Marine life

Whoops and grunts: ‘bizarre’ fish songs raise hopes for coral reef recovery

Vibrant soundscape shows Indonesian reef devastated by blast fishing is returning to health

Damian Carrington Environment editor

08, Dec, 2021 @5:00 AM

All coral reefs in western Indian Ocean ‘at high risk of collapse in next 50 years’

Reefs from Seychelles to South Africa may become functionally extinct due to global heating and overfishing, study finds

Patrick Greenfield

06, Dec, 2021 @4:00 PM

Hot news from two billion years ago: plankton actually moved mountains

Our planet’s geology shaped life on Earth. But now scientists reveal it worked the other way around too

Robin McKie

05, Dec, 2021 @8:30 AM

Shell to go ahead with seismic tests in whale breeding grounds after court win

Judgment rules company can blast sound waves in search for oil along South Africa’s eastern coastline

Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent

03, Dec, 2021 @10:45 AM

Recycled regatta: world heritage site highlights plastic pollution crisis

When environmentalists on a Seychelles atoll decided to race boats made from ocean litter, they had 500 tonnes to pick from

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

03, Dec, 2021 @7:00 AM

‘It is phenomenal’: Farne Islands seal numbers expected to reach new high

National Trust rangers predict record year as they begin count of grey seal pups

Mark Brown in Inner Farne

02, Dec, 2021 @12:26 PM

Last-minute attempt to stop Shell’s oil exploration of whale breeding grounds

Campaigners file legal challenge against seismic survey along South Africa’s Eastern Cape province

Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent

01, Dec, 2021 @5:13 PM

‘Deluge of plastic waste’: US is world’s biggest plastic polluter

At 42m metric tons of plastic waste a year, the US generates more waste than all EU countries combined

Oliver Milman

01, Dec, 2021 @4:00 PM

Data storage, mining and wind: oceans seen as new frontier but at what cost?

Industries gazing out to sea in search of more space, more cold, clean water and more wind offer a glimpse of the future and its risks

Helen Scales

01, Dec, 2021 @1:00 PM

Mythic white sperm whale captured on film near Jamaica

Type of whale immortalised in Moby-Dick has only been spotted handful of times this century

Philip Hoare

30, Nov, 2021 @4:53 PM

Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of

Billions of these tiny plastic pellets are floating in the ocean, causing as much damage as oil spills, yet they are still not classified as hazardous

Karen McVeigh

29, Nov, 2021 @7:15 AM

Nobel-winning stock market theory used to help save coral reefs

Portfolio selection rules on evaluating risk used to pick 50 reefs as ‘arks’ best able to survive climate crisis and revive coral elsewhere