The medusa-phase marine cnidarians guiding watery ecosystems
Global sea temperatures have surged to record levels for August 2026, driven by a powerful El Niño and decades of human-caused warming. Scientists warn the warming is stressing marine ecosystems, boosting marine heatwaves, and threatening fisheries and coastal communities across the world.
Researchers reveal a vast whale graveyard in the southeastern Indian Ocean, extending to depths of 7,000 metres and spanning hundreds of kilometres. The site hosts hundreds of fossil skeletons and five modern whale falls, highlighting a thriving deep-sea ecosystem that feeds on whale carcasses. The findings, published in Nature, deepen understanding of deep-sea life and whale evolution.
Climate models have shown an unusually powerful El Niño forming in the tropical Pacific that has a high chance of peaking this year or into 2027. Forecasts have indicated record ocean temperatures, widespread risks to food and water supplies across Africa and Latin America, and added pressure on prices and supply chains already strained by conflict and heatwaves.
Beaches at St Bees in Cumbria have seen by-the-wind sailors wash up in large numbers. The blue, translucent colonial hydrozoans, related to the Portuguese man o’ war, can sting and should not be touched. Locals and visitors observed the creatures, with wildlife experts explaining their life as drifting colonies and noting that thousands can be washed ashore after persistent onshore winds.