By Marlene Cimons There have been numerous wake-up calls about the effects of climate change on marine life. As ocean waters heat up, they are bleaching corals. Growing levels of carbon dioxide are acidifying seawater, which is degrading the shells and skeletons of sea organisms. The rising temperatures are prompting fish to migrate to colder waters, even causing them...
By Safina Center Staff It took the United States decades to develop and perfect an effective fisheries management plan that helps keep enough fish to feed both the nation’s people and its animals. The landmark legislation that turned around the country’s widespread overfishing problem was called the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, passed in...
Sailing S/V Mir through remote Raja Ampat has been like traveling back in time to a wilder, less-peopled world. I spend a lot of time imagining what this planet was like even just a few centuries ago, before people began altering Earth’s living systems on a global scale. Human beings have been leaving their...
The Mekong River is the 12th longest river in the world and the third most biodiverse river in terms of fish next to the Amazon and the Congo. It boasts the world’s largest inland fishery, providing food and livelihood for millions of people. It is a transboundary river that runs through six countries: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, and supports hundreds of extraordinary species –- from birds to mammals, reptiles, and fish. It is also important habitat and the last remaining stronghold for species at the brink of extinction, including the giant freshwater stingray, giant ibis, Siamese crocodile, and the Mekong giant catfish. Since it is a transboundary river, there is a need for people to work together for the effective conservation and management of the river ecosystem. As part of National Geographic’s Mentorship Program, I had the chance to participate in a Workshop on Saving Species on the Edge of Extinction, co-organized by my mentor, Dr. Zeb Hogan. The workshop was part of the USAID-funded Wonders of the Mekong project, a joint initiative that seeks to understand and share the value of the Mekong River ecosystem....
Every week, embark with host Boyd Matson on an exploration of the latest discoveries and interviews with some of the most fascinating people on the planet, on National Geographic Weekend. Please check listings near you to find the best way to listen to National Geographic Weekend on radio, or listen below! Hour 1 – Professional big wave surfer Greg Long wiped out while...
If you don’t use it, you lose it—at least this appears to be the case for a blind cave fish found in Mexico and the southern U.S. known as Astyanax mexicanus. Descended from an eyed surface fish, over long periods of time the subterranean form of the same species has adapted to darkness, accumulating new...
On March 11, an angler hooked a rare fish: a 300-pound albino blue marlin. The animal was released alive, and photos of the encounter may be the first recorded images of an albino blue marlin, according to the Billfish Report. It was about 1 pm, during a charter fishing trip on the 42-foot boat Spanish...
The annual fall run of young salmon from their inland birthplaces in rivers to the sea is one of Nature’s dramatic migrations. But this year, a number of chinook salmon may make that journey by truck. This week, state and federal wildlife officials in northern California announced that they will ferry hatchery-raised salmon to the...
By Nicole Perman Until recently, it seemed as though the short-tailed albatross would not be able to escape extinction. These endangered seabirds have been threatened first by hunting, and more recently by overfishing in the North Pacific and Bering Seas, and by their less-than-ideal primary breeding ground – a small volcanically active island called Tori-shima,...
By Vera Agostini, Senior Marine Scientist, The Nature Conservancy Major hurricanes like Sandy (New Jersey in 2012) and Ivan (Eastern Caribbean in 2004) and Typhoon Haiyan (the Philippines 2013) make global headlines as they hit coastal communities, appropriately drawing attention to the human, financial, and community losses. While some smaller communities may not make global...
As the World Ocean Summit winds down in Half Moon Bay, California, this evening, much discussion among the hundreds of gathered delegates has turned to overfishing. There were perhaps as many thoughts on the subject as members in attendance from the fishing industry, academia, conservation organizations, and the media. But, several solutions emerged that received...
Earlier this month, Indonesia announced the world’s largest sanctuary for manta rays. At the World Ocean Summit Tuesday, Peter Seligmann, the CEO of Conservation International, said the sanctuary “was not done out of good will, it was done out of enlightened self interest.” Seligmann said Indonesia had made careful calculations about how much manta rays...
Dr. Tse-Lynn Loh, Postdoctoral Research Associate John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago in partnership with Project Seahorse (University of British Columbia & Zoological Society of London) I’m writing from foggy and drizzly Haiphong, where I’ve been meeting with our country hosts at the Research Institute for Marine Fisheries (RIMF) and organizing the logistics for the next...
Most of what we know about the insides of fish is usually broiled or fried on our plates. But Adam Summers has given us a new perspective on the internal structures of the aquatic animals, thanks to his series of artistic photographs currently on exhibit at the Seattle Aquarium. The exhibit, called Cleared: The Art of Science Photography,...
By Erick Ross Salazar, MarViva MarViva Foundation and Mission Blue have teamed up to seek protection for a high seas “hope spot” called the Central American Dome (CAD). A term coined by Mission Blue founder Sylvia Earle, hope spots are areas of particular conservation concern beneath the waves. The Central American Dome is a biodiverse,...