Conservation (Page 7)

Protecting natural resources—from sea to sky—is about much more than planting a few trees.

Latest in Conservation

a penguin looks at the camera while swimming in icy waters

14 soaring and stunning images from 2024 Bird Photographer of the Year awards

By Popular Science Team

Side by side of nature camera and brown bear

How the Fat Bear Week crew gets that beautiful bear footage

USS Stewart bow shipwreck with barnacles and crabs

‘Ghost Ship of the Pacific’ rediscovered with underwater drones

The poachers who could save Mexico’s vaquita

By Daniel Shailer / Hakai Magazine

Montana Mountain King sheep

Montana breeder of illegal, giant sheep hybrid clones gets 6 months in prison

Two Fingered Sloth close-up

Sloths may be in danger by the end of the century

a condor, a large bird with black plumage, stands near a creek

4 endangered California condors will be released into the wild

By Laura Baisas

glass bowl filled with brown seaweed

Bye, kale: Marine scientists want you to eat more seaweed

By Alisha McDarris

Video screenshot of piece of OceanGate Titan wreckage

The OceanGate Titan implosion left a 30,000-square-meter debris field

Scientists observed two bowhead whales synchronizing dive schedules whenever they were within earshot of each other.

Whales may be communicating across vast distances

By Joanna Thompson / Hakai Magazine

three species of crane stand in tall grass. the first has grey, black and white plumage and is the tallest. the second has mostly white plumage. the last one is small with gray plumage.

Cranes can migrate 4,000 miles, but that’s not the hard part

By Laura Baisas

Caption: An octopus cyanea hunting with a blacktip grouper on one side and a gold-saddle goatfish (‘blue goatfish’) on the other.

Octopus and fish join forces to hunt together

By Lauren Leffer

A panoramic sand dune of sahara desert at Mhamid el Ghizlane in Morocco wide shot.

Saharan dust sustains life all over the Atlantic Ocean

a wave rising up from a flat sea

Extreme 3D ocean waves can reach heights 4x steeper than previously thought

By Laura Baisas

a Byrde's whale surfaces to breathe in the Pacific Ocean

Elusive whale’s vocalization could be their version of ‘Marco Polo’

By Laura Baisas

a small baby pygmy hippopotamus sits on the ground

Humans likely wiped out Cyprus’ tiny hippos and elephants in record time

By Laura Baisas

a red fish with a grumpy expression and large teeth

Seriously grumpy-faced fish discovered in Red Sea

By Laura Baisas

Germany’s North and Baltic Seas are littered with munitions from the First and Second World Wars, such as shells—as shown here—once fired from German battleships.

The big Baltic bomb cleanup

By Paul Hockenos / Hakai Magazine

a whale surfaces next to a large fishing trawler

Whales need krill to survive. We want it for supplements.

By Laura Baisas

Titanic bow wreckage underwater

The famous railing from ‘Titanic’ has broken off from Titanic

a small white and red squid

New images of deep sea wonders are surprisingly adorable

By Laura Baisas

Closeup of yellow and green fishing net

The long road to ropeless fishing

By Moira Donovan / Hakai Magazine

A male and a female Aphonopelma jacobii. Their small size can be seen when compared to the acorn cap, pine needles, and oak leaf.

Newly discovered tarantulas may already be in danger

Anatomically accurate sculpture of a dodo

The dodo was faster and smarter than you think

a bunch of yellow bananas

Bananas are at risk of extinction, but scientists have a plan

By Laura Baisas

a group of earthworms in rich, dark soil

Hear the ‘rave’-like sounds of a healthy soil

By Laura Baisas

Port Jackson sharks sleeping on the seafloor at Beagle Marine Park.

Watch a huge ‘No Boys Allowed’ shark slumber party

By Laura Baisas

a spotted cat walks through a mountain region at night

Rare, endangered ocelot caught on camera

By Laura Baisas

Colorful atlantic puffin sitting on a cliff

In Iceland, humans throwing baby puffins is a good thing

By Alisha McDarris

The newly discovered Paragonaster hoeimaruae. There are many types of starfish and this one is particularly adapted to living in sandy, muddy waters, a feature the researchers want to learn more about.

New, vibrant starfish discovered in Japan

By Laura Baisas

two sea lions swim in blue water, with their heads above the water

Sea lion camera crews help scientists map unexplored seabeds

By Laura Baisas

Two black morels in spring are well camouflaged on the forest floor

How to start forest farming: Grow delicious food in the woods

By Alisha McDarris

an orange, black, and white monarch butterfly on a pink milkweed flower

How everyone can help monarch butterflies

By Laura Baisas

a firefly with its bottom half illuminated

A new theory on why fireflies glow—and why they need help

By Laura Baisas

a hotel in the ground

Subterranean retreats: How underground hotels harness Earth’s natural insulation

By Alisha McDarris

a walrus calf with a cut on its right eye is cared for by two technicians

Abandoned Pacific walrus calf rescued in Alaska

By Laura Baisas

Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) breaching ocean in an attack.

Sharks are testing positive for cocaine

Polymetallic nodules scattered across bottom of the ocean floor

‘Dark oxygen’ on ocean floor may rewrite Earth’s origins of life

Solar farm panels in meadow

There’s a right and a wrong way to build a solar farm

a baby crocodile hatches from an egg, surrounded by other eggs.

106 critically endangered Siamese crocodile eggs spotted in Cambodia

By Laura Baisas

a long, dark brown millipede crawling on brown and green leaves

Expedition finds a 10-inch long millipede lost to science for 126 years

By Laura Baisas

Dragonfly resting on flower

Dragonflies reveal how toxic mercury moves in nature

several snakes entwined together on a rock

Ssssso many snakes: Watch a ‘mega-den’ of rattlesnakes in real time

By Laura Baisas

Close up of bald eagle

Hunters’ bullets are poisoning bald eagles

a small grey and black reef fish swims

Fish in Earth’s hottest water defy the odds

By Laura Baisas

The newly described Guianan long-nosed armadillo.

A new armadillo species was hiding in plain sight

By Lauren Leffer

Five of the comb jelly species featured in a new study on how their cells adapt to water pressures. Red coloration as seen in the two specimens at right is common among deep-sea animals.

Comb jellies won’t give into the extreme pressures of deep-sea life

By Laura Baisas

a marine biologist and an actor fist bump while sitting on a dive boat in the ocean

Actor Anthony Mackie and marine biologist Jasmin Graham talk sharks

By Laura Baisas

Green and gold bell frogs in artificial hotspot shelter.

Frog saunas could help the amphibians cope with a deadly fungus

By Lauren Leffer

Golden Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis) in the Red Sea, Egypt

Mass extinction 183 million years ago offers dire warning for modern oceans

a large lizard with yellow spots in the dirt

Giant lizards could keep flesh-eating maggots off Australia’s sheep

By Laura Baisas

Cheetah cubs rescued from the illegal wildlife pet trade and brought to Cheetah Conservation Fund’s Rescue and Conservation Center.

On the hunt: Tracking the illegal cheetah trade

By Rene Ebersole / Undark

Ocean trash can now be tracked from space

California Forever concept art of utopian cityscape

California’s billionaire utopia may not be as eco-friendly as advertised

Climate change is coming for your oysters

By Devon Fredericksen / Hakai Magazine

a large bird with blue plummage and orange eyes called a cassowary

The world’s most dangerous bird is at risk of extinction

By Laura Baisas

OceanXplorers sub

Watch the exclusive trailer premiere for James Cameron’s new ‘OceanXplorers’ series

an american flamingo. the bird has pink and white plumage with a black beak

A ‘pink wave’ of flamingoes settles into the Sunshine State

By Laura Baisas

While scientists have seen colossal squid before—like this specimen examined by New Zealander researchers in 2014—their interactions have always been with animals that were either pulled from the depths, washed up on shore, or otherwise removed from their natural habitat.

Visiting the kraken at home

By Evert Lindquist / Hakai Magazine

11 US National Parks where you can find fossils

11 US National Parks where you can find fossils

By Alisha McDarris

a brown snail sits on a green lettuce leaf

Slimy slugs and snails surprisingly thriving in LA

By Laura Baisas

Underwater image of Titanic wreckage

Billionaire plans to ride $20 million submersible to the Titanic

coral polyps before spawning

Scientists are studying the mysterious sex lives of coral

By Laura Baisas

This noble necklace worm, laden with eggs, will eventually release her developed larvae into the water column as plankton.

Stunning images offer a peek into the ocean’s microscopic baby boom

Text by Kelly Fretwell and Adrienne Mason / Hakai Magazine, Photos by Hakai Institute