11/18/2025: Harbor seal escapes attack by orcas, beaver-built ponds attract pollinators, spiders build giant decoys to trick enemies, ocean bacteria break down plastics and more. Welcome to the fifth weekly compilation of newsworthy biodiversity and sustainability news! Scroll down to read about: Biodiversity: Pesticides and plastic pollution: Agriculture: I hope you enjoy the stories. If […]

Welcome to Nature Signals, my Substack newsletter, where I write about biodiversity and human actions that affect it, such as pollution, climate change, agriculture, etc. You’ll find the last few posts on this page, and the full archive is available on Substack. Once a week I’ll also share a compilation of recent news articles that

11/15/2025: Orcas hunt great white sharks, golden mussels are overrunning the California Delta, more action needed for climate change, Louisiana communities lead pollution monitoring, and more… RUTH THORNTON Welcome to the fourth weekly compilation of noteworthy biodiversity and sustainability news! And apologies for the delay – it’s been a busy week, so this edition is

Sea otters survived hunters and near-extinction. But they can’t hide from “forever chemicals.” I was disheartened to read about a recent study that found that every sea otter examined by biologists along the coast of British Columbia was contaminated by toxic PFAS chemicals. The closer the otters were to urban areas, the higher their PFAS levels were.

A new study finds biodiversity loss is slowing, but not enough to celebrate yet. Amid the doom and gloom we’ve been hearing about the biodiversity crisis, a study came out last week with good news: the loss of species seems to be slowing down globally. According to the study results, extinction rates over the past 500 years