martyna fornal

A new species of owl has been discovered in the rainforests of an island off the west coast of Africa. The bird was found on Principe Island, which is part of the country of Sao Tome and Principe. It has been named as such, officially anointed as the Principe Scops-Owl or Otus bikegila. While local testimonies suggest it could have lived there as far back as 1928, scientists were not able to confirm its presence until 2016. One of the main clues leading to its discovery was its unique call. Otus bikegila's unique call is a short 'tuu' note repeated at a fast rate of about one note per second, reminiscent of insect calls. It is often emitted in duets, almost as soon as the night has fallen. While the entire island was searched, the owl was only found in a forest uninhabited by humans to the south. It occupies a relatively small area of ​​15km squared and is inhabited by 1,000 to 1,500 owls. The owl is the eighth known species of bird endemic to Principe. While the number of ...

By sequestering carbon and protecting shorelines, seagrass can help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change. Healthy seagrass meadows are a nature-based solution to many threats facing coastal waters and communities, including climate change. The ecosystem is likely to be the most significant blue carbon sink-referring to carbon stored in marine ecosystems on the planet. Tiger sharks equipped with tracking instruments were supposed to map seagrass in the Bahamas and take images of the sea floor. The highly mobile animals are able to reach significant depths, have a large range and spend a lot of time in seagrass meadows. They are also unburdened by mundane human constraints such as needing a boat, having to surface frequently and reliance on calm ocean conditions. About 7% of seagrasses are estimated to be lost globally every year. The UK has lost 90% of its seagrass meadows over the past few centuries. In a study published in the journal Nature Communications on November 1, s...