Sixty years after the discovery of a colony of Juan Fernández fur seals, previously thought to be extinct, a landmark agreement extends ‘no take’ zone around the wildlife-rich archipelago
Six decades ago, pioneering oceanographer and conservationist Sylvia Earle made a bittersweet discovery while diving off Chile’s oceanic islands with the US National Science Foundation vessel, the Anton Bruun. She found the remains of a baby fur seal, one of the world’s most isolated aquatic mammals.
Endemic to the Juan Fernández archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean, and once prized for its fur and meat, the species, Arctocephalus philippii, was believed to have been hunted to extinction in the 19th century. But, Earle said: “A baby must have a mum and dad somewhere.”
Pioneering oceanographer and conservationist Sylvia Earle. Photograph: Andy Mann/Blue Marine Foundation
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
03/23/2026 - 07:00
03/23/2026 - 06:01
A survey has revealed the vast array of wildlife – some never seen before – living within the south-east Asian country’s karst ecosystems. The work was led by international wildlife conservation charity Fauna & Flora in collaboration with Cambodia’s environment ministry and field experts
I discovered three new geckos in Cambodia’s limestone caves – and that’s not all we found
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03/23/2026 - 06:00
Exclusive: Food systems of low-income nations projected to deteriorate seven times as fast as those of wealthy ones
The number of countries falling into critical food insecurity could almost triple to 24 if global temperatures increase by 2C, research has shown.
Analysis by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) shows the climate crisis will disproportionately affect food systems in poorer nations, widening the gap between the most and least vulnerable countries.
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03/23/2026 - 03:00
Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland is ferret-free after £4.5m five-year partnership led by RSPB NI
Predatory feral ferrets have been removed from an island for the first time ever, in a boost for Northern Ireland’s largest seabird colony.
Rathlin Island is ferret-free after a £4.5m five-year partnership led by RSPB NI involving islanders, charities, volunteers and a red labrador called Woody.
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03/22/2026 - 23:00
State of the Climate report finds Earth’s energy has moved dangerously out of balance, with oceans absorbing vast majority of trapped heat
Our home planet is struggling with a record energy imbalance, which is warming oceans to unprecedented levels, making weather more extreme and threatening health and food supplies, the World Meteorological Organization has warned.
The United Nations body confirmed 2015 to 2025 were the hottest 11 years ever measured, but a still bleaker message was that the rising temperature experienced by humans on the surface was only 1% of the faster-accumulating heat in the wider Earth system.
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03/22/2026 - 21:51
A convoy of seven trucks and one semi-trailer carrying cattle feed has brought much-needed relief to flood-affected graziers in north-west Queensland. Many in the area have not been able to leave their farms for weeks as flood waters forced road closures. Tens of thousands of cattle have also been lost in the floods that have affected the region since January. The charity group Rapid Relief Team organised the free cattle feed as well as a community catchup event. It was the first time since January that many farmers were able to talk with their neighbours face-to-face
Just two flavours of chips and pub theme nights: how these isolated Queensland towns have survived being cut off for weeks
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03/22/2026 - 19:01
The whole ecosystem inside a cave feeds off guano, dead bats, or any dead animals on the ground. It’s not for the faint-hearted
It can be daunting entering a cave. It is an underground world that possibly hasn’t been explored before. The first smell that hits you is guano (or bat poo). Some of these caves host millions of bats – you can hear them chirping above, hanging in the darkness, and occasionally flying around. It always seems like night-time inside a cave because it’s pitch black.
The walls are covered in interesting creatures such as tailless whip scorpions, which look like a cross between a spider and crab (they look dangerous, but are not), as well as millipedes and centipedes. The whole ecosystem feeds off guano, dead bats, or any dead animals on the ground. It’s not for the faint-hearted.
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03/22/2026 - 07:00
Survivors describe how rangers and staff were targeted by an armed group during a raid on DRC’s national park earlier this month
Nearby Congolese soldiers had received warnings of the attack in the morning. But the soldiers did not arrive until late in the evening, long after the killings were over.
It happened before dawn on Tuesday 3 March, as a dozen rangers at Upemba national park headquarters were being briefed by their commander before the day’s routine anti-poaching patrol. At 5.40am machine-gun fire began to rattle out of the surrounding darkness.
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03/22/2026 - 07:00
There are flooding rains in Hawaii, rare snow in Alabama and a severe heatwave in the west coast
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The US is experiencing a striking mix of weather extremes this March. Flooding rains in Hawaii, rare snow in Alabama, flip-flopping temperatures in the north-east and, perhaps most concerning, a severe heatwave affecting the west coast are raising questions about how strange these patterns really are, and what role the climate crisis is playing.
Experts suggested that people around the US need to pay closer attention to the climatecrisis and do what they can to “minimize the impacts”.
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03/21/2026 - 19:48
Antibiotics are accumulating in a major Brazilian river, especially during the dry season when pollution becomes more concentrated. Scientists even detected a banned drug inside fish sold for food, raising concerns about human exposure. A common aquatic plant showed promise in removing these chemicals from water—but it also altered how fish absorb them, creating unexpected risks.
