Image: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
By: Kristin Kleisner and Sarah Swain
The mesopelagic zone, one of the most important parts of the ocean’s most important climate-regulating system, is under threat just as we’re beginning to understand its true value. With IUCN members preparing to vote on Motion 035 this October, we have a narrow window to protect this climate-critical ecosystem before industrial exploitation of the mesopelagic zone begins. Read More
By Tommy Clay and Gemma Carroll
Some of the ocean’s most charismatic species are among its most vulnerable. From sharks and whales to sea turtles and albatrosses, many species of ‘marine megafauna’ traverse vast distances, crossing ocean basins between feeding and breeding grounds. As they undertake these epic migrations, they play vital roles in ocean ecosystems—regulating food webs, recycling nutrients, and connecting distant habitats. Read More
By: Kristin Kleisner, Marie Hubatova, and Karly Kelso
Recent geopolitical shifts and trade tensions have rocked the international community, and our vast oceans, far from being immune, are often on the front lines. Read More
By: Ben Fasciano
The Philippines’ Cabalian Bay is beautiful on a calm evening in October, its still waters fringed with mountains and mangroves. The wealth of natural resources in this region contributes significantly to local livelihoods, food security, and economic development. Yet, these natural resources are under threat. Natural disasters, including mudslides, typhoons, and floods, have caused devastating losses of life and livelihoods in the past 20 years. Read More
Women group in Muara Gading Mas making cookies from powder made from blue swimming crab shells. (Photo Credit: Meutia Isty/EDF)
By: Onesya Damayanti, M. Khazali, and Meutia Isty
“Fishing with trawl must be stopped because it has increasingly reduced my husbands’ blue swimming crab catches,” Sunamah stated confidently during the Lampung Blue Swimming Crab Co-Management meeting on March 5, 2024, representing women groups. Speaking in an official forum of about 50 participants, predominantly male government officials, was something she had never imagined possible before. Read More
Credit: Mark Schrope
By: Aubrey Taylor
Tropical Storm Oscar crept up from the North Atlantic Ocean at a leisurely 40 miles per hour on the morning of Oct. 19, 2024 and ambled toward the Turks and Caicos Islands. Based on the data available, meteorologists believed the tiny storm was unlikely to cause major damage. Yet only three hours later, Oscar’s wind speeds had somehow doubled to a destructive 80 miles per hour—and the tropical storm was now, undeniably, a Category 1 Hurricane. Read More
