Battery-powered Sea Glider Could Make Coastal Travel More Climate-friendly

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a boat … it’s … what is that?

Thalheimer: “A sea glider is an all-electric, battery-powered flying boat.” Billy Thalheimer is cofounder and CEO of Regent, a company that’s developing a 12-seat seaglider called the Viceroy.  It looks similar to a plane. But when operated, it starts out floating on its hull, like a boat. It rises up onto a hydrofoil – a winglike structure that lifts it slightly above the water. Then in open water, it takes off and cruises on a cushion of air near the water’s surface.

How the Oceans Fared at the COP16 Biodiversity Conference in Colombia

The announcement came early on the morning of Oct. 31. Delegates to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity summit (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, had finally agreed on a protocol for identifying for protection unique parts of the high seas, the two-thirds of the world’s oceans that are international waters. The late-conference acceptance of this science-based process for pinpointing ecologically or biologically significant marine areas, or EBSAs, in the high seas provides a pathway to create marine protected areas (MPAs) in international waters.

Nature Is a Right, Not a Privilege: Environmental Education as a Catalyst for Youth-Led Climate Justice

For someone interested in the environment, I have killed more plants than I care to tell. Since high school, I have rooted myself (pun intended) in a curiosity of nature. Research presented an outlet through which I felt comfortable exploring my environmentalism. Admittedly, I was the basement-dwelling, science-experiment kid, tending to my plants and their fungal mutualisms every day after school.

Whales That Use Echolocation Mistake Plastic For Prey

Deep-diving whales that rely on sound rather than vision to hunt in the ocean’s darkest depths are confusing plastic marine debris for prey, new findings suggest. For the study, “Acoustic signature of plastic marine debris mimics the prey items of deep-diving cetaceans,” researchers from Duke University as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, compared the way sound bounces off plastic that is floating underwater to that of typical whale prey.

Plastic Pollution is Changing Entire Earth System, Scientists Find

Pollution is affecting the climate, biodiversity, ecosystems, ocean acidification and human health, according to analysis

Plastic pollution is changing the processes of the entire Earth system, exacerbating climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, and the use of freshwater and land, according to scientific analysis. Plastic must not be treated as a waste problem alone, the authors said, but as a product that poses harm to ecosystems and human health.

Decades After Global Regulations, the Arctic Ocean's Legacy Persistent Organic Pollutants Haven't Dropped

The presence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in all the world's oceans but one has been in steady decline since 2001, when 152 countries agreed on a comprehensive global ban. The exception has been the Arctic Ocean, which has seen a sharp rise in POPs in its frigid waters over the past several decades.

Majestic ‘8th continent’ Collects and Recycles Plastic From the Ocean

Architect Lenka Petráková’s “The 8th Continent” proposes a self-sustaining structure to recycle ocean plastic and restore marine health.

Award-winning architect Lenka Petráková is pioneering a new way to tackle ocean pollution with an ambitious project named "The 8th Continent." Her innovative design aims to recycle ocean plastic while functioning as a completely self-sustaining floating structure. If realized, it could mark a significant advancement in global conservation efforts.

Gulf Coast Shrimpers Are Going Out of Business With Alarming Speed

Murry Kimball never wanted to be a shrimper. The 64-year-old spent much of his childhood learning the ways of the ten-legged crustacean; anytime school wasn’t in session, he and his younger brother would be dragged out to work on their father’s boat in the Gulf waters of southeast Texas. “I stayed seasick,” Kimball remembers. “I hated shrimping so much, I wanted to become a game warden and shut my daddy down.”

Biden Administration Announces USD 95 Million For Fish Passage Projects

The U.S. government has announced another USD 95 million (EUR 87 million) in funding for new fish passage projects, some of which is specifically dedicated to Tribal priorities. “These investments reflect a continuation of decades of work by NOAA Fisheries to recover threatened and endangered migratory fish and support the sustainability of commercial, Tribal, and recreational fisheries,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said in a statement.

Whitefish Remains Vanguard of Sustainable Seafood Market

Whitefish fisheries including pollock, cod, haddock and hake, remain at the forefront of the sustainable seafood market, with almost three quarters of the global whitefish catch engaged with the MSC’s sustainable seafood program at the end of 2023. 

Pollock and cod are among the top ten wild caught marine species with the largest landings in 2021 – the latest year for which the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) provides data.

OpEd: Salmon-farming Industry Has to Take Protecting Biodiversity Seriously to Guarantee Stable Future

He was trained as an economist and specialized as a researcher on governance and management policies of sustainable fisheries and oceans. Currently, he works as a senior policy advisor for the NGO Accountability.

His latest book, “Tuna Wars. Powers around the fish we love to conserve’,’ describes the world history of industrial tuna fisheries from antiquity to the modern economic battles around sustainability in the value chain.

A Night of Beauty and Sadness in Florida

In high school, a five-day trip to the Florida Keys was the highlight of my year, a getaway planned by our AP Environmental Science class to explore marine ecosystems up close. I had spent the week prior buzzing with anticipation, carefully packing my duffel bag full of swimsuits, breathable tees, and my favorite hiking sandals. Trading the brisk Virginia air for tropical breezes sounded like a dream, and I couldn’t wait to see what adventures awaited. By the time our plane touched down in Miami, I was ready to dive into the experience.

From Crisis to Comeback: Long Island’s $6 Billion Clean Water Victory

The universal need for clean water transcends all politics.

In a landmark victory for clean water, Suffolk County residents approved Proposition 2. Over the next 30 years, this measure will secure $4 billion to modernize wastewater infrastructure and protect Long Island’s waters from nitrogen pollution and $2 billion to protect clean drinking water by conserving nature. This monumental non-partisan decision marks a turning point in the decades-long effort to restore the region’s beaches, bays and harbors.

Do Hurricanes Pose a Danger to Fish and Other Sea Life?

According to an article on the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association website, hurricanes generate high waves, rough undercurrents and shifting sands, and all three may harm sea life.

“Slow-moving fish and turtles and shellfish beds are often decimated by the rough undercurrents and rapid changes in water temperature and salinity wrought by a hurricane,” the article states.

Collaborative Research Aims To Discover Effective Treatments for Marine Mammals Poisoned by Toxic Algae

Zymo Research Corporation, Unravel Biosciences, Inc., and Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute (CIMWI) have joined forces in an urgent research initiative to identify drug therapies for marine mammals affected by domoic acid (DA) poisoning. As climate change drives environmental shifts that increase the frequency of harmful phytoplankton blooms, marine life, especially sea lions, face an escalating threat from DA toxicity.