Blue whales have made themselves at home in a part of the Indian Ocean where they hadn’t been seen for many years, according to a study published late last year. The blue whale, an endangered species, is the largest animal on Earth. These whales can grow to about 100 feet long and the animal’s heart alone can be the size of a small car.

Blue whales were filmed in the waters around the Seychelles in 2020 and 2021. The Seychelles area group of islands that make up the smallest African country. Hunters almost completely wiped out blue whales in the area in the 1960s.

During this recent exploration, however, scientists spotted several of the creatures. Research suggests that these whales are not just passing through — they are staying in the region for months. The discovery was made with the help of a “sound trap”, an object that was fitted with recording equipment and batteries and placed on the seafloor in November 2021. It was left there for a year, recording 15 minutes every hour. When scientists studied the recordings, they discovered the blue whales’ recognizable song, which is so deep that it can’t be heard naturally by human ears.

The whale songs were found between December and April, a common time for blue whales to breed (繁殖) and nurse their young. Kathleen Stafford, one of the researchers, told BBC News that the scientists think the noise was the singing of male whales. “They sing during the breeding season to attract the females,” she explained. This could mean that the Seychelles is an important breeding area or nursery site for the species.

The government of the Seychelles has been making major efforts to protect the oceans around the islands since 2015. The appearance of these whales shows that its work seems to have made a big difference. Stafford said that the Seychelles, which doesn’t have ma my big ships sailing nearby, could be “a nice, quiet, safe place for blue whales”.

Amaranth(苋菜), an ancient plant, is drawing attention throughout the world and connecting indigenous people(土著人)to their history. Since the 1970s, Amaranth has become a billion-dollar food and makeup product. Health-conscious shoppers will find it in rising numbers of grocery stores in the US and Mexico, and, increasingly, in Europe and the Asia Pacific.

“This is a plant that could feed the world,” said Beata from a nonprofit organization. Amaranth is actually a grain, like buckwheat(荞麦). Its seed is a highly nutritious source of protein, vitamins and minerals. A single amaranth plant produces hundreds of seeds, and a small handful of seeds will turn into hundred-pound bags of harvest the next season. Growing amaranth has provided a degree of economic independence for indigenous farmers in Guatemala and the US. The 8000-year-old plant tolerates a wide variety of climate conditions. Native to Mesoamerica, it is also grown in China, India, south-east Asia, west Africa and the Caribbean.

It’s this toughness that allowed the plant to survive over the centuries, even when the Spanish arrived in the Americas in the 16th century and banned amaranth. Amaranth faced another near-extinction when state forces began targeting the Maya people, and burning their fields, during the civil war. To preserve their traditional foods, Mayan farmers poured seeds into glass jars to bury in their fields or hide under floorboards.

“What we want is for the whole world to produce their own food,” said Maria, a member of agricultural community Qachuu Aloom. “For the seeds, distance doesn’t exist. Borders don’t exist.” Most recently, Maria said that during the pandemic, people with their own gardens, especially in locked down communities, felt secure knowing they had control over their food supply, thanks to amaranth. Amaranth has completely changed the lives of families in our communities, not only economically, but spiritually, added Maria.

Kenya has started its biggest rhino (犀牛) relocation project and began the work of tracking and moving 21 of the critically endangered animals, which can each weigh over a ton, to a new home.

A previous attempt at moving rhinos in the East African nation was a disaster in 2018 as all 11 of the animals died. Ten of them died from stress, dehydration and starvation intensified by salt poisoning as they struggled to adjust to saltier water in their new home, investigations found. The other rhino was attacked by a lion. The latest project experienced early troubles. A rhino targeted for moving was successfully hit with a tranquilizer (镇定剂) shot from a helicopter but ended up in a small river. Veterinarians (兽医) and rangers held the rhino’s head above water with a rope to save it while a tranquilizer reversal drug took effect, and the rhino was released.

The black rhinos are a mix of males and females and are being moved from three conservation parks to the private Loisaba Conservancy in central Kenya, the Kenya Wildlife Service said. Rhinos are generally solitary animals, which enjoy being alone, and are at their happiest in large areas. They are being moved because there are too many in the three parks and they need more space to walk and, hopefully, to give birth to babies.

Kenya has had relative success in reviving its black rhino population, which fell below 300 in the mid-1980s because of illegal hunting, raising fears that the animals might be wiped out in a country famous for its wildlife. Kenya now has nearly 1,000 black rhinos, according to the wildlife service. That’s the third biggest black rhino population in the world behind South Africa and Namibia.

Kenyan authorities say they have relocated more than 150 rhinos in the last decade and the country is aiming to grow its black rhino population to about 2,000, which they believe would be the ideal number considering the space available for them in national and private parks.