With his magnificent underwater images, Gerardo del Villar wants to rehabilitate the reputation of the ocean's great predators, inspire conservation, and encourage responsible ecotourism.
Monitoring the noises within ecosystems reveals their health—allowing researchers to monitor changes in biodiversity, detect threats, and measure the effectiveness of conservation strategies.
Conservationists are determined to protect the magnificent rays of the Pacific—whether that’s tracking them with acoustic tags or flying drones, or through exposing the black market for their meat and parts.
Oropouche virus has posed little threat outside South America in the past, but land-use change, the climate crisis, and international travel all appear to be spreading this insect-borne disease to new places.
For decades, the screwworm was eliminated in North America, but containment efforts in Panama have failed. Now cattle smugglers are helping the parasite advance north.
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