• Animals

Advocates Urge Shipping Speed Limits to Protect Endangered Gulf Whale

• #30x30
• Bryde's whale
• bycatch
• endangered
• Gulf of Mexico
• IUCN
• marine mammal
• species
• whales

By Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer

A coalition of environmental groups is urging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to set an 11.5 mph limit on shipping speeds in an 11,500 square mile stretch of water off the Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama. 

Why This Matters: Whales, despite operating at the top of their food chains, face mass casualties and mortal threats from human activity.

• Land

Don’t Hedge Your Bets, Bet on the Hedges

• #30x30
• endangered species
• England
• hedge
• hedgerow
• species

The UK has more miles of hedges than miles of road, and they are a vital home and highway for wildlife. Birds, insects, toads, snakes, and (appropriately named) hedgehogs all live in the country’s hedgerows. In addition to being “reservoirs of life,” they also sequester carbon, prevent soil erosion, and reduce flooding. 

Why this Matters: Nearly 75% of the UK is farmed land. Planting hedges is one of the best ways to combat the ecosystem fragmentation that comes with so much of the country being used for agriculture.

• Animals

One Cool Thing: Changing Names of Species and Places In the Name of Justice

• birds
• equity
• justice
• name
• species

There is a growing movement to rename certain species in order to ensure racial justice and equity, John Platt writes in the Revelator. An organization called Bird Names for Birds is working to change eponyms (a person after whom a discovered species is named) and honorific common names, which can be problematic if they honor […]

• Animals

One Cool Thing: Key UN Global Biodiversity Report Due Out Today

• #30by30
• #endangeredspecies
• biodiversity
• species
• United Nations

Today the UN will release its latest scientific assessment on the state of the global environment — this one is on biodiversity, and specifically how well the world did in meeting its goal of protecting 10% of the planet by the end of this year.  The UN’s Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 (GBO-5) is also expected […]

• Animals

New England Aquarium Releases “Munchkin” a Rehabilitated Loggerhead Sea Turtle into the Wild

• extinction
• New England Aquarium
• rehabilitation
• sea turtle
• species
• threatened

We LOVE stories like this one!  Last Tuesday, the New England Aquarium released back into the wild Munchkin, the largest sea turtle it had rehabilitated after it was found last November on a Massachusetts beach emaciated and near death after being entangled in debris, most likely a lobster trap line.  According to the local National Public Radio station, there were hundreds of spectators crowded onto the same beach where she was recovered to watch volunteers and scientists from the New England Aquarium get the 340 lb female of breeding age onto the sand, where she promptly “raced down the beach, pausing just before she dove back into the water.”

• People

Interview of the Week: Azzedine Downes, ifaw

• conservation
• elephants
• endangered species
• IFAW
• species
• wildlife trafficking

Azzedine is the President and CEO of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, where he leads their efforts to help people and animals thrive together in more than 40 countries around the globe. ODP:  IFAW just celebrated its 50th anniversary. What have been the organization’s greatest accomplishments? AD:  From humble beginnings 50 years ago, IFAW […]