Ontario’s Marineland lost five belugas last year, which the park’s management puts down to the ‘circle of life’. But activists claim animal welfare is at stake
On the southern shores of the Niagara River, a few hundred feet from the thundering falls, sits Marineland of Canada – an amusement park, zoo, aquarium and forest occupying nearly 1,000 acres of land (400 hectares). Over the years, millions of people have clamoured to view the park’s 4,000 animals, including its prized walruses, orcas, dolphins and belugas.
But over the past few years, the park has taken a decidedly dark turn as there has been a string of deaths among the world’s largest captive beluga population. Last year, five belugas died at the facility bringing the total number of whales and dolphins to die there since 2019 to more than 20.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
01/14/2025 - 07:00
01/14/2025 - 06:03
Treasury expected to decide whether to support EDF-backed nuclear power plant in this year’s spending review
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The cost of building the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk has doubled since the plans were presented to the UK government in 2020 and could now reach close to £40bn, according to reports.
A rise in construction charges over recent years, combined with cost overruns and delays at EDF’s Hinkley Point C nuclear project in Somerset is expected to increase the final bill to build a successor project at Sizewell, according to the Financial Times.
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01/14/2025 - 06:00
Allocation of funds from Inflation Reduction Act makes it harder for president-elect to halt green initiatives
The Biden administration has raced to allocate $74bn of funding for climate initiatives before Donald Trump’s inauguration, leaving $20bn vulnerable to potential rollback by the incoming president, new figures reveal.
As the inauguration of Trump looms, the outgoing administration has been accelerating its allocation of cash for climate change and clean energy programs before they are throttled by the incoming US president.
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01/14/2025 - 03:05
Online retailer will also begin its first large-scale deliveries by train and trial heavy post-style carts
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Amazon is to deploy nearly 150 electric heavy goods vehicles as well as piling packages on to trains and post-style trolleys in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of delivering goods in the UK.
The tech company said it had bought more than 140 electric Mercedes-Benz heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and eight Volvo lorries – which it says is the UK’s biggest order of electric trucks – that can take loads of up to 40 tonnes.
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01/14/2025 - 03:01
Newcastle funnel-web spider’s last shared common ancestor with the Sydney funnel-web was 17 million years ago, experts say
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Kane Christensen’s passion is an arachnophobe’s nightmare. For two decades, he worked with deadly spiders at the Australian Reptile Park, a zoo located 80km north of Sydney – paying such close attention to the eight-legged predators that he helped scientists discover two new species.
He began there as a volunteer in 2003, milking venom from the fangs of Sydney funnel-web spiders. The park takes donations of captured male spiders from the public, using their venom to create life-saving antivenom. “Funnel-webs for me are just the pinnacle,” Christensen says.
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01/14/2025 - 01:01
More than 150 Nobel and World Food prize laureates sign open letter calling for immediate ramping up of food production
More than 150 Nobel and World Food prize laureates have signed an open letter calling for “moonshot” efforts to ramp up food production before an impending world hunger catastrophe.
The coalition of some of the world’s greatest living thinkers called for urgent action to prioritise research and technology to solve the “tragic mismatch of global food supply and demand”.
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01/14/2025 - 01:00
High court had ruled government was not meeting legal duty to clean up Costa Beck near Pickering
The UK environment secretary, Steve Reed, is pursuing legal action against a group of anglers who are trying to restore the ecosystem of a river.
Lawyers for Reed will argue on Tuesday in the court of appeal that cleaning up individual rivers and streams devastated by pollution is administratively unworkable.
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‘Down but not out’: Queensland farmers end 11-year legal fight against New Acland coalmine expansion
01/14/2025 - 00:15
Oakey Coal Action Alliance says it will still oppose ‘inappropriate’ mining after abandoning court appeal to stop New Hope Group’s project
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A group of Queensland farmers has ended its 11-year legal battle against the expansion of the New Acland coalmine, withdrawing a final court appeal against the mine’s approvals.
Members of Oakey Coal Action Alliance (OCAA) said on Tuesday they were saddened by its decision to abandon their final legal avenue to block the New Hope Group’s thermal coalmine expansion on the Darling Downs.
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01/14/2025 - 00:00
Exclusive: Costs of UK cleanup will reach £9.9bn a year in UK if emissions of ‘forever chemicals’ remain uncontrolled
Industry using ‘tobacco playbook’ to fend off ‘forever chemicals’ regulation
The cost of cleaning up toxic forever chemical pollution could reach more than £1.6tn across the UK and Europe over a 20-year period, an annual bill of £84bn, research has found.
The number of British pollution hotspots is also on the rise. If emissions remain unrestricted and uncontrolled, the costs of cleanup will reach £9.9bn a year in the UK, according to the findings of a year-long investigation by the Forever Lobbying Project, a cross-border investigation involving 46 journalists and 18 experts across 16 countries.
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01/13/2025 - 19:58
Fires have killed at least 24, displaced thousands, destroyed over 12,000 structures as winds predicted until Wednesday
California fires – live updates
Fire crews are trying to get the upper hand on blazes that are tearing through Los Angeles before expected high wind gusts threaten their progress. The fires, which may become the most expensive in US history, have killed at least 24 people, displaced thousands, destroyed more than 12,000 structures and have 100,000 people under evacuation orders.
Sustained winds of up to 40mph (64km/h) and gusts in the mountains reaching 65mph (105km/h) are predicted through Wednesday, forecasters said. Winds picked up on Monday and were expected to strengthen on Tuesday, fire behavior analyst Dennis Burns said.
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