"Purple sea urchins have exploded in recent years off California, covering the ocean floor in what divers describe as a "purple carpet." And they devour kelp: the once-lush forests of seaweed that hugged the coastline are disappearing."
"A coalition of 17 environmental groups is speaking out against a key part of a sweeping plan to remove the lower Snake River dams to save salmon and steelhead."
"Federal regulators finished an environmental study of America's first major offshore wind farm in the summer of 2019, according to documents newly obtained by E&E News through a Freedom of Information Act request. But the review was never made public, and the timing of its completion raises fresh questions about whether the Trump administration interfered with Vineyard Wind's pursuit of federal approval."
"The Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge to former President Obama’s designation of a national monument 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass."
An invasive species of mussel — no, not zebra mussels, but quagga mussels — are wreaking havoc not just in the Great Lakes, but have now spread through the Mississippi and Colorado basins, as far west as Lake Mead. The latest TipSheet runs down the extent of the problem, how quaggas may be even worse than zebra mussels, and ideas for reporting on your local waterways.
"More than 70% of U.S. waterways reviewed under a controversial Trump-era rule could be permanently damaged after they were not afforded federal protection, according to Army Corps of Engineers data obtained and reviewed by E&E News."
"For the first time, scientists have calculated how much planet-warming carbon dioxide is released into the ocean by bottom trawling, the practice of dragging enormous nets along the ocean floor to catch shrimp, whiting, cod and other fish. The answer: As much as global aviation releases into the air."
"A few years ago, marine biologist Kyle Van Houtan spotted an online video that he couldn't quite believe. It showed a young great white shark, about five-feet long, swimming just off a pier in Central California.
"Our initial reaction was that it can't be true," Van Houtan says. "We know that they're in Southern California and Mexico, not in Monterey."
When they're young, white sharks typically live in the warm waters of Southern California, hundreds of miles from the cold, rough surf up north off Monterey.
"A Guardian Seascape analysis of 44 recent studies of more than 9,000 seafood samples from restaurants, fishmongers and supermarkets in more than 30 countries found that 36% were mislabelled, exposing seafood fraud on a vast global scale."
"Balls of moss commonly found in aquariums are threatening to push the zebra mussel invasion further across the U.S., wildlife officials are warning. Contaminated moss balls have been found in pet stores in 21 states in recent weeks, and both officials and the pet supply industry are scrambling to contain the problem before it’s too late."
Advertisement 
