This is reported by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), which maintains the Red List of endangered species. Another population around New Caledonia with fewer than 900 adults is classified as critically endangered.
The biggest threats include fishing nets, offshore oil and gas activities, marine pollution and the destruction of offshore seaweed that dugongs feed on. This is partly due to sewage that ends up in the sea and pollution from the extraction of nickel. The IUCN calls for improvements in fishing regulations, alternative income opportunities for coastal residents and protection zones.
The Red List, which has existed since 1964, lists more than 42,000 animal and plant species that are threatened with extinction. The IUCN classifies studied species into eight categories, from “data deficient” to “extinct”. “Endangered” is level 5, “critically endangered” is level 6.
The IUCN has also for the first time investigated abalone, auricle-like snails considered a delicacy in many places. 20 of the 54 known species are classified as “critically endangered”. They are threatened by poachers, disease and pollution, but also by the effects of climate change. For example, 99 percent of the Haliotis rowing species became extinct due to more frequent and intense marine heat waves in northwestern Australia.
IUCN presented the new list at the 15th World Summit on Nature (also COP15) in Montréal, Canada, where an agreement must be reached to protect the planet’s biodiversity. “We just can’t afford to fail,” said IUCN Director General Bruno Oberle.
According to the head of the Swiss delegation, Ambassador Franz Perrez, there are still many differences between the states: “We are in a very difficult situation,” Perrez said on the Swiss radio SRF’s “Rendezvous” program on Friday.
From his point of view, it would be important to discuss the key issues at the level of Heads of Delegation in order to move forward. According to the radio report, there are more than 1,000 points of disagreement in the first negotiating text.
The explorer Columbus reported mermaids in 1493. Today it is believed that they were dugongs that can rise vertically from the sea. They were not half as beautiful as described, but had “masculine features” in their faces, National Geographic magazine quoted in an article from Columbus’s notes.
(SDA)