Oceans Stories

In fishing, money is a strong motivator that can incentivize people to improve practices and fund the management necessary to reduce fishing’s footprint on the natural world. But spending money in the wrong ways can also exacerbate the consequences of overfishing.

Using new technology, like drones and digital tags, researchers have found that nearly every part of the Antarctica peninsula is important for whales’ feeding and resting. But it is also a hotspot for global climate change. WWF is calling for the protection of this remote wilderness in or effort to preserve 30% of the oceans by 2030.

Focusing on shrimp and salmon, WWF is working to improve aquaculture practices through tech innovations like forensic analysis of farmed products and traceability software.

A multipronged ocean conservation strategy that WWF-Pakistan began in 2012 is now saving tens of thousands of dolphins, sea turtles, and other vulnerable marine species every year.

Waters between the Galápagos Islands and Ecuador attract migratory sea life, gather one of the world’s largest known populations of giant manta rays, and act serve as a whale shark breeding ground.

Tourist boats used to flock to Floreana Island for day tours without previously booking, leaving the community unprepared. With WWF's help, residents redesigned their tourism model for the long term.

Some bizarre crustaceans have made a big splash in the scientific world. They're blind. They live in extreme deep-sea environments. And they're so hairy that they've become known as "yeti crabs."

How policy, enforcement, and earning the trust of local fishers protected one of the most diverse coastlines in the world.

Day octopuses live in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. While they aren’t endangered, these masters of disguise are often found in coral reefs—and those reefs face steep challenges.

In some areas of the Arctic, female polar bears are more frequently choosing to build their maternity dens on land, rather than sea ice. The land provides the stability and security that sea ice no longer can—at least until human activity comes into the picture.

Nearly 124,000 WWF activists from 49 states reached out to their member of Congress to support a bipartisan bill to take a stand on ocean plastic, and their impressive efforts paid off.

Mangroves provide valuable services for people and the planet but they’re disappearing at an alarming rate and human activity is mostly to blame. Explore these forests in this photo essay and learn what WWF is doing to bring back 20% of the mangroves we’ve lost by 2030.

Thanks to a series of conservation measures enacted by Belize’s government, the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System has been removed from the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger sites. 

Covering more than 70% of our planet’s surface, the ocean contains the largest diversity of life on Earth and affects everything from global weather patterns to food systems. Learn what steps you can take help protect the ocean. 

Bristol Bay, Alaska is one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world and the source of the world's largest wild salmon fishery. Yet its future is in jeopardy from the proposal for Pebble Mine. Now the US Army Corps of Engineers is attempting to fast track the mine's permit application and we must take action now.

As president of the Bahamas Marine Exporters Association and managing director of Heritage Seafood, a leading lobster processor, Mia is working with her fellow exporters, fishermen, the Bahamian government, and international NGOs like WWF and The Nature Conservancy to ensure lobsters are fished sustainably. 

January 2018 brought record-low sea ice cover to the Arctic, according to new data released by the US government. That’s bad news for the ocean, wildlife, and local communities that rely on both for survival.

The Trump administration called for the removal of crucial Arctic protections in a new draft proposal of where oil and gas companies can purchase leases for offshore drilling. Take a look at how a handful of the Arctic’s abundant wildlife would be impacted by offshore drilling and a potential oil spill in the Arctic.

High demand for yellowfin makes it an important economic lifeline for some communities in the Philippines. Unfortunately, yellowfin populations can’t handle much more pressure from fishing.

Because incubation temperature of turtle eggs determines the animal’s sex, a warmer nest results in more females. Increasing temperatures in Queensland’s north, linked to climate change, have led to virtually no male northern green sea turtles being born.

The Arctic Ocean—the pristine home to bowhead whales, gray whales, polar bears, walruses, and other magnificent wildlife, along with many indigenous communities—could potentially lose crucial protections from risky offshore oil and gas drilling.

Belize, home of the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere, permanently suspended oil activity in its ocean waters. The legislation marks the first time that a developing country has taken such a major step to protect its oceans—and all the life within—from oil exploration and extraction.

As 2017 comes to a close, we’re taking a moment to highlight some of our biggest conservation successes of the year. And we couldn’t have done it without your support.