Hakai Magazine Audio Edition

by Brian Payton • In one of nature’s remarkable second acts, dead trees become driftwood and embark on transformative journeys.

by Karen Pinchin • Against a backdrop of competing cultural and commercial interests, Canadian regulators will soon spin the wheel on the future of the little-understood American eel.

by Sasha Chapman • Fishing gear can pose a deadly threat to whales—and to those who try to save them.

by Egill Bjarnason • Buoyed by climate change, an invasive plant is taking over the landscape of the island nation.

by Jori Lewis • In West Africa, the sawfish was once a source of cultural pride and power. What happens to traditional African cultures as it disappears?

by Ferris Jabr • Terrestrial animals get humane treatment and legal protections, but until now, fish pain has largely been ignored.

by Alexander Villegas • For years, Costa Rica was synonymous with tourism, sustainability, and biodiversity. Now collapsing fisheries have led to turmoil.

Story by Kimon de Greef • Illegal sand mining in South Africa is starving beaches of sand, ruining rivers, and endangering lives.

by Larry Pynn • The Salish Sea’s resident killer whales are in trouble—and garnering all the headlines—but transient killer whales traveling the same waters seem to be doing fine.

by Claudia Geib • When 343 sei whales died from a harmful algal bloom in Chilean Patagonia, they opened a window into the effect changing climate is having on marine mammals, our oceans, and us.

by Krista Langlois • Can Marshall Islanders whose lives are tied to the sea maintain their culture in Oklahoma?

by Raina Delisle • Buyer beware: sustainable seafood programs can’t guarantee ocean-friendly choices.

by Ann Finkbeiner • Hard working and tough as nails, Grace Brush did what others couldn’t—she teased out the mystery of the Chesapeake Bay.

by Emilienne Malfatto • As a massive dam nears completion in Turkey, residents downriver in the idyllic Mesopotamian Marshes prepare to see their homeland destroyed—again.

by J.B. MacKinnon • Once feared, vilified, and exterminated, the wolves of Vancouver Island face an entirely different threat: our fascination, our presence, and our selfies.

by Jude Isabella • In the 20th century, Japanese anthropologists and officials tried to hide the existence of the Indigenous Ainu. Then the Ainu fought back like their cousins, the bears.

by Erich Hoyt • Forty years ago, the world’s whale researchers met in Indiana. The now legendary, but nearly forgotten, meeting changed the way scientists and the public see whales—and it all started with a few photographs.

by Heather Pringle and Amorina Kingdon • The sea suffers for fashion. Kombucha leather and leased jeans to the rescue.

by Sarah Gilman • Giving Mexico’s rarest porpoise, the vaquita, a fighting chance in the face of poverty, corruption, and greed.

by Tyee Bridge • Our insatiable need for concrete has led to destructive mining around the world. How can we do it better?

by Jennifer S. Holland Baleen whales carry their medical records in their mouths.

by Evan Lubofsky A maverick scientist claims she has done what scores of researchers before her failed to do: solve the century-old mystery of why a legendary Civil War submarine sank.

by Ann Finkbeiner Mega-quakes have periodically rocked North America’s Pacific Northwest. Indigenous people told terrifying stories about the devastation but refused to leave.

by Elin Kelsey Why humpback whales rescue seals and why volunteering for beach cleanups improves your health.

by Eloise Gibson Braving an Antarctic winter to catch Chilean sea bass in the act.

by Zach Zorich Along southern Florida’s coast, the ancient Calusa constructed an entire island of shell and defied the Spanish Conquest.

by Ann Finkbeiner Fleeing the Irish Famine, some immigrants brought their islands with them to North America.

by Sasha Chapman All of them—which makes conservation difficult when your neighbors keep poaching.

by Bruce Grierson Our oceans contain enough energy to power the planet—if we could just get our hands on it.

by Heather Pringle Did lowly shellfish change the world?

by Ferris Jabr The moon influences life in a surprising and subtle way: with its light.

by Heather Pringle Tireless in her quest, ethnobotanist Nancy Turner works with indigenous elders to preserve plant knowledge dating back to the First People in the New World.

by Emily Urquhart Isolated in the North Atlantic, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador developed a subtle and beautiful lexicon to describe their environment.

by Amorina Kingdon and Patrick Daley How shellfish farmers are leaning on genes to unmask the secrets of mussels, scallops, and oysters.

by Theodora Sutcliffe Indonesia’s reefs have been poisoned or blasted to smithereens by the very people who depend on them the most. Now islanders are working to restore the coral, and recover the resources they’ve lost, piece by piece.

by Shanna Baker In the Northern Territory of Australia, policymakers and biologists managed the impossible—making the benefits of living with a booming population of deadly crocodiles outweigh the risks. But when two apex predators must share coastal resources, there’s bound to be conflict.

by Larry Pynn In the Pacific Northwest, the diligence of citizen scientists is shedding light on the lives, and deaths, of seabirds.

by Jude Isabella What island raccoons tell us about fear.

by Jude Isabella The drought in California has created an obsession with water, but sometimes, no water is just fine.

by Egill Bjarnason For 70 years, Iceland has kept afloat the idea that mandatory swimming lessons save lives, but the policy doesn’t hold water.

by Paul Greenberg A nascent environmental movement is liberating rivers and freeing fish.

by Claire Eamer The fleece that launched 1,000 ships.

by Lina Zeldovich As Westerners condemn live whale shows, Russia hunts and sells killer whales to Chinese amusement parks.

by Gloria Dickie The grim curios and taxidermic creations housed in the US wildlife repository provide clues about trends in wildlife smuggling. And in recent years, coastal species from Latin America have been showing up en masse.

by Heather Pringle How a toxic debate over the first Americans hobbled science for decades.

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

by Rebecca Heisman A team of scientists and land managers is racing to save a butterfly that depends on fragile coastal habitat.

by Vanessa Gregory The most important feminist, postcolonial artist you’ve never heard of.

by Sarah Gilman These infamous clams are invading new areas, buoyed by climate change and the 2011 tsunami in Japan.

by Eli Kintisch Charles Francis Hall had the courage to explore the Arctic—and the savvy to get the wealthy to pay for it.