Biodiversity

"Gulf Coast researchers are raising alarms about a $1.4 billion coastal restoration project’s potential to kill and injure bottlenose dolphins. Now, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries employee whose job it was to count dolphin deaths in the state says she was fired in 2019 because her work reaffirmed the potential of the project to devastate a dolphin population."

"This week, scientists unveiled a new standard for assessing the status of plant and animal species. Instead of focusing on decline, this new approach aims to measure recovery."

"In Wisconsin, hunters are allowed to use hound dogs to kill wolves. In the midst of a politically volatile context, activists are now filming the hunts to raise the alarm".

"A hydrophone reveals a vital Antarctic feeding and breeding ground for the world’s second-largest whale."

"After decades of lobbying and legal action from environmental groups, the federal government has proposed protecting more than 500 miles of river habitat for the Pearl River’s namesake fish, the Pearl darter."

"A meeting in Rome this week is preparing the ground for September's summit where actions will be launched for healthier, greener ways to produce and consume food".

"The Great Barrier Reef will not be placed on a list of world heritage sites “in danger” after a global lobbying effort from Australia against the proposed listing."

"In Costa Rica, Panama, and elsewhere, COVID-19 lockdowns caused suddenly desperate people to begin poaching sea turtle eggs and meat, threatening hard-won conservation achievements."

"A virulent and fast-moving coral disease that has swept through the Caribbean could be linked to waste or ballast water from ships, according to research."

"Environmental groups sued the federal government Thursday over the Trump administration's easing of rules that had limited use of deep-penetration seismic blasts to search for oil and gas deposits at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico."