Happy World Ocean Day! The ocean is the heart of our life support system, without which we’d all be dead. It’s taken up >90% of the heat from global warming and 30% of our CO₂ emissions. In return, we give it 11 million tonnes of plastic annually, which animals ingest and also become entangled in.

Not only are clothing donation bins USELESS in reusing clothing, they are literally killing people. 31 known deaths in the US since 1999, Canada banned unsafe bins after 5 deaths in 6 months in 2018. Unreal story from @Paul Collins, @thebeliever.net: www.thebeliever.net/the-death-of...

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin rocket exploded on its launchpad in Florida, prompting new layoffs at The Washington Post.

Both of our former environment & climate ministers are speaking up strongly and critically regarding the direction of the current federal government on climate—even though it is their party. That to me shows integrity and leadership. Thank u @cathmckenna.bsky.social & @stevenguilbeault.bsky.social

In Europe, the cap is attached to the bottle, so the choice to recycle both is made for you. In the rest of world, you get the FREEDOM to do whatever you want hence more caps littering beaches.

New: Microplastics are already in our food and water and contaminating ecosystems and wildlife around the world. Now scientists have discovered that tiny plastic particles in the atmosphere are heating the planet, magnifying climate change impacts. Free link. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

“You would hope that German officials would support scientists’ advice, but they have ignored it,” says one marine biologist who asked not to be identified because they feared repercussions. Must-read story by @martinenserink.bsky.social in @science.org. Feels like an encapsulation of our times 🧪

The environmental impacts of deep-sea mining. Our review paper looking at the last 50 years of research on the subject out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

The Dark Frontier in @science.org! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

I really really liked @jjmarlow.bsky.social's Dark Frontier, just read my review in this week's Science: www.science.org/eprint/FSAG7....

Classic accuse the other side of doing exactly what you're doing

The swift dethroning of #CaesarChavez after NYTimes revelations give me a lot of hope these days. Thanks for showing everyone how it's done, #farmworkers! eu.usatoday.com/story/news/c...

Cool opp for #ocean photographers and filmmakers @oceanographicmag.bsky.social oceanographicmagazine.com/storyteller/

I know this has circulated with alacrity recently, so you may have already seen it, but if you haven't... WOW BOY HOWDY it's the most useful thing. Thank you cardcatalogforlife.substack.com -- this is a very very very helpful public service: cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/google-has...

Hello Lil' Sebastian!

This is a beautiful portrait from the inimitable @ricksteves.bsky.social of the people who are suffering in Iran, both under its theocracy and from our nation's warmongering.

There are literally microplastics turning up in men's balls. Could this be the tipping point to finally stop #plasticpollution? www.npr.org/sections/hea...

wish everybody asked how you're doing like they do when you're pregnant :/

Man, I miss meandering experimental #longform journalism like this. North Dallas dad walks across the city in a day + meets the city folk is incredibly touching. @texasmonthly.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Meet "Larua!" - my sloppy alter-ego who signs off most of my emails.

Very sad to hear about the passing of Kristina Gjerde. news-mongabay-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/news.mon...

"A few years ago... another song captured [Kiribati's] airwaves...Its ominous chorus went: "The angry sea will kill us all". @stuff.co.nz interactives.stuff.co.nz/2017/10/kiri...

I've been covering the ocean for at least 10 years now, and I've never heard this story before. Wow. Sounds like a roaring yarn. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I know many are following this story including intrepid journalist and author @laura-trethewey.bsky.social . Looking at the quantity of these harvestable nodules is astonishing. I thought this was 'the future' but the sea bed is being destroyed as I write. www.biv.com/news/economy...

👏👏🥲 "We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false. That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically...that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim."

Look at the pollution from a minor deep sea mining test with cloudy wastewater containing rock debris and sediment, pouring out from the side of the ship the will that will impact marine life Imagine the damage industrial Deep Sea mining will do www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ2m...

Every country needs to be following Finland's lead here. Media literary skills are going to be crucially important in the age of AI, where knowing what's real and what's not is going to be increasingly difficult apnews.com/article/fake...

Heartbreaking details... "One snake from Oaxaca, Geophis lorancai, bears his name, an honor usually conferred after a career has run its course." news.mongabay.com/short-articl...

Petition against deep sea mining near Mariana Trench gaining support

From the first sighting of a colossal squid in the wild to a seriously goofy octopus, 2025 delivered some astounding photos from the ocean’s depths

Yesterday @geodams.bsky.social

🌊 #Norway hits pause on #DeepSeaMining till 2029 and gets a UN thumbs-up. 👍 🌍✋ Special rapporteurs write in a statement that this is a win for the ocean, human rights and future generations. 💪🐙 Thanks to @astridpuentes.bsky.social et al. #KeepItInTheSeabed #DefendTheDeep #Moratorium

Seamounts are the ocean’s hidden rest stops — vital places where migratory species pause, feed, and survive on journeys across the planet. Protecting them means protecting ocean connectivity itself. One ocean. Many connections. #DefendtheDeep

I mention author @laura-trethewey.bsky.social in this blog posting of yore. I wish Ms.T. and all who care about the sea a note of gratitude: for being examples of ocean advocacy🐠

U.S. regulators have signaled interest in leasing seabed minerals near the Northern Mariana Islands, opening the door to deep-sea mining. Critics say the move was rushed & opaque, with little consultation, & warn it could cause irreversible marine harm & echo colonial exploitation in the Pacific.

Phys Org - Study measuring impacts of deep-sea mining machine finds abundance of animals at the site decreased by 37% The reduction in abundance of animals caused a 32% reduction in species richness in the directly impacted regions. phys.org/news/2025-12...

Make it happen, people. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

AI kind of feels like the endgame of this bit Graeber described in the original Bullshit Jobs essay: these people have been so thoroughly cleaved from any sense of purpose that they resent those who have one. They hate artists for their skill and think poverty should be the price of having a calling

Sounds of healthy reefs can help corals grow! 🎶🪸 Reclaiming '🐢s All the Way Down' Working Group @mpiwg.bsky.social visited media artist Marco Barotti's exhibit "Beyond Us" @ berlinscienceweek.com/exhibition-beyond-us 日本の皆様、Coral Sonic Resilienceが2026年2月13-15日まで、DIGSHIBUYAで展示される予定です。 #ecology #marine

This is deeply disappointing from Starmer. The UK *helped design* this 'TFFF' fund, designed to stop deforestation, and supposedly 'continues to back the fund' (in theory). But now isn't putting any money into it 🤯 How embarrassing for the UK. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Anyone I know on here live in Hamburg? Join me at the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg on November 26, 6:30 pm, where I'll reading from my book THE DEEPEST MAP, recently translated into German by Mare Verlag. The talk is in English and free to attend. www.imm-hamburg.de/veranstaltun...

“Oh Canada, our home and native land, True patriot love… ..that only us command.” Thank you Rufus Wainwright. 🇨🇦 #WANTITALL  #canpoli

Gave my first talk about The Deepest Map in my new home town in Germany yesterday. (In English, natch. I'm working up to German still.)

This is such stupid reactionary politicking against a carbon tax that 80% of shipping industry already supports, from the @wsj.com Editorial Board. www.wsj.com/opinion/unit...

A new study indicates that deep-sea mining could threaten at least 30 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras, many of which are already at risk of extinction.

It's not every week you get to peruse the Stanford archives and rub shoulders with smart, friendly, funny people who also love maps. HUGE thanks to the team at the David Rumsey Map Center for inviting me to 5th Annual Barry Lawrence Ruderman Cartography Conference to talk about my work.

The orange roughy can live 150+ years but doesn’t reproduce until it’s at least 20 years old. These deep-sea fish form dense schools on seamounts to spawn, making them easy targets for bottom trawling. Their story shows why precaution and protection are essential in the deep ocean. #DeepSeaWonders

Mother to my longest friend Danielle, Elaine Dewar was an inspiration to me growing up. A science journalist, loving wife and mother, as well as a fierce no-shits-will-be-given woman way ahead of her time. RIP. thecjn.ca/news/obituar...

Headed to San Francisco! Catch me next week at Barry Lawrence Ruderman Conference on Cartography, hosted by Stanford's David Rumsey Map Archive. I'm talking about seafloor maps + how we visualize a place most will never visit. Pretty much a dream work trip. 😍 ruderman.sites.stanford.edu/speakers

Some good ocean news, fellow Earthlings!