Animals in the world’s oceans have faced an ever-increasing cacophony in recent decades. They’re inundated with sonar intended to keep countries safe, air gun charges that help energy companies find…
A team of researchers based in Australia and the United States have used historical nautical maps to determine that coral reef loss in the Florida Keys is much more extensive…
Few people get to witness the breadth and wonder of underwater life, from coral to kelp to fish and sea anemones. SCUBA divers gain a unique view of not only…
It’s not uncommon to find ecologist Greg Asner flying transects over the rainforests of the Amazon or Borneo. His specially outfitted plane has helped map out the three-dimensional structure of…
The Trump Administration has taken steps to open up the United States’ Atlantic waters to offshore oil exploration and drilling, sparking fierce resistance up and down the coast. For instance,…
It’s no secret that widespread overfishing is driving many shark species to extinction. Many of these apex predators are ensnared incidentally as bycatch in longline fisheries targeting tuna or swordfish.…
Sometimes humans invent things, seemingly benign things, that end up having profound and unpredictable effects. The invention of plastic must have been a marvel in the early 20th century. Entrepreneurs…
JAKARTA — Not everyone supports the Indonesian government’s decision to publish information on the location of fishing boats in its waters, via data mapping platform Global Fishing Watch, accessible to…
It’s not just the Great Barrier Reef — coral reefs around the globe are in decline due to climate change, ocean pollution, and a number of other impacts of human…
How do you save a species or protect a habitat? For the past few decades, scientists have been calling for an increased use of scientific evidence -- carefully controlled, peer-reviewed…
The fourth and final meeting of a United Nations Preparatory Committee ended last week with a recommendation that the UN General Assembly convene treaty negotiations aimed at protecting the high…
The massive ocean sunfish -- an odd-looking fish with a flat, rigid, tailless body -- is not only the world's largest bony fish, but also one of the most elusive…
Dave Ebert pulls up an image on his computer screen. The object in the picture is shaped like an oversize arrowhead, thin, yellowish, and fraying at its edges. It’s a…
Raja Ampat — an island chain in Indonesia’s West Papua province — is world-renowned for its beautiful and unique marine biodiversity. But its marine mammals have not received much attention…
Marine conservation interventions are increasingly using improved food security in developing countries as a justification and an objective for their work. By improving the supply of fish through interventions such…
Even if all the world’s nations fully cooperated to reduce carbon emissions and limit climate change, elevated carbon dioxide levels will continue to harm our oceans in the coming decades.…
New evidence lays out the intricate trade in animal body parts that conservation groups say are driving two marine species in Mexico’s Gulf of California closer to extinction. The battle…
Whales, dolphins, sea turtles and fish living off the coast of Gabon now enjoy similar protections to those designed to safeguard the Central African nation’s gorillas, elephants and other land-dwelling…
For the first time ever, scientists have been able to observe what life is really like for dolphins beneath the ocean’s surface. Using custom-made, noninvasive underwater cameras that they attached…
Singapore has emerged as the world's second largest trader of shark fins by value after Hong Kong, according to a new report by the wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC. Shark…
