered Brazil between January 2021 and Sept. 10, 2026, totaling 242.6 metric tons. Most of the shipments came from Argentina, entering the country through the customs ports of São Borja and Uruguaiana municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, and Dionísio Cerqueira in Santa Catarina state. Once in Brazil, the imported product was mixed with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/endangered-angelshark-is-still-traded-in-brazil-despite-import-ban/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331970</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Invading the globe: Bird flu now threatens Australia and Oceania</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/invading-the-globe-bird-flu-now-threatens-australia-and-oceania/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/invading-the-globe-bird-flu-now-threatens-australia-and-oceania/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Oct 2026 17:02:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christine Heinrichs]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02172718/Australian-Sea-Lion-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331586</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Europe, Global, Latin America, Oceania, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Research, Science, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Like a dark cloud of pestilence spreading across the globe in a science fiction movie, a highly contagious, fatal strain of avian influenza is continuing its death march across the globe, infecting wild birds, poultry, dairy cattle and mammals from pole-to-pole, sometimes with massive mortalities. In mid-June, it invaded the last bird flu-free continent, Australia, when [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Like a dark cloud of pestilence spreading across the globe in a science fiction movie, a highly contagious, fatal strain of avian influenza is continuing its death march across the globe, infecting wild birds, poultry, dairy cattle and mammals from pole-to-pole, sometimes with massive mortalities. In mid-June, it invaded the last bird flu-free continent, Australia, when the first cases of this lethal virus were detected in migratory seabirds, who likely brought it from the Antarctic to Australian islands, and then, inland. “These outbreaks mark the loss of the last continent previously free from the virus,” said Amandine Gamble, an expert on pathogens in endangered seabirds at Cornell University in the U.S., in a statement. “There are serious concerns for wildlife in Australia, New Zealand and surrounding islands, which are home to many already vulnerable endemic species.” The virus has spread rapidly since then, killing thousands of birds in some 690 “events” as of Oct. 6. An event may involve a confirmed infection or death of one — or many — animals. H5N1 has now spilled over into mammals, including endangered Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea) at key breeding sites. Across the globe, species that live or breed in colonies have died in shocking numbers, and this virus continues to mutate and adapt, infecting new hosts. As of publication, it had infected some 613 types of bird and about 112 mammal species, both wild and domestic, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. “We have seen this virus&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/invading-the-globe-bird-flu-now-threatens-australia-and-oceania/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331586</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Science, Indigenous knowledge team up to restore Canada&#8217;s kelp. (Sea otters help, too.)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/science-indigenous-knowledge-team-up-to-restore-canadas-kelp-sea-otters-help-too/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/science-indigenous-knowledge-team-up-to-restore-canadas-kelp-sea-otters-help-too/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2026 14:44:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jennifer Cole]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02162939/a.-BANNER-Liam-Ragan-original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331571</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[British Columbia, Canada, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Ecosystems, Education, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Research, Restoration, Science, Seagrass, Solutions, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Emily Fulton spends a lot of time in a small boat cruising the waters of Clayoquot Sound off the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. As the marine program manager for the nonprofit Redd Fish Restoration Society, she regularly checks on a newly created kelp nursery growing within the traditional territory of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Emily Fulton spends a lot of time in a small boat cruising the waters of Clayoquot Sound off the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. As the marine program manager for the nonprofit Redd Fish Restoration Society, she regularly checks on a newly created kelp nursery growing within the traditional territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation. “We have grown a lot of kelp,” Fulton told Mongabay in a phone interview. Touted by its organizers as the largest kelp restoration project on the West Coast of North America, the nursery has planted more than 4,200 square meters (45,200 square feet) of new kelp habitat since launching in early 2026. That’s the footprint of three and a half Olympic-size swimming pools. The team grows baby bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) and giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) on four lines; each 330 meters (1,083 feet) long, submerged below the water’s surface and away from seafloor predators such as sea urchins. As the kelp grows and matures, they’ll take some of it off the lines and transplant it to sites throughout Clayoquot Sound, to restore degraded kelp forests and also seed new ones. Getting a project of this scale up and running has cost almost a quarter of a million Canadian dollars. The funding has come from various sources, including the provincial government, the World Wildlife Fund of Canada and the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust. Managing the project alongside Redd Fish is West Coast Kelp, a business devoted to kelp restoration and the Tla-o-qui-aht&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/science-indigenous-knowledge-team-up-to-restore-canadas-kelp-sea-otters-help-too/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331571</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Probiotics prevented coral bleaching during a Red Sea heat wave: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 15:06:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Allessandra DiCorato]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02132528/Researcher-Raquel-Peixoto-inoculating-probiotics-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331533</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Middle East and Saudi Arabia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Heatwave, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As a heat wave settled on the Red Sea in 2022, a patch of corals in a reef 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) off the coast of Saudi Arabia reacted differently than other corals. They’d been treated with probiotics, beneficial bacteria isolated from healthy corals, and those treatments prevented the corals from bleaching, scientists now report. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As a heat wave settled on the Red Sea in 2022, a patch of corals in a reef 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) off the coast of Saudi Arabia reacted differently than other corals. They’d been treated with probiotics, beneficial bacteria isolated from healthy corals, and those treatments prevented the corals from bleaching, scientists now report. Corals provide habitat for about one-third of marine species but are declining at an unprecedented rate, according to the latest report from the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. Rising temperatures lead to coral bleaching, a breakdown of the beneficial symbiosis between corals and algae that can result in coral death. Scientists estimate that if global temperatures rise by 1.5°Celsius (2.7°Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, 70-90% of corals will be at risk of severe degradation worldwide by 2100. “Corals can acclimate and adapt, but only if they are alive,” principal investigator of the new study Raquel Peixoto, a microbial ecologist at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, told Mongabay in a video call. She and other researchers around the world are investigating how manipulating the microscopic bacteria that live on corals can help them respond to threats ranging from oil spills to infectious disease. Though Peixoto previously showed that probiotics could stave off bleaching and keep corals alive in tanks, the new results, published Sept. 3 in Cell Reports, are the first to indicate that probiotics may help protect corals in the wild from marine heat waves. “It’s one thing to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331533</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dolphins keep their social and hunting lives in separate waters, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/dolphins-keep-their-social-and-hunting-lives-in-separate-waters-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/dolphins-keep-their-social-and-hunting-lives-in-separate-waters-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 15:07:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01150605/Banner-Image-dolfin-fin-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331440</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Cetaceans, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Dolphins, Environment, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Research, Science, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dolphins, it turns out, don’t like to mix business and pleasure. Scientists have found that the marine mammals keep their feeding and hunting areas separate from the places where they socialize with one another. A study published in the journal PeerJ details how a team of researchers listened in on dolphins living along the Atlantic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Dolphins, it turns out, don’t like to mix business and pleasure. Scientists have found that the marine mammals keep their feeding and hunting areas separate from the places where they socialize with one another. A study published in the journal PeerJ details how a team of researchers listened in on dolphins living along the Atlantic coast of Florida to “provide evidence of acoustic habitat differentiation.” “They have distinct habitats that correspond to different behaviors,” Laurent Chérubin, a marine scientist at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University, who led the study, told Mongabay in a video interview. Scientists gathered the audio data with the help of an acoustic wave glider, a 12-foot (3.7-meter) solar-powered autonomous marine vehicle. The glider was deployed for two months along the East Florida Shelf, between Fort Pierce and Jacksonville. In addition to recording 62 hours of underwater audio, the glider also carried sensors gathering environmental data such as water temperature, salinity, turbidity, and the concentration of chlorophyll-a, a pigment that plays a critical role in photosynthesis. “The glider has a bunch of sensors and can host a lot of payload,” Chérubin said. “It can be at sea on its own for as long as needed because it uses solar power and wave action to move around.” On analyzing the data, the scientists detected dolphins in more than 1,600 recordings. They then classified their calls into whistles, which dolphins use to communicate with each other, and rapid clicking sounds, which the animals use as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/dolphins-keep-their-social-and-hunting-lives-in-separate-waters-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/dolphins-keep-their-social-and-hunting-lives-in-separate-waters-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331440</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New global maps chart 40 years of ocean heat and acidification extremes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-global-maps-chart-40-years-of-ocean-heat-and-acidification-extremes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-global-maps-chart-40-years-of-ocean-heat-and-acidification-extremes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 11:22:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[María Paula Rubiano A.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/25101034/a.-BANNER-da65bd48-4b5b-4ca7-9598-ea1df2f84852Original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330790</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, El Nino, Fish, Fisheries, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Ocean Acidification, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Saltwater Fish, Seabirds, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Between 2014 and 2015, a marine heatwave known as “The Blob” warmed an area of the Pacific Ocean larger than the United States and Mexico combined. The massive event fueled toxic algae blooms, collapsed fisheries, killed off millions of emaciated seabirds, sent dead fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and sea otters washing up on Alaska and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Between 2014 and 2015, a marine heatwave known as “The Blob” warmed an area of the Pacific Ocean larger than the United States and Mexico combined. The massive event fueled toxic algae blooms, collapsed fisheries, killed off millions of emaciated seabirds, sent dead fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and sea otters washing up on Alaska and British Columbia coasts, and dotted California shores with starving sea lions. Though best known as a marine heat wave, The Blob was also an extreme acidification event. Yet occurrences of these compound heat-acidity extreme events remain poorly understood. A new study, published in the journal AGU Advances in August, provides a detailed look at the frequency, intensity and duration of these compound events during the last four decades. The study reveals an understudied aspect of marine heat waves that could have implications for the developing 2026-2027 “super” El Niño, in which waters in the equatorial Pacific become unusually warm due to changing wind patterns. An underweight sea lion pup on a beach in February 2015. Image by NOAA Fisheries West Coast. Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) found compound heat-acidity events across the globe happen together “more frequently than would be expected by chance,&#8221; they wrote. Instead, the researchers attributed their occurrence to underlying ocean physics that allow marine heat waves to become unusually acidic in some regions. These events are mostly short-lived and small, with 67% of the 500 identified events lasting less than three months and extending to an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-global-maps-chart-40-years-of-ocean-heat-and-acidification-extremes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330790</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As yellow-eyed penguins disappear, conservationists focus on deaths in fishing nets</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-yellow-eyed-penguins-disappear-conservationists-focus-on-deaths-in-fishing-nets/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-yellow-eyed-penguins-disappear-conservationists-focus-on-deaths-in-fishing-nets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 16:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28113111/12-A-yellow-eyed-penguin-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331013</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[New Zealand, Oceania, Pacific Islands, and Polynesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fishing, Governance, Islands, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Penguins, Seabirds, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[OTAGO PENINSULA, Aotearoa New Zealand — Sandfly Bay was long a key nesting area for yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes), noisy, pink-footed birds that spend long days foraging at sea. But this wild beach on the Otago Peninsula, like others nearby, has gone quiet. In 2024, the last breeding-age female at Sandfly Bay, who’d been consistently [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[OTAGO PENINSULA, Aotearoa New Zealand — Sandfly Bay was long a key nesting area for yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes), noisy, pink-footed birds that spend long days foraging at sea. But this wild beach on the Otago Peninsula, like others nearby, has gone quiet. In 2024, the last breeding-age female at Sandfly Bay, who’d been consistently producing chicks for a dozen years, drowned in a fishing net. Fishing has been one of many factors driving the species, which is only found in Aotearoa New Zealand, toward extinction. In the 2008-2009 breeding season, there were 739 breeding pairs in the “mainland” New Zealand population, which includes pairs on nearby islands. But the population has dropped since then to 117 pairs — a decline of more than 80%. These figures don’t account for yellow-eyed penguins on New Zealand’s remote southern islands, which are poorly surveyed. The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, listed the species as endangered in its last assessment, in 2020, when the mainland population was still twice what it is now. Several experts told Mongabay that the species’ chances of survival are slim, though most said they still had faith. “I think I’d always like to say that there’s hope because otherwise why do you do what you do, but things are pretty dire,” Trudi Webster, a marine scientist who’s worked on research and conservation of the species for the past decade, told Mongabay. A number of organizations are working to save the yellow-eyed penguin, and much of the conservation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-yellow-eyed-penguins-disappear-conservationists-focus-on-deaths-in-fishing-nets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331013</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Singapore&#8217;s plan to merge several islands could wipe out coral reefs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/singapores-plan-to-merge-several-islands-could-wipe-out-coral-reefs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/singapores-plan-to-merge-several-islands-could-wipe-out-coral-reefs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Sep 2026 08:49:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robin Hicks]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/28012336/aa.-Bluespotted-ribbontail-ray-Pulau-Hantu-2017-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330946</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Culture, Development, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Islands, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — “For seven thousand years, Singapore has changed around these reefs,” says Debby Ng, a Singaporean biologist who studies the city-state’s shrinking coastal and marine habitats. “They are still here.” Despite colonization, war, shipping and industrialization, reefs a few kilometers south of Singapore’s gleaming shoreline have endured. “It would be a tragedy if we [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — “For seven thousand years, Singapore has changed around these reefs,” says Debby Ng, a Singaporean biologist who studies the city-state’s shrinking coastal and marine habitats. “They are still here.” Despite colonization, war, shipping and industrialization, reefs a few kilometers south of Singapore’s gleaming shoreline have endured. “It would be a tragedy if we were to lose them now — in peacetime, at the height of our prosperity, when we possess more knowledge and capacity to protect them than any generation before us,” Ng tells Mongabay. At a National Day rally on Aug. 23, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced plans to merge a cluster of islands sprawled across a few thousand hectares of seascape into a new “western island” for advanced manufacturing, energy and defense. No timeline for the western island project was given. Wong said reclamation would take place “over the coming decades” and that plans were being studied carefully. But the announcement has alarmed Singapore’s marine conservation community, which says the project could affect some of the country’s most biodiverse waters. The islands include Pulau Semakau, which houses Singapore’s offshore landfill, and Pulau Bukom, home to an oil refinery, as well as Pulau Sudong and smaller islands including Pulau Hantu, Pulau Jong and Pulau Sebarok. The area is estimated to contain some 590 hectares (1,460 acres) of coral reefs — about 60% of the total in Singapore — along with 22% of the city-state’s seagrass meadows and 5% of its mangroves. Black sun coral (Tubastraea micranthus), Singapore.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/singapores-plan-to-merge-several-islands-could-wipe-out-coral-reefs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330946</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global coral reefs get less time to recover as oceans heat up, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-coral-reefs-get-less-time-to-recover-as-oceans-heat-up-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-coral-reefs-get-less-time-to-recover-as-oceans-heat-up-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Sep 2026 15:48:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/25123746/a.-fish-on-reef-24175296337_7fdf5baf6e_o1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330827</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Coastal Ecosystems, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, El Nino, Fish, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Ocean Warming, Oceans, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world’s coral reefs are losing both hard coral cover and, just as critically, the time they need to recover between increasingly frequent marine heat waves, according to the most comprehensive global reef assessment yet. Released Aug. 31 by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), the “Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025” [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world’s coral reefs are losing both hard coral cover and, just as critically, the time they need to recover between increasingly frequent marine heat waves, according to the most comprehensive global reef assessment yet. Released Aug. 31 by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), the “Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025” draws on 21.1 million observations from 87,299 surveys at 36,886 sites across 123 reef-bearing countries, territories and economies, collected between 1980 and 2024. The report estimates that global hard coral cover, defined as the proportion of reef surface covered by living hard corals, fell from an average of 30.2% during a 1980-2009 reference period to an average of 27.3% between 2020 and 2024. That represents a decline of 2.9 percentage points, or 9.5% relative to the reference period. The assessment characterizes this estimate as conservative: Monitoring began after many reefs had already been degraded, and uneven data coverage can limit comparisons across regions. Hard coral cover dropped further to 25.8% in 2024. The report focuses on hard coral cover because hard corals are ecosystem engineers, and their cover is readily measured, easily understood and consistently monitored worldwide, allowing comparisons across regions and over time. A variety of fish species swim above a patch reef 24 meters (80 feet) deep at French Frigate Shoals, a large coral atoll in the Hawaiian Islands. Image by Andrew Gray/NOAA via Flickr (Free to use). From April 2023 to mid-2025, coral reefs experienced a fourth global bleaching event, declared by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-coral-reefs-get-less-time-to-recover-as-oceans-heat-up-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/global-coral-reefs-get-less-time-to-recover-as-oceans-heat-up-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330827</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tourism has the potential to reverse coral decline at Bali travel hotspot: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tourism-has-potential-to-slow-coral-decline-at-bali-travel-hotspot-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tourism-has-potential-to-slow-coral-decline-at-bali-travel-hotspot-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Sep 2026 02:01:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/21153916/Image-by-Anett-SzasziOcean-Image-Bank-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330326</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Coral Reefs, Development, Ecotourism, Fishing, Funding, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Rehabilitation, Research, Restoration, Solutions, Tourism, and Travel]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sanur is where tourism took off in Bali. A coastal town overlooking the Lombok Strait where the Pacific Ocean flows into the Indian Ocean, artists and travelers began frequenting its shores in the 1920s. Today, the local economy still depends on income from visitors seeking its sun-kissed sands and cozy waters that hold the promise [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sanur is where tourism took off in Bali. A coastal town overlooking the Lombok Strait where the Pacific Ocean flows into the Indian Ocean, artists and travelers began frequenting its shores in the 1920s. Today, the local economy still depends on income from visitors seeking its sun-kissed sands and cozy waters that hold the promise of encounters with all manner of tropical marine life. But new research indicates all is not well with Sanur’s precious marine ecosystems. Its coral reefs are steadily degrading, despite multiple efforts to rehabilitate them by planting coral fragments or building artificial reefs. The recent study, published in Ocean &amp; Coastal Management, found reef restoration initiatives in Sanur often take place without first addressing the primary drivers of coral decline, such as sediment runoff and wastewater discharge. “People see the visible impact on the coral reef, so they feel it’s urgent to do something about it there,” study lead author Min Chung, a master’s student at the University of Tokyo, told Mongabay in an interview. “But in reality, and efficiency wise, it&#8217;s obviously more effective to address the more fundamental drivers [of coral loss].” By analyzing reef health data and interviews with 18 stakeholders who have influence over the use and management of Sanur’s reefs, Chung and her colleagues identified complex and competing interests between many different groups, from government agencies, local authorities and community organizations to academics, fishers and tourism operators. “There are differing views on how to preserve coral reefs and the role tourism&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tourism-has-potential-to-slow-coral-decline-at-bali-travel-hotspot-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tourism-has-potential-to-slow-coral-decline-at-bali-travel-hotspot-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330326</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How freediving helps Indonesia&#8217;s Bajau preserve traditions and conserve marine life</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-freediving-helps-indonesias-bajau-preserve-traditions-and-conserve-marine-life/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-freediving-helps-indonesias-bajau-preserve-traditions-and-conserve-marine-life/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2026 18:18:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maddy Bolt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/21115236/Bajau-PELITA-member-Well-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330277</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West Nusa Tenggara]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Culture, Education, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Indigenous Peoples, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[POTO TANO, Indonesia — Mahari sits at the front of the boat, cigarette in hand, surveying the conditions of the waters off Poto Tano, a small fishing community on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. As ketua, the leader of this group of Bajau octopus fishers, Mahari decides which tool they will use today. He silently [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[POTO TANO, Indonesia — Mahari sits at the front of the boat, cigarette in hand, surveying the conditions of the waters off Poto Tano, a small fishing community on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. As ketua, the leader of this group of Bajau octopus fishers, Mahari decides which tool they will use today. He silently surveys the waters while the rest of the group sits back and waits for his cue. The Bajau people are an Indigenous ethnic group spanning Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Traditionally living mostly on boats, Bajau people have harvested from the sea through traditional freediving for generations. In Sumbawa, a recent ban on dives assisted by an air compressor, a dangerous diving technique that provides the diver with continuous air, means these traditional methods have become more valuable than ever. With the right skills, freediving can be gentler on both the environment and the body than more destructive modern practices. Through expeditions like this one, Mahari and the other fishermen in his community work in cooperation with local NGOs to ensure this knowledge is passed to new generations. Day octopus (Octopus cyanea). Image by © Stergios Vasilis via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). &#8216;Pocong time&#8217; Depending on current and water visibility, Bajau fishers typically use one of two methods to catch octopus. If there is low visibility or a strong current, they will use a “shell” tool adorned with hooks, which they let go in the water and trail behind their boat. If there is better&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-freediving-helps-indonesias-bajau-preserve-traditions-and-conserve-marine-life/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-freediving-helps-indonesias-bajau-preserve-traditions-and-conserve-marine-life/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330277</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>46% of wild-caught fish could be fed to farmed fish and shrimp by 2040, says report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/45-of-wild-caught-fish-could-be-fed-to-farmed-fish-and-shrimp-by-2040-says-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/45-of-wild-caught-fish-could-be-fed-to-farmed-fish-and-shrimp-by-2040-says-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2026 16:44:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/21135229/Sri-Lanka-fishers1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330337</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Marine Animals, Natural Resources, Oceans, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ROME — Nearly half of the wild-caught fish harvested globally could be used to produce feed for farmed aquaculture products by 2040 if the industry were to grow exponentially in line with a roadmap developed by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), according to a report published Sept. 4. The report was published by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ROME — Nearly half of the wild-caught fish harvested globally could be used to produce feed for farmed aquaculture products by 2040 if the industry were to grow exponentially in line with a roadmap developed by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), according to a report published Sept. 4. The report was published by UK-based NGO the Changing Markets Foundation on the eve of the 37th meeting of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI), held Sept. 7–11 at the FAO’s headquarters in Rome. At the biennial intergovernmental meeting, policymakers set the direction for developing the fisheries and aquaculture sectors globally. The publication has intensified debate over support for aquaculture, which involves cultivation of aquatic organisms, including plants, fish and shellfish, in marine or fresh water. Aquaculture is currently the fastest-growing food industry in the world. Since 2022, it has accounted for half of the global seafood supply, but representatives of artisanal fisher organizations attending COFI described it as a “destructive” industry. “What we found is that it really depends on what species are chosen to be farmed,” Tara Ganesh, a senior campaigner at Changing Markets Foundation, told Mongabay in Rome. “Based on that, the impact varies dramatically.” Atlantic salmon aquaculture in Tasmania, Australia. Image by rod cuthbert via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). The report, produced together with researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada, analyzes how the use of wild-caught fish to produce fish feed would change if the aquaculture sector were to reach a “milestone” set out&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/45-of-wild-caught-fish-could-be-fed-to-farmed-fish-and-shrimp-by-2040-says-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/45-of-wild-caught-fish-could-be-fed-to-farmed-fish-and-shrimp-by-2040-says-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330337</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US move to loosen restrictions on fishing could harm vital ecosystems, experts warn</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/us-move-to-loosen-restrictions-on-fishing-could-harm-vital-ecosystems-experts-warn/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/us-move-to-loosen-restrictions-on-fishing-could-harm-vital-ecosystems-experts-warn/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2026 10:13:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jules Struck]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/17141756/a.-BANNER-2-AP24197590776091-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330081</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Endangered Species Act, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overfishing, Politics, Protected Areas, Saltwater Fish, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The federal agency that oversees U.S. fisheries released a list of priorities on Sept. 2, advancing the Trump administration’s promise to deregulate the domestic industry. The list of 34 priorities was published by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, which oversees scientific research, data collection and regulation of commercial fishing operations in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The federal agency that oversees U.S. fisheries released a list of priorities on Sept. 2, advancing the Trump administration’s promise to deregulate the domestic industry. The list of 34 priorities was published by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, which oversees scientific research, data collection and regulation of commercial fishing operations in the United States alongside regional and tribal councils. The list outlines the agency’s intention to loosen restrictions on where, when and with what gear fishers are allowed to fish. U.S. fisheries are globally recognized as some of the most heavily-regulated and sustainable in the world. Conservationists say the agency’s new priorities are the latest signal from an administration intent on deregulating and defunding the agency. They warn that deregulation will open the door to overfishing and do lasting harm to ecosystems that support ocean health and sustain fisheries. “If we are reducing regulations and overfishing some really valuable fisheries this year or next year, it may take years for those fisheries to get back on track to healthy [stock] levels,” Reggie Paros, senior director of public affairs at the New York-based NGO Environmental Defense Fund, told Mongabay by phone. “The outcomes we would see on the water would be particularly damaging.” A pile of young Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) on the deck of the New Bedford, Massachusetts-based fishing vessel Selje, collected during a NOAA survey to help track scallop abundance, distribution, ages, lengths, weights, sex, maturity and disease presence. Image by Catherine Foley/NOAA Fisheries.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/us-move-to-loosen-restrictions-on-fishing-could-harm-vital-ecosystems-experts-warn/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330081</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Panama looks to science, fishers, and the law to protect its sharks and rays</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/panama-looks-to-science-fishers-and-the-law-to-protect-its-sharks-and-rays/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/panama-looks-to-science-fishers-and-the-law-to-protect-its-sharks-and-rays/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 11:47:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Pelliccia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14102837/4-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329577</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, North America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Bycatch, Certification, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Protected Areas, Rays, Sharks, Solutions, Sustainability, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO CAIMITO, Panama — It’s a late April morning and the Tabor, an industrial fishing boat, is sailing around Chepillo Island in Panama Bay. Under the eyes of the crew, Yehudi Rodríguez, a marine biologist specializing in sharks, and sailor Joel Cordoba free a large black devil ray from a purse seine net and launch [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO CAIMITO, Panama — It’s a late April morning and the Tabor, an industrial fishing boat, is sailing around Chepillo Island in Panama Bay. Under the eyes of the crew, Yehudi Rodríguez, a marine biologist specializing in sharks, and sailor Joel Cordoba free a large black devil ray from a purse seine net and launch it back into the water. As they work with the biologist, the sailors, around a dozen of them, joke among themselves. Tabor is part of the Promarina S.A. fleet, a Panamanian company that produces fish oil and fish meal, authorized to catch only small open-ocean fish, or pelagics, such as sardines and herrings. Every two weeks, Rodríguez, a professor of biology at the University of Panama and director of the Shark Defenders NGO, analyzes bycatch — marine species not targeted but accidentally caught by fishers — freeing sharks, rays, and other animals entangled in the purse seine nets of Promarina vessels. “It’s an emotion to see a huge Mobula for the first time and liberate it in the ocean,” Rodríguez, 49, tells Mongabay after freeing the devil ray, which weighed an estimated 100 kilograms (220 pounds). Just a few hours later, Hermes, 18, the youngest sailor on the crew and nicknamed Mbappé after the French football star, helps Rodríguez liberate another ray, both taking care to avoid being hit by the animal’s venomous barb. Before returning an animal into the water, Rodríguez follows a short protocol:  she records the coordinates of the bycatch location, identifies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/panama-looks-to-science-fishers-and-the-law-to-protect-its-sharks-and-rays/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329577</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pacific bluefin tuna will get some help as countries agree to new harvest strategy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pacific-bluefin-tuna-will-get-some-help-as-countries-agree-to-new-harvest-strategy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pacific-bluefin-tuna-will-get-some-help-as-countries-agree-to-new-harvest-strategy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 08:59:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/13160625/b.-BANNER-GP01Y3H-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329570</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Marine Animals, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, and Tuna]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) concluded on Sept. 4 with an agreement to adopt a long-term harvest strategy for Pacific bluefin tuna. The agreement aims to ensure sustainable management of this species, which has only recently recovered after decades of overfishing. But the commission fell short of establishing a harvest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) concluded on Sept. 4 with an agreement to adopt a long-term harvest strategy for Pacific bluefin tuna. The agreement aims to ensure sustainable management of this species, which has only recently recovered after decades of overfishing. But the commission fell short of establishing a harvest strategy for other tuna species — bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin — managed under the convention. “A proposal was adopted … and that’s really great progress,” Dave Gershman, a senior officer for international fisheries at the U.S.-based think tank The Pew Charitable Trusts, who took part in the meeting as an observer, told Mongabay. The commission approved the plan for Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) after 10 years of research and mediation. The plan establishes science-based rules to support the stock&#8217;s complete recovery and long-term protection while taking into account impacts on the broader ecosystem. “You want to have these things in place when times are good so it’s there when you need it,” Gershman said. The 104th meeting of the IATTC took place in Lisbon from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. One of five main regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) responsible for tuna and tuna-like species, the commission is tasked with managing six tuna stocks, associated species and their ecosystems throughout the Eastern Pacific Ocean, from Canada south to Chile. There are more than a dozen RFMOs in the world, with some overlapping geographically but managing different fish stocks. The map shows the five best-known&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pacific-bluefin-tuna-will-get-some-help-as-countries-agree-to-new-harvest-strategy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329570</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Forgotten fauna’: Little known river sharks and rays face increased extinction risk</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 15:48:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10135017/BANNER-e-Xingu-River-Stingray-031-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329379</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater Fish, Marine Animals, Research, Science, Sharks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Vashishti River, originating in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats and flowing into the Arabian Sea along India’s western coast, has long supported traditional fishing communities. But in 2023, local fishers encountered something entirely unexpected. As they hauled a gill net into a boat, a gray body, still making faint movements, emerged tangled in the mesh, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Vashishti River, originating in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats and flowing into the Arabian Sea along India’s western coast, has long supported traditional fishing communities. But in 2023, local fishers encountered something entirely unexpected. As they hauled a gill net into a boat, a gray body, still making faint movements, emerged tangled in the mesh, and then another surfaced beside it. By the time the net was lifted aboard, three bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) were tangled inside. The video of the incident quickly spread across social media, drawing renewed scientific attention to the presence of sharks in inland and estuarine waters. “This is the first documented report of sharks from the Vashishti River, although historically sharks and rays have been recorded from several major Indian river systems,” Priyankar Chakraborty, an independent marine and wildlife researcher in India, told Mongabay. Across India, dozens of species of sharks and rays (collectively known as elasmobranchs) have been reported as inhabiting estuaries and rivers, but while species such as the bull shark are relatively well documented, many others are known from only a handful of records, leaving major gaps in understanding, Chakraborty said. Globally, around 60 species of sharks and rays spend at least part of their lives in inland waters. Yet compared with their marine counterparts, these species have received remarkably little scientific attention, even though many are among the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, Michael Grant, a marine biologist at James Cook University in Australia and member of the IUCN Species Survival&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329379</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Damselfish-assisted repair of wounded corals surprises scientists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 12:36:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shradha Triveni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02091808/Damselfish-closeup-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328280</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Saltwater Fish, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Corals share a close bond with the fish dwelling among them and the algae living within them. According to a new study, that relationship could be even stronger than previously known, with fish aiding coral tissue repair and damage recovery, particularly in higher-stress environments. The study, published on July 8 in Biology Letters, concluded that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Corals share a close bond with the fish dwelling among them and the algae living within them. According to a new study, that relationship could be even stronger than previously known, with fish aiding coral tissue repair and damage recovery, particularly in higher-stress environments. The study, published on July 8 in Biology Letters, concluded that the yellowtail dascyllus (Dascyllus flavicaudus), a type of damselfish, helps heal injuries on Pocillopora spp., a genus of stony coral largely found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. “Surprisingly, we found that the bigger the wound, the faster the recovery,” said Hayden Vega, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley, in the U.S. Previous research has shown that coral-dwelling fish aid in the cleaning of coral wounds and help corals tolerate warming oceans. But the new evidence of wound healing via tissue repair suggests that interactions between these organisms could be more beneficial than previously thought, especially under stressful conditions. Yellowtail dascyllus (Dascyllus flavicaudus) damselfish swim around coral in French Polynesia. Image © mndiminuco via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). “These positive interactions between species under stress end up creating a network of resilience in ecosystems,” Vega told Mongabay during a Zoom call. Vega thinks this sort of supportive relationship could extend beyond yellowtail dascyllus and coral. He hopes the findings will prompt researchers to look more deeply at mutualistic benefits shared between other marine species, particularly in warming oceans, with research results then applied to conservation management plans. This is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/damselfish-assisted-repair-of-wounded-corals-surprises-scientists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328280</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Namibia greenlights controversial project to dredge phosphate from seabed</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 11:28:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jemima Beukes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01094118/19393956375_9d683b0734_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328136</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Namibia, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Acidification, Ocean Warming, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Namibia has granted an environmental clearance to a controversial marine phosphate extraction project. The clearance allows the Sandpiper Project, operated by Namibian Marine Phosphate (NMP), to dredge the seabed off the coast of Walvis Bay for phosphate. Environmentalists are concerned about the impact on the country’s fisheries sector and the potential health impacts from consuming [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Namibia has granted an environmental clearance to a controversial marine phosphate extraction project. The clearance allows the Sandpiper Project, operated by Namibian Marine Phosphate (NMP), to dredge the seabed off the coast of Walvis Bay for phosphate. Environmentalists are concerned about the impact on the country’s fisheries sector and the potential health impacts from consuming fish that breed in the areas earmarked for dredging. The Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) granted to NMP by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) on Aug. 5 allows industrial mining within concession 170 (ML 170) off the west coast of Namibia in country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The concession area covers roughly 2,234 square kilometers (863 square miles) of the Atlantic seabed, according to the company’s website. NMP plans to dredge phosphate-rich sediments present in the seafloor at depths of 180-250 meters. Dredging is the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of lakes, rivers, harbors and other water bodies. Nonprofit Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN) has strongly criticized the decision to issue the ECC, saying “that the large-scale development could have significant impacts on the Benguela marine ecosystem, Namibia’s fishing industry, and marine conservation.” Saltpans in Walvis Bay, Namibia. Image courtesy by David Stanley via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). The Benguela Marine ecosystem along the coast of southwestern Africa is one of the world’s most productive coastal upwelling zones, areas where deep, cold water rises to the surface, bringing nutrients to the surface. An area off the shores of southern Namibia is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328136</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gulf of Mexico’s unique Orca Basin shouldn&#8217;t become a carbon dump (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 20:56:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Craig R. McClain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31185024/Screenshot-2026-08-31-at-2.48.36-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328050</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Carbon Sequestration, Climate, Climate Change, Commentary, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal, Marine Conservation, Mining, Natural Resources, Oceans, Renewable Energy, Research, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s 3 a.m. and I am standing on the deck of a research vessel, staring into water so dark it looks solid. I feel what I felt standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon, watching the sun set: there are places in this world deserving of our reverence, our protection, and our humility. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s 3 a.m. and I am standing on the deck of a research vessel, staring into water so dark it looks solid. I feel what I felt standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon, watching the sun set: there are places in this world deserving of our reverence, our protection, and our humility. The Orca Basin is one of those places. I have spent years working in the deep Gulf of Mexico, lowering instruments into the dark, pulling up sediment cores that smell of sulfur, watching remotely operated vehicle (ROV) footage of a seafloor that most people will never see, and few even know exists. Lying roughly 168 miles (270 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast, beneath more than a mile (2.2 km) of water, the Orca Basin is one of the most extraordinary environments on the planet. It is a lake on the seafloor, where the water is so salty and so dense that it resists mixing with the overlying seawater, and has occupied a vast depression on the gulf floor for thousands of years. Spanning roughly 154 square miles (nearly 400 km2), its salinity runs nearly 10 times that of normal seawater. With no oxygen, no multicellular animals venture below its ghostly boundary, where normal ocean gives way to something ancient and strange. When descending ROV cameras near the surface of the Orca Basin’s salty water, the interface shimmers like heat rising from sunbaked asphalt — a mirage a mile underwater. Map of the Orca Basin in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328050</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists use satellites to track whale strandings in remote places from space</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 13:33:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31114533/1-Dead-sei-whales-Balaenoptera-borealis-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327897</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation Technology, data, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Technology, Whales, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2015, the remote coastal fjords of southern Patagonia turned into a whale graveyard. That June, scientists found 337 dead and decomposing sei whales, a species of baleen whale, on the beaches between the Gulf of Penas and Puerto Natales in Chile. Researchers flew over the area, then took samples from the rotting bodies, trying [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2015, the remote coastal fjords of southern Patagonia turned into a whale graveyard. That June, scientists found 337 dead and decomposing sei whales, a species of baleen whale, on the beaches between the Gulf of Penas and Puerto Natales in Chile. Researchers flew over the area, then took samples from the rotting bodies, trying to find clues as to why this happened. It was later reported to be the largest mass baleen whale mortality event on record. Data collected to determine the cause proved inconclusive, however. Scientists thought the most likely explanation was a toxic red tide provoked by pollution, a strong El Niño event and climate change. What researchers now know for certain, after using very high-resolution satellite images, is that the stranding occurred at least two months before the whales were found. “It’s quite shocking, really,” Penny Clarke, a whale scientist at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), told Mongabay in a video call. “Think that these whales are about the size of a bus, and there&#8217;s 300 … of them, and nobody knew about it for about two months.” The massive stranding in Chile had one bright spot: It offered an important opportunity to test the use of satellite technology to monitor strandings and support data collection on whale mortality. More than 10 years later, Clarke and her BAS colleagues not only use satellite imagery to identify different whale species by observing flippers and flukes in the water, but can spot whale strandings almost anywhere in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327897</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Blast fishing destroys reefs. Underwater microphones can help detect it</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/blast-fishing-destroys-reefs-underwater-microphones-can-help-detect-it/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/blast-fishing-destroys-reefs-underwater-microphones-can-help-detect-it/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 14:22:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Syris Valentine]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/26122700/Ben-deploys-a-hydrophone-credit-Tim-Lamont-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327367</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Saltwater Fish, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When he went for a dive between the tiny islands off the coast of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, marine biologist and AI researcher Ben Williams could often hear as many as three fish bombs detonate. “But the thing is, because sounds travel so far underwater, the bombing is often happening quite far away,” he said. “So [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When he went for a dive between the tiny islands off the coast of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, marine biologist and AI researcher Ben Williams could often hear as many as three fish bombs detonate. “But the thing is, because sounds travel so far underwater, the bombing is often happening quite far away,” he said. “So you could hear one that feels like a kick in the chest, then you look up [above the water], and you can’t even see a boat on the horizon.” Those islands, the Spermonde Archipelago, were once home to a pristine and vibrant network of coral reefs. But from 1990 to 2022, some three-quarters of this coral was killed, primarily by the illegal practice of blast fishing. In it, fishers toss improvised explosives into the sea to kill and stun fish en masse and scoop up the mostly intact ones, leaving underwater wreckage behind. “If you look at the rubble after a city&#8217;s been blown up in a war zone,” Williams told Mongabay in a video call, “it&#8217;s not too dissimilar.” Since 2013, local communities, conservation organizations and scientists have collaborated on the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Project, an effort to restore those damaged reefs. Williams joined researchers studying the effectiveness of those efforts in 2019. His particular contribution focused on using recent advances in data science to investigate Spermonde’s marine soundscape: Where a healthy reef sings like an alien jungle come to life at night, a dead one crackles like a forest smoldering after a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/blast-fishing-destroys-reefs-underwater-microphones-can-help-detect-it/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/blast-fishing-destroys-reefs-underwater-microphones-can-help-detect-it/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
					<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/26123332/Hydrophone-on-reef-2-credit-M.mp4" length="0" type="video/mp4" />
					<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327367</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists discover 149 new deep-sea species at remote Indian Ocean seamounts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-discover-149-new-deep-sea-species-at-remote-indian-ocean-seamounts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-discover-149-new-deep-sea-species-at-remote-indian-ocean-seamounts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 11:53:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Emma Smith]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/26081523/BANNER-IN2022-V08_170_Sponge-crab_Sphaerodromia-brizops_Museums-Victoria-Benjamin-Healley-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327357</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Christmas Island, Global, Indian Ocean, and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Health, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Mining, Natural Resources, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Overfishing, Pollution, Research, Saltwater Fish, Science, Sharks, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Indian Ocean accounts for about a fifth of global ocean area, with 90% of it reaching deeper than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet). Yet compared to the Pacific and Atlantic, its deep-sea biodiversity is relatively understudied — particularly the seamounts of the ocean’s central eastern region. An expedition that surveyed dozens of these volcanic underwater [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Indian Ocean accounts for about a fifth of global ocean area, with 90% of it reaching deeper than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet). Yet compared to the Pacific and Atlantic, its deep-sea biodiversity is relatively understudied — particularly the seamounts of the ocean’s central eastern region. An expedition that surveyed dozens of these volcanic underwater mountains around the Christmas and Cocos islands, located southwest of the Indonesian island of Jakarta between Australia and Sri Lanka, has revealed remarkable marine animal biodiversity along the Indian Ocean seafloor. Published in Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography in June, the resulting study details 149 new species, including a sea cucumber from the genus Oneirophanta, a new fish from the greeneye family (Chlorophthalmus), and a parasitic barnacle from the genus Rhizolepas. Researchers surveyed at depths ranging from 94 to 5,431 m (308 to 17,818 ft), mapping a dark abyssal seafloor punctuated by 40 to 120-million-year-old volcanic seamounts that can be up to 70 kilometers (43 miles) across. They had never been studied before, study lead author Tim O’Hara, a marine scientist at Museums Victoria in Melbourne, told Mongabay. “People had been around the islands in shallow water before, but no one had looked at life in the deep. It was a massive hole in the data,” O’Hara said. Mapping remote underwater mountains Getting to these sites required time. The islands are so remote that, leaving from Darwin on the northern coast of Australia, it took nearly seven days to arrive at Christmas&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-discover-149-new-deep-sea-species-at-remote-indian-ocean-seamounts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-discover-149-new-deep-sea-species-at-remote-indian-ocean-seamounts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327357</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Raja Ampat, children learn that their knowledge can help protect their islands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-raja-ampat-children-learn-that-their-knowledge-can-help-protect-their-islands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-raja-ampat-children-learn-that-their-knowledge-can-help-protect-their-islands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 23:31:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24232329/IMG_20260825_0810072-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327187</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, Southeast Asia, and West Papua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Energy Transition, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Marine, Marine Animals, Mining, Natural Resources, Oceans, Protected Areas, Rays, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ARBOREK, West Papua, Indonesia — “Rockhead fish, salamander fish, starfish and coral.” That’s what dozens of children from Arborek, a small island in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago, said when asked what they see in nature that is yellow and orange. The children rattled off the fish and other marine life they encounter when they play [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ARBOREK, West Papua, Indonesia — “Rockhead fish, salamander fish, starfish and coral.” That’s what dozens of children from Arborek, a small island in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago, said when asked what they see in nature that is yellow and orange. The children rattled off the fish and other marine life they encounter when they play in the sea, during a reading of a children’s book about Raja Ampat and the threat of nickel mining. A coral reef and marine life in the waters off Raja Ampat in Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. Image courtesy of Econusa. Research suggests that children who grow up closely connected to their surroundings can develop sophisticated understandings of their local environment. A 2014 study of children in 22 villages in Indonesian Borneo, for example, found that they recognized relationships among forests, rivers, wildlife and other environmental changes. So Sekar Bestari, the book’s illustrator, wasn’t surprised by the children’s answers. “Most of the time when we read the books to children, they understand them, so don’t underestimate children’s knowledge,” she said after the reading in Arborek. “We’re not surprised anymore today.” The reading was part of a three-day gathering of Indigenous communities in Arborek that brought together representatives from 20 Indigenous subtribes in Raja Ampat, as well as Indigenous people from other parts of Indonesia and abroad. The gathering, organized by Greenpeace Indonesia and local NGO Institut USBA, was intended to strengthen solidarity among Indigenous communities in protecting their lands, waters and biodiversity. The children’s knowledge of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-raja-ampat-children-learn-that-their-knowledge-can-help-protect-their-islands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-raja-ampat-children-learn-that-their-knowledge-can-help-protect-their-islands/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327187</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Antarctic krill fishery closes months early amid increasing fishing pressure</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/antarctic-krill-fishery-closes-months-early-amid-increasing-fishing-pressure/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/antarctic-krill-fishery-closes-months-early-amid-increasing-fishing-pressure/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 14:37:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24133947/ShawnHeinrichs-20230209-142451-_DSC43001-gentoo-penguin-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327086</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Penguins, Seabirds, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Aug. 12, for the second year in a row, the krill fishery in the Southern Ocean closed early after reaching its annual catch limit of 620,000 metric tons. This precautionary quota is intended to prevent overfishing from affecting populations of this shrimp-like crustacean, which forms the base of the region’s food chain. The fishery’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[On Aug. 12, for the second year in a row, the krill fishery in the Southern Ocean closed early after reaching its annual catch limit of 620,000 metric tons. This precautionary quota is intended to prevent overfishing from affecting populations of this shrimp-like crustacean, which forms the base of the region’s food chain. The fishery’s early closure was confirmed by scientists attending the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Open Science Conference, held in Oslo, Norway, from Aug. 10 to 14, 2026. “The fishery has closed early (before the end of November) because it has already caught 620,000t of krill,” Simeon Hill, marine and fisheries ecologist at the British Antarctic Survey, told Mongabay in an email. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) can grow up to 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) long and live predominantly in schools. The species forms the basis of the diets of a large proportion of wildlife populations in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, including seals, whales, penguins, seabirds, fish and squid. In the last two decades, krill has attracted growing commercial interest owing to its use in aquaculture feed, pet food and omega-3 supplements for human consumption. The early closure of the fishery is linked to the growth of the fishing fleets targeting krill, as well as to the concentration of fishing activities in areas where krill is most abundant. These areas also coincide with the main feeding grounds of wildlife populations, raising concerns about the potential negative impact of this industry on the ecosystem. Antarctic krill (Euphausia&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/antarctic-krill-fishery-closes-months-early-amid-increasing-fishing-pressure/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/antarctic-krill-fishery-closes-months-early-amid-increasing-fishing-pressure/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327086</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A deadly cross over: In South Africa, rabies moves from land animals to seals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-deadly-cross-over-in-south-africa-rabies-moves-from-land-animals-to-seals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-deadly-cross-over-in-south-africa-rabies-moves-from-land-animals-to-seals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 14:21:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nic Bothma]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24125554/a.-Rabies-Seals-10-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327100</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Diseases, Ecosystems, Environment, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Debbie Hendrikz was walking along her usual route on the shoreline when she crouched to photograph a seal. She is familiar with seals and has captured similar images along the beach. But this was different. “It just went for me,” the 49-year-old said. “I knew instinctively by the sound it [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Debbie Hendrikz was walking along her usual route on the shoreline when she crouched to photograph a seal. She is familiar with seals and has captured similar images along the beach. But this was different. “It just went for me,” the 49-year-old said. “I knew instinctively by the sound it made that I was its prey. It grabbed my arm and bit hard into a metal bracelet I was wearing, which saved me. I knew I had to get away and not let it get my feet in the soft sand. I managed to shake it off my arm and just got away.” &#8220;I never imagined anything like this could happen. It took me a long while to get over it.&#8221; Seals do not normally see humans as prey, but Hendrikz’s encounter is one of a growing list of recent attacks by the marine mammals in Cape Town. According to Gregg Oelofse, the City of Cape Town&#8217;s coastal manager, the city has recorded 135 incidents of aggressive seal behavior toward humans since September 2021. More than half, 73 incidents,  resulted in bite injuries ranging from broken skin to those requiring hospitalization in an intensive care unit. Researchers in South Africa suspect the incidents stem from a disease normally associated with land animals that appears to be leaping to Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) — rabies. According to South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), reports of rabies in seals around the world prior to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-deadly-cross-over-in-south-africa-rabies-moves-from-land-animals-to-seals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327100</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous fishers rethink shark hunting &#038; protect species on Colombia’s coast</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-fishers-rethink-shark-hunting-protect-species-on-colombias-coast/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-fishers-rethink-shark-hunting-protect-species-on-colombias-coast/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Aug 2026 06:00:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Euan Wallace]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/19153718/DSC04428-2-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326694</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Citizen Science, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Crime, Ecosystems, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Science, and Sharks]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LA GUAJIRA, Colombia — Feet from the ocean, four sharks and a ray lie dead on the wind-battered sand. Above them stands Wilfrido Arends, 46. The blade of a short knife glints in his hand. Carefully, he bends down to cut a small fin from the underside of one shark — an endangered species known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LA GUAJIRA, Colombia — Feet from the ocean, four sharks and a ray lie dead on the wind-battered sand. Above them stands Wilfrido Arends, 46. The blade of a short knife glints in his hand. Carefully, he bends down to cut a small fin from the underside of one shark — an endangered species known as a blacknose (Carcharhinus acronotus). He hands the sample to a woman next to him, who places it delicately in a vial. A tape measure is passed over the still glistening back of the dead shark. Each measurement is read out and noted down. Arends, a fisher from Colombia&#8217;s Wayuu Indigenous community, is spearheading shark research and conservation in Punta Gallinas, a Wayuu community where shark meat is part of the traditional diet. Home to around 50 families, the community sits at the northernmost tip of South America. &#8220;If we wipe out our sharks, I think that further down the line we will miss them,&#8221; says Arends, who is known locally as &#8220;Caracas.&#8221; Together with researchers from Colombian shark conservation initiative Proyecto Puyuii, Arends and other Wayuu fishers are documenting shark diversity in the largely unstudied waters of La Guajira. &#8220;There&#8217;s almost no data on anything,&#8221; says Diego Cardeñosa, a marine biologist at Florida International University in the U.S. A member of Proyecto Puyuii, he has been training Wayuu fishers to record the shark species they catch. Wayuu fishers and Puyuii researchers measure the carcass of a caught blacknose shark, an endangered species. Image by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-fishers-rethink-shark-hunting-protect-species-on-colombias-coast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326694</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mobile queen conch hatcheries strive to help the species, engage Caribbean communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mobile-queen-conch-hatcheries-strive-to-help-the-species-engage-caribbean-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mobile-queen-conch-hatcheries-strive-to-help-the-species-engage-caribbean-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2026 09:54:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[André Habet]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/17144351/Henry-Carey-holds-up-shells-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326429</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Molluscs, Oceans, Overfishing, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Queen conch were once so abundant that fishers in many parts of the Caribbean could wade into knee-deep waters and gather armfuls of the pink, whorled shells. Today, however, the giant marine snails are in decline across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, while some populations have already collapsed. Growing demand for queen [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Queen conch were once so abundant that fishers in many parts of the Caribbean could wade into knee-deep waters and gather armfuls of the pink, whorled shells. Today, however, the giant marine snails are in decline across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, while some populations have already collapsed. Growing demand for queen conch (Aliger gigas) meat and shells has led to overharvesting; habitat degradation, pollution and warming waters add further threats. Despite a 1992 CITES Appendix II listing to regulate their international trade, seasonal restrictions and bans by several Caribbean countries to address overfishing and juvenile harvesting, and a 2024 designation as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, few queen conch survive to adulthood compared to historical baselines. In a bid to slow the species’ decline by helping more conch reach reproductive age, scientists are deploying an innovative set of solar-powered mobile hatcheries to shelter them through their vulnerable early life stages. The Queen Conch Lab (QCL), affiliated with Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in the U.S., partners with local conservation organizations to deploy the hatcheries. The aim is not just to build nurseries that will nurture and protect developing conch, but to create community learning spaces where students and other visitors can gain knowledge about the species’ life cycle and participate in restoration efforts, according to Megan Davis, director of the QCL and a research professor at FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. A researcher holds a juvenile queen conch. Image by Jennifer Doerr, NOAA&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mobile-queen-conch-hatcheries-strive-to-help-the-species-engage-caribbean-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326429</doi>				</item>
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