Hakai Magazine

Shanna Baker reports on the ongoing bid to preserve C. rhombifer, the breed of Cuban crocodile beloved of Fidel Castro, who was known to send living and embalmed versions of the animal to allies around the world. The Cuban croc is endangered, not only due to shrinking habitat, but also to hybridization as its gene pool gets polluted by natural encounters with the bigger, shyer American crocodile.

In Maine, a strange legal debate is raging over rights to the state’s most important seaweed. At least, it seems to be a seaweed.

By protecting a third of its landbase, Costa Rica built itself into a leader in ecotourism and resource conservation. Offshore, the government gave too much of the country’s fisheries away to foreign fleets, and things have gone haywire.

What do humans and corals (and numerous other marine creatures) have in common? We all seem to find the moon irresistibly romantic.

Butchered whales lure polar bears and tourists to a coastal Alaskan town. So far, so good. Sort of.

Fisheries observer Keith Davis monitored fishing vessels on international waters, devoting his life to protecting the seas — until he went missing.

Up and down the West African coast, the mighty sawfish — one of the region’s cultural anchors — has all but disappeared. Will it ever return?

The world we inhabit always shapes the language we use. In Canada’s remote, frigid province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Emily Urquhart finds poetry in the everyday expressions locals use to talk about ice, snow, and other natural phenomena.