It broke my heart to see a seal so injured by a £1 plastic toy. Now I campaign to ban them – and it has changed my life
There was an incident seven years ago that changed my life. I saw an adult grey seal with a plastic pink flying ring toy so deeply embedded in her neck that she was practically dead. It was stopping her from feeding because it was digging into her and she couldn’t extend her neck – the wounds were horrific.
It broke my heart. From that moment on, I became obsessed with seals and protecting them from the dangers of plastic flying rings.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/13/2025 - 01:00
05/13/2025 - 00:00
The 1,274-hectare Bradford Pennine Gateway links eight nature sites and includes landscape that inspired sisters
The sweeping landscapes of the Pennines inspired the Brontë sisters, and now those lands are being protected as one of England’s biggest nature reserves.
A huge new national nature reserve, to be called the Bradford Pennine Gateway, is being announced by the government on Tuesday. It will give Bradford, one of Britain’s largest and most nature-deprived cities, easier and more protected access to green space
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05/12/2025 - 23:00
Exclusive: Andrew Bowie calls climate scientists biased and says country should not be ‘hamstrung by arbitrary targets’
The Conservative party’s energy spokesperson has attacked leading climate scientists as biased and claimed Kemi Badenoch could take the UK out of the Paris climate agreement.
Andrew Bowie, the acting shadow secretary for energy, told the Guardian that the target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 – passed into law by Theresa May – was “arbitrary” and “not based on science”.
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05/12/2025 - 13:00
Wood barrels circle the world and can be used for more than a century. They tell a story, but they’re imperiled by tariffs
No one at Tucson’s Hamilton Distillers knows exactly what wood the cognac barrels holding whiskey are made of.
“Probably Spanish oak?” one employee ventures a guess. The age of the barrels is also a question mark. No one working here is old enough to vouch for that; the distillery believes they are anywhere from 100 to 125 years old, which is old in the grand scheme of barrels’ lifespans, but not unusual. But it can say with certainty, using records of its vintages, that these barrels are on their fifth use – at least.
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05/12/2025 - 12:36
Pink salmon, Purple Asian clams, marine invertebrates that form spaghetti-like colonies and a nematode worm that causes extensive deaths of trees are among the new entries in experts' watchlist of invasive non-native species that could threaten Great Britain in the next 10 years. The latest version of the watchlist again includes known problem species such as the yellow-legged (Asian) hornet, raccoon and twoleaf watermilfoil.
05/12/2025 - 10:00
Karenia mikimotoi algae can suffocate fish, cause haemorrhaging and act as a neurotoxin, one expert says
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More than 200 marine species, including deepwater sharks, leafy sea dragons and octopuses, have been killed by a toxic algal bloom that has been affecting South Australia’s coastline since March.
Nearly half (47%) of the dead species were ray-finned fish and a quarter (26%) were sharks and rays, according to OzFish analysis of 1,400 citizen scientist reports.
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05/12/2025 - 10:00
Long-term reform is not going to be easy, but we have wasted 15 years and everyone has lost, especially the natural world
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Long overdue reform of national environment laws is unfinished business for the 48th parliament and the re-elected Albanese government.
Senator Murray Watt, a Queenslander, is well respected within the government and has a reputation for taking hard decisions and bringing together diverse stakeholders. Both of these attributes will be at a premium if the minister is to succeed where others have not.
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05/12/2025 - 09:54
Cobalt Holdings aims to buy up supply of the metal from Glencore as slowing EV growth has pushed down prices
A cobalt trading company has said it will raise £174m in rare a stock market float in London, in a bet on demand for car batteries that defies investor nerves around the growth in electric cars.
Cobalt Holdings said it will raise $230m (£174m) in order to buy up a supply of the metal, a crucial element in electric car batteries, from the FTSE 100 mining company Glencore. The miner will invest $24m, taking a stake of about 10%, according to a statement to the London Stock Exchange on Monday.
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05/12/2025 - 09:52
How might floating solar energy projects impact wild birds and vice versa? A paper outlines key considerations for a growing floating solar industry.
05/12/2025 - 08:00
Exclusive: Campaigners call for energy profits levy to be made permanent to enable ‘just transition’ from fossil fuels
Making permanent the UK’s windfall tax on oil and gas producers would generate enough cash to enable North Sea workers to move to green jobs, research has found.
Cutting current subsidies to fossil fuel producers would free up yet more funds to spend on the shift to a low-carbon economy, according to the report.
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