Daily Dot: Environmental Wins for Whales and Crocs

Dear Reader,

It’s our first Feel-Good Friday of 2026, so let’s kick off another year of celebrating environmental wins by zeroing in on some surprising successes.

Deep-sea mining is often cited as necessary to produce the types of minerals we need for a green transition, a shift away from burning fossil fuels. But the innovations in technology, recycling, and a circular economy are rendering that argument moot. That, however, isn’t stopping the greedy among us — those who, in pursuit of the mighty dollar, aren’t content with just trashing our terrestrial home, but now seem  determined to pillage our oceans, too. The impact of this practice on those who make the ocean their home cannot be understated. “When we talk about noise pollution in the ocean, we are not talking about annoyance,” writes Luke McMillan of Ocean Rising. “We are talking about sensory disruption at the most fundamental level. Imagine trying to have a conversation, find your family, or navigate to work while someone blasts an air horn in your ear, constantly, for months or years at a time. That is what chronic industrial noise does to whales.”

And deep-sea mining would be producing noise at exactly the depths at which whales spend most of their time. Norway had been arguing that deep-sea mining was key to their clean-energy transition, despite pleas from the government’s own environmental agency that moving ahead was reckless. On December 3, however, the Norwegian government announced that they would not be issuing a single deep-sea mining licence until 2029 and would scrap all public funding for mapping seabed minerals. 

The years between now and then at least offer something of a reprieve and a chance for environmental groups, scientists, and political opposition to take their fight to other governments. The ocean, McMillan notes, is the last great wilderness on Earth. The aim is to keep it that way. 

Next up, Florida’s endangered crocodiles, suffering habitat loss due largely to development, are finding refuge in an unlikely spot. Let’s let Garden & Guncontributor Caroline Hatchett explain: “[H]ope lurked in the shadows of the Turkey Point nuclear power plant — that towering symbol of modernity, built to air-condition the homes that had led to the crocodiles’ demise. In 1978, a staffer there stumbled upon a clutch of eggs. As it turned out, the 168 linear miles of cooling canals Turkey Point relied on to condense steam and produce energy also provided an ideal habitat for crocodiles: High berms allowed females to safely deposit eggs; the isolation protected them from pesky humans; and plenty of fish and fowl flourished in the waterways to sustain a growing population.”

That’s right. A nuclear power plant provided ideal habitat for the crocs to regain a foothold after being nearly wiped out. The locale now boasts the highest density of crocodiles in North America. Though Dot might be nervously musing over a potentially radioactive croc, fear not: crocodiles aren’t generally the large-mammal-munching apex predators we might imagine them to be, says a University of Florida biologist. While they might take advantage of a deer or a wild pig that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, their diet tends more toward smaller prey such as fish, crustaceans, birds, and snakes. 

Aquatically,

Dot

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