"Debra Shankland was a kid when the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire in 1969. ... Shankland was one of many speakers at the latest listening session led by the EPA as the agency crafts a new definition for the long controversial language “waters of the United States” contained in the Clean Water Act. The interpretation of that phrase, commonly shorthanded as WOTUS, can have massive implications for the health of small streams, remote wetlands, creeks and other waters."

"A vanishing species of whale gave birth to few babies this birthing season, raising alarms among scientists and conservationists who fear the animal could go extinct. The whale is the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers only about 370 and has declined in population in recent years."

"The destruction of seagrass could derail progress in reining in planet-warming emissions and cost billions in environmental damage."

"JOHANNESBURG - Alongside forests, soil and wetlands, another powerful natural carbon absorber critical to tackling climate change lies hidden beneath the ocean surface: seagrass.

The loss of these underwater meadows, also known as blue carbon, could hobble efforts to tackle climate change, both financially and environmentally, a new study has found.

So what exactly is this marine vegetation, and what else did the research find?

"The tart saltwater odor of fresh-caught shrimp hangs thick in the air, stronger even than the earthier scent of marsh and mud, at Bubba Gumbo’s and BG Seafood, a dockside restaurant and seafood market on Tybee Island, Georgia. This is one of many restaurants that dot the creeks and rivers snaking like veins through the coastal Georgia marshes. They run the gamut from the upscale and trendy to more bare-bones joints like this one, adjacent to a working dock."

"Enlarging the dam would deliver more Sacramento River water to Central Valley farmers but a tribe could lose sacred sites and endangered salmon could lose habitat in wet years."

"A stalemate between President Donald Trump and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker that threatened a $1.2 billion plan to keep invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes appears to have been settled after the Trump administration offered assurances it will cover its share of the costs."

"President Trump is reinstating commercial fishing in a national marine monument after the practice was blocked by his Democratic predecessors."

"Bizarre creatures like vampire squid and blobfish make their home in the dark, cold, depths of the deep sea, but most of this watery realm remains a complete mystery. That's because humans have seen less than 0.001% of the globe's deep seafloor, according to a new study."

"House Republicans passed a measure Thursday that would repeal the government’s decision to place California’s longfin smelt, a finger-sized fish, on the endangered species list."

"A Canadian company announced Tuesday that its U.S. subsidiary submitted applications to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to mine the seafloor, sparking outrage by bypassing a U.N. agency that regulates deep international waters."