Rare nursery for baby manta rays discovered in Gulf of Mexico
A marine sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas is teeming with baby manta rays, a rare discovery that scientists have now described in a new study published in Marine…
Rays News
Do catch and release-induced abortions harm shark and ray populations?
Scientists have long raised concerns over the future of sharks and rays, of which some 100 million are caught and killed on fishing boats every year. They have paid somewhat…
Belize imposes offshore oil moratorium to protect reefs
The government of Belize halted all exploration for oil in its territorial waters from Dec. 29, becoming one of the first developing countries to turn away from oil in favor…
Shrinking Indonesian shark fisheries spur a national action plan
Like all big fishing ports in Indonesia, Tanjung Luar is one that you can smell before you see. At 7 a.m., it is a thick crowd of fishwives, turmeric painted…
Javanese fishermen switch from lobsters to stingrays as an unintended consequence of new catch limits
"This is for the future of our oceans," Indonesian Fishery Minister Susi Pudjiastuti exclaimed when she announced minimum size limits for lobster and crab catches in January this year. It…
Conservationists catch-and-release record-smashing freshwater fish
Releasing the giant mamma freshwater stingray. Photo courtesy of Ocean Mysteries and Jeff Corwin. Conservationists and scientists have managed to catch-and-release what could be the world's biggest freshwater fish ever…
In unprecedented move, Indonesia punishes illegal manta ray trader
Reef manta rays (Manta alfredi) swim off Nusa Penida in Indonesia. Photo Credit: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace For the first time, Indonesia has sentenced an illegal manta ray trafficker to jail time…
Manta ray tourism worth 28 times more than killing them for Traditional Chinese Medicine
A new study in the open access journal PLoS ONE estimates that manta rays are worth $140 million a year in tourism across 23 countries, significantly outweighing the worth of…
Sharks and rays win protections at CITES
The scalloped hammerhead shark is one of five sharks and two manta rays that won protection today at CITES, so long as it isn't overturned. Photo by: Stacy Jupiter/WCS. Today,…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Murder of activist in India highlights growing risk to environmental defenders
- Number of murdered environmental activists rose once again in 2017
- Indonesia to investigate death of journalist being held for defaming palm oil company
Indonesias forest guardians
- Papuan chef Charles Toto serves up sustainability and environmental protection in a platter
- In eastern Indonesia, a forest tribe pushes back against miners and loggers
- Faith in the forest helps Indonesia’s Dayaks keep plantations, loggers at bay
Amazon infrastructure
- Brazilian elections and the environment: where top candidates stand
- Community-run trading posts help Amazon forest people reverse rural exodus
- Ruralists in Brazilian congress put nation’s protected areas at risk
Asian rhinos
- 1984: the meeting that changed everything for Sumatran rhinos
- In protecting the Javan rhino, locals gain a ‘more meaningful life’
- Rhino poop gives villagers in India a conservation incentive
