National research effort to save iconic Australian sea lions as top-tier marine predator numbers fall

Despite changes in fishing and aquaculture techniques that have drastically reduced sea lion bycatch, the number of the marine mammals continues to fall. Read more here.

A Biden effort to conserve oceans is leaving out Indigenous people, report finds

President Biden’s administration wants to create the largest non-contiguous protected ocean area in the world, but a new paper says the effort is failing to take into account the rights and perspectives of the Indigenous peoples most affected by the change. Read more here.

Ships can protect endangered whales and tackle climate change

Because noise travels so efficiently underwater and the frequency range of noises created by ships overlaps with the frequencies created by whales and other marine life, it creates a constant din that interferes with the ability of these animals to communicate, breed, feed, avoid predators, locate prey, and migrate. Read more here.

Most marine protection measures are not working; a new approach is needed

The radio crackles into life on a small boat off an idyllic beach in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia. Two recreational fishers are trying to catch prized spangled emperors in a sanctuary zone, where all fishing is supposed to be banned, to help protect this fish from overfishing. Read more here.

Several shark species are experiencing extinction, study

Of the thousand known species of sharks and rays (sharks’ closest living relatives), over a third of them are at risk of extinction. And since sharks are “indicators of ocean health,” as sharks go, so does the delicate balance of marine ecosystems. Read more here.