Off southern California seashores, the newcomers are starting to approach and they desire the nice and comfortable waters nearer to shore, which mean many beachgoers who at the moment are enjoying themselves have by no means seen the white sharks earlier. “When the little guys begin to pop up, everybody hurries to determine what is happening,” stated Douglas J. MeCauley, a marine science professor.

A brand-new mission applying artificial intelligence (AI) referred to as SharkEye might help maintain observations of those fearsome fish at the beach and help our community share the ocean more safely with sharks. It was developed by Dr. MeCauley’s lab, using a small drone (无人机)—an unoccupied air vehicle equipped with a video camera. It once worked well in San Diego State College where scientists used it to study shark migrations.

SharkEye has been carrying out examinations over the past two summers at Padaro Beach in Santa Barbara County. It is a well-liked space for surf camps, which additionally turns out to be a nursery for young white sharks, featuring comfortable waters and adequate diet. Young sharks are usually sighted between April and October; however, hotspot locations and numbers can vary year by year. Adult sharks tend to spend more time offshore, but they can be sighed closer to the coast in the late fall through to February.

With SharkEye, a pilot launches a drone that travels along a preprogrammed path in the sky. It stays about 120 feet high, permitting it to rapidly scan a big space of the ocean. Meanwhile, it can be sufficient to keep away from bothering marine life. Researchers in the SharkEye program combine the visual data collected by the drone with relevant information on the temperature of the ocean and migratory patterns in order to create predictions about the likelihood of great whites showing up on a certain day, near a certain section of the beach.

Chris Keet, an area surf retailer, who provides summer season camps and personal classes at Padaro Beach, is now changing his enterprise(企业经营) based mostly on the SharkEye information. After SharkEye recorded 9 sightings of sharks in July, Mr. Keet determined to cancel a two-decade-old summer season custom—campers dive and swim out.

In Australia, the bilby (兔耳袋狸) project is seen as an important part in protecting the nation’s wildlife. Bilbies are known for their long ears and large back legs. They usually sleep during the day, and are awake at night. They look a lot like rabbits and grow to about 2.5 kilograms.

For the first time in 2018, bilbies are running wild in Southeastern Australia. The small animals were once widespread across much of Australia, but were last observed in the wild in New South Wales state in 1912. Every year bilby populations continue to decrease. Wildlife experts are afraid that the bilby, a small marsupial, could eventually disappear forever, either because of land clearing or fires. Another reason is a threat from cats and foxes, which hunt down and kill bilbies.

In northern New South Wales state, environmentalists are celebrating what they are calling a historic moment. Thirty bilbies from a captive breeding program have been released into a large predator-free enclosed area north of Sydney. Without the protection of a 32-kilometer fence, experts say the animals probably would not survive.

Tim Allard heads the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, which is involved in the project. He says the release of these beloved animals is a big deal. “There are some remaining wild bilby populations, but they get predated upon heavily by feral cats and foxes. Bilbies only really survive behind fenced areas.” Allard said the point of doing this project is to return the countryside to what it used to be before Europeans arrived. “So in the not-too-distant future, you will be able to go inside the fenced areas and it will be like stepping back before Europeans turned up,” he said.

Freshwater mussels(贻贝) are critical to their larger ecosystems and the world around them, They create habitat for other species, like freshwater coral reefs, and help maintain the structure and rigidity of the waterways they call home. 【小题1】 Nearly three-quarters of NorthAmerica's roughly 300 native mussel species are endangered, at risk, or of danger. Dozens are already extinct.

【小题2】 For decades, freshwater mussels were over harvested for their shells.Before the age of plastic,they were collected and grown by the millions to satisfy commercial demand for buttons, Even more damaging was the spread of human development and environmental degradation.Rivers were dammed for power.Streams were diverted (使绕道) for agriculture. 【小题3】 All this continues today, endangering far more than freshwater mussels.A recent report by the United Nations found that human practices have put roughly 1 million species at risk of extinction,many within decades.

The species-specifc nature of the die-off suggests another cause：disease.The scientists have found a novel virus and a bacterium that are “statistically associated” with the dying mussels compared with control groups, but nobody is willing yet to identify which is the cause. 【小题4】

Are the mussels dying because they're filled with virus and bacteria?Or are they full of virus and bacteria because they're dying? 【小题5】 There are a million things it could be!

Nature is so complex.Biology is so complex.We do not understand how important somethings are until they're gone.