Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Novice gardeners James Reed McGuire and Crystal Fritz wanted to try something new when they moved out to the suburbs. Little did they know they were joining a nationwide movement When James Reed McGuire and Crystal Fritz first decided to replace their lawn with native plants, they did not really know what they were doing. As former city-dwellers who had moved from Chicago out to the suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, they had never done much gardening together beyond growing some planters of herbs and flowers on their balcony. But for McGuire, an avid birder who did not want to live with a sea of turf that does “absolutely nothing for the environment”, figuring out an alternative to the suburban status quo was imperative. Crystal Fritz and James Reed McGuire’s Highland Park front garden before they transformed it with native plants Continue reading...

The overpopulation of axis deer has taken an environmental toll, but Maui Nui Venison sees it as a resource instead of a pest In 1868, the government of Hong Kong gave eight axis deer to Hawaii’s King Kamehameha V. They were a beautiful gift, these creatures that hail from south Asia, with their honey-colored pelts marked by a smattering of white spots. But their incursion into Maui started much later, in the 1950s, when they were brought to the island for recreational hunters. Now, more than a century after their introduction, an estimated 60,000 traverse the Hawaiian islands of Lanai, Maui and Molokai in herds that are reshaping the environment. Unlike the white-tailed deer common along the US east coast, whose breeding season lasts from October to January, axis deer breed year-round. Their herds are constantly reduplicating. They feast on native grasses and endangered plants, chewing them down to their roots, leaving wide swathes of lands fallow. They can leap 10ft over fencing or barrel through it, consuming farmers’ crops and the cattle feed needed for Maui’s small beef industry. Continue reading...

South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas says there have still been no detections in poultry or livestock and no mass deaths involving mammals Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has declared a “significant escalation” in H5 bird flu in the state after the detection of three mass mortality events involving more than 1,000 greater crested terns. Malinauskas said the cause of the deaths was presumed to be H5 bird flu. Continue reading...

Dwindling donations and stiff competition from secondhand sellers online prompt review but ‘no plans for closures yet’ Oxfam is reviewing the operations of its three warehouses in Batley, Bicester and Milton Keynes and says it “cannot give guarantees” on the future of its high street shops in a “difficult economic climate”. The charity said it had no plans to close warehouses or shops but insiders fear that Batley, which houses Oxfam’s main textile recycling centre, will shut as part of a cost-cutting drive because the West Yorkshire site’s lease is up for renewal. Continue reading...