Fence Mag train (& PATH) @thefence.bsky.social

In between tales of art fraud and Afghan aid money/American Candy Stores, I am in the latest @thefence.bsky.social mag spending some time with Britain's most northerly separatist...

Issue 28 Is Here 🤭 With writing from @coramazov.bsky.social, James Ramsden, @heawood.bsky.social, @danielshailer.bsky.social, Lucy Peett, Clive Martin, Zara Meerza, @williamasclarke.bsky.social & many more www.the-fence.com/shop

Warming rivers and the northern pike’s uncanny ability to navigate saltwater has enabled the freshwater invaders to lay siege to Southcentral Alaska’s salmon and trout.

Climate Change Is Helping an Invasive Predator Wreak Havoc on Iconic Alaskan Fish - Inside Climate News

WILLOW, Alaska—Corey Ercolani pulled a northern pike from a gillnet and slit its belly with a knife. Inside its guts lay fresh evidence of a growing biological crime: a dead juvenile salmon. A coho, o...

insideclimatenews.org

Scientists at Brazil's institute for biodiversity conservation say the government risk greenlighting a new frontier of oil drilling over sensitive sea habitats — without looking at cumulative dangers, and using out of date maps... For @mongabay.com:

Mongabay@mongabay.com · last mo.

As Brazil expands offshore oil drilling, a study warns of severe spill risks to reefs & seagrasses. Researchers urge expanding Marine Protected Areas, while some experts worry protections could face long implementation delays or affect local fishing communities. @danielshailer.bsky.social reports.

Millions of £s for nature gone missing, in my latest investigation for @theferret.scot: @scotlink.bsky.social @scotwildlife.bsky.social

The Ferret@theferret.scot · last mo.

The Scottish Government gave local authorities £20m to tackle a "nature emergency". But we found that around £4m of that sum was spent on fixing cars and office equipment, among other non-environmental spending. Our latest: https://www.theferret.scot/environmental-funding-misspent-councils/

UK's first vertical rocket launch site is back in the news, thanks to letters instructing locals to apply for continued access to their homes this summer and @theferret.scot's @robedwards5.bsky.social revealing fresh details from developer's license application...

It’s hot! And fossil fuel companies are turning up the heat up North Sea drilling. My latest for Private Eye:

Pleasure to chat to @drvanessapirotta.bsky.social for @mongabay.com about her latest: playing poacher with shark fins, 3D x-rays and AI to flag potential trafficking of marine animals. @scicommexcellence.nationalacademies.org

Mongabay@mongabay.com · 2mo ago

Researchers have developed the first AI algorithm designed to detect trafficked marine wildlife from 3D X-rays. The system identifies unique shapes like shark fins & seahorses, and spots sea cucumbers with 86% accuracy, targeting an underrecognized illicit trade. @danielshailer.bsky.social reports.

How do "forever chemicals" reach one of Britain's most remote inhabited islands? @danielshailer.bsky.social's investigation traces the mystery of high PFAS levels in Fair Isle and examines emerging research on how these pollutants may travel through sea spray. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It has the highest levels of toxic Pfas in drinking water in Scotland. But how did this remote island become awash with forever chemicals?

Scientists believe they may now have found the cause of Fair Isle’s pollution – and warn that it should be ringing alarm bells in other coastal areas

theguardian.com

In the Guardian today with some environmental sleuthing from Britain’s most remote inhabited island:

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo ago

It has the highest levels of toxic Pfas in drinking water in Scotland. But how did this remote island become awash with forever chemicals?

Back in @mongabay.com breaking down a new way of looking at invasives. Current frameworks look at socio-economic/biodiversity impacts (cash & kills). Now researchers are asking about suffering: @bristoluni.bsky.social@wildanimals.bsky.social @meekl.bsky.social news.mongabay.com/2026/05/how-...

How much suffering do invasive species cause? Researchers are measuring that

Avian vampire flies (Philornis downsi) were not discovered in the Galápagos Islands for almost three decades after they were thought to have arrived from mainland Ecuador in the 1960s. Even then, the ...

news.mongabay.com

In the @theguardian.com today with new research finding toxic Pfas everywhere you look in the Solent. Beneath that headline finding — two important takeaways about how we measure Pfas, and what to do about it. @mcsuk.bsky.social @dralexford.bsky.social

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3mo ago

High levels of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found off coast of southern England

Do "green" tourist taxes work? The Balearic Islands have been doing it for a decade and the reviews are mixed. Latest for AFAR: www.afar.com/magazine/a-c...:

More Travel Destinations Have Started Charging "Green" Tourist Taxes. What Do They Actually Accomplish?

As popular destinations from Hawai’i to Greece implement fees that are meant to fund sustainable tourism measures, a case study in Spain’s Balearic Islands looks at whether these climate taxes can bri...

afar.com

For decades Brazilian policy-makers have "sacrificed" the country's Cerrado region to agriculture. Now scientists have found that, hectare-for-hectare, its wetlands beat the lowland Amazon for carbon storage SIX times over. For @mongabay.com: news.mongabay.com/2026/05/cerr...

Cerrado’s hidden carbon highlights gaps in Brazil’s conservation policy

Fieldwork in the wet grasslands of the Brazilian Cerrado often means long trudges through head-high reeds, following tapir trails and watching for tick nests or boggy pitfalls. All this is made more d...

news.mongabay.com

The SNP are running an executive from Norway's state fossil fuel company for Shetland's seat in Holyrood. A look at her candidacy, policies (so far) and lobbying in my latest, for @desmog.com:

DeSmog@desmog.com · 5mo ago

🔴 NEW - The SNP’s Oil Executive Holyrood Candidate The party has put forward a senior Equinor figure to stand in Shetland. @danielshailer.bsky.social

I'm in the latest @privateeyenews.bsky.social answering the question on no one's lips: what does Cuomo's NYC housing plan have in common with "cutting edge" Scottish fish farmers? AI!

"It’s a fine shame to all involved." Britain's biggest salmon farm has the greenlight off Shetland, and it's making unlikely bedfellows of fishers and environmentalists. w/ Karen McVeigh for Seascapes:

Guardian Environment@environment.theguardian.com · 6mo ago

‘It’s betrayal’: Shetland’s scallop fishers brace for arrival of UK’s largest salmon farm

Delighted that my scribblings about fish, wind and whisky won a clutch of gongs at the Highlands and Islands Media Awards last week. Especially proud to have taken best feature and be picked journalist of the year. Shetland is a bustling patch and I'm lucky to cover it!

🔴NEW: A body which sets environmental and welfare standards for fish farms took wholesale buyers to a Scottish salmon farm which broke its rules for 11 consecutive weeks. Our latest investigation: www.theferret.scot/a...

Shetland's farmers say they reacted quickly to "exceptional" conditions; campaigners say waters are warming and "the writing is on the wall". Either way, because of how fish deaths are reported, our figure is likely an underestimate.

Warming water, disease killed 250,000 farmed Salmon in October

Farmers blamed “exceptional environmental pressures”; campaigners said the figures were “a clear symptom of system problems

shetlandtimes.co.uk

While other Scottish councils spent their share of nature/coastal adaptation funds on... nature/the coast, Shetland slushed the money into its general coffers for stuff like IT and vehicle maintenance. "Completely unacceptable" said @scotwildlife.bsky.social's @ruchirlives.bsky.social.

Council slushed £750k of government climate funding into general coffers

Money from government nature and coastal adaption funds has been spent on council “vehicles, ICT [and] maintenance”, officials confirmed.

shetlandtimes.co.uk

I'm thrilled to share that I’ve been picked as a winner of the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications (@scicommexcellence.nationalacademies.org). www.nationalacademies.org/news/2025/10...

HUGE (if mixed) news week for Shetland's crabs 🦀 First beachcombers find a rare Columbus crab the size of a 50p coin. Then a scientific fracas about whether subsea cables "mesmerise" crustaceans. And we found some less good news: www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/news/release...

Releases of toxic delousing chemical doubled at salmon farms last year

Releases of a delousing chemical which “desertifies” the seafloor more than doubled at Scottish Sea Farm sites last year.

shetlandtimes.co.uk

A compressor at Shetland's oil terminal broke for *nine* straight months last year, pushing the isles' entire methane emissions to a near decade high. "It's an embarrassment for the whole community." @alexjarmitage.bsky.social @r-dixon.bsky.social www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/news/broken-...

Broken equipment at Sullom Voe caused decade-long peak in emissions

Shetland's methane emissions reached their highest level in a decade last year, driven by broken kit at EnQuest’s Sullom Voe terminal.

shetlandtimes.co.uk

🔴 NEW: Lochs in Orkney, the Highlands and the Outer Hebrides are among waters containing high levels of toxic pollutants with health risks known as ‘forever chemicals’. Our latest investigation: theferret.scot/orkne...

🔴 NEW: A consultancy firm which took part in a government pilot for fast-tracking salmon farm applications did an “independent” evaluation of that same pilot — prompting critics to call it a “sham” and claim a conflict of interest could threaten the marine environment 🧵

New with @theferret.scot: How one boat’s engine trouble exposed a broader breakdown in fishing rules and the government’s investigation.

The Ferret@theferret.scot · last yr.

🔴 NEW: A fishing boat off Shetland broke down and abandoned more than 80km of netting in the sea for almost a month, prompting fears sea life and the marine environment may have been damaged. Find out more: theferret.scot/shetl...

Glad to contribute a little bit of shoe leather to this great report from @desmog.com's @ellen-ormesher.bsky.social.

DeSmog@desmog.com · last yr.

🔴 NEW 🔴 Why is a Norwegian oil giant sponsoring school classrooms in the Shetland Islands? Critics fear that Equinor’s latest UK education deal is aimed at quelling opposition to its plan to drill the vast Rosebank oilfield in the North Sea. ✏️ @ellen-ormesher.bsky.social reports: buff.ly/R9WWWuk

NEW: A Norwegian company has drawn up plans for Britain’s first deep-sea salmon farm in waters off Shetland, prompting concerns it is an “experiment in factory farming” that could damage the environment. theferret.scot/norwe...

Norwegian firm's plan for UK’s first deep-sea salmon farm off Shetland prompts concerns

A Norwegian firm has plans for Britain’s first deep-sea salmon farm, off Shetland, prompting concerns it could damage the environment.

theferret.scot