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The Manx shearwaters have made their way back to the Isle of Man, a journey of 10,000km from their wintering quarters off Brazil and Argentina. The birds, which are named after the island, were spotted on the Langness peninsula on St Michael's Isle, a regular haunt for the species.The return of the Manx shearwaters is a significant event, especially given the challenges the species has faced in the past. A large shearwater colony on the Calf of Man, an island off the south-west corner of the Isle of Man, was devastated by rats from a shipwreck. However, after a rodent eradication programme by the Manx Wildlife Trust, numbers have rebounded to more than 1,500 breeding pairs.The Manx shearwaters are special birds for many, with their distinctive sweeping flight making them a prized sighting for birdwatchers. The birds will occupy their nest burrows on the Calf, raise a single chick, and then leave it in July or August to make the epic journey back to the southern hemisphere.

From my home in Hawai‘i, the reef is more than a backdrop—it feeds families, shields shorelines, and anchors our culture. Today that vital connection is under unprecedented threat. Scientists report the most extensive coral‑bleaching episode ever recorded, persisting for 33 months into 2025. At a projected 1.5 °C rise in global temperatures, the IPCC warns that up to 90% of the world’s coral reefs could disappear. That temperature threshold is not a distant projection; it is looming now. Even if climate targets are eventually met, reefs continue to be battered by plastic waste, coastal development, agricultural runoff, and overfishing. Their degradation weakens natural storm barriers, leaving coastal communities more vulnerable to floods and erosion, jeopardising homes, jobs, and cultural heritage. In Hawai‘i we speak of kuleana—a generational duty to protect what sustains us. That principle must expand to every person on the planet: caring for reefs is caring for ourselves. On the ground, communities in French Polynesia have shown that, when equipped with the right tools, they can actively restore damaged reefs. Likewise, my collaboration with the Global Fund for Coral Reefs and the UN Environment Programme demonstrates how targeted financing can create sustainable livelihoods, boost marine conservation, and help coastal societies rebound after extreme weather. Time, however, is not on our side. The next twelve months could become a defining turning point for coral ecosystems. New scientific findings and a series of high‑profile gatherings—including the Kenya Ocean Conference, the International Coral Reef Symposium in New Zealand, and the upcoming Global Coral Reef Summit—will focus world attention on reef survival. The responsibility now lies with governments, businesses, and individuals alike. Proven actions include: cutting carbon footprints, eliminating plastic leakage, protecting keystone species, supporting reef‑positive enterprises, investing in resilient coastal economies, enacting protective legislation, and amplifying public advocacy. Moments like 2026 are not just about pledges; they are about swift, measurable change. Coral reefs cannot wait for perfect plans—they need us to act now, embodying the spirit of kuleana for the sake of our children and the ocean that sustains us. Jason Momoa is an actor, filmmaker, and UNEP Advocate for Life Below Water, dedicated to protecting oceans and raising global awareness of coral‑reef conservation.

Gray whales have historically been a rare sight in the San Francisco Bay. They migrate over 10,000 miles from Mexico's Baja California to the Arctic region, seldom stopping in the busy shipping corridor for prolonged periods. However, in recent years, this has changed in a dire way.A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science has found that gray whales in the bay have been dying at alarming rates, largely due to collisions with vessels. Eastern North Pacific (ENP) gray whales began to appear more frequently in the well-trafficked maritime corridor around 2018.According to researchers, at least 18% of gray whales that entered the bay from 2018 to 2025 have died. They determined that for more than 40% of the whale carcasses, the cause of death was blunt force trauma consistent with vessel strikes, prompting calls for renewed efforts to help avoid more fatal collisions.“It was historically very unusual for them to enter the bay, especially for longer amounts of time or consistently year after year,” said Josie Slaathaug, lead author of the study. There are whale subgroups known to hunt for food south of the Arctic, but a majority of the recently spotted whales feeding in the bay were not a part of these foraging clusters.A wave of new whale presence had not been observed in the waters since the late 1990s. Researchers have theorized that Arctic warming is disrupting food availability for the whales, driving them to hunt in new places such as the bay, although it remains unclear what exactly they may be eating there.Their potential new feeding corner, though, is a major shipping route. The true mortality rate for whales in the bay may be higher, hovering somewhere from 40% to 50%, Slaathaug said.In recent years, there have been several reports of dead whales that wash up on Bay Area beaches. The ENP gray whale population has been in decline due to malnutrition and starvation from climate-driven prey shifts in the Arctic. The Southwest Fisheries Science Center estimated a population total of about 13,000 whales, its lowest count since 1970.“It’s not unique to their migratory corridor that a lot of whales are dying,” Slaathaug said. “What is unique about San Francisco Bay and this study was that there was such a clear emerging cause of death.”Some local efforts are under way to reduce vessel collisions. The Marine Mammal Center has developed a program called Whale Smart, to educate vessel operators in the San Francisco Bay on how to interpret whale behavior to avoid close encounters.In Alaska, where vessels also pose a threat to the whale population, one fleet company partnered with WhaleSpotter, a company that uses AI and thermal imaging to detect the presence of whales, so they can change course well in advance.Last year, the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group, sued the US Coast Guard, which regulates vessel traffic off the California coast, for failing to analyze how vessel routes may harm whales and sea turtles.“This most recent study about the gray whales reaffirms that we have way underestimated the problem and we are not managing human activities well enough to avoid the whales,” said Catherine Kilduff, senior attorney at the center.Federal action is needed to reduce the fatal collisions, Kilduff said. According to the Endangered Species Act, the coast guard should be consulting with the National Marine Fisheries Service when setting shipping lanes to assess impact to marine wildlife.Kilduff also suggested mandatory speed limits for vessels. “There are voluntary speed reductions on the west coast, but there is evidence that those aren’t effective. The compliance rate isn’t high enough,” she said.A 2022 study co-authored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that the average speeds of large vessels had decreased from 2010 to 2019 in voluntary speed reduction zones. But, researchers determined that the cooperation rate of roughly 50% was lower than the amount needed to reduce vessel strike-related mortality to a level that maintains a sustainable whale population.“These whales are using the oceans in such a sophisticated way. We can learn so much from them, and if we can figure out ways to avoid killing them, I know that they’ll come back to healthy population levels,” Kilduff said.

The BBC has confirmed plans to eliminate as many as 2,000 positions, equating to about 10% of its 21,500‑strong workforce. The announcement was made at an all‑staff meeting on Wednesday, marking the broadcaster’s most extensive downsizing since 2011.Interim director general Rhodri Talfan Davies led the briefing and will steer the corporation until Matt Brittin, a former senior Google executive, takes over on 18 May.The job reductions are part of a broader £600 million cost‑cutting plan unveiled in February, which aims to trim 10% of the BBC’s roughly £6 billion annual cost base over the next three years.Outgoing director general Tim Davie departed on 2 April after resigning in November amid controversy over coverage of high‑profile issues such as Donald Trump, Gaza and trans‑rights.Union leader Philippa Childs of Bectu warned that “cuts of this magnitude will be devastating for the workforce and to the BBC as a whole,” adding that recent redundancy rounds have already placed staff under significant pressure.Financial pressures are compounded by a modest licence‑fee increase on 1 April, which rose from £174.50 to £180 per household. Last year the BBC collected £3.8 billion from the licence fee across 23.8 million households, supplemented by £2 billion from commercial activities and grants.However, the number of licence‑fee‑paying households fell by 300,000 year‑on‑year, driven by rising evasion and a shift toward rival streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney.The corporation is currently negotiating a renewal of its royal charter, which expires at the end of next year, and is seeking to secure a more stable, long‑term funding pathway.Regulator Ofcom has warned that public‑service television in the UK is becoming an “endangered species” in the streaming era, a concern echoed by the BBC’s own strategy to expand its iPlayer service and forge a new content partnership with YouTube.In a recent statement the BBC highlighted that it has already delivered “more than half a billion pounds’ worth of savings” over the past three years, reinvesting much of those efficiencies back into its output to ensure value for money for audiences now and in the future.

Sperm whales produce a series of rapid clicks, known as codas, that researchers have now shown contain vowel‑like elements and phonetic rules akin to those of human speech.Using advanced acoustic analysis and artificial‑intelligence tools, a team led by linguist Gašper Beguš at UC Berkeley found that variations in click length, pitch rise, and fall encode distinct “vowel” sounds, creating patterns comparable to languages such as Mandarin, Latin and Slovenian.The findings, published in the Proceedings B journal, describe the whale communication system as “highly complex” and one of the closest animal parallels to human phonology, indicating a case of independent evolution of language‑like structures.The research was conducted by Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), which has been recording sperm whales off Dominica. The project recently released video of a collaborative birth, underscoring the species’ rich social lives.According to Project CETI founder David Gruber, the whales’ “chit‑chat” occurs when individuals press their heads together near the surface, a behavior he likens to intimate, face‑to‑face conversation rather than distant shouting.By removing silent gaps between clicks, the team uncovered rhythmic patterns that function like human vowel modulation—altering vocal fold tension to shift an “A” into an “E.” This level of linguistic sophistication surpasses that observed in other vocal animals such as parrots and elephants.Behavioral ecologist Mauricio Cantor (not involved in the study) noted that the discovery reveals multiple interacting layers of structure in whale signals, a complexity previously unappreciated.Project CETI aims to identify at least 20 distinct vocal expressions—covering actions like diving, sleeping, and social bonding—within the next five years, moving toward a functional understanding of cetacean communication.Gruber remains optimistic, comparing current progress to a two‑year‑old child speaking a few words, and hopes that future research will bring the field to a five‑year‑old level of linguistic capability.

A remarkable cactus species in eastern Brazil has evolved a unique method to attract bats for pollination. Coleocephalocereus goebelianus grows a fuzzy structure, known as a cephalium, near its flowers. This unusual body part acts as an acoustic beacon, focusing the high-pitched squeaks made by bats and helping them navigate towards the flower.Bats use echolocation to navigate and find objects in the dark by emitting high-frequency sounds, which are beyond human hearing. The cephalium's dense structure may also help reduce background noise, making the bats' echolocation clearer.The cactus's tall stature above surrounding plants amplifies its acoustics, making it easier for bats to locate the flower. This adaptation is crucial for the cactus's pollination, as it blooms at night and relies on bats as pollinators.Similar adaptations can be seen in carnivorous pitcher plants, which use curved dish-like openings to reflect bat calls and help them find the pitchers. In these cases, the bats roost inside the pitchers, and their dung fertilizes the plant.This unique evolutionary strategy highlights the fascinating ways in which plants have adapted to their environments to ensure pollination and survival.

Rena Effendi, a photojournalist, embarks on a poignant journey in the documentary 'Searching for Satyrus', seeking the elusive butterfly named after her father, Rustam Effendi, a lepidopterist. Her father spent seven years hunting the Satyrus effendi, a rare and endangered species found in the Caucasus mountains.Effendi's quest is intertwined with her exploration of her father's complex legacy. He was a man of many marriages – Effendi humorously notes he lasted longer in his pursuit of the butterfly than in any of his four marriages. This personal history is set against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, where the butterfly's habitat lies.The documentary features Effendi's interactions with lepidopterists, including Dmitrii V Morgun, who describes the unique characteristics of various butterfly species. The Satyrus is portrayed as melancholic and brooding, mirroring the complex emotions Effendi experiences as she uncovers her father's past.The film is set to release in UK cinemas on April 19, 2026, offering audiences a thoughtful exploration of family, legacy, and conservation.

A remarkable fossil discovery in Victoria, Australia, has revealed that giant echidnas once roamed the region. The Owen's giant echidna, Megalibgwilia owenii, lived during the Pleistocene epoch, which began 2.5 million years ago.The fossil, discovered in the Buchan cave complex in East Gippsland, is a significant find, as it fills a 1,000km gap in the species' known distribution. Previously, specimens of the extinct monotreme had been found across Australia, from Western Australia to Tasmania, but mysteriously absent from the fossil record in Victoria.The Owen's giant echidna was about twice the size of Australia's modern echidnas, growing up to 1 metre long and weighing up to 15kg. Its skeleton is much more robust than that of comparably sized animals, with deeper, more prominent muscle scars and larger attachments for ligaments, indicating it was using much greater force when interacting with the landscape.According to Tim Ziegler, the collection manager of vertebrate palaeontology at the Museums Victoria Research Institute, the fossil was likely used for digging for buried larvae, larger prey of beetles, or bogong moths, or tearing tree bark to access food.The research, published in Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, provides new insights into the distribution and habitat of the Owen's giant echidna during the ice age.

Colombian officials have authorized a plan to cull up to 80 hippos descended from animals brought to the country by Pablo Escobar in the 1980s. The feral beasts have displaced native species and threatened local villagers, prompting the government to take action.The environment minister, Irene Vélez, stated that other methods to control the population, such as neutering or relocating the hippos to zoos, have been expensive and unsuccessful. Up to 80 hippos will be affected by the measure, although the exact timeline for the culling has not been specified.Colombia is the only country outside Africa with a wild hippo population, which originated from four individuals imported by Escobar as he built a private zoo in Hacienda Nápoles. A study published by Colombia's National University estimated that around 170 hippos were roaming freely in the country in 2022.The hippos pose a threat to villagers who have encountered them in farms and rivers, and compete with local species such as river manatees for food and space. Despite the environmental challenges, the hippos have become a tourist attraction, with residents offering hippo spotting tours and selling hippo-themed souvenirs.Animal welfare activists have opposed the plan to kill the hippos, arguing they deserve to live and that addressing the problem through violence sets a poor example for a country that has experienced decades of internal conflict. Andrea Padilla, a senator and animal rights activist, described the plan as 'cruel' and accused government officials of trying to take the easy way out.