• Cosmos

Monitoring Animals From the Space Station To Improve Their Conservation

• #30x30
• #endangeredspecies
• animals
• extinction
• international space station
• migration
• science
• space
• wildlife trafficking

Using inexpensive tracking technology and a large antenna installed on the International Space Station, a consortium of researchers is hoping to gather a wider range of data than they had using previous tracking technologies, including long migration patterns, allowing them to better understand how climate change and habitat loss impact wildlife. 

Why This Matters:  In addition to better understanding of wildlife migration and threats, the technology could be used for a range of other goals.

• People

Interview of the Week: M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International

• #30x30
• #conservationist
• Conservation International
• COVID-19
• environment
• extinction
• habitat
• nature based solutions

ODP: COVID-19 has caused so much suffering here and around the globe.  What is the leading cause of diseases that spread from wildlife to humans? MS: COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease. Like HIV, MERS, SARS, Hanta, and Ebola, it jumped from wildlife to people, likely through contact with an animal outside of its natural habitat. […]

• Animals

Right Whale Protections Amped Up in New England

• conservation
• Endangered Species Act
• extinction
• right whales
• science

A federal judge in Boston ruled late Thursday that Massachusetts is violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by granting permits to lobster fishers to use vertical buoy lines, the ropes that connect lobster traps on the seafloor to buoys at the surface, without federal permission because the fishing lines are the leading cause of death of highly endangered right whales over the past decade.

Why This Matters:  The Boston court ruling will likely disrupt the lobster industry in the short run.

• Animals

One Talented Kid: The Winner of the 2020 World Wildlife Day Global Youth Art Contest

• #WorldWildlifeDay
• Australia
• extinction
• Koala
• wildfire

Australian youth artist Tiarn Garland, 15, is the winner of the World Wildlife Day 2020 International Youth Art Contest, which was co-sponsored by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Secretariat, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).  Titled “Here today….but tomorrow?”, Tiarn’s work depicts a […]

• Animals

$1M In Illegal Shark Fins Seized in Miami

• #30x30
• CITES
• extinction
• shark fin soup
• sharks

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in January seized 1,400 pounds of shark fins worth nearly $1M that were hidden in 18 boxes in Miami Airport.  Federal officials believe the shipment originated in South America and was likely headed to Asia, where shark fins are in great demand for use in soup and traditional medicine, but they are still investigating.

Why This Matters:  Shark finning is banned in the U.S., but it is not illegal to buy and sell their fins here or even to sell the soup in restaurants in some states (it is banned in others).

• People

Interview of the Week: Dr. Enric Sala of the National Geographic Society on #30×30

• #30by30
• extinction
• National Geographic Society
• Pristine Seas

Dr. Enric Sala is a marine ecologist who has co-authored more than 120 publications, and an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, where he is dedicated to restoring the health and productivity of the ocean. ODP:  You moved from a very successful academic career to your current exploration and advocacy work at Nat Geo.  Why […]