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☆ Safaris aren't the only tourist attraction in Africa. From cruises to wine tasting, here's what else you can do
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Harriet Akinyi | Penny Sadler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Bungy jumping at Soweto Towers, a decommissioned power station in Johannesburg, South Africa. Explore the beachAfrican beach towns combine beauty and culture, in places like Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique, Mauritius, Zanzibar, Ghana, Namibia and Egypt. In addition to being a popular stop for world cruises, East and South Africa have their own ocean cruise routes which follow the coastlines and visit offshore islands. But South Africa is the continent's crown jewel. The wine country of Franschhoek, outside of Cape Town, South Africa.

Persons: Toubkal, there's, Thomas Janisch, Zina Bencheikh, Madagascar's Tsingy, Carlo Morucchio, Kenya's Masai Mara, King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Mombasa's, Samir Hussein, Luciemarie Swanepoel, Jeremy Villasis, Peter Unger, Kate Powell, Intrepid's Bencheikh, Kevin Bubolz, Wrenelle Stander, Michele Westmorland Organizations: bungie, Getty, Intrepid Travel, UNESCO, Heritage, Wireimage, Diamonds, Sainte, Cruises, Stone, Queen, Cruise Line, MSC, Continental, Penguin Locations: Africa, Morocco's, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Nyangani, Zimbabwe, Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, Europe, East, Namibia, Victoria Falls, Zambia, Jinja, Uganda, Morocco, Seychelles, Kenya, Mozambique, Mauritius, Zanzibar, Ghana, Egypt, Mombasa, Mombasa's Fort Jesus, Fort Jesus, Kaya, Zanzibar's Stone, Madagascar, Swanepoel, Durban, Cape, Kivu, Silversea, Continental Europe, Middle East, Port, Ethiopia, Wesgro, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Cape Town , South Africa

☆ Dubai photographer reveals the UAE’s hidden wildlife
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Arya Jyothi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —In a country best known for its soaring skyscrapers, modern architecture and sprawling desert, wildlife isn’t always what comes to mind when people think of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Originally from India, Karingattil moved to Dubai 17 years ago and began photographing wildlife shortly after, specializing in macro photography, using extreme close ups. With the UAE’s president recently extending the country’s “Year of Sustainability” into 2024, Karingattil uses wildlife photography as a method of capturing the country’s biodiversity and sharing it with others. For Karingattil, conservation is an important aspect of wildlife photography, which he believes can serve as a powerful tool for advocacy. “By removing litter and debris, we can reduce the impact of human activities on the natural world.”

Persons: Anish Karingattil, Karingattil, ” Karingattil, “, ”, Herping, Andrew Gardner, Gardner, couldn't, Anish Karingattil Gardner Organizations: CNN, United Arab Emirates, “, Sustainability ”, Accounting, Biodiversity Conservation, Emirates Nature, Biological Diversity, Emirates Locations: UAE, Dubai, India, Emirates, dugongs, Australia

☆ Ancient whale from Peru may be most massive animal ever on Earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Giovanni Bianucci/Handout via REUTERSAug 2 (Reuters) - Move over, blue whale. The biggest-known blue whale weighed around 190 tons, though it was longer than Perucetus at 110 feet (33.5 meters). Its skeletal mass alone was estimated at between 5 and 8 tons, at least twice that of the blue whale. The researchers suspect Perucetus lived like sirenians - not an active predator but an animal that fed near the bottom of shallow coastal waters. The researchers said it was unlikely Perucetus was a filter-feeder like today's baleen whales including the blue whale.

Persons: Giovanni Bianucci, Perucetus, Bianucci, Olivier Lambert of, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, University of Pisa, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Thomson Locations: Peru, Handout, Italy, Argentina, sirenians, Brussels, hoofed, Washington

☆ Whale fossil may be the heaviest animal ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —A colossal ancient whale discovered in Peru might be the heaviest animal on record, according to a new study. What’s more, Perucetus likely weighed two to three times more than the blue whale, which today weighs a maximum of 149.6 metric tons (330,000 pounds). Giovanni Bianucci“Discoveries of such extreme body forms are an opportunity to re-evaluate our understanding of animal evolution,” wrote J.G.M. “It seems that we are only dimly aware of how astonishing whale form and function can be,” they added. The lifestyle of a colossal whaleThe findings suggest that gigantism or peak body mass among cetaceans had been reached around 30 million years earlier than previously thought, according to the study.

Persons: Giovanni Bianucci, “, ” Bianucci, Perucetus, ”, ’, Bianucci, pacificus, Mystacodon selenesis, Mario Urbina Schmitt, Schmitt, Thewissen, David A, Waugh, weren’t, Ingalls, Brown, ” Thewissen Organizations: CNN, University of Pisa’s, sirenians, Peru “, National University of San, Ohio Medical University Locations: Peru, Italy, Ica, Peruvian, National University of San Marcos, Lima

☆ Abalone and Dugongs threatened with extinction, warns IUCN Red List
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The effects of human activity from climate change to pollution are “devastating” marine life, with nearly a tenth of underwater plants and animals assessed so far threatened with extinction, the latest Red List of Threatened Species showed on Friday. “It shows that we are having quite a devastating impact on marine species,” Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN Red List, said. Linda Lombardi/AP/FILEHilton-Taylor said the portion of marine species facing extinction was likely much higher than current data shows because those analyzed so far have tended to be widespread fish species, not currently under threat. The latest list reviews abalone species, a type of mollusc sold as a luxury seafood item, for the first time and found that around 44% of them face extinction. “The awful status of these species should shock us and engage us for urgent action,” said Amanda Vincent, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Marine Conservation Committee.

☆ Nearly 10% of marine life threatened with extinction -Red List
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary IUCN releases biodiversity barometer during U.N. talksClimate change, pollution 'devastating' marine speciesDugongs number in just the hundreds in some regionsGENEVA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The effects of human activity from climate change to pollution are "devastating" marine life, with nearly a tenth of underwater plants and animals assessed so far threatened with extinction, the latest Red List of Threatened Species showed on Friday. "It shows that we are having quite a devastating impact on marine species," Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN Red List, told Reuters. Hilton-Taylor said the portion of marine species facing extinction was likely much higher than current data shows because those analysed so far have tended to be widespread fish species, not currently under threat. The latest list reviews abalone species, a type of mollusc sold as a luxury seafood item, for the first time and found that around 44% of them face extinction. "The awful status of these species should shock us and engage us for urgent action," said Amanda Vincent, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Marine Conservation Committee.

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