On the Greek islet of Formicula, researchers have found rare Mediterranean monk seals will take refuge in an air-filled “bubble cave,” according to a recent study. This type of hidden chamber, accessible via underwater passages, allows the seals to breathe, and possibly hide from tourists, the researchers said. Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus), the world’s rarest pinniped, are the only seals found in the Mediterranean Sea. Fewer than 1,000 of them remain, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority.     Historically, these seals hauled out on open coastal beaches to rest, molt and give birth to pups. But with increasing human disturbance from tourism, fishing and land development, they retreated to marine caves along the Mediterranean coastline to rest and breed. Study lead author Joan Gonzalvo of the Ionian Dolphin Project at the Tethys Research Institute in Italy described the “ideal cave” to Mongabay as one with a pool, a dry beach for hauling out, an entrance corridor and protection from adverse weather and choppy seas. Typically, these caves are accessible by entrances above or below water level. During a habitat assessment in the Inner Ionian Sea Archipelago, the team was setting up a camera to monitor one of these “comfortable” marine caves on Formicula when they discovered that an underwater corridor connected to it led to a second smaller chamber. This “bubble cave” had water and a pocket of air on top, but no dry beach or platform to haul out. The team placed an underwater camera in the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Conservation journalists are facing a new issue: AI-generated wildlife imagery. The issue is not just that fake images exist. That has long been true. What has changed is how convincing synthetic wildlife photos and videos have become, how cheaply they can be made, and how quickly they can spread. A clip can move through Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, or even LinkedIn before anyone has checked whether it shows a real animal, a real place, or a real event. That matters because wildlife images carry an implicit claim. A photograph of a rare animal, a camera-trap still, or a video of unusual behavior usually tells the viewer: this happened. As generative AI improves, that assumption needs more scrutiny. The risks are not theoretical. False videos of animal attacks can deepen fear in places where human-wildlife conflict is already difficult to manage. Fabricated images of wild animals behaving like pets can feed demand for the exotic pet trade. Misleading footage of rare species can absorb the time of researchers, journalists, NGOs, and public agencies that have to determine whether an event actually occurred. It also changes the work of newsrooms. At Mongabay, we now spend more time looking at sourcing, provenance, metadata, reverse-image searches, forensic tools, and whether a photographer, researcher, or institution is known and trusted. AI detectors can occasionally help in some cases, but they cannot settle the question. False positives and false negatives…This article was originally published on Mongabay

A chemical used in mosquito repellents may disorient bumblebees, stopping them from finding their way back to their nests, a recent study found. Researchers in Finland exposed 123 buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), one of the most abundant bumblebee species in Europe, to a standard consumer mosquito repellent containing prallethrin, a type of pyrethroid insecticide. One group of 44 bees was exposed to the repellant for 1 minute; 35 were exposed for 10 minutes; while 44 were exposed for 20 minutes. A control group of 43 bees was exposed to an identical device that did not release the insecticide. After exposure, the researchers released the bees 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) away from their colonies. They found 16 bees from the control group made it home. However, only six bees exposed to the repellant for 10 minutes and just two bees exposed for 20 minutes returned. “Bumblebee colonies depend on workers collecting food,” lead author Kimmo Kaakinen, a biologist at the University of Turku in Finland, wrote in a statement. “So if they cannot find their way back to the nest, the colony’s ability to obtain nutrition deteriorates.” Usually, the buff-tailed bumblebee forages around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from its colony and has been found to return home from distances reaching 9.8 km (6 miles), the study noted. Researchers suggested the reduction in homing success, or even increased travel time, could be due to a disruption to the bees’ spatial navigation and memory, compromised flight capacity or a combination. The study’s results…This article was originally published on Mongabay

It’s “hairy,” bright orange or red and “exceptional” at camouflaging. Meet the hairy ghost pipefish, whose recent formal description demonstrates that even well-studied marine environments like the Great Barrier Reef still hold remarkable secrets for science. In a recent study, researchers shared the name of the ghost pipefish, Solenostomus snuffleupagus, for its “conspicuously shaggy appearance,” and long, trunk-like snout that makes it resemble the beloved Sesame Street character, Mr. Snuffleupagus. Ghost pipefish, with their long pipe-like snouts, are distantly related to pipefishes and seahorses. But they differ in how they reproduce: while males in pipefish and seahorses brood eggs in specialized abdominal pouches; in ghost pipefish, it’s females who do the same. Found across the tropical Indo-Pacific, ghost pipefish are also very well-camouflaged in their environments of coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and algal beds. Until recently, there were just six known species. The discovery of a seventh species, the hairy ghost pipefish, led by marine biologists Graham Short and David Harasti, is the culmination of a two-decade search. Harasti, a senior research scientist at the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute in Australia, told Popular Science he first spotted the animal in 2001 while diving near Papua New Guinea. “I was perplexed,” Harasti said, adding that after checking his reference books, he realized they “might be looking at something entirely new to science.” Since 2005, local divers had also regularly reported seeing the orange-red animal on the Great Barrier Reef on Facebook groups and citizen science platforms like iNaturalist, the authors wrote.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Platypuses reintroduced to Australia’s oldest national park are breeding and appear to be on a good population trajectory with 20 known individuals now, scientists say. For more than 50 years, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal, had been absent from Royal National Park, a protected area located just south of Sydney in the Australian state of New South Wales. A reintroduction program was initiated in 2023, led by Gilad Bino from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and a co-founder of the Platypus Conservation Initiative. “It is a privilege to be part of bringing platypuses back to a part of their former range where they had been missing for generations,” Bino said in a statement. In 2023, researchers first introduced a founding group of 10 platypuses to the Hacking River that flows through the national park. A second group of three animals followed in 2025. Each animal was fitted with a transmitter to allow scientists to monitor their survival, movements, and breeding. In May 2026, researchers introduced four more platypuses sourced from healthy populations: two males they named Absinthe and Duckie, and two females they named Dawn and Hydra. At the same time, the researchers carried out extensive surveys and found 20 known individuals. More individuals could be present that were missed. Researchers Gilad Bino and Tahneal Hawke during a platypus survey in Royal National Park. Image courtesy of Gilad Bino/Platypus Conservation Initiative. Visitors are also reporting platypus sightings in the park, especially around the river. “That public connection…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Luxury yacht manufacturer Sunseeker has pleaded guilty to violating a U.S. environmental law by using illegally sourced teak from Myanmar on two of its yachts imported into the U.S. The U.K.-based Sunseeker International Limited, which describes itself as “the world’s leading brand for luxury motor yachts,” along with its U.S. subsidiary pleaded guilty on May 13, 2026, to violating the U.S. Lacey Act. The regulation prohibits trade in wildlife and plant products, including timber, that have been sourced in violation of domestic or foreign laws. Sunseeker had not responded to Mongabay’s request for comment at the time of publishing. As part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Sunseeker agreed to pay a $200,000 fine and implement a compliance plan. The U.S. DOJ said in a news release that illegally sourced timber was identified in components of two yachts priced at approximately $2.98 million and $1.07 million, respectively. The company is scheduled for sentencing in the U.S. on Aug. 20, 2026. Sunseeker, which manufactures its yachts in the U.K., previously pled guilty to violating the U.K. Timber Regulation in a U.K. court in 2024.  The company was accused of using illegally obtained teak in its yachts. It was fined 358,759.64 pounds (about $454,300) for 11 specific timber exports, according to previous Mongabay reporting. U.S. authorities noted the teak imported into the country originated from the same illegal imports prosecuted in the U.K. While highly prized in the luxury yacht industry, much of the teak from Myanmar,…This article was originally published on Mongabay