Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Great Barrier Reef microbiome mapped as researchers discover 500 bacterial species previously unknown to science

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:00:18 +0000

Research identifies 808,585 viral genomes belonging to what scientists estimate to be 362,802 different viruses

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Sperm whales change ‘vowel’ sounds when boats are nearby, scientists discover

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:00:15 +0000

Researchers listening off the Caribbean island of Dominica found variations in the mammals’ audible clicks when marine traffic was close

Sperm whales produce a specific pattern of clicking noises when they hear the noise of boats, researchers have found. The pattern is so distinct that the scientists who identified it said they can now use it to predict when ships are nearby.

Former Southern Water employees to face trial over alleged cover-up in wastewater testing

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:58:10 +0000

Ex-chief executive Matthew Wright among those named in criminal proceedings by Environment Agency

Britain’s ⁠Environment Agency (EA) is ⁠bringing a fraud case against ⁠four former Southern Water employees, including ⁠the former chief executive Matthew ‌Wright, over ‌allegations they manipulated wastewater ‌testing results.

The regulator said the four had allegedly conspired ‌to defraud the Environment Agency and water regulator Ofwat between 2012 and 2017 by ⁠creating artificial “no-flow” events at wastewater treatment works to influence ‌compliance checks.

Six beluga whales finally leave embattled Canadian marine park

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:48:32 +0000

Whales flown to US aquariums after long-running saga in which Marineland had threatened to euthanise them

Six beluga whales have at last left Marineland, the embattled Canadian marine park in Niagara Falls that previously threatened to kill its own animals, and are arriving at US aquariums this week.

The world is on fire, and who does Trump blame? The Canadians | Arwa Mahdawi

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 10:00:13 +0000

The US president has been complaining about Canada’s ‘filthy, polluted and unhealthy air’. Maybe he should put all that energy into tackling the climate crisis

World’s largest meat company faces legal challenge over green credentials of $6bn global expansion

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 06:00:09 +0000

Greenpeace petitions Dutch courts to order JBS to disclose how its aims are compatible with responsibilities to climate and human rights

The world’s biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (£4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights.

Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compliant with Dutch laws on “duty of care” as well as its own publicly stated commitments.

Japan swelters through rising heat – in pictures

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 05:15:01 +0000

For Japan, days where the mercury soars above 40C now have their own term – kokushobi (酷暑日), or ‘cruelly hot day’, as rising temperatures cause heatstroke deaths and impact on crop yields across the country

Japan records its first ‘cruelly hot day’ as cities swelter in 40-degree heat

‘A great thrill’: baby puffin is first one seen on Dorset coast in three decades

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 04:00:06 +0000

Puffling excites volunteers trying to save the last known regular nesting site on mainland of southern England

For years, volunteers have craned their necks and tested their patience to peer into the crevices of the cliffs hoping for a glimpse of fluffy joy.

Finally it all paid off as a puffling – baby puffin – poked its way into the sunshine, becoming the first to be spotted on the coast of Dorset in southern England for three decades.

Millions face long-term coastal flooding risk in UK without climate action, scientists warn

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:00:51 +0000

A ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’ suggests need for large-scale movement of populations away from reshaped coast

Up to 13 million people in the UK face the long-term risk of coastal flooding due to the climate crisis, scientists have warned, with a “reasonable worst-case scenario” suggesting the need for the large-scale movement of populations away from a dramatically reshaped coast.

Tick bites are on the rise in the US and UK. Here’s how to protect yourself

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 16:00:50 +0000

Experts share tips to avoid the blood-sucking pests that can transmit Lyme disease and other illnesses on to humans

I won’t go into gory detail about the tick I found latched behind my ear approximately 35 hours after a hike in early June. Suffice it to say, the parasite was well fed, and I was horrified.