![Rescuing a Whale Shark in Koh Tao, Thailand](/assets/image-cache/media/images/Feature/Rescuing a Whale Shark in Koh Tao/GOPR4920-533x400.a1d5d6b3.jpg)
by Alyssa Vinluan
After a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call and a two-hour boat ride with Roctopus Dive, I could finally see the pinnacle of Sail Rock, considered by many as the best dive site in the Gulf of Thailand. The water looked…
Read more![Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve](/assets/image-cache/media/images/Galleries/Grand Bay National Estuarine/Grand%2025-400x400.abec955d.jpg)
by Erika Zambello
Established in 1999, the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (GB NERR) now stretches across 18,000 acres. In addition to the estuary’s salt marshes, the reserve also covers rare pine savannas,…
Read more![Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve](/assets/image-cache/media/images/Galleries/Rookery Bay National Estuarine/RB%2056-400x400.07b64810.jpg)
by Erika Zambello
As part of an ongoing project, Erika Zambello is visiting all National Estuarine Research Reserves in the continental United States. Established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),…
Read more![Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve](/assets/image-cache/media/images/Galleries/Weeks Bay Reserve/WeeksBayNationalReserve-400x400%20.abec955d.jpg)
by Erika Zambello
Made up of over 6,000 acres along the coast of Alabama, the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research is one of 28 sites around the country that are “protected for long-term research, water-quality monitoring,…
Read more![In Search of Blue Tang](/assets/image-cache/media/images/Feature/In Search of Blue Tang/ToropotFish-14-400x400.2b9b4b28.jpg)
by Shannon Switzer Swanson
When Disney’s blockbuster Finding Dory hit theaters in June of 2016, it brought an endearing fish back into the spotlight — blue tang.
Read more![Children and Scaly Mammals](/assets/image-cache/Photo23.95c82114.jpg)
by Jennifer Calkins
When I first started working on an article for World Pangolin Day (which takes place every third Saturday of February), I did not realize how few people even knew pangolins existed. As an evolutionary…
Read more![Biodiversity of the Dry Tortugas](/assets/image-cache/media/images/Galleries/Biodiversity of the Dry Tortugas/PREVIEW%20PHOTO_CF8T6800.69b940c5.jpg)
by BinBin Li
I visited Dry Tortugas National Park in 2013 and 2015 as part of a field class taught by Dr. Stuart Pimm at Duke University. Located 68 miles west of Key West, this 100 square mile national park is mostly…
Read more![Conservation Under the Pandas Umbrella](assets/media/images/Feature/Conservation under the Pandas'/Panda_Thumbnail.jpg)
by Barbara Fraser
When it comes to wildlife protection, the most photogenic species — such as polar bears, dolphins and pandas — seem to attract the most attention and conservation dollars.
Read more![Loktak Lake: The World’s Only Floating Lake](/assets/image-cache/media/images/Feature/Loktak Lake: The World's Only Floating Lake/LoktakLake-575x500.a1d5d6b3.jpg)
by Mohit Raj
Picture a lake where massive landmasses covered in shaggy green vegetation naturally generate over its surface. They have no base, yet still become so dense that they can bear not only the load of occupants,…
Read more![Zoos: Confinement or Conservation?](/assets/image-cache/Lead%20Image_Interaction.a05f2e57.jpg)
by Nathan Woosley
Four years ago, I was living with a couple of friends in Shenyang, Northeast China. We spent a lot of our time exploring old ruins, knockoff shops and other tourist traps throughout the industrial city.…
Read more![Touched by an Elephant, Part 3](/assets/image-cache/media/images/Field Notes/Touched by an Elephant/Elephant%20Touch%20Thumb.1900ee35.jpg)
by Jonathan Whittle-Utter
Returning to the question at hand—why a massage therapist would be interested in researching human-elephant communication? The answer relates to the primacy of touch. Touch is the primal arena of connection…
Read more![Touched by an Elephant, Part 2](/assets/image-cache/media/images/Field Notes/Touched by an Elephant/Elephant%20Touch%20Thumb%202.1900ee35.jpg)
by Jonathan Whittle-Utter
The sanctuary rests in an open jungle valley in the remote Mondulkiri province of Northeast Cambodia. Like the rest of the country, Mondulkiri is undergoing rampant deforestation, a tremendous threat to…
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