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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/cetaceans/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2026 23:58:15 +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 Cetaceans</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/cetaceans/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>A lifetime studying and advocating for cetaceans: Interview with Paul Spong</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-lifetime-studying-and-advocating-for-cetaceans-interview-with-paul-spong/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-lifetime-studying-and-advocating-for-cetaceans-interview-with-paul-spong/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 12:38:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09115106/IMG_8954-1280x893-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332052</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Mammals, Marine Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Paul Spong’s life has been entwined with whales for nearly six decades. In the 1960s, Spong, who hails from Aotearoa New Zealand, moved to the U.S. to study physiological psychology at the Brain Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. Then, in 1967, he entered the world of cetaceans when the Vancouver Aquarium [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Paul Spong’s life has been entwined with whales for nearly six decades. In the 1960s, Spong, who hails from Aotearoa New Zealand, moved to the U.S. to study physiological psychology at the Brain Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. Then, in 1967, he entered the world of cetaceans when the Vancouver Aquarium in Canada hired him to study the behavior of a once-wild orca (Orcinus orca) named Skana, who’d been captured from Puget Sound that same year. While conducting behavioral, visual and auditory experiments on Skana, Spong quickly noticed the orca’s high intelligence and self-awareness, and advocated for her release. But the aquarium, which didn’t renew Spong’s contract, held onto Skana until her death in 1980. After his experience with Skana, Spong decided to investigate orcas in their natural habitat. In 1970, he landed on Hanson Island, off the northeastern coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada, with a tent and hydrophone, intending to study the local whales over the Northern Hemisphere summer. But his project stretched out longer than a single season, and by the late 1970s, Spong had founded a permanent research facility on Hanson Island, known today as the OrcaLab. Spong and his wife, whale researcher Helena Symonds, now serve as co-directors of the organization. Northern resident orcas near Hanson Island in British Columbia. Image courtesy of OrcaLab. Spong and Symonds made a conscious decision to take a hands-off approach, only observing the orcas using land-based hydrophones and cameras, rather than tracking them&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-lifetime-studying-and-advocating-for-cetaceans-interview-with-paul-spong/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332052</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>
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					<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>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/new-global-maps-chart-40-years-of-ocean-heat-and-acidification-extremes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330790</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pakistan expands protected habitat for Indus River dolphin as recovery offers hope</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pakistan-expands-protected-habitat-for-indus-river-dolphin-as-recovery-offers-hope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pakistan-expands-protected-habitat-for-indus-river-dolphin-as-recovery-offers-hope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2026 21:28:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Muhammad Talal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/24130618/%D9%BE%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86_%DA%A9%D8%A7_%D9%82%D9%88%D9%85%DB%8C_%D8%A2%D8%A8%DB%8C_%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B1%DB%8C_%D9%85%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84%DB%8C%DB%81-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330706</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Freshwater, Habitat, Mammals, Mongabay.org, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Between 11 million and 16 million years ago, during the high sea levels of the middle Miocene period, the ancestors of the Indus River dolphin entered the muddy waters of what is the Indus Basin today. Over millennia, they adapted to their new environment through extraordinary evolutionary shifts, developing sophisticated echolocation while gradually losing their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Between 11 million and 16 million years ago, during the high sea levels of the middle Miocene period, the ancestors of the Indus River dolphin entered the muddy waters of what is the Indus Basin today. Over millennia, they adapted to their new environment through extraordinary evolutionary shifts, developing sophisticated echolocation while gradually losing their eyesight. Today, these blind mammals, living mostly in Pakistan (with a small population in northwestern India), navigate the river&#8217;s shallow, dry-season waters by swimming on their sides. Yet, these evolutionary marvels offer little defense against the modern transformation of their habitat. That habitat is fragmented by vast networks of dams, human-made canals and irrigation barrages. Consequently, the Indus River dolphin (Platanista minor), locally known as the bhulan, has seen its historical range slashed by approximately 80%. The species, which boasted an estimated population of 10,000 in the late 19th century, plummeted to just 617 individuals by 2001 before rebounding to around 2,000 over the next decade. The Indus River dolphin is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. In response, Pakistan&#8217;s government has officially created the Punjnad Indus River Dolphin Sanctuary in June 2026, safeguarding nearly 200 kilometers (123 miles) of the river in Punjab. This new zone connects with an existing protected area in Sindh province, southeastern Pakistan, that creates a contiguous 400-km (249-mi) stretch of legally protected habitat, offering a critical lifeline to one of the world&#8217;s rarest freshwater dolphins. The timing of this legal protection is of the essence, as a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pakistan-expands-protected-habitat-for-indus-river-dolphin-as-recovery-offers-hope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pakistan-expands-protected-habitat-for-indus-river-dolphin-as-recovery-offers-hope/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330706</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>Mekong’s Irrawaddy dolphins find cautious hope amid a river in crisis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mekongs-irrawaddy-dolphins-find-cautious-hope-amid-a-river-in-crisis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mekongs-irrawaddy-dolphins-find-cautious-hope-amid-a-river-in-crisis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2026 20:59:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Eung Sea]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/17123401/WWF-Cambodia01-dolphin-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329840</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Culture, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Endangered Species, Environment, Fishing, Freshwater, Illegal Fishing, Mammals, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KAMPI, Cambodia — At nine in the morning, the sun beats down on the Mekong River as Heang Koeurn turns off the motor of his boat and bobs on the water. He has done this every morning for 11 years, and he still leans forward the same way when he waits: elbows on his knees, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KAMPI, Cambodia — At nine in the morning, the sun beats down on the Mekong River as Heang Koeurn turns off the motor of his boat and bobs on the water. He has done this every morning for 11 years, and he still leans forward the same way when he waits: elbows on his knees, eyes scanning the water for a gray curve to break the surface. Finally, he spots what he’s looking for: Irrawaddy dolphins, the river’s sole cetaceans. Just meters away, a boat carries about half a dozen foreign tourists who squint and point as, one after another, the dorsal fins of a group of Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) crest above the water. “Irrawaddy dolphins are very important for our community,” Koeurn says, drifting his boat slowly on the water. “People here can make more income from tourists by driving them to see the beauty of Irrawaddy dolphins.” But the Mekong River, a lifeline for millions of people across Southeast Asia, is in ecological crisis, threatening the survival of Irrawaddy dolphins — and with it the livelihoods and traditions of communities along the river. Every morning, boat driver Heang Koeurn takes tourists for dolphin sightseeing at Kampi pool. Image by Eung Sea for Mongabay. Habitat in tatters The Mekong River cuts through northern Stung Treng province along Cambodia’s border with Laos, where deep pools shelter unique aquatic species such as the giant freshwater stingray. The Kampi pool, a 60-meter- (nearly 200-feet-) deep stretch of the river in Cambodia’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mekongs-irrawaddy-dolphins-find-cautious-hope-amid-a-river-in-crisis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329840</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Against the odds, endangered dolphins survive in Bangladesh’s polluted river</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 10:11:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Md Jahidul Islam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14095844/ganges-river-dolphin-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329579</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Mammals, Pollution, Rivers, Waste, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka city, is one of Bangladesh’s most polluted waterways and ranks among the most contaminated urban rivers in the world. Every day, the 29-kilometre- (18-mile-) long Buriganga River absorbs toxic industrial effluent from hundreds of factories, continuous tannery discharges, untreated sewage and solid waste, leaving much of the river [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka city, is one of Bangladesh’s most polluted waterways and ranks among the most contaminated urban rivers in the world. Every day, the 29-kilometre- (18-mile-) long Buriganga River absorbs toxic industrial effluent from hundreds of factories, continuous tannery discharges, untreated sewage and solid waste, leaving much of the river virtually lifeless for fish. However, in the Buriganga, where native fish species have essentially vanished, endangered Ganges river dolphins (Platanista gangetica) continue to persist. A recent study published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity found that around 20 dolphins live in the river. Researchers conducted the study for 12 months, from September 2023 to August 2024, and systematically surveyed a 27-km (16.7-mi) stretch of this heavily polluted river that skirts the southern edge of Dhaka. “The Buriganga is not a usual place for dolphins, where native fishes have largely vanished. Leaving the river full of invasive suckermouth catfish [Hypostomus Plecostomus, locally called sakar fish],” one of the researchers, Md. Aminur Rahman, told Mongabay. “When we found [the dolphins], we were amazed at how it was possible. Because the river is not livable for fish. Around the year, we didn’t track any dolphins only during two of the months, but all the other 10 months we tracked them.” The highest number of dolphins were seen in December, and throughout the winter season, and none were seen in October 2023 or between July and August of 2024. The dolphin groups averaged 4.18 individuals, higher than in earlier&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329579</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>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>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![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>Spain proposes 23 new marine protected areas in the Canary Islands and Mediterranean</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/spain-proposes-23-new-marine-protected-areas-in-the-canary-islands-and-mediterranean/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/spain-proposes-23-new-marine-protected-areas-in-the-canary-islands-and-mediterranean/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Aug 2026 14:28:46 +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/20/2026/08/21130834/scarlet-sea-fan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326890</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Mediterranean Sea, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Law, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Protected Areas, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Spanish government has launched a consultation process to establish 23 new marine protected areas (MPAs) in Canary Islands waters and the Mediterranean Sea as part of efforts to meet a national commitment to protect 30% of its waters by 2030. The proposal, put forward by Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Spanish government has launched a consultation process to establish 23 new marine protected areas (MPAs) in Canary Islands waters and the Mediterranean Sea as part of efforts to meet a national commitment to protect 30% of its waters by 2030. The proposal, put forward by Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) in July, aims to protect 22,405 square kilometers (8,651 square miles) of marine waters primarily in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean around the Canary Islands, part of a region known as Macaronesia. It also covers areas of the Mediterranean off the coasts of Valencia, Almería, Granada and the Balearic island of Mallorca. The proposal includes 21 new sites of community importance (SCIs) under the Natura 2000 network. Seventeen of these are in Canary Islands waters covering 2,209 km2 (853 mi2), while four more in the Mediterranean Sea will cover 5,341 km2 (2,062 mi2). In addition, two new special protection areas (SPAs) will cover 14,855 km2 (5,736 mi2) of offshore waters around the Canary Islands. The plan, the ministry writes in the proposal, “will increase the area of marine waters under Spanish sovereignty or jurisdiction that are protected by 2.08 percentage points, bringing the total to 24.53%.” The proposal is now open for public consultation until Sept. 15. The black coral Antipathella wollastoni provides structure for biodiversity-rich marine animal forests in rocky seabeds near the Canary Islands. The species and the ecosystems it supports are vulnerable to overfishing, climate change, marine pollution and coastal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/spain-proposes-23-new-marine-protected-areas-in-the-canary-islands-and-mediterranean/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326890</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Iceland to deport antiwhaling protest ship’s crew after they interfered with whale hunt</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/iceland-to-deport-antiwhaling-protest-ships-crew-after-they-interfered-with-whale-hunt/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/iceland-to-deport-antiwhaling-protest-ships-crew-after-they-interfered-with-whale-hunt/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 18:39:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alex Megerle]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11165330/Hvalskurdur_038-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325958</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Iceland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Cetaceans, Culture, Environment, Hunting, Mammals, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Protests, Traditional People, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Iceland detained the M/V Bandero, an antiwhaling protest ship, on July 30 and held the boat in port in Reykjavík with its 21-person crew detained on board, according to Manolya Adan, an environmental biologist who was among the crew. She spoke to Mongabay on Aug. 4 from the ship and communicated further via [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Iceland detained the M/V Bandero, an antiwhaling protest ship, on July 30 and held the boat in port in Reykjavík with its 21-person crew detained on board, according to Manolya Adan, an environmental biologist who was among the crew. She spoke to Mongabay on Aug. 4 from the ship and communicated further via text message over the next few days. The vessel is operated by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, a “direct action” ocean conservation nonprofit that operates globally (but maintains a P.O. box in New York City). It flies the Panamanian flag. According to the foundation, the M/V Bandero had been at sea for more than a month monitoring whaling activities by Hvalur hf., the country’s last whaling company, which is owned by Kristján Loftsson. The ship had purportedly been required to report its position hourly to the Icelandic Coast Guard, broadcast AIS and were under constant surveillance, monitored by plane and drones. The vessel entered into Iceland’s 12-nautical-mile national waters on July 30 after the crew identified that the Hvalur 9, one of the country’s last whaling ships, was leaving harbor. The Hvalur 9 returned to port without hunting as the M/V Bandero approached. The Coast Guard then deployed a helicopter and pursued the M/V Bandero with patrol vessels, eventually boarding the ship with armed forces. Adan said the vessel was boarded just before midnight on July 30 in Iceland’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), an area that extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the country’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/iceland-to-deport-antiwhaling-protest-ships-crew-after-they-interfered-with-whale-hunt/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325958</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Canada’s captive belugas arrive in the US, questions linger about their future</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-canadas-captive-belugas-arrive-in-the-us-questions-linger-about-their-future/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-canadas-captive-belugas-arrive-in-the-us-questions-linger-about-their-future/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2026 16:16:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/07145954/%C2%A9Shedd-Aquarium-Brenna-Hernandez_Beluga-Rescue_1400_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325574</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Environment, Mammals, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thirteen beluga whales, part of a pod of about 30 that were left languishing in a shuttered Canadian theme park, arrived in the U.S. The first transfer of six whales happened on July 21, and another seven were shipped out on August 3. These whales are part of the emergency transfers from Canada’s Marineland to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thirteen beluga whales, part of a pod of about 30 that were left languishing in a shuttered Canadian theme park, arrived in the U.S. The first transfer of six whales happened on July 21, and another seven were shipped out on August 3. These whales are part of the emergency transfers from Canada’s Marineland to their new homes in the U.S., marking the beginning of the end to a year-long saga of uncertainty. Shipped in specialized, cold-water containers, the belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) traveled for hours, on trucks and a plane, to two U.S. facilities: nine individuals went to SeaWorld in San Antonio, Texas, and four females to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, in two batches. Marine mammal veterinarians accompanied the cetaceans throughout their journeys, according to a press release from Georgia Aquarium. A spokesperson from the Atlanta-based aquarium said in an email it hopes to receive two beluga whales from Marineland in subsequent transfers. The international transfer came to fruition after several aquariums, all accredited with the U.S.-based Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), drew up an emergency rescue plan earlier this year to transfer the belugas out of Marineland. These cetaceans had spent years at the theme park in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In 2019, Canada passed the landmark Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act, which banned the keeping, breeding and trading of cetaceans — whales, dolphins and porpoises — for entertainment, affecting Marineland’s business model. By 2021, Marineland was Canada’s only entertainment park with cetaceans and was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-canadas-captive-belugas-arrive-in-the-us-questions-linger-about-their-future/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325574</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title> Seeking swordfish, catching dolphins and whales: EU pushes to rein in driftnets</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2026 20:24:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/08160916/a.-BANNER-GP0156K-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322913</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, European Union, Mediterranean Sea, Morocco, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Bycatch, Cetaceans, Dolphins, Elasmobranchs, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Illegal Fishing, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Sharks, Tuna, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Driftnets, vertically hanging nets that drift with ocean currents and can stretch for kilometers, are used to catch large pelagic species such as swordfish and tuna. However, they have long drawn criticism from conservationists as they also capture and kill sharks, turtles, dolphins and other marine wildlife. For decades, debate has raged about use of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Driftnets, vertically hanging nets that drift with ocean currents and can stretch for kilometers, are used to catch large pelagic species such as swordfish and tuna. However, they have long drawn criticism from conservationists as they also capture and kill sharks, turtles, dolphins and other marine wildlife. For decades, debate has raged about use of the large nets. It’s a particularly contentious issue in the Mediterranean Sea, an important migration corridor that faces considerable pressure from overfishing, pollution and climate change. Now, international efforts to tighten legislation on driftnets in the Mediterranean have gained new momentum as member states of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) consider a proposal aimed at closing loopholes in existing rules. ICCAT is the world’s largest regional fisheries management organization, managing the stocks of highly migratory species, including tuna, swordfish (Xiphias gladius) and some shark species across the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. At ICCAT’s technical meetings held in Brussels in June, the European Union presented a proposal (see IMM_09_ENG.docx in link) that seeks to strengthen current driftnet rules. Fishers haul an illegal driftnet in international waters west of Marettimo Island, near Sicily. Image © Gavin Parsons/Greenpeace. The EU proposal would establish clearer definitions for driftnets, prohibit their possession on vessels that target certain species, and extend restrictions beyond the Mediterranean to parts of the Atlantic Ocean. “The EU has the clear ambition to push for the adoption of this measure at this year’s annual meeting of ICCAT (in November),” an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322913</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Listen to whales to improve connection, care &#038; ocean health (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/listen-to-whales-to-improve-connection-care-ocean-health-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/listen-to-whales-to-improve-connection-care-ocean-health-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jul 2026 17:07:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David GruberSylvia Earle]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/11143500/whales-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322579</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Cetaceans, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Ecosystems, Environment, Mammals, Marine, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Science, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Seventy years ago, Le Monde du Silence, a film by Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle, depicted the ocean as silent. Today, we know that the ocean is filled with the melodies of millions of vocalizing sea creatures, from the crisp snapping of shrimps to the complex singing and speaking of whales. In fact, the first [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Seventy years ago, Le Monde du Silence, a film by Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle, depicted the ocean as silent. Today, we know that the ocean is filled with the melodies of millions of vocalizing sea creatures, from the crisp snapping of shrimps to the complex singing and speaking of whales. In fact, the first life to vocalize with intent likely began in the sea. It is far from silent. Together, our careers span generations of ocean exploration. Sylvia has spent more than seven decades advancing ocean exploration and conservation, helping inspire the protection of critical marine ecosystems. And David has worked for more than three decades to better understand how marine life perceive their world, which has led him to a current focus with Project CETI translating the communication of whales. This is uncovering a vast depth and complexity in whale voices, which we are just beginning to understand. While there have been remarkable conservation successes, the overall trend is clear: the health of the ocean is declining faster than our efforts to protect it. Throughout our careers, we have witnessed extraordinary discoveries about marine life as well as humans’ ability to access even its deepest reaches, alongside dramatic changes to the ocean itself. We have celebrated conservation victories and scientific and technological breakthroughs. But we have also watched habitats disappear, species decline, and human impacts reach even the most remote corners of our oceans. David Gruber and Sylvia Earle in conversation for the Project CETI program, &#8220;The Deep&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/listen-to-whales-to-improve-connection-care-ocean-health-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/listen-to-whales-to-improve-connection-care-ocean-health-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322579</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protect Antarctic krill to preserve the health of Africa&#8217;s coastal communities (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/protect-antarctic-krill-to-preserve-the-health-of-africas-coastal-communities-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/protect-antarctic-krill-to-preserve-the-health-of-africas-coastal-communities-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2026 16:06:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carmen dos Santos]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/10/19140157/16238835137_bc4b034208_h-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321376</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Angola, Central Africa, Global, and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, food security, Governance, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overfishing, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This week, as governments of various coastal states gather in Mombasa, Kenya, for the Our Ocean Conference, Africa must demand an end to industrial krill fishing in the Southern Ocean before irreversible damage is done to Antarctica and the ocean systems upon which our continent depends. A clear call from Africa would bolster international calls [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This week, as governments of various coastal states gather in Mombasa, Kenya, for the Our Ocean Conference, Africa must demand an end to industrial krill fishing in the Southern Ocean before irreversible damage is done to Antarctica and the ocean systems upon which our continent depends. A clear call from Africa would bolster international calls for a ban on industrial krill fishing and support positive leadership developments like the European Parliament’s recent call for a moratorium on krill fishing. The Southern Ocean regulates global ocean circulation, absorbs enormous quantities of heat and carbon dioxide, and sustains marine life across the planet. At the center of this system is Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), the tiny crustacean that feeds whales, penguins, seals and seabirds while helping lock carbon into the deep ocean. Industrial krill fishing has expanded rapidly over the last few years, with the largest share of this extraction controlled by fleets linked to certain European and Asian countries. Most concerningly, fishing is intensifying precisely where Antarctic wildlife is most vulnerable: critical feeding grounds for whales, penguins and seals are actively targeted by the industry. A single adult Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is usually just five centimeters long, but the importance of its massive populations to marine food chains, and the millions of people who depend on ocean protein as part of their daily diet, is major. Image courtesy of Uwe Kils via Wikimedia Commons. The damage is already visible. In April, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/protect-antarctic-krill-to-preserve-the-health-of-africas-coastal-communities-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/protect-antarctic-krill-to-preserve-the-health-of-africas-coastal-communities-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321376</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A year on, Australia’s biggest harmful algal bloom continues to wreak havoc</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 18:42:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nick Rodway]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08044105/1-d.-Algae-Bloom-Marine-Life-Washups-Stefan-Andrews_-12-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320708</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[algae, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Citizen Science, Climate, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Dolphins, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Governance, Habitat, Health, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Monitoring, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Penguins, Rays, Research, Sharks, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PORT HUGHES, Australia — Situated midway along the Great Southern Reef that spans Australia’s southern coastline, the waters off Port Hughes typically teem with life. The coastal hamlet northwest of Adelaide plays host to a multitude of coral, bivalve and fish species. But in late March, the largest and longest harmful algal bloom (HAB) in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PORT HUGHES, Australia — Situated midway along the Great Southern Reef that spans Australia’s southern coastline, the waters off Port Hughes typically teem with life. The coastal hamlet northwest of Adelaide plays host to a multitude of coral, bivalve and fish species. But in late March, the largest and longest harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Australian history arrived to Port Hughes, depleting its waters’ rich biodiversity. The bloom had first appeared elsewhere off the state of South Australia’s coast a year earlier, causing eye and skin irritation and respiratory symptoms among beachgoers. Then, along with waves of acrid-smelling sea foam, scores of dead marine animals began washing ashore. In Port Hughes, the HAB’s impacts were most visible below the surface. The town’s wooden jetty had previously been one of the most consistent locations in South Australia to observe temperate species, said Stefan Andrews, co-founder of the Great Southern Reef Foundation, a conservation advocacy group. But by mid-April, when Mongabay joined Andrews on a dive, the site was drab compared with vibrant photographs taken in February and March. Under the jetty, sponges and corals that had previously adorned its pylons in a brilliantly hued mosaic appeared colorless. Apart from a short-headed seahorse (Hippocampus breviceps) — a “sign of hope,” Andrews called it — little life was visible in the murky waters. The reef, he said, had become quieter, lacking the sounds of snapping shrimp and other creatures that once played in the underwater soundtrack. “There’s a sense of loss when you&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320708</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Whale strike risk rises as international shipping reroutes around South Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 06:37:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04104305/IMG_9041-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320573</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Governance, Science, Shipping, trafficking, Whale Sharks, Whales, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In April this year, two Bryde’s whales washed-up dead-on Dyer Island, a small nature reserve located a few kilometers off the coast of Gansbaai in South Africa’s Western Cape province. Both whales carried severe injuries; their vertebrae had been shattered. “It was very clear that it was [vessel] strikes, because both those whales were snapped [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In April this year, two Bryde’s whales washed-up dead-on Dyer Island, a small nature reserve located a few kilometers off the coast of Gansbaai in South Africa’s Western Cape province. Both whales carried severe injuries; their vertebrae had been shattered. “It was very clear that it was [vessel] strikes, because both those whales were snapped in half, and you can also see the propeller marks,” Loraine Shuttleworth, head of research at the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, told Mongabay. Two whale strandings linked to ship strikes in one month alone is an unusually high number, Shuttleworth said. A new risk assessment has linked the increase in risk of ships striking whales to the rerouting of maritime traffic around South African coast. Due to the Houthi rebels attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea, which started in 2023, and the more recent fallout from the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, many cargo companies have rerouted their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope. With greater shipping traffic comes a growing threat to marine species inhabiting the region: collisions with large, fast-moving vessels. Between December 2023 and December 2024, the number of large vessels traveling through South African waters at average speeds above 15 knots (28 kilometers per hour) has quadrupled, satellite data show. The scale of the increased maritime traffic struck scientist Els Vermeulen from the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit, on a flight into Cape Town in 2025. “It was a beautiful day, and there were just&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320573</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Southern Ocean is key to our planet&#8217;s future &#038; we have a chance to protect it this year (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-southern-ocean-is-key-to-our-planets-future-we-have-a-chance-to-protect-it-this-year-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-southern-ocean-is-key-to-our-planets-future-we-have-a-chance-to-protect-it-this-year-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 May 2026 16:02:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Zac Goldsmith]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/10190606/WWF_Jay-Williams.-Chinstrap-penguins-e1760123344432-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319355</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Certification, Commentary, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overfishing, Penguins, Sustainability, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of the most striking images in David Attenborough&#8217;s Ocean, his defining 2025 documentary, is of supertrawlers dragging vast krill nets through a pod of feeding humpback whales off Antarctica. For most viewers, it will have been the moment a distant and invisible crisis became viscerally real. But it was also something else: a glimpse [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of the most striking images in David Attenborough&#8217;s Ocean, his defining 2025 documentary, is of supertrawlers dragging vast krill nets through a pod of feeding humpback whales off Antarctica. For most viewers, it will have been the moment a distant and invisible crisis became viscerally real. But it was also something else: a glimpse of what is at stake if we fail to act, and a reminder of how little time we have left to protect some of our planet’s most precious resources. The Southern Ocean is not simply another stretch of water in need of protection. It is the engine of the global climate system, and one of the last places on Earth where nature still operates on its own terms. Right now, it is in serious trouble. The Antarctic Peninsula is home to roughly a third of the global krill population, which sustains whales, penguins, seals and seabirds. But three consecutive years of record-low sea ice have disrupted the reproduction cycles that krill depend on, and last year the krill fishery hit its 620,000-metric-ton catch limit for the first time in history, closing three months early. Industrial fleets from Norway, China, South Korea, Chile and Ukraine are extracting them at a pace that the ecosystem, already stressed by climate change, cannot absorb. The Marine Stewardship Council&#8217;s recent decision to recertify the Antarctic krill fishery as &#8220;sustainable,&#8221; despite an outdated stock assessment and mounting evidence of localized harm to whale and penguin populations, has rightly drawn legal challenge.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-southern-ocean-is-key-to-our-planets-future-we-have-a-chance-to-protect-it-this-year-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-southern-ocean-is-key-to-our-planets-future-we-have-a-chance-to-protect-it-this-year-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319355</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dangerous arsenic levels detected in Thailand’s Mekong mainstream for first time</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/dangerous-arsenic-levels-detected-in-thailands-mekong-mainstream-for-first-time/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/dangerous-arsenic-levels-detected-in-thailands-mekong-mainstream-for-first-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 May 2026 02:47:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/09223648/Fishers-Mekong-near-Chiang-Khong-3_stefan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318973</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Laos, Mekong Basin, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Dolphins, Drinking Water, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Energy Transition, extractives, Farming, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Mining, Pollution, Rivers, Science, Tropics, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Thai authorities have found what they described as dangerous levels of arsenic contamination in sediment from the Mekong River and three of its tributaries in the northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Heavy metal pollution has been reported from key tributaries of the Mekong for more than a year now, but [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Thai authorities have found what they described as dangerous levels of arsenic contamination in sediment from the Mekong River and three of its tributaries in the northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Heavy metal pollution has been reported from key tributaries of the Mekong for more than a year now, but the tests conducted in March by Thailand’s Pollution Control Department mark the first time that arsenic contamination has been detected on the mainstream of the Mekong, a vital transboundary river that supports thousands of plant and wildlife species and the livelihoods of millions of people. The test results published in mid-April show that sediment taken from three separate monitoring stations along the Mekong mainstream contained arsenic concentrations of between 73 and 296 milligrams per kilogram of sediment. According to the Pollution Control Department, concentrations of less than 10 mg/kg are considered broadly safe for aquatic life; levels higher than 33 mg/kg are deemed dangerous. Arsenic levels in sediment taken from various points along the Kok, Sai and Ruak rivers, key tributaries of the Mekong, all ranged from below the 33 mg/kg safe limit up to 57 mg/kg, the Pollution Control Department said via its official Facebook page, noting the contamination appears to be spreading through the river system. Thailand&#8217;s Pollution Control Department posted results of the sediment tests to their official Facebook page on April 10, 2026. Image sourced from the Pollution Control Department&#8217;s Facebook. Heavy metal pollution in the Mekong Basin has been widely&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/dangerous-arsenic-levels-detected-in-thailands-mekong-mainstream-for-first-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/dangerous-arsenic-levels-detected-in-thailands-mekong-mainstream-for-first-time/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318973</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>AI tool listens for endangered orcas in real time to reduce human disturbance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ai-tool-listens-for-endangered-orcas-in-real-time-to-reduce-human-disturbance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ai-tool-listens-for-endangered-orcas-in-real-time-to-reduce-human-disturbance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2026 08:27:16 +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/20/2026/04/22081854/orcas-swim-in-blue-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317912</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America, Pacific Ocean, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Artificial Intelligence, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Endangered Species, Environment, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Where are the orcas at? And at what times are they making the most calls? Answering those questions with pinpoint accuracy is crucial to protecting the famed “southern resident” orcas off North America’s northern Pacific coast. An AI-driven initiative is now helping parse through large amounts of ocean sounds to identify and detect the orcas [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Where are the orcas at? And at what times are they making the most calls? Answering those questions with pinpoint accuracy is crucial to protecting the famed “southern resident” orcas off North America’s northern Pacific coast. An AI-driven initiative is now helping parse through large amounts of ocean sounds to identify and detect the orcas in real time. OrcaHello is working with scientists and government agencies to detect the presence of this specific group of orcas and minimize the impact that coastal activities may have on them. Southern resident orcas (Orcinus orca ater) are considered an endangered subspecies made up of three distinct pods. According to the Center for Whale Research, a U.S.-based nonprofit that studies this group exclusively, there are only 76 remaining individuals of these orcas as of December 2025. A decline in the populations of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), their primary source of food, along with noise pollution and vessel traffic are major threats to their survival. “Inbreeding is also starting to be a problem, which is what you’d expect for a small population,” David Bain, chief scientist at Orca Conservancy, another nonprofit focused on the southern resident orcas, told Mongabay in a video interview. “That means the decline is going to resume unless we make conditions better.” OrcaHello was developed to look specifically into the issue of noise pollution and vessel traffic. “It’s a real-time AI alert system that’s listening 24/7 for orca calls,” Akash Mahajan, who co-developed the tool, told Mongabay in a video interview.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ai-tool-listens-for-endangered-orcas-in-real-time-to-reduce-human-disturbance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ai-tool-listens-for-endangered-orcas-in-real-time-to-reduce-human-disturbance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317912</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Singapore resort said to halt controversial dolphin sourcing, breeding</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/singapore-resort-said-to-halt-controversial-dolphin-sourcing-breeding/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/singapore-resort-said-to-halt-controversial-dolphin-sourcing-breeding/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Mar 2026 05:21:35 +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/20/2026/03/30112321/AP720134243665-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316502</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Environment, Environmental Law, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — The Resorts World Sentosa casino and entertainment complex in Singapore has halted sourcing dolphins from the wild for its aquarium, Mongabay has learned. The resort’s Oceanarium has also suspended its breeding program, according to insiders. The facility is assembling a panel of experts to determine the future of the more than 20 Indo-Pacific [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — The Resorts World Sentosa casino and entertainment complex in Singapore has halted sourcing dolphins from the wild for its aquarium, Mongabay has learned. The resort’s Oceanarium has also suspended its breeding program, according to insiders. The facility is assembling a panel of experts to determine the future of the more than 20 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) it has held since 2013. RWS has not announced any formal policy regarding the dolphins and declined to comment. Multiple visits by Mongabay to the Oceanarium were unable to confirm the exact number of animals held at its Marine Mammal Habitat, although trainers said no additional dolphins were being captured or bred. The last dolphin born at the facility was Kenzo, a male now 7 years old, staff said during a visit in March. Uncertainty over the fate of Singapore’s captive dolphins comes amid a growing global shift against keeping cetaceans in captivity, as awareness grows of their intelligence, complex social structures, and poor welfare in confined environments. In June 2025, Mexico became the latest country to ban the captivity of cetaceans for entertainment, joining Canada, France, India, Chile, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Taiwan is also phasing out cetacean performances. But countries including China, Japan and some in the Middle East continue to source dolphins for newly built aquariums as they expand marine attractions aimed at boosting tourism. RWS originally sourced 27 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins from the Solomon Islands in 2008 and 2009. The Dolphin Island exhibit&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/singapore-resort-said-to-halt-controversial-dolphin-sourcing-breeding/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/singapore-resort-said-to-halt-controversial-dolphin-sourcing-breeding/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316502</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Belugas facing euthanasia at shuttered Canada theme park may find new homes in US</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/belugas-facing-euthanasia-at-shuttered-canada-theme-park-may-find-new-homes-in-us/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/belugas-facing-euthanasia-at-shuttered-canada-theme-park-may-find-new-homes-in-us/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 20:45:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10173303/Marinland09_2412085592-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315512</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For about three decades, beluga whales and bottlenose dolphins greeted more than a million annual visitors to Marineland of Canada. In the sprawling 162-hectare (400-acre) theme park, located a stone’s throw from the world-famous Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada, dozens of cetaceans enthralled visitors — splashing, spyhopping and leaping in their concrete-lined tanks. Marineland’s peppy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For about three decades, beluga whales and bottlenose dolphins greeted more than a million annual visitors to Marineland of Canada. In the sprawling 162-hectare (400-acre) theme park, located a stone’s throw from the world-famous Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada, dozens of cetaceans enthralled visitors — splashing, spyhopping and leaping in their concrete-lined tanks. Marineland’s peppy jingle, “Everyone loves Marineland,” evoked a happy place where love transcended species, and people and marine mammals shared joy. But what the cameras didn’t show was their lives after showtime. Twenty whales — 19 belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) and one killer whale (Orcinus orca) — died between 2019 and 2025. Multiple charges of animal abuse surfaced in the 2010s, though some were later withdrawn. And a 2021 animal welfare inspection found marine animals in distress due to poor water quality in their tanks. In late 2024, Ontario’s animal welfare inspectors said they had visited the park more than 200 times since 2020 for inspections and investigations. In 2018, Marineland’s owner died, and a year later, Canada passed the landmark Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act, which banned the keeping, breeding and trading of cetaceans for entertainment. By then, movies such as Blackfish and Free Willy had changed the public perception of captive dolphins and whales. The lively jingle had turned sour in many people’s minds. In 2021, Marineland became Canada’s last remaining entertainment park with cetaceans. A beluga whale at SeaWorld in San Diego, California, in 2009. The species is native to the Arctic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/belugas-facing-euthanasia-at-shuttered-canada-theme-park-may-find-new-homes-in-us/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/belugas-facing-euthanasia-at-shuttered-canada-theme-park-may-find-new-homes-in-us/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315512</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Proposed shark net near Club Med resort in South Africa sparks conservation clash</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 15:18:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04140820/image-de-banniere-2-23-2026-shark-nets_dead-shark-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315207</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Environment, Governance, Oceans, Whale Sharks, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Feb. 13, a juvenile humpback dolphin was caught and killed in one of the many nets strung up off the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province to protect beachgoers from sharks. The incident, near the city of Richards Bay on the country&#8217;s eastern coast, was a blow for South Africa’s population of Indian ocean [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Feb. 13, a juvenile humpback dolphin was caught and killed in one of the many nets strung up off the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province to protect beachgoers from sharks. The incident, near the city of Richards Bay on the country&#8217;s eastern coast, was a blow for South Africa’s population of Indian ocean humpback dolphins, which has dropped to fewer than 500 in recent decades. Shark nets, installed together with baited hooks called drum lines, aim to reduce the number of sharks that could come into contact with, and possibly harm, humans. Once entangled in these nets, which can run hundreds of meters wide, sharks have little chance of survival — nor do other species like humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea). In the wake of the February incident, scientists working to conserve humpback dolphins issued a letter of opposition to a proposal to install another such net at a popular beach farther down the coast. Tinley Manor is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Richards Bay, and has emerged as a flashpoint in the debate about shark nets. Municipal authorities there are proposing installing a shark net at the public beach, in view of the new Club Med luxury resort being built right next to it. The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board (KZNSB), as the authority responsible for bather safety in the province, says it’s acting to safeguard beachgoers, whose numbers are expected to rise significantly with the opening of the resort later this year. Indian Ocean humpback dolphins. Image courtesy of Bridget&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315207</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change is slowing southern right whale birth rate, 33-year study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/climate-change-is-slowing-southern-right-whale-birth-rate-33-year-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/climate-change-is-slowing-southern-right-whale-birth-rate-33-year-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Feb 2026 15:46:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/04/01215430/photo1_south_africa_hermanus_0130-495x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314971</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica, Australia, and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Green, Mammals, Oceans, Protected Areas, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off Australia&#8217;s southern coast are having calves less often than they used to. A new study links this slowdown to warming water and shrinking sea ice in the Southern Ocean. The study, conducted by researchers at Australian, South African and U.S. institutions and published this month in Scientific Reports, tracked [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off Australia&#8217;s southern coast are having calves less often than they used to. A new study links this slowdown to warming water and shrinking sea ice in the Southern Ocean. The study, conducted by researchers at Australian, South African and U.S. institutions and published this month in Scientific Reports, tracked more than 1,100 calving events from 696 individual female whales at a major breeding ground in an area called the Great Australian Bight within the Yalata Indigenous Protected Area. Since around 2015, the average time between births rose from 3.4 years to 4.1 years. For a species that reproduces slowly, that shift adds up. “These extended calving intervals mean fewer calves are being born overall, and this reduces population growth over time,” lead author and marine biologist Claire Charlton from Flinders University writes in The Conversation. “Southern right whales have been celebrated as one of conservation’s success stories … But our new research shows this success story is changing.” Between 1991 and 2024, scientists used photo-identification data to tell the whales apart. Each whale has a unique pattern of callosities, or patches of thickened skin, on its head that distinguishes one from another. Southern right whale individuals are identified by their callosity patterns, patches of roughened skin covered with white cyamids or “whale lice”, that give every right whale’s head a unique and stable pattern.  Photo by Macarena Agrelo. Using this long-term whale dataset, along with environmental records, researchers found that half of the variation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/climate-change-is-slowing-southern-right-whale-birth-rate-33-year-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/climate-change-is-slowing-southern-right-whale-birth-rate-33-year-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314971</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Penguins are breeding much earlier in a warming Antarctic, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/penguins-are-breeding-much-earlier-in-a-warming-antarctic-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/penguins-are-breeding-much-earlier-in-a-warming-antarctic-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Feb 2026 17:55:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/09200941/Tom-Camera-Credit-Katherine-Booth-Jones-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313994</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biology, Birds, cameras, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Global Warming, Ocean Warming, Penguins, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Penguins are dramatically shifting their breeding season as the Antarctic peninsula warms, a recent study finds. From 2012 to 2022, researchers used remote cameras to examine the timing of breeding for three penguin species across 37 colonies on the Antarctic peninsula and surrounding islands. They tracked their ‘settlement date’: when the penguins began continuously occupying [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Penguins are dramatically shifting their breeding season as the Antarctic peninsula warms, a recent study finds. From 2012 to 2022, researchers used remote cameras to examine the timing of breeding for three penguin species across 37 colonies on the Antarctic peninsula and surrounding islands. They tracked their ‘settlement date’: when the penguins began continuously occupying their nesting zones. The study, led by the citizen-science collective Penguin Watch at the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University, U.K., was published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. Over that 10-year period, gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) began their breeding season an average of 13 days earlier in the year, though for some colonies, it was more than three weeks. Chinstrap (P. antarcticus) and Adélie (P. adeliae) penguins settled into their colonies an average of 10.4 and 10.2 days, respectively, ahead of their schedule a decade ago. These breeding changes are amongst the most extreme yet recorded for any bird — and likely any vertebrate — in response to climate change, the study notes. “This is a huge advance and an incredibly fast one … and that&#8217;s what surprised us,” says Ignacio Juarez Martínez, a biologist and the study’s lead author who conducted the research as part of his PhD at the University of Oxford. “It&#8217;s literally a world record.” Gentoo colony at Neko Harbour, on the Antarctic peninsula. Gentoo penguins are the least ice-tolerant of the three species studied — which also included Adélie and chinstrap penguins. They are expanding their range southwards&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/penguins-are-breeding-much-earlier-in-a-warming-antarctic-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/penguins-are-breeding-much-earlier-in-a-warming-antarctic-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313994</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Azores dodges proposal to overturn no-fishing zones in its giant new MPA network</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/azores-dodges-proposal-to-overturn-no-fishing-zones-in-its-giant-new-mpa-network/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/azores-dodges-proposal-to-overturn-no-fishing-zones-in-its-giant-new-mpa-network/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2026 19:29:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maria José Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/23192451/b.-OceanImageBank_EllenCuylaerts_01-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314634</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Europe, and Portugal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Islands, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Regulations, Sea Turtles, Seabirds, and Tuna]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SÃO MATEUS, Portugal — Winter forced Emanuel Alves to remove his boat from the water at the port of São Mateus in the Azores, the Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean. The 64-year-old fisher expressed concern about the giant network of marine protected areas that permeates the archipelago. &#8220;Where are we going to fish [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SÃO MATEUS, Portugal — Winter forced Emanuel Alves to remove his boat from the water at the port of São Mateus in the Azores, the Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean. The 64-year-old fisher expressed concern about the giant network of marine protected areas that permeates the archipelago. &#8220;Where are we going to fish now?” he asked. The law establishing the Azores Marine Protected Areas Network was approved in October 2024 and took effect just recently, on Jan. 1 this year. The network now safeguards 30% of Azorean waters, 287,000 square kilometers (110,800 square miles) of seascape sheltering a rich array of marine life. Not two weeks later, on Jan. 15, the Azores Parliament voted to uphold a core provision of the MPA network, after it came under fire in recent months: No fishing inside the fully protected areas, which constitute half the vast network. Pico Mountain on Pico Island in the Azores, the tallest mountain in Portugal at 2,351 meters (7,713 feet). Image by Maria José Mendes for Mongabay. The vote effectively killed an earlier move to open these areas to pole-and-line tuna fishing that would have been “catastrophic and damaging to the region,” according to Luís Bernardo Brito e Abreu, coordinator of Blue Azores, a Portugal-based partnership between the Azores regional government, the U.S.-based nonprofit Waitt Institute and the Portugal-based Oceano Azul Foundation that began advocating for the establishment of the MPA network in 2019. “[The] criterion for a total protection area is indeed total protection; there&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/azores-dodges-proposal-to-overturn-no-fishing-zones-in-its-giant-new-mpa-network/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/azores-dodges-proposal-to-overturn-no-fishing-zones-in-its-giant-new-mpa-network/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314634</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists discover a new whale highway after tagging a pygmy blue whale by drone</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/scientists-discover-a-new-whale-highway-after-tagging-a-pygmy-blue-whale-by-drone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/scientists-discover-a-new-whale-highway-after-tagging-a-pygmy-blue-whale-by-drone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Feb 2026 15:38:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Turrell]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/17204026/Marine-Migratory-Species-Expedition-2025-credit-HO_Doc.Konservasi-Indonesia-5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314393</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Drones, Endangered Species, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Whales, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indonesian scientists have attached a satellite tag onto an endangered pygmy blue whales for the first time by drone. The tag’s data not only revealed a new feeding site for the species (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda), but also a previously undocumented path it takes to the South Antarctic. Unlike Antarctic blue whales, pygmy blue whales prefer [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indonesian scientists have attached a satellite tag onto an endangered pygmy blue whales for the first time by drone. The tag’s data not only revealed a new feeding site for the species (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda), but also a previously undocumented path it takes to the South Antarctic. Unlike Antarctic blue whales, pygmy blue whales prefer tropical waters and are found in the Indian Ocean. They’re known to migrate between the west coast of Australia and Indonesia. However, their journey south between Indonesia and Australia is rarely documented and their habits are more of a mystery. A pygmy blue whale is observed by a research drone during the Marine Migratory Species Expedition 2025 in the North Wetar Sea, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, Oct. 9, 2025. (HO/Konservasi Indonesia) From Oct. 5-16, 2025, a team of 20 scientists from Konservasi International, Thrive Conservation, the Elasmobranch Institute and universities from Indonesia and Timor-Leste focused their research on the Lesser Sunda landscape, which is part of the Coral Triangle. The study area also includes the Ombai Strait, known as one of the most important migratory corridors for pygmy blue whales. In December 2025, Indonesia created the new 325,238 hectare West Wetar Marine Protected Area, found within the Lesser Sunda seascape, the scattering of Indonesian islands closest to Australia. During the expedition, the team also gathered data to help the government create an offshore marine protected area in the Banda Sea. The pygmy blue whale’s biggest threats include ship strikes in busy shipping lanes, ocean noise&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/scientists-discover-a-new-whale-highway-after-tagging-a-pygmy-blue-whale-by-drone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/scientists-discover-a-new-whale-highway-after-tagging-a-pygmy-blue-whale-by-drone/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314393</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mexico considers shrinking protected areas for endangered vaquita porpoise</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mexico-considers-shrinking-protected-areas-for-endangered-vaquita-porpoise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mexico-considers-shrinking-protected-areas-for-endangered-vaquita-porpoise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Feb 2026 20:57:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/10192935/Screenshot-2026-02-10-132642-768x450.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314049</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Baja California, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Law, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Oceans, Politics, Protected Areas, Vaquita, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials have proposed scaling back fishing regulations meant to protect a narrow stretch of ocean home to the last 10 remaining vaquitas, the world’s smallest species of porpoise. If implemented, the changes could shrink protected areas and open up vessel traffic in the northern Gulf of California, the stretch of water [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials have proposed scaling back fishing regulations meant to protect a narrow stretch of ocean home to the last 10 remaining vaquitas, the world’s smallest species of porpoise. If implemented, the changes could shrink protected areas and open up vessel traffic in the northern Gulf of California, the stretch of water between Baja California and mainland Mexico where the vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is endemic. The proposal cites scientific research and aims to satisfy local fishing communities, but conservation groups say the changes in it could lead to the porpoise’s extinction. “I don’t think we can forget that this is the most endangered marine mammal in the world,” Sarah Doleman, senior ocean campaigner for the U.K.-based NGO the Environmental Investigation Agency, told Mongabay. “With such a small population of 10 individuals, any effort to reduce the measures that are in place at the moment, and to enforce those measures fully, would be a real threat to the future of this species.” The proposal, not yet public but reviewed by Mongabay, is being developed by several government agencies, including the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). Input on it came from fishing industry representatives and an “interinstitutional group” assembled by the government that the proposal does not identify. The vaquita measures just 1.5 meters (5 feet) in length, weighs 54 kilograms (120 pounds) and features dark circles around its eyes. Its numbers have been steadily declining from under 600 when scientists first surveyed the species in 1997, with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mexico-considers-shrinking-protected-areas-for-endangered-vaquita-porpoise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mexico-considers-shrinking-protected-areas-for-endangered-vaquita-porpoise/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314049</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lower levels of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ in North Atlantic whales show regulations work: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/lower-levels-of-pfas-forever-chemicals-in-north-atlantic-whales-show-regulations-work-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/lower-levels-of-pfas-forever-chemicals-in-north-atlantic-whales-show-regulations-work-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Feb 2026 20:25:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/03201534/Alexandre-Rouxs-photo-licensed-as-CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313682</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, forever chemicals, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Planetary Health, Pollution, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) now have 60% lower concentrations of some legacy PFAS than they did a decade ago, offering rare good news about the effectiveness of chemical regulations, Harvard University researchers report in a new study. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed tissue samples [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) now have 60% lower concentrations of some legacy PFAS than they did a decade ago, offering rare good news about the effectiveness of chemical regulations, Harvard University researchers report in a new study. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed tissue samples from pilot whales collected in the Faroe Islands between 1986 and 2023. Researchers measured bulk organofluorine, a proxy for total PFAS contamination, as well as individual compounds in liver and muscle tissues. North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) now have 60% lower concentrations of some legacy PFAS than they did a decade ago. Photo by Charlie Jackson via Flikr (CC BY 2.0.) PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are synthetic chemicals used since the 1950s in products ranging from non-stick cookware and waterproof clothing to food packaging and firefighting foam. Legacy PFAS are older compounds that were used for decades but are generally no longer produced for industrial use. Their extreme stability has earned them the nickname &#8220;forever chemicals,&#8221; as they persist in the environment and accumulate in the tissues of living organisms. PFAS exposure has been linked to numerous health problems in humans and wildlife, including liver damage, immune system suppression, developmental problems, thyroid disease, and certain cancers. The chemicals bioaccumulate in the food chain, meaning concentrations increase at each level, with top predators like whales and humans facing the highest exposures. The new research revealed that organofluorine concentrations in pilot whale livers peaked&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/lower-levels-of-pfas-forever-chemicals-in-north-atlantic-whales-show-regulations-work-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/lower-levels-of-pfas-forever-chemicals-in-north-atlantic-whales-show-regulations-work-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313682</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Division’s final journey</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/divisions-final-journey/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/divisions-final-journey/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Feb 2026 04:22:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/01034428/division-00-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313603</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Green, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Obituary, Oceans, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; Division was four years old when he died, a young age even by the shortened standards now applied to North Atlantic right whales. His body was found in late January, adrift off the coast of North Carolina, partial and unrecoverable. The weather was too dangerous for anything more than confirmation. By then, the cause [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; Division was four years old when he died, a young age even by the shortened standards now applied to North Atlantic right whales. His body was found in late January, adrift off the coast of North Carolina, partial and unrecoverable. The weather was too dangerous for anything more than confirmation. By then, the cause was already understood. Division with his mother in January 2022. Photo credit: CMARI Division with his mother in January 2022. Photo credit: CMARI He was first seen entangled in early December, fishing line wrapped tightly around his head and mouth. It cut into his blowhole and lodged in his upper jaw. Some of the gear was removed. Enough remained to slow him, to feed infection, to drain energy from a body still meant to grow. Scientists who tracked him afterward saw what they had learned to recognize: weight loss, altered swimming, the steady signs of decline. They followed his movements as best they could. Distance and storms intervened. He was last sighted alive on January 21st, off Cape Hatteras. Six days later, he was dead. Division’s catalog number was 5217. His name came from the pale markings on his head, callosities arranged in a pattern that resembled a mathematical symbol. To those who knew him only through photographs and survey logs, he was one of many. Sixty-eight recorded sightings. Twenty-three photographs. A few notes about tooth decay in the bonnet. One image shows him leaping, much of his body briefly clear of the water. He&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/divisions-final-journey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313603</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Unregulated tourism risks disrupting Timor-Leste’s whale migration</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/unregulated-tourism-risks-disrupting-timor-lestes-whale-migration/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/unregulated-tourism-risks-disrupting-timor-lestes-whale-migration/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Dec 2025 03:09:18 +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/20/2025/12/08160620/Maternal-sperm-whale-pod-too-close-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310754</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Timor, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Ethics, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Migration, Oceans, Tourism, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DILI, Timor-Leste — Whale tourism in Timor-Leste is booming. Tour operators report a healthy number of sightings and full bookings in the peak season of September to December, when hundreds of pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) make the journey through the Ombai-Wetar Strait on their way south to western Australia. Customers splurge $5,000 for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DILI, Timor-Leste — Whale tourism in Timor-Leste is booming. Tour operators report a healthy number of sightings and full bookings in the peak season of September to December, when hundreds of pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) make the journey through the Ombai-Wetar Strait on their way south to western Australia. Customers splurge $5,000 for a week of swimming with the lite version of the world’s largest animal in a country that has unmatched potential for whale watching, because of its deep, nutrient-rich waters close to the shore and relatively undisturbed marine environment. “For me, the whales represent the health of the ecosystem — they’re the most visible sign of something much bigger happening below the surface,” local conservationist and photographer Jafet Potenzo Lopes tells Mongabay in an interview. “When a blue whale or sperm whale passes along the coast, it’s not just a sighting; it’s a reminder that this coastline is still functioning in a way that many places have lost.” Timor-Leste’s marine mammal “superhighway,” traversed by migrating blue and sperm whales and resident pods of pilot whales, orcas and dolphins, attracts tourists from around the world. Operators are already fully booked for 2026 and 2027. “Even though [whale] encounters are never guaranteed, tourists will always try their luck,” says Rechelle Trasmonte, a Philippine national and dive organizer at Compass Diving, one of Timor-Leste’s six major whale tour operators. This season, however, serious concerns about malpractice have emerged. In an open letter shared with Mongabay in November, British underwater&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/unregulated-tourism-risks-disrupting-timor-lestes-whale-migration/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/unregulated-tourism-risks-disrupting-timor-lestes-whale-migration/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310754</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A rare bright spot for whales: Decades of conservation pay off for endangered population in Canada</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-rare-bright-spot-for-whales-decades-of-conservation-pay-off-for-endangered-population-in-canada/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-rare-bright-spot-for-whales-decades-of-conservation-pay-off-for-endangered-population-in-canada/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Dec 2025 00:43:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stella Mayerhoff]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/04234437/Gully-Photo-3-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310633</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean and Canada]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Protected Areas, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Populations of northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus), playful animals that resemble large dolphins, stretch across the Atlantic Ocean, with each group of whales living year-round in a particular deep ocean canyon. Historically, commercial whaling targeted these animals, causing their numbers across the basin to collapse. Even as protections against whaling increase, northern bottlenose whale populations [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Populations of northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus), playful animals that resemble large dolphins, stretch across the Atlantic Ocean, with each group of whales living year-round in a particular deep ocean canyon. Historically, commercial whaling targeted these animals, causing their numbers across the basin to collapse. Even as protections against whaling increase, northern bottlenose whale populations struggle to recover globally due to low reproductive rates and ongoing threats such as ship strikes and fishing-gear entanglement. A group of northern bottlenose whales gather at the water’s surface in the Gully, Nova Scotia during a research expedition by the Whitehead Lab in 2017. Image by Deepdivewhales via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). But new evidence from a submarine canyon off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, known as the Gully, shows a promising rebound. Commercial fishing and vessel traffic are down in the area, and the endangered northern bottlenose whales in this canyon are growing in number after decades of decline, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. The Gully is one of the few places where scientists have monitored a distinct population long enough to track meaningful trends. Roughly as deep and wide as the Grand Canyon, and with steep walls and channels, it provides critical habitat for a group of northern bottlenose whales known as the Scotian Shelf population. “At the broadest scale, submarine canyons stir up the oceanography, and that typically translates into more productivity, life and food—good for everything!” said co-author Hal Whitehead, a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-rare-bright-spot-for-whales-decades-of-conservation-pay-off-for-endangered-population-in-canada/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310633</doi>				</item>
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