Online exhibition collects soundscapes from nature reserves and sites such as Machu Picchu and Taj Mahal
The sounds of wind turbines, rare whales and the Amazonian dawn chorus are among the noises being preserved as part of an exhibition of soundscapes found in world heritage sites.
The Sonic Heritage project is a collection of 270 sounds from 68 countries, including from famous Unesco-designated sites such as Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal, as well as natural landscapes such as the monarch butterfly sanctuary in El Rosario, Mexico and the Colombian Amazon.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
04/18/2025 - 00:00
04/17/2025 - 15:56
Environmentalists warn new proposal from US wildlife agencies could lead to habitat destruction and extinction
The Trump administration is planning to narrow protections for endangered species, in a move that environmentalists say would accelerate extinction by opening up critical habitats for development, logging, mining and other uses.
The proposal is the latest deregulatory effort by Donald Trump, who has made it a priority to dismantle endangered species protections as part of a broader quest to boost energy extraction and industrial access, even in the US’s most sensitive and vulnerable natural areas.
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04/17/2025 - 13:53
Lake ecosystems can receive high inputs of terrestrial organic matter (t-OM) that microbes make available to higher trophic level consumers. A research group examined terrestrial reliance of 19 consumer groups from 35 boreal lakes using stable isotopes of hydrogen. According to the study, benthic macroinvertebrates and the benthivorous fish reliance to terrestrial energy (allochthony) was higher compared to pelagic plankton and planktivorous fish. Consumer allochthony decreased along the environmental gradient from forested to agricultural catchments, likely due to alteration in the origin of lake organic matter.
04/17/2025 - 13:51
A new butterfly species, Satyrium curiosolus, was discovered in a recent study at Blakiston Fan in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta. It has unique evolutionary history, having likely remained in isolation for up to 40,000 years, leading to flatlined genetic diversity and exceptionally high levels of inbreeding. Due to its specific ecological associations and low genetic diversity, this butterfly may soon face challenges with climate change adaptation and will require special conservation strategies.
04/17/2025 - 13:48
A new study has investigated how the relationship between mean annual precipitation (MAP) and grassland biomass changes when one or more nutrients are added. The authors show that precipitation and nutrient availability are the key drivers of plant biomass, while the effects of plant diversity are minimal.
04/17/2025 - 13:00
Scientists sound the alarm over substances such as arsenic and lead contaminating soils and entering food systems
About one sixth of global cropland is contaminated by toxic heavy metals, researchers have estimated, with as many as 1.4 billion people living in high-risk areas worldwide.
Approximately 14 to 17% of cropland globally – roughly 242m hectares – is contaminated by at least one toxic metal such as arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel or lead, at levels that exceed agricultural and human health safety thresholds.
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04/13/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 14 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00105-w
Modeling coastal land use scenario impacts on ecosystem services restoration in Southwest Ghana, West Africa
04/12/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 13 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00114-9
Progress and challenges of multi-habitat marine restoration in the eastern Aegean Sea, Türkiye
World Ocean Explorer Wins Gold Medal Serious Simulation Award from Serious Play Annual International Competition
10/26/2023 - 14:35
For Immediate Release October 19, 2023
Sedgwick, Maine USA World Ocean Explorer, a 3D virtual aquarium and educational simulation, was recently cited for excellence, winning a Gold Medal Award in the 2023 International Serious Play Awards Program.
World Ocean Explorer is an innovative 3D virtual aquarium designed for educational exploration of the world’s oceans. With interactive exhibits and a lobby space, visitors can immerse themselves in realistic marine environments, including a DEEP SEA exhibit funded by Schmidt Ocean Institute, showcasing unprecedented deep-sea discoveries off Australia. Targeted at 3rd graders and beyond, this immersive experience offers a range of perspectives on the ocean environment and can be explored through guided tours or user-controlled interfaces. Visit DEEP SEA at worldoceanexplorer.org/deep-sea-aquarium.html.
Serious Play Conference brings together professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience, and working together to shape the future of training and education. For more information on Serious Play Award Program visit seriousplayconf.com/international-serious-play-award-programs.
World Ocean Explorer is a transformative virtual aquarium designed to deepen understanding of the world ocean and amplify connection for young people worldwide. Organized around the principles of Ocean Literacy and the Next Gen Science Standards, World Ocean Explorer brings the wonder and knowledge of ocean species and systems to students in formal and informal classrooms, absolutely free to anyone with a good Internet connection. As an advocate for the ocean through communications, World Ocean Observatory believes there is no better investment in the future of the sustainable ocean than through a new approach to educational engagement that excites, informs, and motivates students to explore the wonders of our marine world and to understand the pervasive connection and implication for our future, inherent in the protection and conservation of all aspects of our ocean world.
World Ocean Explorer presents an astonishing 3-dimensional simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of undersea life, with layers of detailed data and information to augment the emotional connection made to the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the virtual exhibits, students visit exemplary theme-based sites with myriad opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge as organized and visualized to dramatize the impact and change on ocean life as a result of natural and human-generated events. Through immersion among displays, mixed media and 3D models, the experience of an aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms or home school environments as a free, accessible, always available opportunity for teaching and learning. All of this will be available to a world audience without physical limitation or cost. World Ocean Explorer, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, receives support from the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, Visual Solutions Lab, the Climate Change Institute, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, and The Fram Museum Oslo. To learn more about the current and future exhibits of World Ocean Explorer, visit worldoceanexplorer.org.
media contact
Trisha Badger, Managing Director, World Ocean Observatory | director@thew2o.net +12077011069
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