Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Wild animals are great gift givers – and there’s one present in particular I’d love to receive for Christmas | Helen Pilcher

admin — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 08:00:36 +0000

Penguins hand over pebbles; scorpionflies give spitballs. But I’m hankering after a sea sponge presented by a dolphin

Plant ‘tredges’ to boost England’s tree cover, gardeners urged

admin — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 06:00:33 +0000

Royal Horticultural Society’s call backs government aim to increase woodland cover from 10% to at least 16.5% by 2050

Gardeners should plant native “tredges” – foliage between the size of a tree and a hedge – to boost England’s tree cover, the Royal Horticultural Society has said.

North Carolina Christmas tree farmers are optimistic after Hurricane Helene

admin — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 16:00:15 +0000

More than a year after the storm ripped apart families and farms, growers are bullish about strength of their industry

Christmas tree farmers in western North Carolina are still rebuilding from last year’s devastating Hurricane Helene, but growers are optimistic about business and the overall strength of their industry in the region.

U-turn on inheritance tax for farmers ‘snuck out’ to avoid scrutiny, say Tories

admin — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 10:06:36 +0000

Victoria Atkins says announcement to raise tax threshold from £1m to £2.5m days before Christmas ‘seems very odd’

UK politics live – latest updates

Ministers “snuck out” the announcement that they had decided to U-turn on inheritance tax for farmers, the Conservatives have said after the government revealed the move in a press release two days before Christmas.

Barracuda, grouper, tuna – and seaweed: Madagascar’s fishers forced to find new ways to survive

admin — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 05:00:05 +0000

Seaweed has become a key cash crop as climate change and industrial trawling test the resilient culture of the semi-nomadic Vezo people

Along Madagascar’s south-west coast, the Vezo people, who have fished the Mozambique Channel for countless generations, are defined by a way of life sustained by the sea. Yet climate change and industrial exploitation are pushing this ocean-based culture to its limits.

Crayfish, weevils and fungi released in UK to tackle invasive species such as Japanese knotweed

admin — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 05:00:03 +0000

Scientists working for government breed biological control agents in lab to take on species choking native wildlife

Crayfish, weevils and fungi are being released into the environment in order to tackle invasive species across Britain.

Scientists working for the government have been breeding species in labs to set them loose into the wild to take on Japanese knotweed, signal crayfish and Himalayan balsam, and other species that choke out native plants and wildlife.

Observations of mariculture associated N2O loss: a need for system specific studies

admin — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 05:00:00 +0000

npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 24 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00180-z

Observations of mariculture associated N2O loss: a need for system specific studies

Conserving key coastal areas for mangrove expansion and eco-tourism secures ecosystem services under sea-level rise

admin — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 05:00:00 +0000

npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 24 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00170-1

Conserving key coastal areas for mangrove expansion and eco-tourism secures ecosystem services under sea-level rise

The Guardian view on animal welfare: a timely reminder that cruelty is wrong | Editorial

admin — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:25:48 +0000

New protections for hares, and more humane conditions on farms, should be welcomed by all

Shropshire canal breach caused by collapse of artificial embankment

admin — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:07:05 +0000

Work under way to refloat boats on emptied waterway after earthwork more than 200 years old fails

The dramatic breach of a canal in the early hours of Monday, which sent two narrowboats tumbling into a hole and left others stranded, was caused by the collapse of an artificial embankment that had stood for more than 200 years.