Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Riot of native wildflowers that enthralled visitors in the past several years have failed to sprout due to too little rain It’s one of the best known rites of spring in California: extraordinary displays known as “superblooms” that coat the hillsides in an abundance of color. Some years the blooms are massive enough to draw tourists from around the world to revel in the fields, such as in 2023 when more than 100,000 people showed up on a weekend to gawk at the poppies in Lake Elsinore, a small city about an hour outside Los Angeles. But this year, not so much. Thanks to a brutally dry winter, the hills around the usual southern California superbloom hotspots have been conspicuously bare. Callista Turner, a state park ranger, could count the number of blooms on two hands as she surveyed the 8 miles of rolling hills at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in the final week of March, which is typically when superbloom season peaks. “We’re still waiting to see what kind of season we have,” she says. “It’s a very slow start.” Continue reading...

Man had been attempting to cross a causeway through rising flood waters that have now cut off a campsite, stranding more than 20 people Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Police have resumed the search for an elderly man who was swept into a flooded river on Saturday night, as authorities warn more heavy rain could isolate inland parts of New South Wales and Queensland for up to six weeks. Flood warnings remain in place for vast areas of eastern Australia, after a record-breaking rain event. Continue reading...

In a city where surfing is a way of life, the wait to get back in the water has been agonizing. But new research offers a glimmer of hope Alex Sinunu was used to surfing three or four times a week in Santa Monica Bay – after all, the beach was just a mile from his home and he could ride his bike there with his board. But ever since the megafires that swept through neighboring Pacific Palisades in early January, the ocean has been filled with ash, debris – and endless questions. The massive blaze consumed thousands of homes and other structures, many of them on the edge of the Pacific coastline. Subsequent rainstorms sent tons of debris washing into the ocean, turned the water brown and raised fears about the toxins that could be coming from all the charred remains of buildings and cars – including asbestos, lithium-ion batteries and plastics. Continue reading...

npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 29 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00107-8 Understanding fishers’ wellbeing through participatory processes in fisheries management