location: United States

location: United States

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Thomas J. Walker studied the songs of crickets and katydids
- Thomas J. Walker, who died on April 8th 2026 aged 94, spent his career studying the behavior and acoustics of crickets and katydids, treating their songs as a way to understand species and ecology.
- Over more than four decades at the University of Florida, he questioned conventional taxonomy by arguing for the importance of studying living insects rather than relying mainly on preserved specimens.
- He was an early advocate of making research freely available, helping to move scientific publishing online and creating the “Singing Insects of North America” website, which allowed both specialists and amateurs to identify species and access data.
- His legacy also includes the protection and development of the Natural Area Teaching Laboratory, reflecting a practical commitment to conservation, education, and public engagement with the natural world.

Landmark US Magnuson-Stevens fisheries law turns 50 amid budget cut concerns
April 13 marked the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), a landmark conservation law credited with saving numerous U.S. fisheries from collapse and protecting vital ocean habitats. Despite decades of success, conservationists warn that recent federal funding cuts could undermine those gains. The MSA was passed in 1976, in the same decade the […]
San Francisco Bay emerges as high-risk area for migrating gray whales
Gray whales have one of the longest known migrations of any mammal — from the Arctic near Alaska, to the lagoons of Baja Mexico, where they mate and give birth. This annual migration, longer than 19,000 kilometers (12,000 miles), has been altered by climate change, with profound consequences for the 15-meter (50-foot) mammals. Since 2016, […]
Aaron Longton, fisherman who tied sustainability to survival
- Aaron Longton was a commercial fisherman in Port Orford, Oregon, who built his career through persistence and a deep understanding of the marine environment.
- He helped pioneer a model that connected fishermen directly with consumers, improving prices while increasing transparency around how seafood is caught.
- Longton argued that conservation and economic survival were inseparable, supporting science-based management and habitat protection to sustain fisheries over time.
- His work reflected the challenges facing small-boat fishing communities and offered a practical approach to maintaining both livelihoods and fish stocks.

Coexisting with America’s growing urban coyote population is easier than you think
Coyotes are now present in almost every major urban-metropolitan area in the United States, yet conflicts between the canines and humans are exceptionally low. Between 1960 and 2006, only 146 documented coyote attacks on humans occurred in the U.S. and Canada. Yet there are 4.5 million dog attacks on humans annually in the U.S. alone. […]
Invasive plant drives ecological change in America’s gigantic Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness (commentary)
- There’s a new plant growing in one of the largest designated wilderness areas in the U.S. — the Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness — which spans the states of Idaho and Montana.
- Though it feels like a true wilderness, this introduced plant — spotted knapweed — has begun changing the ecosystem and threatens to drive local extinctions of some native species.
- “From a distance, the Selway still looks intact. But at the level of its living fabric — the layer supporting insects, birds, amphibians, mammals and forest regeneration — losses are underway,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

How the US rebuilt a collapsed fishery
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. After this piece was published, we were informed that Aaron Longton had passed away. On the docks of Port Orford, a small fishing town on the southern coast of the U.S. state of Oregon, Aaron Longton runs a […]
March smashes record as most abnormally hot month for continental US, federal meteorologists say
WASHINGTON (AP) — March’s persistent unseasonable heat was so intense that the continental United States registered its most abnormally hot month in 132 years of records, according to federal weather data. And the next year or so looks to turn the dial up on global warmth even more, as some forecasts predict a brewing El Nino will reach superstrength. […]
How saving birds protects the planet: Interview with author Scott Weidensaul
- Birds are struggling, with serious population declines that seem in some cases to be accelerating, which author Scott Weidensaul says in his new book should serve as a warning that the systems on which they depend – and on which we all depend – are breaking down.
- But birds also serve as a handy, readily apparent barometer for when things are starting to go right, too, he argues, in a new interview at Mongabay.
- The bestselling author centers multiple promising efforts to revive species in “The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet,” which W.W. Norton is publishing later this month.

Mitchell Byrd, ornithologist who helped bring bald eagles back from the brink in the Chesapeake area
- Mitchell Byrd spent decades tracking bird populations in the Chesapeake Bay, helping document and support the recovery of bald eagles from near disappearance in Virginia.
- His work combined long-term field research with practical conservation, from aerial surveys to engaging landowners and shaping habitat protection efforts.
- As co-founder of the Center for Conservation Biology, he trained generations of scientists, extending his influence far beyond the region where he worked.

Orcas never seen before in Seattle delight whale watchers with a visit
Seattle (AP) — When tourists travel to Seattle, it’s common to take in the Space Needle and the downtown skyline from Puget Sound. It’s an itinerary that a newly arrived pod of killer whales appears to be following too. Three orcas that had not previously been recorded in the Seattle area have delighted whale watchers with several […]
American Samoa said ‘no’ to deep sea mining, Washington heard ‘faster’ (commentary)
- The U.S. government is moving fast to grant leases to corporations for deep sea mining in places like the territory of American Samoa: once issued, these are very difficult to rescind.
- Leaders there have weighed in against this lease on cultural and environmental grounds, but the federal agency in charge has merely acknowledged this dissent while continuing to move forward.
- “American Samoa is not a test case; it’s at risk of becoming the federal government’s blueprint” on deep-sea mining licensing, a new op-ed states.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Traditional protection proves more successful for clams in American Samoa
- A study found that on the most populated island in American Samoa, traditional village-based protections and remote sites had the highest density of giant clams — outperforming federally designated no-take zones in one case.
- The authors suggest that traditional community stewardship could offer a viable alternative to federal restrictions, especially in areas communities rely on for giant clam harvesting, while respecting traditional management practices.
- The giant clams, which are slow-growing, face threats from habitat degradation, ocean warming, watershed pollution and overharvesting.
- The NOAA National Fisheries Service proposed protections for several giant clam species in 2024 which could lead to a top-down ban on harvesting. Some sources say a blanket ban without including communities in conservation strategies would impact people who rely on harvesting.

China’s deep-sea mining fleet may also track US submarines
A Mongabay and CNN investigation found the eight Chinese state-owned ships that conduct deep-sea mining research in China’s mining areas allocated by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) actually spent little time in these exploration areas, while spending much of their remaining time operating in militarily strategic waters. Many of these vessels are linked to the […]
Huge amounts of nanoplastics discovered in tap and bottled water
The amount of nanoplastics in drinking water in the U.S. has been wildly underestimated. That’s according to a new study that found the amount of plastic in both tap and bottled water was 10-100 times higher than previous estimates. For the new study, researchers used more advanced methodology and found more plastic. “It is like […]
French company stops US offshore wind projects in $1B deal with Trump administration
The Department of Interior says a French energy company has agreed to give up two U.S. offshore wind leases and invest in fossil fuel projects instead. The department said Monday that TotalEnergies committed to invest approximately $1 billion in oil and natural gas production in the United States. That is the amount the company paid […]
California condors nesting in Pacific Northwest for first time in a century, on Yurok territory
- A pair of California condors reintroduced by the Yurok Tribe to Northern California appear to be incubating the first egg in the Pacific Northwest in more than a century, nesting in a remote old-growth redwood.
- The birds, both nearly 7 years old and among the first cohort released in 2022, are being monitored via satellite transmitters; direct confirmation of the egg is not yet possible.
- The discovery is a milestone for a species whose global population dropped to 22 individuals in 1982 and has since recovered to 607 — though threats still including lead poisoning and avian influenza persist.
- The Northern California Condor Restoration Program, a partnership between the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks, plans to continue annual releases for at least 20 years, with the goal of establishing a self-sustaining Pacific Northwest flock.

Paul Ehrlich, ‘Population Bomb’ ecologist, dies at 93
- Paul Ehrlich, a Stanford ecologist whose research on butterflies and population dynamics helped shape modern ecology, became one of the most prominent scientific voices in the early environmental movement. He died March 13 at age 93.
- His 1968 book, The Population Bomb, argued that rapid human population growth threatened to outstrip the planet’s capacity to provide food and resources, influencing public debate while also drawing sustained criticism.
- Ehrlich’s forecasts of widespread famine proved too stark as agricultural productivity rose, and a widely publicized wager with economist Julian Simon over commodity prices ended in Ehrlich’s loss.
- Despite the controversies, his scientific work on extinction risk, habitat fragmentation and biodiversity decline helped frame how ecologists think about the pressures human societies place on the living world.

A bonobo named Kanzi could play pretend, challenging ideas about animal imaginations
- Kanzi, a language-trained bonobo, identified and tracked pretend objects across tea party-like experiments, marking the first controlled demonstration of imagination in a nonhuman animal
- In three experiments, Kanzi repeatedly pointed to the correct location of imaginary juice and grapes, and chose real juice over pretend juice, showing that he understood the difference between real and imaginary objects.
- This study suggests that the cognitive capacity for imagination may date back 6 to 9 million years to the common ancestor of humans and great apes, though some researchers question whether simpler explanations could account for Kanzi’s responses.
- Kanzi died in March 2025 at age 44, but researchers hope to explore whether other apes, including those without extensive human language training, share this capacity.

Beyond the screen: DCEFF
Documentary films have the power to shape how we understand nature. They offer a deeper look into the planet’s challenges, bringing people together through shared experiences and inspiring action. As a media partner for the 2026 Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF), Mongabay is featuring exclusive insights into some of this year’s standout […]
Photos show the dramatic dawn flight of migrating snow geese
KLEINFELTERSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Birdwatchers gather before dawn at Middle Creek in Pennsylvania to witness thousands of migrating snow geese lifting off from the reservoir in a swirling mass. The display lasts only minutes before the birds fan out to nearby farm fields to feed as they continue their annual spring migration north toward New […]
If Florida reefs aren’t protected, storms will increase flooding & costs: Study
- Coral reefs absorb incoming waves, protecting shorelines from tropical storms.
- A recent Earth’s Future study examines flood risks from tropical storms to communities in Florida, if coral reefs keep degrading at current rates.
- The study finds that future coral reef degradation will increase the annual risk of flooding to people by 42% and to buildings by 47%.
- This increased degradation would predictably cause $412.5 million in damages to structures and economic disruption of $438.1 million annually.

Belugas facing euthanasia at shuttered Canada theme park may find new homes in US
- In August 2025, Canada’s only entertainment park with cetaceans, Marineland of Canada, closed for good, prompting concern about the fate of 30 beluga whales and four dolphins remaining at the facility.
- After a plan to transfer them to a theme park in China was blocked by the Canadian government, Marineland called for euthanizing the animals. The Canadian government has now conditionally approved their possible transfer to four U.S. institutions.
- Keeping highly intelligent and social creatures in concrete-lined tanks adversely affects their health and well-being, experts say.
- With changing public perceptions and a growing number of countries, including Canada, banning the keeping and breeding of whales and dolphins, conservationists are calling for alternatives to house the more than 3,700 cetaceans in captivity worldwide, including building seaside sanctuaries.

Scientists use rapid 3D scanning to create a digital library of 800 ant species
Scientists have designed a new technique using robotics to rapidly generate high-resolution, three-dimensional images of ants. Antscan is the world’s first digitized library of nearly 800 ant species belonging to 212 genera from around the globe. They used microtomography, a technique akin to human CT scans, to capture images of internal ant organs with X-rays. […]
Towering lava fountains of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano trigger park and highway closures
HONOLULU (AP) — The latest lava fountaining episode of an erupting Hawaii volcano reached 1,000 feet (300 meters) high Tuesday, prompting temporary closures at a national park and part of an important highway because of falling glassy volcanic fragments, including ash. Kilauea, on Hawaii’s Big Island, has been dazzling residents and visitors for more than year with […]
The Wild League aims to turn sports mascots into conservation champions
- A new study found that 727 professional sports teams across 50 countries use wild animals in their branding. The most popular species (lions, tigers, and wolves) face threats in the wild.
- The lead author has launched The Wild League, a framework to engage sports clubs, sponsors and fans in conserving the species represented in their mascots.
- Clemson University’s Tigers United program offers a working model, using the school’s tiger mascot to fund tiger conservation in India.
- The authors argue that with more than a billion people following wildlife-branded teams on social media, sports offer an unrivaled platform for education and fundraising.

US development bank left without oversight after watchdog let go
The International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the lending and investment arm of the U.S. government and a key foreign policy tool, has abruptly terminated the director of its Independent Accountability Mechanism (IAM), which handles complaints about environmental and social harm. The unexpected move leaves no staff in the congressionally mandated IAM office. Mehrdad Nazari was […]
Beyond the Potomac River, sewage spills threaten cities with old infrastructure and little funds
WASHINGTON (AP) — A major sewer pipe collapse has dumped hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River, highlighting a nationwide problem involving failing infrastructure. The Potomac spill was a huge, but rare event that led to an emergency declaration and federal help. But across the country, sewer overflows happen tens of […]
Promising breakthrough creates plastics that self-deconstruct on cue: Study
- Plastic pollution is an evolving global environmental crisis. More than 90% of all plastics manufactured end up polluting the environment, where they can harm ecosystems and impact human health. This “take-make-waste” linear manufacturing model stands in contrast to the circularity of natural systems.
- Inspired by the natural, timely breakdown of organic materials like proteins and DNA, chemists at Rutgers University in the U.S. have now modified existing plastics so that they can be programmed to break down into their molecular components at the end of a specific period of time, or in response to a trigger, such as sunlight.
- Historically, plastics manufacturers have faced a trade-off between material strength and degradability, but this innovation could offer the best of both worlds: plastics that retain their strength and durability for exactly as long as their use requires, and then automatically self-deconstruct for disposal or reuse.
- Global plastics treaty talks remain in limbo, but if a final accord places cradle-to-grave responsibility for plastics on manufacturers, then they would have a financial incentive to invest in self-deconstructing technologies, even though such techniques would likely be more costly than current manufacturing methods.

U.S.’ hunger for Halloween trinkets is killing Vietnam’s painted woolly bats
- Taxidermied, framed bats are sold as souvenirs in shops across Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City that cater to international tourists, according to a new study documenting the trade.
- Painted woolly bats — one of the world’s most colorful bats, with wings streaked in orange and black — were the top-selling species both in these markets and online, and are in demand as decorations in the U.S.,as well as Europe and Canada.
- Vendors told researchers that most of the painted woolly bats they sold were pulled from the wild. Evidence suggests these mammals have almost disappeared from the country’s Mekong Delta region, partly because of this intensive trade.
- Experts urge Vietnam to outlaw harvest and trade of these bats, and ask that all 11 countries where these bats are found protect them under CITES, a global wildlife trade treaty, to regulate and monitor international sales.

25 years after ‘disaster’ declaration, major U.S. fishery makes a comeback
- In 2000, the U.S. commerce secretary declared the groundfish fishery on the U.S. West Coast a “disaster,” with 10 key species overfished to below a quarter of their healthy levels.
- Fisheries authorities empowered by federal conservation laws took drastic action: They cut off vast tracts of the ocean to trawling, slashed fishing quotas and bought fishing vessels to remove them from operation. Many fishers were thrown into painful retirement.
- Careful management and innovation in the intervening years has led to a remarkable turnaround: In October 2025, fishery officials declared the last of the 10 overfished species to be rebuilt, years earlier than expected, and fishers have catches they thought would never be possible again.
- Even so, fishers’ profits have been low, and experts worry that key conservation programs could lose their teeth to cost-cutting measures and deregulation.

Paul Brainerd turned computers into printing presses and fortune into conservation
- Paul Brainerd helped invent desktop publishing as a co-founder of Aldus and the force behind PageMaker, then redirected his wealth toward environmental and civic work in the Pacific Northwest.
- In 1995 he launched the Brainerd Foundation to fund conservation policy, place-based protection, and the organizational capacity needed to sustain long campaigns.
- He backed models of engaged, hands-on giving, helping start Social Venture Partners, and supported environmental education through IslandWood on Bainbridge Island, with later work extending to a regenerative lodge project in New Zealand.
- He chose to spend down his foundation rather than endow it in perpetuity, arguing for urgency and near-term effectiveness, and he died on February 15, 2026, at 78.

America’s national parks face an uncertain future as climate risks mount
- A nationwide analysis finds most U.S. national parks are highly vulnerable to climate change, with many facing risks of irreversible ecological transformation rather than gradual decline. Wildfire, drought, pests, and sea-level rise are converging to reshape landscapes the parks were created to preserve.
- Vulnerability is uneven: parks in the Midwest and eastern United States tend to face the greatest cumulative risk due to fragmented habitats, pollution, invasive species, and limited capacity for ecosystems to adapt. Many western parks appear more resilient but are exposed to multiple severe disturbances at once.
- Coastal parks are threatened by rising seas and storm surge, while inland forests face compound stresses that can trigger long-term shifts from forest to shrubland or grassland. Once such transitions occur, returning to previous ecological conditions may be impossible.
- As climate pressures intensify and policy responses weaken, park managers are shifting from preserving historical conditions to managing ongoing transformation. America’s parks may increasingly serve less as static sanctuaries and more as living records of how nature reorganizes under accelerating change.

Online ads reveal scale — and gaps — in amphibian pet trade into US
Much of the pet trade in amphibians is conducted online, but it’s not well understood. Herpetologist Devin Edmonds with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign recently mapped out the trade in nonnative amphibians sold in the United States in a study published in the journal Biological Conservation. Edmonds and his colleagues scanned through online classified ads […]
Avian flu strikes California’s northern elephant seals; area quarantined
- Experts confirmed that seven young northern elephant seals on the beach at California’s Año Nuevo State Park carried a deadly form of avian influenza, H5N1, the first recorded infection in these seals.
- This highly contagious virus has circulated the globe since 2020. The U.N. estimates that as of December 2025, H5N1 had infected some 598 bird species and 102 mammal species. In 2022-23, the virus devastated seal colonies off South American coastlines, sparking increased surveillance of North American marine mammals.
- This northern elephant seal population has been carefully studied for about 60 years. With close monitoring, researchers quickly discovered that sick pups were infected with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1.
- Since this avian flu strain emerged, there have been 131 human infections globally, including 71 in the U.S. As a precaution, California officials have banned visitors from the elephant seal beaches and canceled guided tours.

US firm Virtus Minerals closes in on deal for crucial DRC copper and cobalt mines
- U.S.-based firm Virtus Minerals has reached an agreement to take control of large copper and cobalt mines run by Dubai-based Chemaf in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to its CEO.
- Founded by former military and intelligence officials, Virtus has received strong backing from the Trump administration as part of its push to secure access to critical minerals and for greater control over supply chains.
- The deal still has to be approved by the DRC’s state-owned mining company Gécamines, which owns the mining permits sought by Virtus.
- In 2024, Chinese state-owned defense company Norinco attempted to buy Chemaf’s assets but was blocked by Gécamines after an intervention by the U.S. Biden administration.

It’s electric: Scientists develop cheap way to keep sharks off fishing hooks
- Unintentional catch is a major reason that more than a hundred shark species are threatened with extinction.
- A new study found that creating a small electric field around fishing hooks using zinc and graphite is enough to keep many sharks away.
- Researchers have for decades tried to take advantage of sharks’ electrosensitivity to develop devices to keep them off fishing hooks. The authors of the new study chose zinc and graphite because they’re nonmagnetic, cheap and readily available materials.
- The lead author and two former students are pursuing commercial applications for the new method.

‘Ridiculous’ plan developed at Florida zoo saves wild rhino’s eyesight in Africa
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Corralling a wild rhinoceros into a small chute to give it eyedrops might seem like a crazy plan. But if it’s crazy and it works, then it’s not crazy. Animal behaviorists partnering with the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society in Florida traveled to Africa in August to help an endangered […]
From chemistry to regeneration: Agriculture’s next transformation has begun (commentary)
- Just as the Green Revolution shifted farming from sun and soil to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, we are now seeing a new revolution, one of returning to an agriculture based on biology rather than chemistry.
- The current, chemically dependent model has produced a lot of food but at great cost to soil health, biodiversity and livelihoods.
- “Society must recognize the truth: we cannot continue to poison our environment in the name of food production, and regeneration is the only viable future,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Texas sea turtles have lost a conservation hero (commentary)
- A dedicated sea turtle conservationist on the Texas Gulf Coast has passed away.
- Carole Allen — the founder of HEART (Help Endangered Animals Ridley Turtles)— passed away this month at the age of 90.
- “Some of Carole’s accomplishments are documented in Edward Humes’ 2009 book “Eco Barons” and the 2011 PBS documentary “The Heartbreak Turtle.” But her true legacy lives on in the countless children and adults she inspired over generations,” a new op-ed says.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

US ocean regulator faces criticism over changes to right whale protection rule
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S.’s ocean regulator plans to make industry-friendly changes to a longstanding rule designed to protect vanishing whales, prompting criticism from environmental groups who cite the recent death of an endangered whale. The rules protect the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers less than 400 and lives off the East Coast. The […]
A hundred-year vision: Gary Tabor on the rise of large landscape conservation
- Gary Tabor’s career marks a shift in conservation from protecting isolated “island” parks to designing vast, interconnected ecological networks.
- Informed by his early years in the Adirondacks and a decade in East Africa, Tabor’s work emphasizes that wildlife survival depends on the “connective tissue” between protected areas.
- Through founding the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, he has moved connectivity into the global mainstream, focusing on practical engineering like wildlife crossings and the human work of community organizing.
- Tabor spoke with Mongabay’s Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in February 2026.

US cuts legal foundation for federal climate regulation
On Feb. 12, the United States repealed the so-called endangerment finding, a 2009 cornerstone rule that enabled the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as a pollutant. Established under former President Barack Obama, the rule codified the long-held scientific consensus that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions “threaten the public health and welfare of current and […]
A 410-pound manatee rescued from a Florida storm drain is recovering at SeaWorld Orlando
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A manatee that got stuck in a Florida storm drain while seeking warmer waters is on the mend at SeaWorld Orlando after a coordinated rescue effort. Multiple fire rescue units and officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the University of Florida and even Jack’s Wrecker Service were brought in […]
Scrutiny grows over DRC-US minerals deal, even as other African nations sign up
- A minerals summit hosted by the U.S. this month marks an acceleration of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce its dependence on China for critical minerals, including by sealing deals with mineral-rich African countries.
- Guinea and Morocco signed separate agreements with the U.S. during the summit in Washington, even as an earlier deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo, signed in December, came under greater scrutiny at home.
- The DRC, which holds more than 70% of global cobalt reserves, has emerged as a key strategic partner for the U.S., but civil society group warns that the new mineral deal prioritizes geopolitics over human rights, environmental protection and transparency.
- Ongoing insecurity in the eastern DRC raises questions about whether Trump’s approach linking U.S. peace-building efforts to economic gains will bring stability to the region.

Indigenous concerns surface as U.S. agency considers seabed mining in Alaskan waters
- The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is initiating the first steps that could lead to a lease of more than 45.7 million hectares (113 million acres) of waters off Alaska to companies for seabed mining.
- The waters are off the coast of a state that is home to more than 200 Alaska Native nations and the proposal is raising cultural and environmental concerns.
- It’s not yet clear which companies, if any, are interested in mining off Alaska, however some have expressed interest if there are good nodules — mineral-rich rocks.
- Deep-sea mining has been slowed by the lack of regulations governing permits in international waters and by concerns about the environmental impact of extracting critical minerals that formed over millions of years to supply renewable technologies and military industries.

Trump opens only US marine national monument in Atlantic to fishing — again
- U.S. President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on Feb. 6 to open the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, a marine protected area off the northeastern U.S., to commercial fishing.
- Trump wrote that reopening the area will not endanger marine species and will help the fishing business, and industry groups praised the proclamation.
- Conservationists decried the move, saying the monument is a critical sanctuary for marine life and the food webs that serve the interest of the U.S. public.
- The Trump administration has also moved to deregulate the other U.S. marine national monuments, which are in the Pacific Ocean.

Kathy Jefferson Bancroft, guardian of a stolen lake
- For decades, Kathy Jefferson Bancroft challenged the idea that Owens Lake was merely a technical problem, insisting it be understood as a living place with history, meaning, and obligations.
- As Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Lone Pine Paiute–Shoshone Tribe, she worked at the intersection of Indigenous knowledge and Western science, pressing agencies to account for longer timescales and deeper responsibilities.
- Her advocacy helped protect sacred sites, resist destructive mining and mitigation schemes, and reshape how land and water decisions were made in California’s Owens Valley.
- Bancroft’s work rested on a simple proposition that unsettled bureaucracies: water is not something to be managed at will, but something that carries memory, limits, and consequence.

How intermediaries are reshaping mangrove restoration
- Despite growing global interest in mangrove conservation and restoration, many projects fail; experts say one reason is that restoration efforts are often led by small community groups with limited resources and expertise.
- Over the past five years, Seatrees, a California-based NGO, has supported mangrove restoration projects in Kenya, Mexico, the U.S. and Indonesia by providing funding to scale up tree planting, produce storytelling materials and build capacity in science, monitoring and impact measurement.
- In Kenya, where their restoration efforts are most advanced, Seatrees and its local project partner have supported more than 30 community groups to plant more than 1 million mangrove seedlings, maintain nurseries, dig trenches to improve hydrology and patrol forest areas for illegal logging — while paying participants for this important work.
- Seatrees has recently funded the creation and operation of a mangrove seedling nursery in the Florida Keys, run by CoastLove, a local NGO that engages residents and tourists in hands-on activities.

NOAA’s satellites capture extreme cold in striking detail
When an Arctic blast pushed deep into the southeastern United States last weekend, it left behind more than freeze warnings and broken records. Over the Atlantic, the cold air reorganized the lower atmosphere into long, parallel cloud bands—patterns that meteorologists recognize as a signature of intense cold moving over warmer water—captured in striking detail by […]
A last refuge for turtles on the brink
The Turtle Survival Center, run by the Turtle Survival Alliance, exists to buy time for species that no longer have much of it. Founded in 2013 in South Carolina, the center functions as a high-security refuge and breeding facility for some of the world’s rarest freshwater turtles and tortoises. It houses hundreds of animals representing […]
Light pollution could worsen allergy seasons, new study suggests
Nighttime light is a well-known hazard for migrating birds and sea turtles. New research suggests it may also pose risks for human health. The study finds that plants exposed to artificial light at night (ALAN) produce pollen for an extended period of time, which is “a major public health issue,” Andrew Richardson, an ecologist with […]
Agave or bust! Mexican long-nosed bats head farther north in search of sweet nectar
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Mexican long-nosed bats have a taste for agave, their tongues designed to lap up the famous desert plant’s nectar during nightly flights. It’s not just a means of satisfying taste buds. It’s a matter of fueling up for an arduous journey. The endangered species migrates each summer from Mexico into the […]
Division’s final journey
- Division, a four-year-old North Atlantic right whale known as Catalog #5217, was found dead off the coast of North Carolina in January after weeks in failing health caused by a severe fishing-gear entanglement that responders were unable to fully remove.
- Born in 2021 to a female named Silt, Division had already survived three earlier entanglements, a reminder of how early and repeatedly right whales now encounter life-threatening human hazards.
- His death comes amid fragile signs of hope for the species, with fifteen calves recorded this winter in a population of roughly 380 whales, far short of the numbers needed for recovery.
- Division’s short life illustrates how the threats facing right whales are not abstract but cumulative and prolonged, shaping lifespans measured in decades and placing the species’ future in the balance of decisions made far from the water.

Judge rules Massachusetts offshore wind project halted by Trump administration can continue
BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge said Tuesday that a nearly completed Massachusetts offshore wind project can continue, as the industry successfully challenges the Trump administration in court. At U.S. District Court in Boston, Judge Brian Murphy halted the administration’s stop work order for Vineyard Wind, citing the potential economic losses from the delays and […]
Ocean set ‘alarming’ new temperature record in 2025
- Ocean temperatures set a record high in 2025, according to a new study.
- The authors found that the heat content of the ocean increased by about 23 zettajoules between 2024 and 2025. That’s roughly the equivalent of 210 times humanity’s annual electricity generation.
- The ocean has warmed significantly in recent decades largely because it absorbs roughly 90% of the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere by human-caused greenhouse gases. That makes the ocean a key indicator of global warming.
- Warming ocean temperatures contribute to sea-level rise and to extreme weather events, which were frequent in 2025.

Doug McConnell, interpreter of Northern California, has died, aged 80
- Doug McConnell, who died on January 13, 2026, spent decades using local television to help Northern Californians see their landscapes as shared civic assets rather than scenery, making conservation legible, practical, and personal.
- Best known for Bay Area Backroads and OpenRoad with Doug McConnell, he treated parks, trails, and open space as the result of human choices and public effort, consistently foregrounding the people and institutions that protected them.
- A storyteller shaped by a lifelong love of California’s diversity, he combined curiosity about place with a clear-eyed understanding of governance, showing how history, policy, and persistence shape the land people inherit.
- At a time of mounting environmental strain, McConnell resisted despair by staying close to the work itself, drawing energy from those quietly maintaining and restoring the natural world, and inviting viewers to join them by paying attention.

Study tracks fishing boats to see how heat waves affect fish distribution
- A new study suggests an early way to detect ecological shifts during marine heat waves: Use fishing vessel tracking data.
- The study found that tracking data could provide early detection of extreme northward and inshore shifts in albacore tuna and Pacific bluefin tuna distribution in response to heat waves and showed when such shifts weren’t happening despite high sea surface temperatures.
- The authors position fishers as “apex predators” and build on research that finds that predators are good ecosystem sentinels.

North Atlantic right whale births increase
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Scientists monitoring North Atlantic right whales have recorded an increase in births this winter. Fifteen calves have been identified so far, an encouraging figure for a population that has struggled to sustain itself. There were an estimated 384 […]
Bob Weir, a musician who took the environment seriously
Bob Weir, who died on January 10th, was best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. For decades he was also an unusually persistent environmental advocate, one who treated land, forests, and climate not as metaphors but as material systems under pressure. His activism ran alongside his music for most of his adult […]

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