NATURE FINDS A WAY

Hello

If there’s one thing nature can teach us, it’s resilience. City birds refuse to have their voices drowned out, and modify their songs to cut through human noise. Heat-resistant corals in the Red Sea defy the odds stacked against them by withstanding rising temperatures. Atlantic killifish survive where few others can by evolving to tolerate toxic pollution. Like the words made famous in Jurassic Park, ‘Life finds a way’.

RISING FROM THE DEPTHS

Looking for proof? Turn to the deep. A world apart, the deep sea is a place of darkness and pressure, where creatures withstand forces powerful enough to crush most life. Many have learned to create their own light, eat less, and grow very slowly to cope with food scarcity so severe that other animals would starve. They have evolved to make the most of what little reaches them. And sometimes, they break the rules.

Extremely rare footage of a black seadevil slowly rising to the ocean’s surface has been making the rounds online. This species of anglerfish typically inhabits the ocean column at depths down to 2000 metres, so scientists were more than a little surprised to find one drifting in the shallows off Tenerife in the Canary Islands last month.

Scientists remain uncertain why the anglerfish surfaced – possibilities include illness, predator evasion, or being carried up by a surge of warm water from undersea volcanic activity. Even though the fish died shortly after the footage was taken, its journey has already left a mark, turning a deep-sea mystery into a viral icon. Across TikTok, users have rallied around the ‘small but mighty’ traveller, celebrating her resilience. “She doesn’t even know she’s an icon”, one commenter wrote. But now, millions do.

APEX, NOT INVINCIBLE

As the world gears up to celebrate International Polar Bear Day tomorrow, we’re thinking of the Arctic – the home of polar bears and, like the deep sea, an unforgiving place if you’re not prepared for it. Despite being well-adapted to this frozen, remote region, the climate crisis is changing the game for these apex predators; as sea ice vanishes, they’re being pushed to their limits. They need sea ice to hunt, rest, and raise their young. Melting ice means they have to swim longer distances to find stable ice or get to land, which puts them and their cubs in danger. Polar bears are known for being great swimmers and divers, but they’ve never had to rely on those skills quite like this before. 

If polar bears weren’t tough enough already, a small population in southeast Greenland has found a way to get by with little to no sea ice for most of the year. These bears have adapted by using the ice that breaks off glaciers as platforms to hunt, suggesting that pockets of the species might survive despite rising temperatures.

Their resilience runs deep – even down to their fur. In a recent study, researchers found that the sebum, or natural oil, in the marine mammals’ coats, prevents ice from sticking to its hairs, helping them endure the Arctic’s harsh weather. Yet even the best-adapted species can only withstand so much.

A FIGHTING CHANCE

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are one of the most powerful tools we have to make our oceans healthier. They allow species to recover and thrive and make marine ecosystems more resilient to climate change. But they can’t simply be imaginary lines in the ocean. Protection needs to be enforced and effective.

One of the latest blogs from Together for the Ocean, a global coalition working to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030, outlines six urgent actions governments must take to make 30x30 a reality. From scaling up marine protection and ratifying the High Seas Treaty to unlocking accessible finance and banning destructive activities, the article explores where we must focus to drive real progress for our ocean.

Creating space for our ocean to flourish amidst all the rising threats can be hard. But when properly protected, MPAs give marine life a fighting chance. Nature has always found a way, now it’s up to us to make sure it still can.

OCEAN BULLETIN

🐠 A kayaker survives being swallowed by a humpback whale in Chile.

🐠 Shark nets and baited hooks continue to be used in three of South Africa’s MPAs, raising questions about their impact.

🐠 A study finds that whale songs are more similar to human language than previously thought.

🐠 Satellites show the world's frozen oceans have less ice than ever previously recorded. 

🐠 New Zealand considers withdrawing its support for an international ban on deep-sea mining.

EAGER BEAVER

Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic, a group of industrious beavers unknowingly saved authorities $1.2 million – by building the dam they were planning to construct anyway.

📌 In Case You Missed It: Don’t forget to check out our Champions Corner on our website! It’s where we keep you updated on what our Kelp, Coral, Sports, and River champions are up to. If you’re a fellow champion, take a look at your colleagues’ work and share any updates we may have missed – we update it regularly!  

Image credits
Flowers under bridge © Messy Nessy Chic | Anglerfish © Vida Marine Tenerife | Jumping polar bear © Florian Ledoux | Coral reef in Sharm el Sheikh ©  Renata Romeo / Ocean Image Bank