Are COVID-19 Lockdowns Really Causing Nature to Heal?
May 26, 2021 · Share. As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold last spring and people around the world went into lockdown, a certain type of news story started to spring up—the idea that, in the absence of people, nature was returning to a healthier, more pristine state. There were viral reports of dolphins in the canals of Venice, Italy, and pumas in the streets ...
Iceland’s Confusing Inter-cetacean Conflict | Hakai Magazine
Sep 23, 2021 · Interactions between killer and pilot whales have only been scientifically documented a few times, and Samarra is among the first scientists to have observed this behavior in Iceland. Since the 2015 encounter, she’s seen similar interactions around 20 times. Iceland’s pilot whales may be assuming that the killer whales in the area, which ...
Hakai Magazine
Oct 11, 2024 · The extraordinary story of a flood that laid waste to homes and lives—and the idea that we can control nature. Behind Hakai: Ondine Pontier. Ondine Pontier spends her days literally and figuratively diving into the beauty and complexity of kelp ecosystems on the British Columbia coast. See more at hakai.org.
Why We Can’t Shake Ambergris - Hakai Magazine
Aug 17, 2021 · In December 2020, British woman Jodie Crews posted photos online of a mysterious object she’d found at a beach. One helpful respondent suggested poking the object with a hot pin to see if it smoked, a common (if unreliable) test for ambergris. Crews did, and the object exploded into flames, setting fire to her kitchen.
Fish Feel Pain. Now What? - Hakai Magazine
Jan 2, 2018 · It’s likely different from what humans feel, but it is still a kind of pain.”. At the anatomical level, fish have neurons known as nociceptors, which detect potential harm, such as high temperatures, intense pressure, and caustic chemicals. Fish produce the same opioids—the body’s innate painkillers—that mammals do.
Steller’s Sea Cows’ Ecological Legacy | Hakai Magazine
Oct 8, 2021 · Share. In the chilly waters off Russia’s Commander Islands, a Steller’s sea cow grazed on kelp fronds. The buoyant behemoth sheltered her calf close to shore and away from predators. Seabirds perched on their exposed backs, eating parasites from their skin. It was here, some 250 years ago, that these giant sirenians met their end.
Whales May Be Communicating Across Vast Distances
Sep 20, 2024 · Acoustic herd theory posits that baleen whales, such as these bowhead whales filmed in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut, can travel in diffuse herds, communicating with each other acoustically from hundreds of kilometers away. Video courtesy of Keith Holmes, via Hakai Institute. It isn’t surprising to see large ocean creatures following their prey ...
And Then the Sea Glowed a Magnificent Milky Green
Jun 21, 2022 · Assuming scientists are correct that milky seas are caused by bacteria, a question remains: why? Unlike many organisms that evolved bioluminescence as a means to escape predation, bioluminescent bacteria want to be eaten—the inside of a fish’s gut provides a more reliable home than floating freely in the open ocean. But a lone bacterium is likely too small to …
What Survives the Storm - Hakai Magazine
Sep 16, 2021 · StEER engineers are now busily assessing the devastation from Hurricane Ida, which smashed into the Louisiana coast on August 29. Their experience in 2020 with Hurricane Laura, which hit just down the coast with 240-kilometer-per-hour winds, offers a road map for their research. Last August, Laura marched right up its well-predicted path as ...
Treasure Fever - Hakai Magazine
Jan 14, 2020 · They recovered over 18,000 silver coins. The world’s most famous explorer of the high seas, Mel Fisher, won rights to Spain’s Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which sunk near the Dry Tortugas islands, over 56 kilometers west of Key West, Florida, in 1622. The discovery was valued at nearly $400-million.