The Blue Machine is the best ocean science book I’ve ever read - manages to explain complex marine mechanisms in a beautiful, understandable way.

Spelunking in Sterkfontaine Caves aka the Craddle of Humankind in South Africa 🇿🇦. The oldest hominin, “Little Foot,” was found here + believed to be over 3.5 million years old.

China will host the World Conference of Science Journalists in 2029. They beat out Australia for this historic bid. #wcsj25 @wcsj2025.bsky.social

Attending the World Conference of Science Journalists 2025 in Pretoria, South Africa? Join us tomorrow at 3PM in the Ruby Auditorium for a panel on science data & endangered species moderated by IPBES Robert Spaull In the panel: Roxanne Joseph, Tadeuz Michrowski, & Alexandra Talty See you there!

🌍 Are you attending #WCSJ2025 in Pretoria? Don't miss Journalismfund's grantees' session on use of scientific data in wildlife-focused investigations! @alexandratalty.bsky.social @oxpeckersnews.bsky.social t.ly/pmcLa

When I started using data as the backbone for my ocean investigations, I noticed a BIG shift in impact. 📊 This Thursday, I’ll be sharing insights into data-driven science investigations with Roxanne Joseph @oxpeckersnews.bsky.social, Rob Spaull IBPES and Tadeusz Michrowski at @wcsj2025.bsky.social

Beijing’s Daxing airport looks like one is walking into the future.

Next week we'll be at @wcsj2025.bsky.social talking about how data can kickstart investigations into endangered species, alongside Tadeusz Michrowski, Alexandra Talty (@alexandratalty.bsky.social) and Rob Spaull. If you can't make it in person, you can attend virtually. Register today ➡️ wcsj.online

Great news for the ocean

Somehow this makes me feel better about the state of the world.

Incredible climate mitigation strategies across the Gulf Coast. This past week, I drove 700 miles from Louisiana to Mississippi to Alabama. As COP30 ends in Belem with an uneasy deal, I’m struck by how citizens are taking climate protections into their own hands in the absence of government. 🧪

My fifth 🍤Po-Boy while reporting across Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana…. It still hits. This one is from Bradley’s Cajun Gas Station in Long Beach, MS, featuring all Gulf-caught shrimp.

Sunset over decommissioned shrimp boats in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. Reporting here for Bloomberg BusinessWeek. And if the name of the town sounds familiar, yes, it is Bubba Gump’s hometown in “Forest Gump.”

It has taken a while but the anti-captive cetacean lobby is gaining traction in 2025, thanks mostly to scientific evidence. In a few years, will it be possible for aquariums to host dolphin or whale shows anymore? Scientists hope not. 🧪 www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/1760cd5...

Heading to the Gulf Coast to report for Bloomberg BuisnessWeek. I’ll be staying in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Send your food recommendations please!

The short answer: when the US gov reduces the 100% tariff on Chinese EVs.

Increased collision with vessels threatens British Columbia’s a remarkable resurgence of humpback whale populations. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...

This a big deal: "China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months" China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.

A November hike on the Great Wall, China.

Heineken is now using bricks in an innovative way to decarbonize industrial heat. Cheers to that 🍻

BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, NBC News projects. nbcnews.to/4nIzNUC

Yikes! Another knock on effect of the government shutdown.

Last week, I took China’s high speed rail between Beijing + Qingdao, cities that are similarly distanced as San Francisco to Los Angeles. It took 3 hours. The weekday train was packed with passengers + is a boon to business. The kicker: China built their ENTIRE high speed rail system in 20 years.

Wow - scary news after Halloween

Krill is the lifeblood of the Artic. In recent years, human’s thirst for fish oil supplements and a cheap food for farm-raised fish is pushing the species to the brink.

Wow. Incredible shift from Microsoft founder just weeks before #COP30.

Today, I am taking the high speed rail from Beijing to Qingdao, a distance of about 400 miles or 600 kilometers. It will only take 3 hours 🤯 that is the distance of San Francisco to Los Angeles!

Great investigation here 👀

SCOOP from me: I uncovered that the Interior Department just quietly defunded *two* multimillion dollar research programs studying how whales move and behave near U.S. wind farms actively being built. Trump blames wind turbines for whale deaths, then cuts vital research on the topic. 🧵

Marine geoengineering needs more ocean data to develop trustworthy carbon removal credits. Great panel on mCDR hosted by @wriclimate.bsky.social, ft @natalya-gallo.bsky.social @scottdoney.bsky.social @wilburns.bsky.social @davidho.bsky.social

Can authorities crack down on European eel trafficking before the species goes extinct? My latest in the @theguardian.com with support from the @journalismfund.bsky.social:

Halloween made it to Beijing, which has me thinking: when did it America’s favorite holiday go global?

Eel trafficking is the world’s most sophisticated wildlife crime. Our @theguardian.com @journalismfund.bsky.social investigation digs into why efforts to stop the multibillion-euro trafficking fail + how some hope to save the endangered fish: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This is a really great story about how the divisiveness of national politics are seeping into rural areas. In my small NY hometown, I've seen a similar shift in the past decade, where groups - who may even have the same local interests - are polarized by the national conversation.

Cue the celebratory fireworks - the world’s first-ever open ocean conservation framework passed. Learn more about what the High Seas Treaty means here: open.substack.com/pub/taltysoc...

My new policy when someone complains about “the media” is to ask them if they subscribe to any media outlets. News isn’t free.

Phenomenal investigation that found Europe is loosing its green spaces at an unprecedented rate. Funded by @journalismfund.bsky.social, journalists from 41 outlets used GIS mapping to track farmland, open spaces + forests. Here are @wyborcza.pl insights: biqdata.wyborcza.pl/biqdata/7,15...

Thank you 🏅

Thank you!

My first @asjahq.bsky.social 🥳big thank you to @civileats.com and @pulitzercenter.bsky.social for commissioning a deep dive into the American kelp industry. Read the series here: civileats.com/2024/06/27/o...

Can small communities across Americe handle data centers’ water requirements? Great reporting in this @nytimes.com story by Eli Tan: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/t...

@davidfickling.bsky.social: "In December, the capacity of China’s wind and solar plants overtook that of its fossil fuel generators for the first time. Peak power from the 1.08 terawatts of solar installed at the end of May would be equivalent to that provided by a THOUSAND nuclear reactors" 🌞🌞

Gosh, I love New York.

Cruising on the Wisła River in Warsaw, Poland. One bank is left wild to support the local ecosystem; it is the only river through a European capital that still has a wild bank.

A drop in the ocean: does experimental technology hold the key to saving the world's seas? - @alexandratalty.bsky.social @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It was great moderating CARDS ON THE TABLE at #UNOC3 for Ocean and Climate Platform. We discussed gaps in global financing for rural maritime communities, why bilateral agreements take soooo long and if they can really work. @pulitzercenter.bsky.social

I landed in Nice, France for #UNOC3 and it looks like French President Emmanuel Macron beat me here. It’ll be interesting to hear his remarks today at the third United Nations Ocean Conference as pressure mounts for France to protect its seas, especially Gulf of Lion, against bottom trawling.

Saj or manaeesh is the one food I miss the most from Lebanon. And it has been nearly impossible to make at home without the right equipment... Until now! Genius idea for an at-home saj kit by Laetita Jbeily. www.reuters.com/video/watch/...

Gosh 😍obsessed with the colors here

How does a shark bite lead to ocean conservation? Does Miami have coral reefs? What is the coolest, and most flamboyant, marine animal? Answer all these questions in my first-ever Substack - TALTY’S OCEAN DISPATCH - featuring the illustrious Dr. Shireen Rahimi. open.substack.com/pub/alexandr...