Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Sex-loving hookworms and other peculiar parasites: one man’s mission to champion nature’s villains

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 06:00:19 +0000

Award-winning entomologist Dino Martins, known for his work on pollinators, shows in his latest book that even the most gruesome creatures have vital roles to play

Dino J Martins has never been able to resist the small things. The renowned entomologist and evolutionary biologist spent his formative years in biodiversity-rich western Kenya with his foster parents, Joe and Sarah Ellen, looking at birds, flowers and insects on Mt Elgon, and in Kakamega forest and Kerio valley.

Bank of England to stop accepting bonds linked to coal for key loans

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 05:00:17 +0000

Campaigners hope move will force commercial banks to rethink holding assets linked to the fossil fuel

Climate campaigners have declared a victory after the Bank of England said it would no longer accept bonds linked to one of the most polluting industries on the planet for key loan arrangements.

Flash flood warnings strike north-east US amid wildfire smoke from Canada

admin — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 19:11:13 +0000

Poor air quality from wildfires continues to plague New York City as several neighborhoods hit by thunderstorms

Saturday is delivering a double dose of dangerous weather across the north-eastern US, with smoky skies from Canadian wildfires giving way to severe thunderstorms that have already triggered a flash flood warning as torrential rain pounds parts of the region.

Poultry sector growth plan risks UK national security, campaigners warn

admin — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 10:00:01 +0000

Government’s food security push is said to rely on animal feed imports with vulnerability to supply chain shocks

The government’s planned poultry sector growth plan is a risk to national security, campaigners have warned.

Wessex Water chief pockets above-inflation pay rise despite bonus ban over sewage spills

admin — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 07:00:51 +0000

CEO’s pay packet surges to £791,000 as union says public ‘sick of obscene pay’ and bosses ‘feathering own nests’

Wessex Water awarded its chief executive an above-inflation pay increase even as the company was banned from paying bonuses because of sewage spills, it has emerged.

Ruth Jefferson received a 14% base salary increase in October, from £590,000 to £670,000, before other benefits, according to accounts published this month. It was far above the 3.5% given to workers, and put her pay at 18 times that of the company’s median employee.

London Underground users should know about toxic dust risk, whistleblower says

admin — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 06:58:47 +0000

Former tube network cleaner says tribunal vindicated his health concerns, including about asbestos, that could affect public

A London Underground worker who was unfairly sacked after whistleblowing about his concerns over exposure to asbestos and other toxic dust has said he wants all tube passengers to know about the potential hazards his case has revealed.

More Canadian wildfire smoke shrouds US midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 20:31:59 +0000

109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US

Southern Water fined £7m after illegally dumping sewage off Kent coast

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:56:01 +0000

Firm pleaded guilty to 13 offences over discharges at Margate and Broadstairs wastewater pumping stations

Southern Water has been fined more than £7m after illegally dumping sewage off the Kent coast between 2019 and 2021.

The company, described by the judge as having a “record of criminality” that was “an exceptionally serious aggravating factor”, pleaded guilty to 13 offences at Medway magistrates court last April over sewage discharges at Margate and Broadstairs wastewater pumping stations between 2019 and 2021.

Biodiversity fears as human-bred hybrid fish integrate into Philippines lake

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:00:31 +0000

Escaped flowerhorn cichlids are causing concern for native species and about parasites capable of infecting humans

Escaped ornamental aquarium fish have integrated into a local ecosystem in the Philippines, but scientists say they may be threatening the native biodiversity of the lake.

Flowerhorn cichlids – human-bred hybrid fish prized for their bright-gold colour and prominent head humps – are believed to have escaped from breeding facilities into Lake Sampaloc, which sits in a volcanic crater, during a typhoon.

Jackdaw gasfield would create only 27 direct full-time jobs, documents show

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:30:23 +0000

Campaigners say field will bring minimal benefit for UK economy, as industry lobbies Burnham for go-ahead

More people can fit on to the top deck of a standard London bus than will be directly employed on the new Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, industry documents show.