Ecology

A top hotel and restaurant run by celebrity chef Raymond Blanc has been accused of "ecological vandalism" - by "destroying" a meadow of wildflowers.

The "tentacled and alienesque appendages" that sailors saw were often just "whale dicks," Professor Michael Sweet explained.

The animals are key "brokers" in ecosystems across the western hemisphere and are believed to interact with more species than any other carnivore on Earth.

The 500lb heifer was eaten by wolves near Walden, the Colorado Cattlemen's Association said.

"We're not calling for an end to public sex, but we do want people to be aware of the damage it can do," noted study co-author Patrick Hesp.

Leptospirillum could be used to break down large metal waste that has been discarded in Chile's Atacama Desert.

About 126,000 gallons of oil have so far leaked in the waters near Huntington Beach, California. Here's how that compares to America's worst oil disasters.

"It's doing stuff that fish aren't supposed to do," said Michael Powell, the angler who caught the fish.

"Our planet is unlikely to be unique in the inevitable creation of life from matter," renowned mycologist Paul Stamets told Newsweek.

The project aims to restore the region's vulnerable wildlife populations and reduce collisions between vehicles and animals.

"To think that I could get charged $500 just because my cat has run across the street is a bit ... it's stressful," resident Madeline White told 9 News.

Periodical cicadas burst from the ground every 13 or 17 years.

Environmentalists say exploratory drilling could release harmful chemicals into the surrounding wetlands and rivers.

The death of the animal is the latest case in what officials have called an "Unusual Mortality Event" that has been ongoing among North Atlantic right whales since 2017.

The hornets represent a significant threat to Western honeybees, which have no innate defence against them.

Invasive species spread around the globe with the help of human activities, such as global trade and transportation.

Microplastic pollution is ubiquitous, but the processes that distribute the particles between marine, terrestrial and atmospheric environments around the planet remain poorly understood.

An aquarium owner noticed his sea urchins covering themselves with rocks and other objects, so he started 3D printing goofy hats. But a marine biologist confirms that sea urchins are making more than fashion statements.

The most extensive investigation to date finds global insect numbers drop 0.92 percent a year. However, the world's freshwater insects, like mayflies, are bucking the trend and seeing numbers rise.

"This type of feeding is very risky, as dolphins run the risk of remaining stranded," said researcher Daniele Cagnazzi.

A vulnerable population of wolves living on Prince of Wales Island lost 97 percent of the population during the 2019-2020 trapping season.

Some experts think that the hole formed as a result of natural processes, while others argue that humans may be partly to blame.

Large herbivores dominated the Earth's land ecosystems for several million years before suffering significant extinctions and declines over the past 100,000 years or so.

"We have new species turning up that are already contaminated and so we have missed the window to understand these species in a natural environment," said marine ecologists Alan Jamieson.

"The extinction crisis gets worse by the day, but Trump officials are twiddling their thumbs as plants and animals fade away," said Noah Greenwald from the Center for Biological Diversity.

"If allowed to spread, crazy worms could cause serious damage to horticultural crops and the forest ecosystem in Maine," the state's Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry said.

"The most interesting about bees is their communication," said entomologist Morgan Carr-Markell.

Earth's tropical forests are "time capsules" of human history stretching back hundreds of years.

"It just seems to me that every bat in Australia is now in Ingham," Raymon Jayo, mayor of Hinchinbrook, said.

The drug lord imported four hippos into the country, which were housed in his private zoo.