Information about animals

Country diary: Mussels and salmon in a most fragile harmony | Mary Montague

Owenkillew River, County Tyrone: Vital populations of freshwater pearl mussels survive here, cleaning the water, encouraging the return of their ‘host’

I am holding the empty bivalve shell of a freshwater pearl mussel. A mussel of this size – almost the length of my hand – lived for about 100 years before its flesh dissolved, most likely in the stomach of an otter or mink. The shell was abandoned on the riverbank.

I turn it over. In contrast to the black-as-bogwater exterior, the interior is a shimmering nacreous-white. Formerly common enough to be harvested by local pearl hunters, this species is now globally endangered. Nevertheless, among the rolling hills of the Sperrins mountain range, vital populations survive in the Owenkillew and Owenreagh rivers. Mussels feed by filtering particles out of the current, cleaning the water, thereby providing an important service to the river’s ecosystem.

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Scientists fear this ‘cute’ and ‘chonky’ flying fox could be one cyclone away from extinction

Christmas Island flying fox numbers have declined as endangered species left without recovery plan

It’s the last native mammal on the island, but the “incredibly cute and fluffy” Christmas Island flying fox is critically endangered with no recovery plan and severely outdated conservation advice.

The flying fox is smaller and fluffier than many of Australia’s mainland flying fox species, according to animal ecologist Dr Annabel Dorrestein, from Western Sydney University, who has studied the species for nine years.

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‘Like walking through time’: as glaciers retreat, new worlds are being created in their wake

As Swiss glaciers melt at an ever-faster rate, new species move in and flourish, but entire ecosystems and an alpine culture can be lost

• Photographs by Nicholas JR White

From the slopes behind the village of Ernen, it is possible to see the gouge where the Fiesch glacier once tumbled towards the valley in the Bernese Alps. The curved finger of ice, rumpled like tissue, cuts between high buttresses of granite and gneiss. Now it has melted out of sight.

People here once feared the monstrous ice streams, describing them as devils, but now they dread their disappearance. Like other glaciers in the Alps and globally, the Fiesch is melting at ever-increasing rates. More than ice is lost when the giants disappear: cultures, societies and entire ecosystems are braided around the glaciers.

The Aletsch glacier viewed from Moosfluh, looking towards the Olmenhorn and Eggishorn peaks

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The Guardian view on fishing and nature: bottom-trawling boats don’t belong in conservation zones | Editorial

Sea life needs protection, and the UK’s current system of marine management isn’t up to it

Up to 90% of the ocean floor around Britain is covered with sand and gravel, derived from the erosion of shell and rocks. Other, more unusual habitats include maerl beds, seagrass meadows and kelp forests. These biodiverse landscapes are home to 330 species of fish, as well as seals, seahorses and thousands of lesser‑known species – which share them with the offshore energy, fishing and shipping industries.

Heightened awareness of pollution from sewage and plastics means that the public knows more about marine conservation than it used to. For his 99th birthday this year, the broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough made a film, Ocean, in which he described the seas as the planet’s “greatest life support system”, and urged people to get behind efforts to protect and renew marine nature.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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Are shark attacks on the rise in Australia? And what is being done to reduce the risk of fatal interactions?

There has been an increase in bites, but not deaths, say experts who praise Smart drumlines, live tracking, drones, high-tech wetsuits and better first aid

Mercury Psillakis had spotted the shark. Moments before he was fatally attacked by what is believed to have been a 3.5-metre great white last Saturday at Long Reef beach in Sydney, the surfer warned his friends about the animal.

“Merc saved his friends in the surf,” his family said in a statement this week. “He was aware of the risks of the ocean, and while he loved surfing, he was always vigilant about keeping himself safe. Unfortunately, this was a tragic and unavoidable accident.”

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