It’s June 2013: A group of park rangers are walking down a peaceful strip of shoreline in Washington State’s famous Olympic National Park when they spot an alarming sight: dozens of shriveled, gooey-looking purple and orange sea stars trying to cling to a rock. There’s something wrong, but the rangers are not quite sure what. […]

Co-authored by Erica Cirino Whenever I visit my favorite beaches on Long Island’s North Shore, I look for sea glass. There’s just something about these wave-worn gems—blues, greens, browns, whites and one or two bits of rare yellow glass—that invites me to pick them up. Lately though, I’ve been duped by small pieces of plastic […]

Co-authored by Erica Cirino 2016 started off with a dire prediction for the world’s oceans: By 2050, the seas will contain more plastic—by weight—than fish. There’s an estimated 8 -12 million metric tons of plastic making its way into the oceans each year. And as the plastic mess in the oceans grows, so do concerns […]

Co-authored by Erica Cirino Dr. Jon Hare and his colleagues at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have just published the results of two years’ work: their first assessment of fish and shellfish species living along the New England coast. What Hare and his colleagues have found: climate change is expected to decimate the populations […]

The standoff of armed ranchers occupying Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is now over. They represent the deepest rift in humanity’s relationship with land. They argue that all lands “belong” in private ownership. On the other hand, the land is currently held in public trust; the public being all Americans including the native Paiute for whom […]

It was raining and blowing hard all morning as we sat at anchor in a bay, heavily sheltered between steep, forested shores in the maze of islands that constitute Canada’s wondrous Pacific coast. The float-plane we’d been waiting for had been turned back by strong gusts. And so, hours later, Plan B: A boat came […]