From the Editor: Sometimes it feels like all that we post the bad news about the oceans. But there is a purpose: to help Neptune 911’s readers understand the seriousness of how what we do has consequences that negatively affects… Read More ›
California Central Coast
Seismic Testing Proposed for California’s Central Coast
Editor’s Note: Seismic Testing is known to harm marine mammals. Is it another trashing of the ocean’s or an essential tool to learn more about earthquake faulting and oil exploration? What is Seismic Testing? Following the news story by David… Read More ›
Sea Otters Under Attack
Editor’s Note: Two stories featured the endangered California Sea Otter in today’s news: Unexplained great white shark attacks on sea otters, and a bill, HR4043, ending protection of otters on a military weapons test site. Both are posted here. … Read More ›
Elephant Seal Breech Birth
Photos and Story by Charmaine Coimbra January is a prime month to view northern elephant seal birthings, particularly at Piedras Blancas near San Simeon, Ca. On Sunday, January 8, 2012, I was near a birthing. It was a surprise because the… Read More ›
Gray Whale Numbers Up While Artic Ring Seals Suffer
By Charmaine Coimbra I celebrated my mid-December birthday with a hike along a Central California bluff. The day was warm and eucalyptus blended with salt air invigorated my soul. When I finally reached trail’s end on a bluff that overlooks the… Read More ›
Our Trash Chokes A Northern Elephant Seal
It’s ironic that the northern elephant seal’s worst nightmare was the human mammal–not its natural predators the great white shark and orca. In the 1800s oil hunters slaughtered nearly the entire northern elephant seal population…
Runaway Elephant Seal Pup Rescued
Sure enough, before January 25, 2011, a young pup separated from its mother, managed to survive in the water, and washed up several miles south of the rookery–assuming this is where the pup was born.
Sea Otter Death Toll Rises in 2010
From The San Francisco Chronicle Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer Sunday, January 23, 2011 A record number of sea otter bodies were found on California coastlines last year, a trend that leaves scientists and conservationists concerned for the future of… Read More ›
A North Pacific Gray Whale Obstacle Course
If he skips entanglement, then our garbage still threatens him. Last year, a necropsy on a near-adult gray (so it wasn’t Skippy) discovered 20 plastic bags, small towels, surgical gloves, sweat pants, plastic pieces, duct tape, and a golf ball in its stomach.
Septic Tanks, Agriculture Runoff & Lawn Fertilizer Killing Sea Otters?
By J.M. Brown Santa Cruz Sentinel SANTA CRUZ — Scientists from UC Santa Cruz and the state Department of Fish and Game believe they have traced at least 21 recent California sea otter deaths to a poison produced by algae… Read More ›