Some Galápagos 'yellow' sea turtles remain homebodies, surprising scientists - Phys.org

Rosalie Cufr has built a University of Toledo experience defined less by the classroom and more by what she’s done outside it in agricultural fields, in a gas chromatography lab and on a research trip to Trinidad that she calls a “cultural awakening.” Cufr started college studying molecular biology before finding that a related discipline was where she belonged.

A pair of Galapagos marine iguanas soak up the sun on Marchena Island in the Galapagos Archipelago. Photo by Juan José Alava. The only lizard in the world that can live and forage at sea may now be in a fight for survival. International scientists warn black-market trafficking of Galapagos marine iguanas is peaking just as the Super El Niño decimates their natural food source.

Extreme events, such as this South Australian algal bloom that lasted from 2025 to 2026, have devastating effects on marine ecosystems. The only lizard in the world that can live and forage at sea may now be in a fight for survival. International scientists warn black-market trafficking of Galapagos marine iguanas is peaking just as the super El Niño decimates their natural food source. The 2026/27 El Niño event started warming equatorial waters in May, the same month Ecuadorian officials discovered four Galapagos iguanas being kept in a home near Guayaquil. Shortly after, they found a dozen more at a nearby airport, stuffed in handbags with their limbs bound.

Conservation comebacks for wild tigers, tuna and green​ sea turtles prove that global nature loss can be reversed, ​scientists have said. ​But a report warns food production must be the next ​“positive tipping point​” if the world is to avert biodiversity collapse. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) analysed nearly 36,000 animal populations and more than 5,000 species, producing the largest ever database of vertebrate wildlife. Scientists found populations had declined by an average of 73% since 1970, showing that “nature continues to be degraded at an alarming scale”, with “no sign of losses slowing”. Nature loss is no longer just an environmental challenge but a direct threat to the global economy, the report says, noting that about half of global GDP – roughly $58tn (£44tn) in 2023 – depends on nature and its ecosystem services. The authors write that species collapse now poses an “existential threat to economic stability, geopolitical security and human wellbeing”. Animal populations were found to be falling most sharply in tropical, biodiversity-rich regions, while trends in northern temperate parts of the world appeared much gentler.