The ocean contains unique biodiversity, provides valuable food resources and is a major sink for anthropogenic carbon. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are an effective tool for restoring ocean biodiversity and ecosystem services1,2, but at present only 2.7% of the ocean is highly protected3. This low level of ocean protection is due largely to conflicts with fisheries and other extractive uses.

On page 230, Li and Chakraborty3report that the rate at which tropical cyclones from the North Atlantic decay after landfall has changed since the 1960s — their intensity has been decreasing more slowly over time.

One of the main spots the large rays frequent is around a set of stairs that descend into the ocean. It’s where local fishermen toss back any unwanted fish and so the area has become a harbor hot spot where many sea creatures stop by hoping to find an easy meal.

Once upon a time, the seas teemed with mackerel, squid and sardines, and life was good. But now, on opposite sides of the globe, sun-creased fishermen lament as they reel in their nearly empty nets.

What follows is unavoidably abstract and general in the extreme.