Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Hawks, spikes and sonic repellants are among the measures used to deter these birds. Perhaps we should try sharing our planet At this year’s Cannes film festival, some unexpected hires joined the security detail at luxury hotel the Majestic. They were clad not in kevlar but in deep chestnut plumage, with wingspans up to four feet, talons for toes and meat-ripping ebony beaks. The new recruits were Harris hawks and their mission was clear: guard stars from the aerial menace of gulls daring to photobomb or snatch vol-au-vents. This might sound like an extreme solution to a benign problem – after all, haven’t most of us lost sandwiches to swooping beaks and come out relatively unscathed? But as these notorious food pirates come ashore in growing numbers, cities around the world are increasingly grappling with how to manage them. Hiring hawks from local falconer Christophe Puzin was the Majestic’s answer to curbing gull-related incidents (such as Sophie Marceau’s 2011 wine-on-dress situation). But in metropolises such as New York, Rome, Amsterdam and London gulls are widely considered a menace, too, as they take up permanent residence on urban stoops. Sophie Pavelle is a writer and science communicator Continue reading...

Pioneering broadcaster recalls incident during discussion with royal about latest documentary, Ocean Sir David Attenborough almost drowned when testing a scuba-diving helmet for his 1957 dive on the Great Barrier Reef, the broadcasting veteran has revealed in a discussion with Prince William. Discussing his latest documentary, Ocean, the pioneering film-maker described the incident to the Prince of Wales. Continue reading...

Campaigners say designation promotes unsustainable sheep farming at expense of nature recovery and local communities Conservationists have launched a campaign to revoke the Lake District’s Unesco world heritage status, arguing that it promotes unsustainable sheep farming at the expense of nature recovery and local communities. In a letter to Unesco, the ecologist Lee Schofield argues that the designation “promotes a false perception of farming, is not economically sustainable, is working against crucial efforts to restore the natural environment and mitigate the impacts of climate change, does not help sustain farming livelihoods, is not wanted by local people and is contributing to damaging overtourism.” Continue reading...

Environmental lawyer Cormac Cullinan lauded for his work to establish continent’s legal status to protect its interests Cormac Cullinan has a dream. A dream, he says, that will “change how humanity sees, understands and relates to Antarctica”. The vast frozen continent – home to emperor and Adélie penguins, leopard and Ross seals, and feeding grounds for orcas, beaked whales and albatrosses – should be recognised as an autonomous legal entity “at least equivalent to a country”, says the environmental lawyer. And this week that dream became one step closer to reality as judges awarded Cullinan the Shackleton medal for the protection of the polar regions. Continue reading...