Basking sharks holding hands (fins) is the cutest thing you'll see all day

Except maybe for this baby whale learning to breach! 🐳

Aug 02, 2021

Hi everyone,

Lovely to see you back again and welcome to our new members. I know lots of people are on holiday this week so let’s keep this to the point and dive right into the latest ocean news without further ado…

🐳 Whales

Freedom day delay: the release of two beluga whales has been delayed due to Covid (ITV)
Whale hello there: new individual humpback spotted off the coast of Donegal (Donegal Daily)
Balooned heads: I bet this morning you weren’t wondering why two groups of whales evolve massive heads… now you might be (New Scientist)
Mother and calf: amazing drone footage of southern right whale calves learning to breach (The Age)
Free Willy: lovely video of the rescue of a stranded orca in Alaska (Insider)
An all-white encounter: two white orca spotted in Japanese waters (Live Science)

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Secret courtship: Basking sharks hold fins and it’s so cute I can’t even deal (Guardian)
European first: a sixgill shark was filmed off the coast of Clare (Irish Examiner )
Yey: congrats to the fab Simon ‘Pun’ Pierce for publishing his first book on all things whale shark
Spiral intestines: new method enables researchers to produce 3D scans of shark intestines (University of Washington)
“Idiotic, dangerious and completely unacceptable”: man known for jumping onto the back of sharks is attacked…go figure! (7 News WA via FiveMetreStop)

🐬🐙 Marine animals

Breathing room: will the return of tourism post-pandemic pose a threat to endangered loggerhead turtles (Guardian)
Giant axon: how breakthrough research into squid biology can untangle the mysteries of the brain (Nat Geo)
Ashmole’s halo: new research could confirm the size of seabird colonies depends on the amount of food available nearby (Irish Examiner)
Eco moorings: The Seahorse Trust has implemented a new project to protect seahorses (BBC)
Real life Spongebob and Patrick: found by NOAA (Fox)
Green status: the IUCN to launch a new assessment tool that shows the impact of conservation efforts on species recovery (Mongabay)
Hypoxic waters: new WHOI research shows what happens to marine life when there isn’t enough oxygen (Phys)
Please do not disturb: as if we need to remind you, if you see marine life this season, please give them space (Causeway Coast Community)

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🎣 Fisheries

The hunt for Kostis’ killer: Greek authorities are looking for the person who killed a rare Mediterranean monk seal (BBC)
Ticked off: Is the MSC’s blue tick succeeding in driving a more sustainable ocean? (Guardian)
High hopes: seaweed farmers hope their product could be used for vegan food, packaging and even cosmetics (BBC)
Climate change impacts: new paper shows how climate change is affecting Pacific Island fisheries and economies (The Conversation)
Bridge over troubled waters: new paper explores the trust in fisheries management (Science Direct)

Thanks to everyone helping us reach new pod members by sharing Baleen!

Sssssh: Seagrass can be harmed by noise pollution (Smithsonian)
Nom nom: new tech could turn plastic waste into food (The Byte)
The slowdown: the pandemic reduces noise pollution in the ocean (Frontiers in Marine Science)
Giant leap for pollution: you probably won’t be surprised that the billionaire space race is not great for the environment (Guardian)

💰 Opportunities

Pitch me! I’m starting a guest blog series to showcase the cool conservation peeps I know (or don’t know… yet!). If you’re interested in being featured, please get in touch

🐚🐠 Ecosystems

Last, best chance: why we really need to save the oceans this year (Time)
Blue carbon: mangroves, seagrass and salt marshes valued at $190 billion annually (Anthropocene)
Our blue heart: EJF shares recommendations for blue carbon solutions (Environmental Justice Foundation

I’m melting: on Tuesday, enough ice melted in Greenland to cover Florida in two inches of water (Sky News)

Thanks, as always, for reading. If you enjoyed this issue, consider buying me a virtual coffee. ☕

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Melissa

Baleen