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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=dolphins&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/dolphins/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:52:27 +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 Dolphins</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/dolphins/</link>
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				<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>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322913</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>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>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>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>Our responsibility for cetacean conservation grows with proof of their intelligence (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/our-responsibility-for-cetacean-conservation-grows-with-proof-of-their-intelligence-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/our-responsibility-for-cetacean-conservation-grows-with-proof-of-their-intelligence-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 May 2025 17:38:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Avery Ancell]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/08171641/GP04PW7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298843</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Global, and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animal Intelligence, Animals, Cetaceans, Commentary, Conservation, Dolphins, Environment, Ethics, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Research, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The search for intelligent life is looking in the wrong direction. There are billions of stars in our galaxy, some of them older than our sun and with Earth-like planets orbiting around them. Hypothetically, these other solar systems could have started their development of intelligent life billions of years before ours. So, why haven&#8217;t we [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The search for intelligent life is looking in the wrong direction. There are billions of stars in our galaxy, some of them older than our sun and with Earth-like planets orbiting around them. Hypothetically, these other solar systems could have started their development of intelligent life billions of years before ours. So, why haven&#8217;t we found evidence of any other advanced civilizations? Are the conditions on Earth so unique that life really could only arise here? Maybe. If that is the case, intelligent life is an anomaly that could only thrive under particular and coincidental conditions that Earth has supplied. Humans are not the only species that have formed intelligence in this “goldilocks melting pot” of conditions. Perhaps centuries of human-centered thinking have prevented us from beginning to understand the intelligence of other species here on Earth. We must look down into the ocean before we look to the stars: in recent years, scientists have questioned what have fundamentally been understood to be human traits. We are on the precipice of understanding modes of intelligence, consciousness and communication in species other than humans. But what does that mean for people and the assumptions of anthropocentrism? We as humans are less unique than we thought, and as we break down the barriers of what it means to be human, our responsibility for biodiversity conservation increases. Blue whale spouting off the coast of Kaikoura, Aotearoa (New Zealand) on February 11th, 2024. Image courtesy of Avery Ancell. Cetaceans — whales, dolphins and porpoises&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/our-responsibility-for-cetacean-conservation-grows-with-proof-of-their-intelligence-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/our-responsibility-for-cetacean-conservation-grows-with-proof-of-their-intelligence-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298843</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Whales and dolphins at risk as report reveals ecological decline in Gulf of California</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/whales-and-dolphins-at-risk-as-report-reveals-ecological-decline-in-gulf-of-california/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/whales-and-dolphins-at-risk-as-report-reveals-ecological-decline-in-gulf-of-california/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Apr 2025 16:12:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Astrid Arellano]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/25155819/08-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298217</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecology, Environment, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lorayne Meltzer has lived along the Gulf of California for 30 years. As an ecologist and director of a binational field station, she’s supported many scientists in their research into this biodiverse region of northwestern Mexico. Over time, she’s observed changes in the region’s ecosystems and species firsthand. Most of these changes, she said, haven’t [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lorayne Meltzer has lived along the Gulf of California for 30 years. As an ecologist and director of a binational field station, she’s supported many scientists in their research into this biodiverse region of northwestern Mexico. Over time, she’s observed changes in the region’s ecosystems and species firsthand. Most of these changes, she said, haven’t been positive. “I’ve noticed concerning changes,” Meltzer told Mongabay Latam. “Even on recreational trips to the islands, these changes were visible. So, we had the idea of getting in touch with researchers with long-term databases on various taxa, from the smallest animal in the world to the largest whale, to see if this decline is general or only among certain species.” The result was a new collaborative report produced by Meltzer’s field station, the Kino Bay Center at Prescott College, and the binational organization Next Generation Sonoran Desert Researchers (N-Gen). The report brings together decades of scientific research showing an alarming decline in populations of species at the top of the food chain throughout this Mexican sea. Among the groups in decline, according to the report’s findings, are seabirds, whales, flying squid, crabs, starfish and fish. “Unfortunately, their health is declining on average,” Meltzer said. “Some groups, such as sea turtles, seem to be recovering, and at the plankton level, the ecosystem is quite healthy. However, it’s very normal for megafauna to be the most impacted within ecosystems, which are animals that take longer to reproduce.” A fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) off the coast of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/whales-and-dolphins-at-risk-as-report-reveals-ecological-decline-in-gulf-of-california/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/whales-and-dolphins-at-risk-as-report-reveals-ecological-decline-in-gulf-of-california/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298217</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>15 years after the BP oil spill disaster, how is the Gulf of Mexico faring?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/15-years-after-the-bp-oil-spill-disaster-how-is-the-gulf-of-mexico-faring/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/15-years-after-the-bp-oil-spill-disaster-how-is-the-gulf-of-mexico-faring/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2025 18:24:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/21165201/BP-oil-burn-plane-pj-hahn-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297888</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Oil Drilling, Oil Spills, Pollution, Sea Turtles, Turtles, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PLAQUEMINES PARISH, U.S. — Down past New Orleans lies Plaquemines parish, a narrow sliver of land at the tip of Louisiana that reaches southward like a finger pointing into the Gulf of Mexico. Past barbecue joints, a naval base, Baptist churches, white egrets, blue herons, and signs advertising items FOR SALE (live shrimp, empty lots [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PLAQUEMINES PARISH, U.S. — Down past New Orleans lies Plaquemines parish, a narrow sliver of land at the tip of Louisiana that reaches southward like a finger pointing into the Gulf of Mexico. Past barbecue joints, a naval base, Baptist churches, white egrets, blue herons, and signs advertising items FOR SALE (live shrimp, empty lots and crawfish), Captain Kindra Arnesen lives with her husband and dog in a tidy brick house that smells like eucalyptus potpourri and home cooking. &#8220;There&#8217;s nothing I&#8217;d rather be doing than be out on the water fishing, especially offshore. I like to get high up on the boat and look out over the water as far as I can see,&#8221; Arnesen told Mongabay while stirring a pot of beans. She has worked small commercial fishing boats out in the gulf for decades. “The only thing I love more is my grandbaby.” &#8220;Before the spill, you could ride out there and everywhere you rode there were bait balls of bonita, blue runners, thread herrings, spinners jumping through them. Everywhere you went it was just a sight,&#8221; Arnesen recounted, referring to plentiful schools of small fish and spinner dolphins in the open ocean. &#8220;After the spill you could ride a hundred miles and not see a bait ball … It slowly died.&#8221; Fireboat crews work to extinguish the burning wreckage of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil platform. The disaster was one of the worst ecological catastrophes in history. Image courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard. April 20,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/15-years-after-the-bp-oil-spill-disaster-how-is-the-gulf-of-mexico-faring/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297888</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sheinbaum’s energy agenda under fire as Mexican activists slam LNG megaproject</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/sheinbaums-energy-agenda-under-fire-as-mexican-activists-slam-lng-megaproject/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/sheinbaums-energy-agenda-under-fire-as-mexican-activists-slam-lng-megaproject/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2025 14:06:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Daniela DíazJoshua Collins]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/15123839/IMG_9019-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297648</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Carbon Emissions, Clean Energy, Conservation, Dolphins, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Marine, Methane, Natural Gas, Politics, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Jan. 29, the sky above Mexico City’s Zócalo plaza was filled with the floating figures of giant balloon whales. Hundreds of people from the “Whales or Gas?” coalition protested in front of the National Palace over the Saguaro energy project, a massive pipeline planned by the government with U.S. energy company Mexico Pacific that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Jan. 29, the sky above Mexico City’s Zócalo plaza was filled with the floating figures of giant balloon whales. Hundreds of people from the “Whales or Gas?” coalition protested in front of the National Palace over the Saguaro energy project, a massive pipeline planned by the government with U.S. energy company Mexico Pacific that will move liquefied natural gas from Texas to the Gulf of California. The organizers of the Ballena Fest (Festival of Whales) had gathered more than 200,000 signatures against Saguaro. They say the project, which includes plans for a major LNG processing and shipping complex in the small coastal fishing town of Puerto Libertad, will destroy habitats in protected inland areas, as well as threaten delicate marine habitats and marine mammals. They also say that Saguaro deepens Mexico’s reliance on U.S. fossil fuels and goes against President Claudia Sheinbaum’s promises to invest in the country’s energy transition. The 30 million metric tons of LNG that the Saguaro project would move annually would have a greenhouse gas footprint of about 82.8 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent, or the same as the yearly emissions of more than 19 million cars. Saguaro is also part of a broader controversy over a proposed energy reform bill that would lead to heavy investments in fossil fuel energy production and transport infrastructure in public-private partnerships with U.S. energy companies. Critics of the Saguaro energy project say the Saguaro pipeline, its associated infrastructure and increased industrialization will harm the Gulf of California,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/sheinbaums-energy-agenda-under-fire-as-mexican-activists-slam-lng-megaproject/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297648</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Andes glacier melt threatens Amazon’s rivers &#038; intensifies droughts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/andes-glacier-melt-threatens-amazons-rivers-intensifies-droughts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/andes-glacier-melt-threatens-amazons-rivers-intensifies-droughts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Dec 2024 13:35:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Amanda Magnani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/11113406/Receding-glacier-in-the-Sinakara-Valley--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291449</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Andes, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Dolphins, Drought, Endangered Species, Environment, Extreme Weather, Freshwater, Glaciers, Mammals, Rivers, Threats To Rainforests, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The ice loss in the Andes could reduce the water flow to the Amazon rivers by up to 20%.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[After two consecutive years of record-breaking droughts, the river levels in the Amazon Basin are slowly starting to recover. According to the Geological Survey of Brazil, the Madeira River, home to the most diverse fish life in the region, left the “drought” classification as its levels surpassed the 13-foot mark in late November. In both Madeira and Negro rivers, navigability is back to normal after months of suspension. However, the drought is far from over, and its impacts are still felt across the region. In 2024, 69% of municipalities in the Amazon recorded more intense drought levels than in 2023. In the Madeira River, the levels were so low that the Geological Survey had to install a new ruler to measure it. In Amazonas state alone, 850,000 people were affected and Indigenous communities still struggle with food insecurity and lack of access to drinking water. In the state of Pará, mass mortality of fish caused by the drought increases the vulnerability of riverine communities. Although river levels are beginning to rise, the rains from the Amazonian wet season are less than expected, and the drought may further intensify into December. While notably extreme, the droughts experienced by the Amazon River Basin in the past two years are not unusual. For the past 20 years, the nine countries that make up the Amazon Basin have seen drastic reductions in their total water surface area, with nine out of the past 10 years among the driest ever registered. They were also made&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/andes-glacier-melt-threatens-amazons-rivers-intensifies-droughts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291449</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The uncertain future of Amazon river dolphins amid historic drought</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/the-uncertain-future-of-amazon-river-dolphins-amid-historic-drought/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/the-uncertain-future-of-amazon-river-dolphins-amid-historic-drought/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Dec 2024 13:27:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mayala Fernandes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/06094256/Sea-Shepherd-Brasil_241012_dead-pink-dolphin_COA2024012_Edit7_0572-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291305</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Dolphins, Drought, Endangered Species, Environment, Mammals, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TEFÉ, Amazonas — “I’ve lived on this floating home for 40 years, and this is the worst drought I’ve ever seen. You can see that the water dropped well below the 2023 levels,” says Carlos Magno, as he shows the point reached by the water last year. “That’s a scary scenario to watch. And it [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TEFÉ, Amazonas — “I’ve lived on this floating home for 40 years, and this is the worst drought I’ve ever seen. You can see that the water dropped well below the 2023 levels,” says Carlos Magno, as he shows the point reached by the water last year. “That’s a scary scenario to watch. And it gets even scarier because of the news that this is going to get worse every year.” Magno is a boat mechanic and lives on a floating house on the water, usually built of wood or metal, on the shores of Lake Tefé, in the municipality of the same name located in the heart of Amazonas state. While he and his family love living by the lake, where they are surrounded by water, forest and animals, they are now considering moving to dry land because of increasingly severe droughts. “The floating house is already completely on land. Take a look here to see how much the water level has dropped. This drought is almost 30 days longer; it usually doesn’t get to this point,” he says, worried. The water needs to rise so Magno can get back to work. Because of low river and lake levels, boats stop traveling and he loses clients. He has had no work for two months now. Lake Tefé, a lagoon formation of the Tefé River near the point where it meets the Solimões, has been experiencing a historic drought this year, reaching just 4.5 meters (14.9 feet) — 13.5 m&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/the-uncertain-future-of-amazon-river-dolphins-amid-historic-drought/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291305</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildlife-rich mangroves suffer as Indonesia ramps up construction of new capital</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/wildlife-rich-mangroves-suffer-as-indonesia-ramps-up-construction-of-new-capital/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/wildlife-rich-mangroves-suffer-as-indonesia-ramps-up-construction-of-new-capital/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2024 04:04:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/03031219/Proboscis_monkey_in_Kubu_Raya_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286867</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Cities, Conservation, Deforestation, Dolphins, Drivers Of Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Infrastructure, Mammals, Mangroves, Monkeys, Noise Pollution, Pollution, Primates, Protected Areas, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Tri Atmoko is a regular visitor to the mangrove forests of Balikpapan Bay on the east coast of Indonesian Borneo, where he studies proboscis monkeys, an endangered species best known for its comically large nose. He’d last gone there in 2022, he tells Mongabay recently. On his return this past June, areas of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Tri Atmoko is a regular visitor to the mangrove forests of Balikpapan Bay on the east coast of Indonesian Borneo, where he studies proboscis monkeys, an endangered species best known for its comically large nose. He’d last gone there in 2022, he tells Mongabay recently. On his return this past June, areas of mangrove trees that were still intact before had now disappeared. “I found many new developments,” says Tri, a primatologist with Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), a government body. “I observed numerous logistic ports being constructed for [the transportation of] materials like sand and rock. Mangrove areas, which were previously intact, are being cleared to build these ports.” All that construction material is headed a few kilometers inland to the biggest construction site in Indonesia: Nusantara, the new capital city being carved out of the Bornean jungle. The development’s footprint includes 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of mangrove forest, part of a 16,000-hectare (39,500-acre) mangrove belt that runs between Balikpapan Bay and the mouth of the Mahakam River. Nusantara is the signature project of President Joko Widodo, who kicked it off in 2019 with the aim of moving the seat of government from the overcrowded and rapidly sinking Jakarta by the time he leaves office in October 2024. But the project has been beset by ballooning costs (with the total tab now at an estimated $33 billion), repeated delays, and a reluctance by foreign investors to get involved. And as Jokowi, as the president is widely&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/wildlife-rich-mangroves-suffer-as-indonesia-ramps-up-construction-of-new-capital/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286867</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Education &#038; research bring Rio’s dolphins back from the brink of extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/education-research-bring-rios-dolphins-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/education-research-bring-rios-dolphins-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2024 19:36:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Brown (words) &amp; Kashfi Halford (video)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/30192951/Boto-cinza-4-copy-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281599</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Mammals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Pollution, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Just 60 kilometers (37 miles) outside the city of Rio de Janeiro, dozens of Guiana dolphins swim cautiously past the motorboat, cutting through the water’s surface to breathe. Leonardo Flach stands at the bow taking photos to later identify individuals based on their dorsal fins. With a clear sea and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Just 60 kilometers (37 miles) outside the city of Rio de Janeiro, dozens of Guiana dolphins swim cautiously past the motorboat, cutting through the water’s surface to breathe. Leonardo Flach stands at the bow taking photos to later identify individuals based on their dorsal fins. With a clear sea and surrounding forest-covered mountains, the landscape of Sepetiba Bay is scenic, yet the water is anything but pristine. The Guiana dolphin is “the most common dolphin species in Brazil, but at the same time, one of the most endangered,” Flach, a biologist and co-founder of the nonprofit Instituto Boto Cinza (Guiana Dolphin Institute), told Mongabay. He’s studied Guiana dolphins in Sepetiba Bay since the 1990s to understand the dangers they face and to find solutions to protect them. One of the main threats to these dolphins is chemical pollution in the sea. Flach was part of a recently published that found high toxin concentrations in Guiana dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) over a 12-year period in Sepetiba Bay, the result of dredging, industrial pollution and raw sewage. Up to 80% of sewage from the region is untreated and pumped into the bay, Flach said, contaminating the sea with pathogens and pharmaceuticals that are passed through urination. “[Rio de Janeiro’s] Guiana dolphins, which live in semi-enclosed bays, are among the most contaminated in the world,” Mariana Alonso, a professor at the Biophysics Institute at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, who was not involved in this study, told&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/education-research-bring-rios-dolphins-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/education-research-bring-rios-dolphins-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281599</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ancient giant river dolphin species found in the Peruvian Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/ancient-giant-river-dolphin-species-found-in-the-peruvian-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/ancient-giant-river-dolphin-species-found-in-the-peruvian-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Mar 2024 22:35:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/20222413/Boto-%C2%A9-COULANGES-_-WWF-Sweden-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280128</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Bycatch, Cetaceans, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Dams, Dolphins, Dredging, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fishing, Forests, Freshwater Fish, Green, Mammals, Monitoring, New Discovery, Rainforests, Research, Species Discovery, Technology, Tracking, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A team of paleontologists found a giant fossilized skull along the shore of the Napo River in the Peruvian Amazon. To their surprise, the relic belonged to a newly described species of giant freshwater dolphin. This colossal creature swam in the rivers of the Amazon around 16 million years ago and is considered the largest-known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A team of paleontologists found a giant fossilized skull along the shore of the Napo River in the Peruvian Amazon. To their surprise, the relic belonged to a newly described species of giant freshwater dolphin. This colossal creature swam in the rivers of the Amazon around 16 million years ago and is considered the largest-known species of river dolphin to have ever lived, measuring 3-3.5 meters (9.8-11.5 feet). Artistic reconstruction of Pebanista yacuruna in the murky waters of the Peruvian proto-Amazonia. Image by Jamie Bran. “As soon as I recognized it, I saw the teeth sockets. I screamed, ‘this is a dolphin.’ We could not believe it,” Aldo Benites-Palomino told The Guardian. Scientists unearthed the fossil during a 2018 expedition led by the University of Zurich (UZH). The new species has been named Pebanista yacuruna, after mythical aquatic beings (Yacuruna) believed by some Indigenous groups to live deep in the river. The team was also surprised to find that the ancient creature was not related to the local, living species of Amazon river pink dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) but rather to South Asian river dolphins (genus Platanista). “We [had] found an animal, a giant, whose closest living relative is 10,000km away in south-east Asia,” Benites-Palomino was quoted as saying. Palaeontologists (from left to right): Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru), Julia Tejada-Lara (California Institute of Technology, California, USA), John Flynn (American Museum of Natura History, New York, USA) &amp; local guide Michel Valles during the 2018 expedition to the Napo&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/ancient-giant-river-dolphin-species-found-in-the-peruvian-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/ancient-giant-river-dolphin-species-found-in-the-peruvian-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280128</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Irrawaddy dolphin death in Thailand&#8217;s Songkhla Lake underscores conservation needs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/irrawaddy-dolphin-death-in-thailands-songkhla-lake-underscores-conservation-needs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/irrawaddy-dolphin-death-in-thailands-songkhla-lake-underscores-conservation-needs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Mar 2024 09:02:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/19085052/IRRD_West-Bengal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279990</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Bycatch, Cetaceans, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Freshwater, Infrastructure, Lakes, Mammals, Marine Mammals, Pollution, Sustainable Development, Water, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The recent death of a critically endangered freshwater Irrawaddy dolphin in southern Thailand’s Songkhla Lake has brought the plight of the waterbody’s tiny remaining population into stark focus. As few as 14 of the dolphins, Orcaella brevirostris, are thought to survive in the lake amid a slew of threats ranging from entanglement in fishing gear [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The recent death of a critically endangered freshwater Irrawaddy dolphin in southern Thailand’s Songkhla Lake has brought the plight of the waterbody’s tiny remaining population into stark focus. As few as 14 of the dolphins, Orcaella brevirostris, are thought to survive in the lake amid a slew of threats ranging from entanglement in fishing gear and depletion of their fish prey population, to deterioration of their habitat due to pollution and runoff from intensively developed surrounding land. Fishers found the adult dolphin body floating in the lake on Feb. 18. It was the first recorded fatality in three years within the imperiled population. Although authorities performed a necropsy to investigate the cause of death, the coroner’s report was inconclusive, citing no evidence of injuries from fishing nets and very few prey items in the animal’s stomach.  “We don’t have any evidence that the death is related to fishery activity,” Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine ecologist and lecturer at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, told Mongabay. He added, however, that external bruising indicated there could have been some trauma to the body: “The veterinary assessment said it might have been fighting among the group — sometimes the big males try to eliminate the younger ones.” Cetacean experts say that without swift action to safeguard the remaining animals, Thailand risks losing this small but internationally significant group of dolphins that represent one of only five freshwater populations of the species worldwide. With so few individuals remaining, each fatality pushes the population inexorably closer to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/irrawaddy-dolphin-death-in-thailands-songkhla-lake-underscores-conservation-needs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/irrawaddy-dolphin-death-in-thailands-songkhla-lake-underscores-conservation-needs/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279990</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Report: Rising slaughter of small whales and dolphins threatens ocean balance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-rising-slaughter-of-small-whales-and-dolphins-threatens-ocean-balance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-rising-slaughter-of-small-whales-and-dolphins-threatens-ocean-balance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2024 08:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/05162034/a-dolphin-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279494</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Dolphins, Environmental Law, Fishing, Hunting, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Overfishing, Whales, and Whaling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[READER ADVISORY: This story contains images of dead cetaceans that some viewers may find disturbing. More than 100,000 dolphins, porpoises and small whales are killed annually, according to a new review from German and British NGOs Pro Wildlife and Whale and Dolphin Conservation. This update on a 2018 assessment by the same authors reveals concerning [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[READER ADVISORY: This story contains images of dead cetaceans that some viewers may find disturbing. More than 100,000 dolphins, porpoises and small whales are killed annually, according to a new review from German and British NGOs Pro Wildlife and Whale and Dolphin Conservation. This update on a 2018 assessment by the same authors reveals concerning failures to curb the rising slaughter of small cetaceans. “Most people think that whaling and hunting of dolphins, small whales and porpoises must surely be a thing of the past,” Erich Hoyt, co-chair of the IUCN’s Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, who was not involved in writing the report, told Mongabay. “It’s not.” The report, released in February, reviews more than 230 research studies, NGO reports and news stories covering 58 species. It indicates deaths “now well above” the 100,000 estimated in 2018, based on increases in reported small cetacean catch in 12 countries, But the report doesn’t give a precise death toll. The exact number of animals killed is unknown because many hunts are illegal and go unreported, Sandra Altherr, head scientist at Pro Wildlife and co-author of the review, told Mongabay. “What we can say for sure is that … some populations could be wiped out in just a few years if the hunting does not stop,” she said. The authors flag new hunts for previously untargeted species, rises in the use of dolphins as shark fishing bait, and consumption of dolphin meat in new areas as concerning areas of increase. Small&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-rising-slaughter-of-small-whales-and-dolphins-threatens-ocean-balance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/report-rising-slaughter-of-small-whales-and-dolphins-threatens-ocean-balance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279494</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indus River dolphins&#8217; survival is our responsibility (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/indus-river-dolphins-survival-is-our-responsibility-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/indus-river-dolphins-survival-is-our-responsibility-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Feb 2024 20:52:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sabir Hussain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/13203602/Indus-rd-%C2%A9-WWF-Pakistan-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278828</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Commentary, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Freshwater, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Indus River dolphin, an ancient species steeped in myth and legend, is a symbol of Pakistan&#8217;s rich natural heritage. Their resurgence from near extinction is a beacon of hope, yet their existence remains precariously balanced on the edge, threatened by both human-made and natural challenges. The Indus River dolphins, scientifically known as Platanista gangetica [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Indus River dolphin, an ancient species steeped in myth and legend, is a symbol of Pakistan&#8217;s rich natural heritage. Their resurgence from near extinction is a beacon of hope, yet their existence remains precariously balanced on the edge, threatened by both human-made and natural challenges. The Indus River dolphins, scientifically known as Platanista gangetica minor, are distinguished by their elongated noses and small, nearly vestigial eyes. Adapted to life in the murky waters of the Indus River, they represent a subspecies of the South Asian river dolphin. Once thriving in the lower parts of the Indus and its tributaries, their numbers have alarmingly dwindled due to various environmental stresses. From an estimated population of around 10,000 in the late 19th century, the dolphins&#8217; numbers plummeted to a mere 617 by 2001. While the construction of dams and barrages in the mid-20th century played a significant role in fragmenting their habitat, current environmental challenges pose even greater threats. Climate change, with its altered river flows, increased temperatures, and extreme weather events, exacerbates the situation. Moreover, human activities such as gold mining in the Indus River significantly contribute to the degradation of their habitat. Gold mining in the region, often conducted with little regard for environmental conservation, is a significant source of river pollution. The use of toxic chemicals like mercury and cyanide in the extraction process contaminates the river water, harming not only the dolphins but the entire aquatic ecosystem. Sedimentation from mining activities also disrupts the river flow, affecting&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/indus-river-dolphins-survival-is-our-responsibility-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/indus-river-dolphins-survival-is-our-responsibility-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278828</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nine countries sign global pact to protect endangered river dolphins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/nine-countries-sign-global-pact-to-protect-endangered-river-dolphins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/nine-countries-sign-global-pact-to-protect-endangered-river-dolphins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jan 2024 14:16:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Astrid Arellano]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/15141203/Captura-de-Pantalla-2023-10-23-a-las-14.59.45-768x431.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277665</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In September of last year, 154 river dolphins perished in Lake Tefé in the Brazilian Amazon, reminding conservationists of the urgency required to protect threatened freshwater cetaceans. The deaths occurred during an intense drought. “For us, this is a crisis. In one month, more than 10% of the populations of the two dolphin species that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In September of last year, 154 river dolphins perished in Lake Tefé in the Brazilian Amazon, reminding conservationists of the urgency required to protect threatened freshwater cetaceans. The deaths occurred during an intense drought. “For us, this is a crisis. In one month, more than 10% of the populations of the two dolphin species that inhabit Lake Tefé died,” says Daphne Willems, global leader of river dolphin research at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). “We’ve never seen this before. It’s climate change. The water was significantly reduced and temperatures rose to 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit). Dolphins are not generally sensitive to temperatures; it doesn’t bother them much. But this was like cooking them.” More than 100 river dolphins, including endangered Amazon river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis), were found dead in Lake Tefé in the state of Amazonas. Image courtesy of André Zumak/Mamirauá Institute. The mass death occurred just a few weeks before International River Dolphin Day on Oct. 24. To commemorate this day, key actors for the species gathered at a meeting in Bogotá, Colombia. During the meeting, participants discussed the political context surrounding dolphins, success stories and a continental work session. The main objective of the meeting was to encourage nations to sign the Global Declaration for River Dolphins, promoted by the Colombian government, along with WWF, the Omacha Foundation, the World Bank and specialists from the South American River Dolphin Initiative (SARDI). The declaration commits 14 of the animals’ range countries (Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Ecuador, India,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/nine-countries-sign-global-pact-to-protect-endangered-river-dolphins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/nine-countries-sign-global-pact-to-protect-endangered-river-dolphins/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277665</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fishing ban extension raises hopes for iconic Amazon pink river dolphin</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/fishing-ban-extension-raises-hopes-for-iconic-amazon-pink-river-dolphin/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/fishing-ban-extension-raises-hopes-for-iconic-amazon-pink-river-dolphin/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2023 07:00:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pérola de Farias Pedro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/06164539/Pink-river-dolphin-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274034</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Arts, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Culture, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Illegal Fishing, Mammals, Marine Conservation, Overfishing, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The measure became even more relevant in October, following the finding of more than 100 dead dolphins in an Amazonian lake — experts suspect that the deaths are directly linked to the extreme drought affecting the region.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On July 3, 2023, a moratorium on fishing the piracatinga catfish in the Brazilian Amazon was extended for the third time since its introduction in 2014. There’s now no expiry date for the ban, although the ministries of environment and fishing have a period of three years to reevaluate it. The moratorium was instituted to protect the pink river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), known locally as the boto. Fishers in the region catch the dolphin not to eat it, but as bait for catching piracatinga (Calophysus macropterus), which is being increasingly fished. While the extension of the moratorium marks a victory for environmentalists, some say the continued need for the policy demonstrates that efforts to permanently protect the dolphin by securing a safe environment for it is far from complete. In October, over a hundred dolphins were found dead in a lake in the Amazonas state, following a severe drought expected to last all summer. Experts are analyzing the bodies, but it’s believed that the rising temperatures of water bodies in the region must have played a role in the deaths. The drought has lowered river and lake levels to record levels, restricting the flow of ships and boats, the main form of transport in the region and the only means of access to health and education facilities for many communities. For now, most agree that the moratorium is essential to protect the animals. Nathalie Gil, president of Sea Shepherd Brazil, a marine conservation advocacy group, says the moratorium should remain&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/fishing-ban-extension-raises-hopes-for-iconic-amazon-pink-river-dolphin/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/fishing-ban-extension-raises-hopes-for-iconic-amazon-pink-river-dolphin/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274034</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>AI unlocks secrets of Amazon river dolphins&#8217; behavior, no tagging required</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/ai-unlocks-secrets-of-amazon-river-dolphins-behavior-no-tagging-required/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/ai-unlocks-secrets-of-amazon-river-dolphins-behavior-no-tagging-required/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Aug 2023 13:27:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/08/01002615/boto-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271655</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Bycatch, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Dams, Dolphins, Dredging, Endangered Species, Environment, Fishing, Forests, Freshwater Fish, Green, Mammals, Monitoring, Rainforests, Research, Technology, Tracking, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Freshwater dolphins navigate the waterways of the Amazon Basin. In the wet season, water spills from the rivers, flooding parts of the forests. The dolphins go, too, using their exceptionally flexible bodies and echolocation clicks to navigate a maze of submerged greenery. Researchers who study the dolphins typically use boats to follow and sometimes tag [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Freshwater dolphins navigate the waterways of the Amazon Basin. In the wet season, water spills from the rivers, flooding parts of the forests. The dolphins go, too, using their exceptionally flexible bodies and echolocation clicks to navigate a maze of submerged greenery. Researchers who study the dolphins typically use boats to follow and sometimes tag the animals, but this is nearly impossible in floodplain forests. As a result, the habits of two endangered freshwater species — the pink river dolphin or boto (Inia geoffrensis) and the tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) — have been shrouded in mystery until recently. Researchers from the Technical University of Catalonia, Spain, and the Mamirauá Institute of Sustainable Development in Tefé, Brazil, have successfully combined advanced acoustic-monitoring techniques and artificial intelligence to shed light on the movements and behaviors of these dolphins in their seasonally flooded habitats. Their results are published in the journal Scientific Reports. Two botos exploring the floodplains in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve. Image courtesy of Wezddy Del Toro/IDSM. The researchers submerged powerful recording devices called hydrophones to depths of 3-5 meters (10-16 feet) at various spots across an area covering approximately 800 square kilometers (309 square miles) of the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve in Amazonas state. The hydrophones recorded sounds from various habitats, including river channels, confluence bays, floodplain lakes, and flooded forests during both wet and dry seasons between June 2019 and September 2020. To analyze these recordings, they employed convolutional neural networks (CNN), a type of deep-learning algorithm, to automatically&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/ai-unlocks-secrets-of-amazon-river-dolphins-behavior-no-tagging-required/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/ai-unlocks-secrets-of-amazon-river-dolphins-behavior-no-tagging-required/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271655</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fishing, dams and dredging close in on Peru’s river dolphins, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/fishing-dams-and-dredging-close-in-on-perus-river-dolphins-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/fishing-dams-and-dredging-close-in-on-perus-river-dolphins-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jul 2023 18:44:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/05162715/Jose-Luis-Mena-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270594</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Bycatch, Conservation, Dams, Dolphins, Dredging, Endangered Species, Environment, Fishing, Forests, Freshwater Fish, Green, Mammals, Rainforests, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Amazon river dolphins navigate the complex waterways of the forest, their pods spread across the Amazon Basin in six different countries. The routes of these large, pink mammals are naturally blocked by land, waterfalls and stretches of shallow water, but increasingly something else is in the way: human activity. According to a recent study published [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Amazon river dolphins navigate the complex waterways of the forest, their pods spread across the Amazon Basin in six different countries. The routes of these large, pink mammals are naturally blocked by land, waterfalls and stretches of shallow water, but increasingly something else is in the way: human activity. According to a recent study published in the journal Oryx, Amazon river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) in Peru are threatened by fishing activity as well as the proposed construction of dams and dredging operations. “It’s clear that the Amazon river dolphin is facing increasing threats from humans,” lead author Elizabeth Campbell, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter, U.K., said in a statement. Amazon river dolphins eat at least 53 different species of fish, making them an important aquatic predator. Image by Diogo Luiz via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Researchers from Exeter and Peruvian conservation organization Pro Delphinus fitted satellite tags on eight dolphins in the Peruvian Amazon to track their movements in relation to fishing areas, dams and dredging sites. The findings revealed that an overwhelming 89% of the dolphins&#8217; home range is subject to fishing activity. Fishing not only depletes the dolphins&#8217; food sources but also subjects them to intentional killing and accidental capture, known as bycatch. The Amazon river dolphin is currently classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Actions that further threaten these large mammals could have dire consequences for the entire aquatic ecosystem. “As they are at the top of the food&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/fishing-dams-and-dredging-close-in-on-perus-river-dolphins-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270594</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Expedition catches Amazon river dolphins to help save this iconic pink species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/expedition-catches-amazon-river-dolphins-to-help-save-this-iconic-pink-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/expedition-catches-amazon-river-dolphins-to-help-save-this-iconic-pink-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2023 09:58:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kevin Damasio]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/09095422/%40Adriano-Gambarini_AAG5202-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269571</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Environment, Research, Rivers, Tracking, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It took several days of observation before researchers and local fishermen found the best way to catch the Amazon river dolphins they were studying in the largest lake in the Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve, deep in the Brazilian Amazon. The lake, part of this 2.35-million-hectare (5.8-million-acre) conservation unit in the state of Amazonas, is fed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It took several days of observation before researchers and local fishermen found the best way to catch the Amazon river dolphins they were studying in the largest lake in the Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve, deep in the Brazilian Amazon. The lake, part of this 2.35-million-hectare (5.8-million-acre) conservation unit in the state of Amazonas, is fed by small blackwater streams, or igarapés, that branch off from the Rio Negro, mixed with the sediment-rich whitewater from the Rio Japurá. It’s home to a robust fish stock and, therefore, a large dolphin population. What the fishermen learned through observations at the start of the study was that the cetaceans enter and leave the lake through a narrow channel, so it was this passageway that they chose to close with a net. “First we surrounded them, placed a net in the water and then slowly pulled it over to the edge. We removed them from the water one by one, so they wouldn’t get hurt,” says Antônio de Oliveira, a fisherman from Vila Alencar in the neighboring Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve. “We lifted them onto the land and put them on a stretcher. Then we put a tape around their mouth so they couldn’t bite and carried them to the scales where the researchers took down their data.” But this wasn’t predatory fishing — one of the factors that has placed the Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) at risk of extinction, according to the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation and the IUCN, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/expedition-catches-amazon-river-dolphins-to-help-save-this-iconic-pink-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/expedition-catches-amazon-river-dolphins-to-help-save-this-iconic-pink-species/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269571</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top French court orders closure of fisheries amid mass dolphin deaths</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/top-french-court-orders-closure-of-fisheries-amid-mass-dolphin-deaths/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/top-french-court-orders-closure-of-fisheries-amid-mass-dolphin-deaths/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2023 13:54:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juliette Portala]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/14134522/0.-Several-dolphins-swimming-together.-Image-by-Charl-van-Rooy-via-Unsplash.-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267517</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and France]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dolphins, Fellows, Fisheries, Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[READER ADVISORY: This story contains images of dead wildlife that some viewers may find disturbing. Monday, March 20. That’s a date French marine conservation groups will remember. Fishers, too. France’s top administrative court, the Council of State, gave the government six months to close areas to fisheries during portions of the year to curtail dolphin [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[READER ADVISORY: This story contains images of dead wildlife that some viewers may find disturbing. Monday, March 20. That’s a date French marine conservation groups will remember. Fishers, too. France’s top administrative court, the Council of State, gave the government six months to close areas to fisheries during portions of the year to curtail dolphin deaths on the French Atlantic coast. But conservationists say there’s still a long way to go. An image search of “dolphins” and “France” won’t just yield the typical photos of these marine mammals moving in the ocean, sunbeams dancing on their smooth skin. Instead, many of the pictures will show bloodied animals lying dead on the beach. Earlier this year, France’s Stranding Network, or RNE, revealed that nearly 400 of the small cetaceans had washed up dead along the country’s west coast between Dec. 1, 2022, and Feb. 15, 2023. The Pelagis Observatory, which coordinates the RNE, reported that 90% of these were common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), with most bearing traces of injuries from fishing gear. However, the true number of deaths is likely far higher. Pelagis estimates that up to 10,000 dolphins may die every year off France’s west coast, as more than 80% of them sink or decompose at sea. The death toll is much higher than the more notorious dolphin massacres on the Danish Faroe Islands and Japan&#8217;s Taiji Cove combined. Dolphins face a number of human-caused perils at sea, including oil spills, boat strikes, exposure to toxic chemicals, and the impacts&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/top-french-court-orders-closure-of-fisheries-amid-mass-dolphin-deaths/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/top-french-court-orders-closure-of-fisheries-amid-mass-dolphin-deaths/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267517</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists and fishers team up to protect Bolivian river dolphin</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/scientists-fishers-team-up-to-protect-bolivian-river-dolphin/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/scientists-fishers-team-up-to-protect-bolivian-river-dolphin/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Apr 2023 11:07:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rocío Lloret]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/12110243/CARMELO-CALDERON-FUNDACION-VIVA-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267417</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bolivia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Fisheries, Freshwater, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Mammals, Marine Mammals, Protected Areas, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Paul Van Damme and Fortuna Vargas Mejía met 28 years ago in Puerto Villarroel, a village in the Bolivian department of Cochabamba. Van Damme was a Belgian marine biologist who found in the lagoons of the Bolivian Amazon “the closest thing to a sea.” Vargas was a native of Cochabamba who had worked as a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Paul Van Damme and Fortuna Vargas Mejía met 28 years ago in Puerto Villarroel, a village in the Bolivian department of Cochabamba. Van Damme was a Belgian marine biologist who found in the lagoons of the Bolivian Amazon “the closest thing to a sea.” Vargas was a native of Cochabamba who had worked as a navigator for 12 years before becoming a fisherman, so he knew well the Amazonian rivers and lagoons that so fascinated the European scientist. At that time — the 1990s — commercial fishing had just begun to boom in Puerto Villarroel, a municipality located on the banks of the Ichilo River in the Mamoré Basin, which includes three departments of the Bolivian Amazon. “In one day and a night I caught 1,200 kilograms [2645 pounds] [of fish], because there weren’t many of us,” recalled Vargas, who is now 70 years old and has not worked as a fisherman for 15 years. Until then, the area and its forests had been well preserved and was home to a mainly Indigenous population. People from the Moxo and Yuqui Indigenous groups lived in communities along the banks of the river, living mainly off hunting, fishing and subsistence agriculture. Little by little, people from other parts of Bolivia started to move to the urban center of Puerto Villarroel and its outskirts, leading to it eventually becoming the main and largest commercial port connecting western and eastern Bolivia. Fortunato Vargas, a fisherman from Puerto Villaroel, at home. Image courtesy of Wara&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/scientists-fishers-team-up-to-protect-bolivian-river-dolphin/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/scientists-fishers-team-up-to-protect-bolivian-river-dolphin/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267417</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Potential impact on whales overlooked as deep-sea mining looks set to start, experts say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/potential-impact-on-whales-overlooked-as-deep-sea-mining-looks-set-to-start/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/potential-impact-on-whales-overlooked-as-deep-sea-mining-looks-set-to-start/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Feb 2023 16:46:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/14105758/humpbacks-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265564</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Deep Sea Mining, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Mining, Noise Pollution, Oceans, Research, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The potentially imminent start of deep-sea mining in international waters could impact whales, dolphins and porpoises, particularly in terms of noise pollution, according to experts who say there needs to be urgent research into the issue. In a new perspective piece published in Frontiers in Marine Science, scientists from the University of Exeter, Greenpeace Research [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The potentially imminent start of deep-sea mining in international waters could impact whales, dolphins and porpoises, particularly in terms of noise pollution, according to experts who say there needs to be urgent research into the issue. In a new perspective piece published in Frontiers in Marine Science, scientists from the University of Exeter, Greenpeace Research Laboratories, and Oregon State University say proposed deep-sea mining activities would likely produce a range of noises with frequencies that overlap with those used by cetaceans for communication purposes, potentially leading to behavioral changes in these animals. The authors say most assessments of deep-sea mining’s potential impact on biodiversity have focused on “species associated with the seabed and not mobile marine megafauna” like whales and dolphins. This is partly due to a paucity of data on cetaceans in proposed mining areas, says lead author Kirsten Thompson, a marine scientist at the University of Exeter in the U.K. “Cetaceans are a very diverse group of animals and most of what we know about them comes from studies closer to the coast and offshore islands,” Thompson tells Mongabay in an email. “Research in the open ocean is challenging and the fact that they have largely been overlooked in mining impact assessments is really a reflection of how little we know about the species that live there.” A pod of dolphins. The potentially imminent start of deep-sea mining in international waters could impact whales, dolphins and porpoises, particularly in terms of noise pollution. Image by Jeremy Bishop via&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/potential-impact-on-whales-overlooked-as-deep-sea-mining-looks-set-to-start/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/potential-impact-on-whales-overlooked-as-deep-sea-mining-looks-set-to-start/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265564</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Banned but abundant, gillnets pose main threat to Bangladesh’s river dolphins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/banned-but-abundant-gillnets-pose-main-threat-to-bangladeshs-river-dolphins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/banned-but-abundant-gillnets-pose-main-threat-to-bangladeshs-river-dolphins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jan 2023 08:49:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/26081006/irrawady-dolphin-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264992</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Bycatch, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Gillnets, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Mammals, Pollution, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The indiscriminate use of gillnets by fishers in Bangladesh has become a major threat to the two freshwater dolphin species found there: the Ganga River dolphin (Platanista gangetica) and the Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris). Both species, listed as threatened by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, are found in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The indiscriminate use of gillnets by fishers in Bangladesh has become a major threat to the two freshwater dolphin species found there: the Ganga River dolphin (Platanista gangetica) and the Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris). Both species, listed as threatened by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, are found in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest. Bangladesh is home to around 2,000 Ganga River dolphins and 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins. Known locally as shushuk, the Ganga River dolphin is a purely freshwater species that was once abundant in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems that run between Nepal, India and Bangladesh. But the dolphin is disappearing from much of its range for several reasons, including the widespread use of gillnets, habitat loss, and pollution. Known locally as shushuk, the Ganga River dolphin is disappearing from much of its range for several reasons, including the widespread use of gillnets, habitat loss, and pollution. Image by Sarowar Alam Dipu. A 2020 publication by the IUCN identifies entanglement in large- and small-mesh gillnets as a major threat to this endangered species in Bangladesh. Research published in 2022 cited United Nations Development Programme data showing that 130 Ganga River dolphins were killed in Bangladesh between 2007 and 2016, mostly from fishing nets or boat propellers. The widespread use of gillnets means dolphins face a high risk of becoming entangled when they surface to breathe, said Monirul H. Khan, a zoology professor at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka. “It becomes impossible for them to avoid the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/banned-but-abundant-gillnets-pose-main-threat-to-bangladeshs-river-dolphins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/banned-but-abundant-gillnets-pose-main-threat-to-bangladeshs-river-dolphins/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264992</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Unsustainable fishing to be banned in Irrawaddy dolphin’s Bornean sanctuary</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/unsustainable-fishing-to-be-banned-in-irrawaddy-dolphins-bornean-sanctuary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/unsustainable-fishing-to-be-banned-in-irrawaddy-dolphins-bornean-sanctuary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Dec 2022 17:01:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/22095247/WhatsApp-Image-2022-12-17-at-14.42.17-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264015</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indonesian Fisheries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Overfishing, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Rivers, Tropical Forests, Tropics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — One of the most threatened population of Irrawaddy dolphins in Asia is set to get a much-needed reprieve as officials in Indonesia roll out a ban on unsustainable fishing gear in a key stretch of river. The Bornean population of the species, Orcaella brevirostris, is found in the Mahakam River, of which an [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — One of the most threatened population of Irrawaddy dolphins in Asia is set to get a much-needed reprieve as officials in Indonesia roll out a ban on unsustainable fishing gear in a key stretch of river. The Bornean population of the species, Orcaella brevirostris, is found in the Mahakam River, of which an upstream watershed spanning 42,668 hectares (105,435 acres) was in August declared a conservation area by the fisheries ministry. This new designation will severely limit shipping traffic in this stretch of water, but will allow fishing to some degree. To that end, the ministry is working with conservationists to draw up a management plan that will allow sustainable fishing while prohibiting unsustainable and destructive practices that have been identified as a threat to the dolphins and other species. “It is important for the management plan to get finalized in the next few months, as quickly as possible, and I think this is a huge step,” said Danielle Kreb, scientific program manager for the Conservation Foundation for Rare Aquatic Species of Indonesia (YK-RASI), the NGO working with the fisheries ministry. Among the practices they’re seeking to ban are fishing with a type of gill net known as rengge, electrofishing, poison fishing, and monopolizing fisheries, where the entire cross-section of the river is rigged with a net, allowing no room for fish or other animals to pass through, Kreb said. An adult Irrawaddy dolphin in the Mahakam River, in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province. Image courtesy of the Indonesian&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/unsustainable-fishing-to-be-banned-in-irrawaddy-dolphins-bornean-sanctuary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/unsustainable-fishing-to-be-banned-in-irrawaddy-dolphins-bornean-sanctuary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264015</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Black Sea dolphin deaths prompt ecocide allegations against Russia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/black-sea-dolphin-deaths-prompt-ecocide-allegations-against-russia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/black-sea-dolphin-deaths-prompt-ecocide-allegations-against-russia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Dec 2022 14:52:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/16130725/A-dead-dolphin-washed-up-in-Tuzlovsky-Limany-National-Park-in-Ukraine-27-July-2022-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263760</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Eastern Europe, Europe, Russia, and Ukraine]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Governance, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, War, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[READER ADVISORY: This story contains images of dead cetaceans that some viewers may find disturbing. On May 9, Bogdan Bulete, regional head ranger at the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve in Romania, received what he thought was yet another routine call to check out a possible dolphin stranding near the town of Sulina. But when he [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[READER ADVISORY: This story contains images of dead cetaceans that some viewers may find disturbing. On May 9, Bogdan Bulete, regional head ranger at the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve in Romania, received what he thought was yet another routine call to check out a possible dolphin stranding near the town of Sulina. But when he reached the beach this time, the sight that met his eyes was “overwhelming,” he told Mongabay. Up to 30 dolphins lay dead on the sand. “Some of them looked burned, and all of them had marks of nets around their tail or their belly,” he said. Following an unprecedented number of reports of dead dolphins and porpoises on Black Sea beaches since Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Dec. 7 accused Russia of ecocide during COP15, the U.N. biodiversity summit in Montreal. His statement followed an announcement in July by the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office that it would mount an inquiry into suing Russia for ecocide over the cetacean deaths. Mounting evidence is slowly painting a clearer picture of the mass mortality of Black Sea cetaceans. But estimates of the death toll vary and scientists diverge on whether research has progressed far enough to scientifically conclude the war’s effect. The situation highlights the difficulty, and the necessity, of conducting wartime science. A dead cetacean in Tuzlovsky Limany National Park in Ukraine, June 2. Image courtesy of Ivan Rusev. A few days before Zelenskyy’s accusation, researchers presented the first scientific analysis of changes in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/black-sea-dolphin-deaths-prompt-ecocide-allegations-against-russia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/black-sea-dolphin-deaths-prompt-ecocide-allegations-against-russia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-263760</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Noise pollution spooks whales the way predators would, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/noise-pollution-spooks-whales-the-way-predators-would-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/noise-pollution-spooks-whales-the-way-predators-would-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jun 2022 10:41:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Grace Hansen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/07095204/1-sperm-whales-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256880</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Fish, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Noise Pollution, Oceans, Pollution, Research, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Generally, the word pollution conjures images of billowing smokestacks, oily water and trash-filled highway medians. But for whales, dolphins and porpoises, a subtler and perhaps more sinister source of pollution also poisons their realm: human-made sound. A study published March 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences supports the theory that noise [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Generally, the word pollution conjures images of billowing smokestacks, oily water and trash-filled highway medians. But for whales, dolphins and porpoises, a subtler and perhaps more sinister source of pollution also poisons their realm: human-made sound. A study published March 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences supports the theory that noise from technology such as military sonar systems causes problems for these cetaceans by spooking them into thinking predators are lurking nearby. &#8220;Personally I became motivated to study the effects of noise on whales during my PhD, as I often heard very loud human sounds while I was recording sounds of killer whales,&#8221; Patrick Miller, a professor of biology at the University of St. Andrews in the U.K. and one of the paper&#8217;s lead authors, said in an email. &#8220;It was during this time that it became clear that whales were being negatively impacted by ocean noise.&#8221; Researchers tag a northern bottlenose whale. Image by Captain Christian Harboe-Hansen courtesy of the University of St. Andrews. Whales occasionally beach themselves in connection with naval sonar, Miller said. Sometimes, dozens of whales will strand at a time, often leading to their deaths. The scientists&#8217; hypothesis held that cetaceans are especially vulnerable to human-caused noises in their environment because their hearing is adapted to identify specific sounds as dangerous, potentially indicating the presence of predators. Sounds made by killer whales, for example, are similar enough to human-created noises, such as naval sonar, that the animals may be unable to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/noise-pollution-spooks-whales-the-way-predators-would-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/noise-pollution-spooks-whales-the-way-predators-would-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256880</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Death of last river dolphin in Laos rings alarm bells for Mekong population</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/death-of-last-river-dolphin-in-laos-rings-alarm-bells-for-mekong-population/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/death-of-last-river-dolphin-in-laos-rings-alarm-bells-for-mekong-population/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2022 13:25:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/14130237/Mekong-Irrawaddy-dolphin-c-WWF-Cambodia-Tan-Someth-Bunwath_best-scaled-e1649941758778-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=254782</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Bycatch, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Dams, Dolphins, Ecotourism, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Extinction, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Marine Mammals, Rivers, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Tropics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Known only by his identity code, ID#35 was the last individual of a doomed subpopulation of freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris). He was the sole occupant of a deep pool in the Mekong River that spans the border between Cambodia and Laos, and fought for several weeks against lacerations to his tail from entanglement in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Known only by his identity code, ID#35 was the last individual of a doomed subpopulation of freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris). He was the sole occupant of a deep pool in the Mekong River that spans the border between Cambodia and Laos, and fought for several weeks against lacerations to his tail from entanglement in illegal fishing gear. He had been struggling to swim, let alone to feed himself. Mortally wounded, ID#35 died as many of his kin before him. Yet there was a deeper significance to the moment his pale and bloated body washed up on a riverbank in mid-February 2022: his death confirmed that the Irrawaddy dolphin is extinct in Laos. Cetacean specialists have documented the loss of the dolphins from the Chheu Teal transboundary pool for years. In 1993, there were 17 individuals living in the pool. By 2009, the subpopulation had dwindled to seven; three years later to six; and by 2018, only three remained. In 2021, photo identification surveys led by Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration and WWF confirmed that ID#35 was all alone. The species, found in both freshwater and marine environments in South and Southeast Asia, is considered globally endangered. However, the freshwater populations that inhabit the Irrawaddy in Myanmar, the Mahakam in Indonesian Borneo, and Cambodia’s stretch of the Mekong are critically endangered, each with fewer than 100 remaining individuals. With the loss of the Mekong’s Chheu Teal subpopulation, the river’s fewer than 90 surviving dolphins now exclusively occur downstream in Cambodia, where they&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/death-of-last-river-dolphin-in-laos-rings-alarm-bells-for-mekong-population/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-254782</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Stretch of Borneo’s Mahakam River eyed for protection to save Irrawaddy dolphins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/stretch-of-borneos-mahakam-river-eyed-for-protection-to-save-irrawaddy-dolphins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/stretch-of-borneos-mahakam-river-eyed-for-protection-to-save-irrawaddy-dolphins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2021 14:49:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/12/02082546/2.-Ir-Budiono_YK-RASI-Dolphin-Adult-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=249060</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indonesian Fisheries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Rivers, Tropical Forests, Tropics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Conservationists in Indonesia are pushing for the establishment of a protected area along a stretch of Borneo’s Mahakam River to save the remaining population of the nearly extinct Irrawaddy dolphin. The government of Kutai Kartanegara district in East Kalimantan province has requested the approval of the fisheries ministry to designate the part of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Conservationists in Indonesia are pushing for the establishment of a protected area along a stretch of Borneo’s Mahakam River to save the remaining population of the nearly extinct Irrawaddy dolphin. The government of Kutai Kartanegara district in East Kalimantan province has requested the approval of the fisheries ministry to designate the part of the Mahakam River that runs through the district as a hydrological park. This would confer some protection on the ecosystem while still allowing for sustainable local fisheries. The proposed conservation area would cover 43,117 hectares (106,545 acres) of the Mahakam watershed in the district. Nearly 16% of this area would be designated the core zone, including the known habitat of the Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), according to an official document reviewed by Mongabay. About 90% of the last 80 Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mahakam inhabit this particular stretch of the river, according to the nonprofit Conservation Foundation for Rare Aquatic Species of Indonesia (YK-RASI). At the same time, the area is also a key source of income for fishers from 27 villages. “If the center [national government] says everything seems to be OK, it will be the first conservation area actually in freshwater areas that will be obtaining a ministerial decree,” Danielle Kreb, scientific program manager for YK-RASI, which is assisting the Kutai Kartanegara district government with the proposal, told Mongabay in a phone interview. “I think for more complex areas that need different zones and stuff, this might be a good example, because we&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/stretch-of-borneos-mahakam-river-eyed-for-protection-to-save-irrawaddy-dolphins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-249060</doi>				</item>
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