Hi everyone,
Something a little different for you to kick off this week. Iām excited to announce Iām running Baleenās first ever giveaway ā to celebrate the upcoming World Ocean Day (8 June) ā in partnership with the wonderful Miri from Under the Sea Art.
Since its launch in January, Baleen has been filtering the latest marine conservation and sustainability stories and delivering the stories that matter directly to your inbox every Monday. As a thank you to our hundreds of regular readers (and to encourage a few more ocean lovers to join to pod), weāre giving away some incredible goodies from Under the Sea Art: an A3 framed humpback whale print, a dreamy whale bottle and a protect our planet tote bag. You must be a member of the Baleen pod to be in with a chance of winning this epic stash!
To enter the World Ocean Day Giveaway:
Join the pod by signing up for free
Follow @under.the.sea.art on Instagram
Like this post and tag one of your friends. Every extra comment is an extra entry!
Thatās it! A winner will be chosen at random on 7 June and announced on 8 June. In todayās issue, weāve also replaced some of our usual memes with Under the Sea Artās stunning pieces to showcase Miriās fab work. Enjoy!
Make sure youāre subscribed to Baleen to be in with a chance of winning!
ā¦and now onto this weekās ocean news:
š³ Whales
Norway hunting season: has begun with over 140 mike whales slaughtered in the first few days (WDC)
Oligocene Whales: an āevolutionary cousinā of baleen whales, had teeth AND baleen (Sci News)
Petition: calls for the Norwegian government to stop its plans to experiment on live minke whales (Change.org)
Dangerously high mercury concentrations: found in whale products in the Caribbean (Phys.org)
Unusual mortality event: dead whales continue washing up in San Francisco Bay (Stuff NZ)
Rare incident: a beached humpback whale found in France (Phys.org)
Mysterious specimens: A new study shows the importance of using carcasses of stranded whales to study elusive species (Sci Tech Daily)
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š¬š Marine animals
Good news: A 35% increase in Great white sharks has been seen near California (BBC Newsround)
GalƔpagos tortoise: found alive is from a species believed to be extinct (BBC)
Struggling seabirds: are threatened by human activities and show when marine ecosystems might be struggling (Scientific American)
Lobster liberation: two incredibly rare bright orange lobsters rescued from a fishmonger will begin a new life in an aquarium (BBC)
Stone sucker: an endemic fish in Sri Lanka has six genetically different populations in different locations (Mongabay)
Cute alert: a bottlenose dolphin has adopted a pilot whale calf (People)
Wally the Walrus: has now been seen in France (Irish Examiner)
Bimini dredging: has changed the DNA patterns of juvenile lemon sharks that lived through the event (Phys.org)
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šÆ Pollution
Plastic waste: pressure increases for the UK to ban the export of plastic waste and set plastic reduction targets (Guardian)
Getting hot: as well as the other threats it poses, plastic pollution may also be heating beaches (EcoWatch)
Amazon: is under pressure to reveal ā and reduce ā its plastic footprint (Guardian)
G7 summit: is being called to agree a global plastic waste treaty (Independent)
Tiny robots: are being developed to break down microplastics in the ocean (Fast Company)
Chile bans single-use plastics: the implementation of the law will begin in six months (Oceana)
Salon sustainability: a scheme aims to make the hair industry greener by using hair cuttings to mop up oil spills instead of sending them to landfill (Guardian)
PPE problem: Waterhaul is turning single-use masks into resources such as litter-pickers (Kickstarter)
š° Funding & opportunities
Win Under the Sea art: just by helping us grow the Baleen pod!
Ā£3,500 cash prize: for Portsmouth Uni students tackling plastic litter (University of Portsmouth)
šš Ecosystems
River runner: this interactive map allows you to drop a raindrop and watch its journey to the ocean (Treehugger)
Mangrove ecosystems: are providing a home to corals stressed by man-made pressures (Futurity)
Seagrass meadows: are being restored around the world thanks to several seagrass projects (UNEP)
Keeping it local: Coral loss could be magnified after heatwaves by local conditions (Phys.org)
Robot submarines: could help scientists get closer to melting ice caps (The Scotsman)
En-trenched in mercury: the Pacific Oceanās deepest trenches have been found to contain high levels of toxic mercury (EurekAlert)
Cyclones and storms: are increasing in number and intensity due to the heating Indian Ocean (Guardian)
Dead zones: Could seaweed provide a solution and slow ecological destruction? (Bloomberg)
š£ Fisheries
Banned pesticide: could be approved for fish farms, despite being linked to the destruction of bee populations (Guardian)
Is good enoughā¦ enough? Smaller reserves supported by communities can lead to long-term conservation success (The Conversation)
Fish biodiversity losses: in the Peruvian Amazon cause significant nutritional shortages for communities (Phys.org)
Thatās all for this week, folks. Thanks again to Miri from Under the Sea art for partnering with Baleen for our first giveaway - do check out her amazing artwork. The draw ends at midnight on Monday 7th June 2021. We'll contact and announce the winner on the 8th (World Ocean Day) so get entering!
Melissa
Baleen is provided completely free each week to help you keep on top of the latest marine conservation news - if you find it useful, shout me a coffee (thanks!)