“Sightings of humpback whales off Rio de Janeiro’s coast are surging as they recover from decimation due to commercial whaling, prompting an acceleration in the demand for whale-watching excursions to spot the huge marine creatures during their annual migration.

The species’ population has jumped from around 2,000 to around 35,000 in approximately 40 years, close to their population before whaling.”

From Associated Press.

“Scientists and land managers from WA Parks and Wildlife Service and Monash University spent three days surveying Browse Island, a 17ha island 450km north-east of Broome, using thermal scanners, 400 mouse traps and motion-sensor cameras to search for surviving mice.

And while it’s still too early to officially declare the island ‘mouse-free’, the results so far are encouraging…

Last October, conservationists scattered 700kg of bait across the island using drone technology developed by New Zealand company Envico Technologies.

When researchers visited the island in April, they found no sign of mice during the three-day survey.”

From Australian Geographic.

“On a mid-May weekend, Benton held its annual Alewife Festival on the riverbank. With the tunes of a local steel drum band in the background, families made fish-themed crafts, sampled smoked alewives and watched the migration in progress. Below Benton Falls Dam, fishermen hauled alewives into their boats one full net at a time.

Looking at this scene, it’s hard to believe that 35 years ago, fewer than 800 alewives were making this trip upriver. Last year, they numbered 9 million.

The story of Maine’s alewives is a conservation success decades in the making—and unmatched on the rest of the Atlantic coast.”

From Inside Climate News.

“A large property containing a unique wetland system in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin was transferred into long-term Indigenous ownership in 2026 for conservation.

The 33,000-hectare (81,545-acre) property contains most of the Great Cumbung Swamp, located at the end of the Lachlan River in the state of New South Wales. The swamp has a mix of open water and reed beds, bordered by river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) woodlands, and is an important habitat for waterbirds, frogs, fish and reptiles.

The Nari Nari Tribal Council (NNTC), an Indigenous conservation land management organization, purchased the property in January 2026 following joint fundraising efforts by the conservation NGO The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and NNTC. James Fitzsimons of TNC recently wrote about the sale of the property in Oryx.

Fitzsimons told Mongabay by email that the Great Cumbung Swamp ‘acts a refuge when the rest of the landscape is dry,’ He added that it supports threatened species such as the Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus), Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii) and the southern bell frog (Litoria raniformis). Each year, approximately 11,500 waterbirds visit the swamp.”

From Mongabay.