More plastic, more plastic waste, more problems

 As the problems from plastic waste continue to grow, we keep cranking out more plastic. Read the latest in this piece for Texas Climate News. 

Hatchlings on Heron Island

Australia’s Heron Island, a National Marine Park at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Protected Zone, is home to an eco-resort, a science station, and nesting sea turtles. Read what it is like to watch a nest hatch in the wild. 

Credit: Holley Gaskill

Farewell to a Fish

 The U.S. FWS proposes removing the San Marcos gambusia from the endangered species list, not because the fish has recovered, but because it is extinct. Read more here. 

Sharks on the Texas coast

 A healthy population of sharks lives in waters off the Texas coast  -- and that's a good thing. Read about these sharks, how they are protected, and where to see them here. 

Saving sea turtles, birds, dolphins from fishing nets

How scientists are working to reduce fisheries bycatch. And tips for how to help when you buy seafood. Read more here. 

Tagging sharks for science

 Shark tagging helps scientists track the movements of these animals, supporting efforts to protect and conserve them. Read what it's like to tag sharks in this piece for Scuba Diving magazine. 

Kelp Loss on the West Coast

Divers and scientists watched a disaster play out along the U.S. West Coast: an almost overnight disappearance of sea stars, especially sunflower sea stars, followed by a population explosion of the purple urchins that sea stars eat, and then loss of entire forests of bull kelp. Read what is behind the disaster and what scientists are doing in response here. 

Bees are vital to wildflowers

 Enjoy the spring wildflowers this year? Thank a bee! Read more about the role of these insects as pollinators, and how you can help them. 

Protecting ocean sediments from trawling

 Marine sediments represent a large and globally important carbon sink, but stored carbon can be released into the water by trawling. Research outlines the problem and offers solutions. Read more here. 

Cut Your Travel-related Food Waste

A third of all food produced in the world gets wasted, creating a yearly global carbon footprint larger than most countries. Some simple ways to reduce food waste on dive trips, cruises, and other travel. 

Paying Texas landowners to protect carbon stored in soil

Natural climate solutions – a variety of conservation, restoration and improved land management actions to increase carbon storage or avoid its emission – could provide more than a third of the cost-effective climate mitigation needed between now and 2030 to stabilize warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. One organization, the Texas Coastal Exchange, pays landowners to increase or protect carbon stored in their lands. Read more here. 

The wild films of Ben Masters

From bighorn sheep to ocelots and the Rio Grande, Austin-based filmmaker Ben Masters uses films to promote conservation. Read my interview with Masters in Texas Highways. 

Fascinating Jellyfish

 From their multiple-stage life cycles to their long history across the breadth and depth of the world’s seas, jellyfish may have something to tell us about the changing health of the oceans. Read more in this piece from the Spring 2018 issue of Alert Diver. 

Mangroves in Peril

 Earth has lost as much as 35 percent of its mangrove forests in the past few decades, and scientists predict that these vital ecosystems could all but disappear in the next 100 years. Read more about the problem here. 

Four critical habitats that nurture marine life

 A wide variety of ocean creatures rely on sea grass, sand, Sargassum and mangroves. Each of these habitats faces serious threats. Read more here. 

Sea turtles hard hit by Texas winter storms

The Arctic air mass that battered Texas starting around Valentine's Day reached the Gulf of Mexico, creating conditions that left thousands of sea turtles cold stunned. As of Wed. Feb. 17, rescue organizations had recovered more than 4,000 of them along the Texas coast. Read more here. 

Tips for camping with your dog

 Pitching a tent with your pup can be great fun, but it pays to be prepared. Some tips for making it a great trip for both of you. 

Rare plants disappearing in Big Bend

 Thieves are stripping the rare living rock cactus out of Big Bend National Park, while people remove ocotillo and yucca from the area for landscaping. Read about the consequences of removing plants from these habitats. 

Increased concern over animal and plant extinctions

Recent scientific papers say the extinction rate for vertebrate animals is greater than we thought and that two in five plant species are at risk of disappearing. Read more here.