GAITHERSBURG, Maryland—The Montgomery County Council passed a law to prohibit the purposeful release of balloons into the atmosphere. Councilmember Tom Hucker, D-Montgomery County, introduced Bill 6-20 earlier this year as a means to protect the county’s wildlife and environment by ending balloon...
Flying back and forth over Cape Cod Bay, a survey plane spotted a half dozen of the world’s rarest creatures: North Atlantic right whales. Such sightings are good news. The species hovers near extinction—by one estimate, fewer than 360 remain. Each time researchers locate a whale, they take pictures...
You don’t forget the images: the olive ridley sea turtle, a plastic straw lodged in his nose. The Rubenesque sea lion, neck cinched tight by a thick plastic packing strap. The Cuvier’s beaked whale, stomach split open to reveal more than 80 pounds of plastic waste—snack bags, rope, rice sacks...
A federal judge ruled yesterday that the National Marine Fisheries Service’s authorization and management of the American lobster fishery violates the federal Endangered Species Act. The court held that the agency failed to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales and that its...
Biologist Roger Payne heard about the stranded porpoise one night in 1964, while listening to a local radio station as he worked in a lab at Tufts University. Wanting to see for himself, he drove to nearby Revere Beach, north of Boston, and found the animal’s body. The porpoise had been mutilated...
Citizens and conservation groups achieved another legal victory against the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) when the First Circuit Court—sitting as the Environmental Court—ruled that all unexpired recreational aquarium collection permits are void. The April 12 ruling...
Healthy oceans are vital to the animals who call them home and to the overall well-being of our planet. Here are a few things you can do to help. Stop trashing the ocean You probably wouldn't dream of dumping your trash in the ocean. But did you know that over-fertilizing your lawn could have an...
As a result of a successful lawsuit by several environmental and animal organizations, a federal judge today ordered federal fishery managers to issue a new rule for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales no later than May 31, 2021. The Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law...
Goblin might not have lasted much longer at Tim’s Reptiles and Exotics in Pulaski County, Kentucky. The sulcata tortoise was one of about 150 animals rescued in September from nightmarish conditions at the pet store when local police arrested the store operator on 19 counts of animal cruelty...
WASHINGTON—Conservation groups filed a rulemaking petition today seeking additional ship-speed limits along the Atlantic coast to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. In June a baby right whale was found dead off the coast of New Jersey, with propeller wounds across his head...
The public display industry keeps many species of marine mammals captive in concrete tanks, especially whales and dolphins. The Humane Society of the United States believes that these animals are best seen in their natural coastal and ocean environments instead of being held captive simply to...