"Alabama sturgeon... aren’t ecosystem engineers, shaping habitat for other species," writes @hannahnordhaus.bsky.social. "There’s no argument suggesting that we need them to improve our lives or watersheds. They simply glide along the river bottoms as they have for hundreds of millions of years."

In explaining why nonhuman species deserve to live, journalists often find ourselves focusing on how a particular animal benefits the broader ecosystem, or offers people an economic or medical benefit. Which is why I love @hannahnordhaus.bsky.social 's reminder that sometimes, awe is enough...

#Boulder Valley tells me that as police clear classrooms at Fairview and Southern Hills, students will be released for the day. No special reunification area at this time. District working on buses as well. Too early to say what tomorrow might look like

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This one took five years, three editors, four far-flung reporting trips (Kazakhstan, Wisconsin, Tennessee/Alabama, and Italy), and a vicious ant attack to see over the finish line and tell the story of these ancient, weird, beloved and gravely endangered fish.

1. I lit out from Reno
2. I was trailed by twenty hounds
3. Didn't get to sleep that night till the morning came around
4. Set out running
5. But I take my time

Toads and roads don’t mix. Meet the dedicated South Africans working to keep an endangered, endemic toad from getting squashed by Cape Town traffic. (Bonus: a nonprofit called ToadNUTS)

www.biographic.com/toads-on-the...

Great piece by former @biographic.bsky.social intern Sophie Hartley on efforts to save a rare toad from getting squished on the roads near Cape Town, S. Africa. Images by Cape Town-based photographer Jeremy Shelton.
www.biographic.com/toads-on-the...

In the midst of one of the most gruesome periods of modern human history, whales experienced a rare moment of peace.

Now, a long-forgotten post-war museum collection is revealing how the slaughter has literally been etched into the very fibers of those whales.

www.biographic.com/how-whales-f...

Everything I love about a story: a forgotten museum collection, dogged researchers.....and whales! Debut feature by @giulianaviglione.bsky.social, edited by @sarahmgilman.bsky.social for @biographic.bsky.social Huzzah! www.biographic.com/how-whales-f... 🦑🧪#conservation

Did you know that fish embryos are excellent toxicology monitoring tools? These researchers are studying surf smelt embryos to better understand the effects of pollution in the upper intertidal—the critically important places where land meets sea and marine and human ecosystems converge. 🧪

During Mozambique's civil war, up to 90 percent of large wildlife in what's now Gorongosa National Park was slaughtered. Today, the park has more wildlife than before the war--showing that healing of both human and nonhuman communities is possible.

www.biographic.com/prowling-for...

Having witnessed aftermath of Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fire at my family's ranch, I can attest these forests hadn't burned for 120+ years. Fire was intense. Damage extensive. @hannahnordhaus.bsky.social wrote about it in @nationalgeographic.bsky.social. www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/...