Hakai Magazine

04/02/2024

Last Tuesday, Hakai Magazine launched its first ever membership program. And in just the first week of the campaign, more than 320 people have already contributed—blowing past our initial goal of 300 recurring donors.

Now we’re raising the bar: will you help us make it to 500 inaugural members by April 15?

All it takes is a recurring monthly or yearly donation to Hakai Magazine. No amount is too small—you can support our award-winning journalism for as little as $1 per month.

Help us keep doing the work that you value. Join us: https://hakaimagazine.com/support/

03/27/2024

Will you help us shape the future of coastal reporting?

Hakai Magazine is the only independent journalism outlet focused on the world’s coastlines, and we publish award-winning stories that help you make sense of the most important issues facing our ocean.

But we need your support to keep doing the work that you value. That’s why we’re launching a membership program today.

Any monthly or annual donation to Hakai Magazine qualifies you for membership—you choose the amount, and no amount is too small.

Will you help us reach our goal of 300 regular donors by April 15?

https://hakaimagazine.com/support/

11/24/2023

Guided only by whalesong, scientists are on the hunt for the Cross Seamount beaked whale. For 18 years, the elusive cetacean has been heard, but never seen.

Written by Andrew Chapman.

Scientists have spent 18 years looking for the elusive Cross Seamount beaked whale—a potentially new species they’ve heard but never seen.

11/23/2023

African penguins are in serious trouble. To help, South Africa has rolled out restrictions on fishing near six important penguin colonies. 🐧

Written by Sarah Wild.

The question now is, Will it work?

11/22/2023

A new study observed octopuses in a tank—picture an aquatic ant farm—and found their burrow contains mazes of complex tunnels with multiple holes for breathing and lounging.

Written by Kenna Hughes-Castleberry

Octopus burrows are more complicated than expected, with multiple breathing holes and even a lounge.

11/21/2023

We’re just learning how a huge biomass of fish in the ocean’s twilight zone can help sequester carbon. It seems like a bad time for a new fishery.

Written by Moira Donovan

In a dark, unexplored layer of ocean, a hidden cache of fish might play an unexpected role in our climate’s future. It seems like a bad time for a new fishery.

11/17/2023

This fall’s coastal-themed crop of children’s books is full of adventure—expeditions to the Arctic and a search for the world’s biggest eye, for instance—as well as journeys much closer to home and journeys of understanding and empathy.

From the poles to puddles, this season’s selection of books wanders our fascinating world.

11/16/2023

: a pied oystercatcher scampers through the mist.
By Jake Wilton

On a bay famous for kangaroos, a threatened Australian shorebird appears from the mist.

11/15/2023

Evidence for a third potential bluefin tuna spawning site off the coast of North Carolina could upend tuna fisheries management as we know it.

Written by Karen Pinchin.

Evidence is mounting that Atlantic bluefin tuna spawn in a patch of ocean called the Slope Sea. Will the controversial discovery upend how the prized fish are managed?

11/14/2023

Canada jays are cheeky, beautiful, and lovable. But how will these wintry birds adapt to a warmer world?
Written by Brian Payton.

Canada jays thrive in the cold. The life’s work of one biologist gives us clues as to how they’ll fare in a hotter world.

10/27/2023

By looking for populations of kelp with genetic signatures that don’t match their neighbors’, scientists are developing a new way to understand historical environmental destruction.

By studying where kelp populations have been wiped out and replaced, scientists are developing a new way to understand historical environmental destruction.

10/26/2023

: A male damselfish wards off wave after wave of invaders intent on feeding on its eggs.
Image by Henley Spiers.

A photographer captures a damselfish father’s valiant effort to ward off a posse of colorful attackers.

10/25/2023

A group of island nations has joined forces to ask the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to issue an advisory opinion laying out the legal requirements of states to respond to climate change.

A team of 21 judges is going to figure it out.

10/24/2023

Texas is betting big on oil and gas companies sequestering carbon deep beneath the sea floor. But critics worry if this is the right move.
Reprinted with permission from Inside Climate News as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

The state is doling out offshore leases to oil and gas companies proposing to bury climate-warming carbon dioxide deep beneath the seafloor. But critics worry about leakage, pipeline safety, and the lackluster record of carbon capture technologies.

10/19/2023

As the world’s beaches and oceans have become one giant ashtray, research has accelerated on what many are calling a global crisis.

As the world’s beaches and oceans have become one giant ashtray, research has accelerated on what many are calling a global crisis.

10/18/2023

In our latest , hovercraft operator Ian Cragg speeds to the aid of people and vessels during emergencies at sea and on shore.

Ian Cragg speeds to the aid of people and vessels during emergencies at sea and on shore.

10/17/2023

In 1999, Canada’s Supreme Court legally affirmed the rights of individuals belonging to Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqey, and Peskotomuhkati First Nations to earn a living by fishing. Why are these communities still waiting for their rights to be implemented?
Written by Moira Donovan

Canada has spent nearly 25 years ignoring its own Supreme Court—and Indigenous fishers on the East Coast are suffering the consequences.

10/04/2023

August 2023 was the planet’s hottest August since written records began in 1850, with temperatures hovering 1.7 °C above the historic baseline.

Written by Marina Wang.

The planet just keeps getting hotter.

10/03/2023

There are three known wild contagious cancers in vertebrates, and Tasmanian devils have two of them. What does that mean for the endangered marsupials?
By Jessica Wynne Lockhart

There are three known wild contagious cancers in vertebrates, and Tasmanian devils have two of them. What does that mean for the endangered marsupials?

09/15/2023

Scientists are rushing to understand how New Jersey’s planned offshore wind farms might alter the mid-Atlantic cold pool, home to some of the most valuable shellfish fisheries in the United States.

Scientists are rushing to understand how New Jersey’s planned offshore wind farms might alter the mid-Atlantic cold pool, home to some of the most valuable shellfish fisheries in the United States.

09/14/2023

Made of things like microalgae fibers or biodegradable polyesters, biodegradable fishing gear can be broken down by aquatic microorganisms. Yet while these environmentally friendly nets offer benefits, recent field trials show that biodegradable nets catch significantly fewer fish than synthetic ones.

Lower efficiency makes the eco-friendly nets and ropes fall short. That’s a trade-off we might have to accept.

09/13/2023

A chance encounter with hundreds of graceful mobula rays leaves an underwater photographer in awe.

📸Image by Tim Koch.

A chance encounter with hundreds of graceful mobula rays leaves an underwater photographer in awe.

09/12/2023

Almost 50 years ago, conservationists reintroduced white-tailed eagles to Scotland. It’s gone well. Some say too well. 🦅

Written by Emma Marris

Almost 50 years ago, conservationists reintroduced white-tailed eagles to Scotland. It’s gone well. Some say too well.

09/08/2023

For any octopuses out there looking to stick it to a pesky fish, here’s a guide on how to deliver the primo punch. 🐙👊

Written and illustrated by Marina Wang.

Scientists take a biomechanical look at how, exactly, octopuses punch fish.

09/07/2023

Scientists in New Zealand have discovered two new viruses—prime suspects for what’s causing a pair of lethal diseases plaguing the endangered birds. 🐧

Written by Kate Evans.

Scientists in New Zealand have discovered two new viruses—prime suspects for what’s causing a pair of lethal diseases plaguing the endangered birds.

09/06/2023

Even artificial light that’s dimmer than the full moon can knock oysters’ circadian rhythms out of sync.

Written by Hannah Seo

Even artificial light that’s dimmer than the full moon can knock oysters’ circadian rhythms out of sync.

09/05/2023

Scientists were writing an obituary for the clown wedgefish when a lawyer turned internet sleuth found evidence of its existence in an unlikely place.

Written by Brian Howey

Scientists were writing an obituary for this species when a lawyer turned internet sleuth found evidence of its existence in an unlikely place.

08/11/2023

A Senegalese fish meal factory is drawing local ire as the fight for protein heats up.

By Jack Thompson

A Senegalese fish-meal factory is drawing local ire as the fight for protein heats up.

08/09/2023

Researchers from Argentina noticed around 40 southern right whales noshing while swimming in a circle formation. It was the first time this behavior had ever been observed, and scientists dubbed it “cooperative circle feeding”. 🐋🍽️

Written and illustrated by Marina Wang.

For the first time, scientists have observed southern right whales feeding together in a circle.

08/08/2023

In our latest video a small group of English cold water swimmers takes on industry and their government over the misuse of a loophole allowing the discharge of raw sewage into coastal waters.

By Aletta Harrison

A small group of English cold-water swimmers takes on industry and the government over the misuse of a loophole allowing the discharge of raw sewage into coastal waters.