Water & Oceans

"An unusual visitor to local waters has caused a stir among the region's marine scientists: a gray whale. Researchers with the New England Aquarium's aerial survey team on Tuesday reported spotting the whale 30 miles south of Nantucket during a flight on Friday — a sighting they said is "incredibly rare," considering the species has been extinct in the Atlantic Ocean for more than two centuries."

"Hundreds of millions of farmed salmon have perished in mass die-offs over the past decade, say researchers."

"The snowstorms were a ‘tremendous boon’ to the state’s water supply, officials said".

"A new study of sinking and rising land along American coasts offers a more specific understanding of potential flooding in 32 coastal cities."

"A federal agency is asserting legal rights to waters that feed the Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge, setting up a new battle with a mining company seeking permits to withdraw more than 1.4 million gallons daily for a project that critics say could irreparably harm one of America’s natural treasures."

"For generations, the water infrastructure beneath this southern Alabama city was corroding, cracking and failing — out of sight and seemingly out of mind — as the population shrank and poverty rose. Until it became impossible to ignore."

"Unsustainable development threatens the health and diverse fish populations of the Mekong river, with one-fifth of fish species in Southeast Asia's main artery facing extinction, a report by conservation groups said on Monday."

"In the space of a few weeks, judges in Idaho, Nevada and Montana have altered the landscape for conserving dwindling aquifers."

"A vibrant fishing industry, some of the world’s largest coral reefs, desalination plants supplying millions with drinking water. They’re all at risk from large amounts of fertilizer and oil spilled into the Red Sea by the sinking of a cargo ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels."