Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Antarctica’s west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 15:00:48 +0000

Exclusive A vast area of the Bellingshausen Sea should be covered by sea ice by now, with one expert calling the loss of ice ‘depressing’

Antarctica’s west coast is missing an area of winter sea ice the size of France, sparking concerns for threatened penguins other marine life and global sea levels.

‘It’s massive destruction’: outcry in Texas over waivers to allow border wall in Big Bend national park

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 14:00:46 +0000

Despite plunging border crossings, the Trump administration is circumventing laws to expedite building in a vast, pristine wilderness

The Trump administration has waived a slew of environmental and historical preservation laws that would allow it to build a towering border wall that cuts through Big Bend national park, a vast protected wilderness in south Texas.

Goblin shark with face ‘not even a mother would love’ seen alive in natural habitat for first time

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 07:35:24 +0000

Elusive creatures have previously only been seen on fishing lines and experts know ‘virtually nothing about them’

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Rare and eccentric-looking goblin sharks have been seen alive in their deep ocean habitat for the first time ever.

Week in wildlife: a squirrel with a splint, hungry hyenas and a great white shark

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 07:00:38 +0000

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

Emergency hospital admissions fell after introduction of London’s T-charge and Ulez, study suggests

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 05:00:36 +0000

Imperial College scientists analysed health records before and after introduction of air pollution reduction zones

Britain’s favourite butterfly revealed – and it’s a familiar backyard beauty

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 04:00:36 +0000

More than 20,000 votes cast in Butterfly Conservation’s poll of 60 native species to find nation’s favourite for first time

The votes are in on Britain’s favourite butterfly, and it is one of the most ubiquitous yet spectacular backyard beauties that has flown to victory.

With its lavender, yellow and maroon eye spots and luscious rusty red and black colouration, the peacock butterfly is both beautiful and commonplace, flying throughout spring, summer and autumn in all corners of the British Isles.

‘The birds will fly away’: can Albania’s flamingo revolution keep its wetlands free from Trumps and tourists?

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 04:00:34 +0000

A luxury resort backed by the US president’s family may be built on a wildlife-rich nature reserve in one of Europe’s poorest nations

If the real estate dreams of a billionaire political family come true, an island in one of Europe’s poorest countries will become a luxury hotel complex, sweeping up stretches of the wildlife-rich nature reserve that sits across the water.

‘Super El Niño’ is officially here, scientists say. What can we expect?

admin — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 20:46:27 +0000

Experts say climate pattern could supercharge extreme weather events and push temperatures to record highs

EL Niño has officially arrived, US officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Thursday, and scientists predict it could be the strongest of the century.

Scientists reveal surprising mechanism behind Venus flytrap’s rapid snap

admin — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:00:22 +0000

Intricate tests show hair-trigger detection causes cells on outer surface of leaf to soften, prompting closure

The Venus flytrap is one of nature’s most impressive predators, luring insects with the intoxicating scent of nectar before capturing them with a snap of its jaw-like leaves.

Now, scientists have revealed the mechanism that allows the carnivorous plant to react with lightning speed, resolving a problem that stumped Charles Darwin and many researchers after him.

Subterranean fungi networks more than 100 quadrillion km in length, study finds

admin — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:00:22 +0000

First ever global mapping of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi shows scale of hyphal systems that sustain plant life

Our planet’s soils contain enough of the subterranean fungi that sustain plant life and help regulate the climate to stretch from the Earth to the sun almost three-quarters of a billion times, a groundbreaking new study has found.