Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Bombylius major, the thieving, deceiving, fluffy flying narwhal-like insect, that is a harbinger of spring Hundreds of nominations for invertebrate of the year whittled down to 10 Everybody loves bees. But these bumbling pollinators are ten a penny. How about a pollinator who twerks? A pollinator with a bum-bag for storing sand? A pollinator that pretends it’s a bee but actually looks far cooler? A pollinator with a dark side? All hail the dark-edged bee-fly (Bombylius major), a beautiful insect that’s been likened to a fluffy flying narwhal. An insect whose arrival in the skies of temperate Europe, North America and parts of Asia signifies that spring is here. Between 24 March and 2 April, we will be profiling a shortlist of 10 of the invertebrates chosen by readers and selected by our wildlife writers from more than 2,500 nominations. The voting for our 2025 invertebrate of the year will run from midday on Wednesday 2 April until midday on Friday 4 April. Continue reading...

As the climate heats up, Grenada’s beaches have become swamped with rotting sargassum. But biotech can turn it into fuel, fertiliser and plastic Photographs by Haron Forteau It is hard to describe the putrid stench of the decaying sargassum seaweed blanketing miles of shoreline in Soubise, a fishing village in Grenada. The pungent odour wafts into passing vehicles, persisting long after they have left the Caribbean island’s coves, where the ocean has deposited masses of the seaweed, which turns red then black as it rots. Many residents of Soubise, one of the areas worst affected, say they have learned to live with the problem, which has plagued the island, and others like it, for years. Last week scientists in Florida said they thought they had identified a weather phenomenon in 2009 as the “tipping point” of the problem, which they said is caused by shifting winds churning up the ocean and bringing deepwater nutrient concentrations to the surface. Lindon Marast says the seaweed clogs the engine of his boat Continue reading...

Every bee is precious, and as the weather gets more erratic I’m growing concerned about the effect it is having on their wellbeing Read about our invertebrate of the year competition here Photographs by Kate Medley I’m an only child and grew up in the US in a time when children were free-range. My parents would open the door in the morning and say, “come back for meals.” I would disappear into the forest and wetlands. I loved the constant stories around me that I didn’t understand: the stories of animals. When I was about seven there was a litter of kittens in the house, and a board crushed one of the kittens. The vet examined her mouth and said, “she’s not going to make it”, and minutes later she died in his hands. I couldn’t understand how he knew that – I wanted that superpower to understand animals, and that is why I wanted to become a vet. I got a degree and have been working as an environmental health scientist for more than 25 years. Continue reading...

Algae blooms can be a problem for marine life and people but it’s not yet clear if warmer oceans and nutrient runoff are causing more of them Confronting images of dead seadragons, fish and octopuses washed up on South Australian beaches – and disturbing reports of “more than 100” surfers and beachgoers experiencing flu-like symptoms after swimming or merely breathing in sea spray – attracted international concern last week. Speculation about the likely cause ranged from pollution and algae to unusual bacterial infections or viruses. We can reveal the culprit was a tiny – but harmful – type of planktonic algae called Karenia mikimotoi. Continue reading...