Have you ever seen a sleek, brown-and-white bird hover above the ocean, fold its wings and drop into the water like a cannonball, only to surface seconds later with a fish in its grip? If so, you have probably seen an osprey.
A water-loving bird of prey
Ospreys are birds of prey, also known as raptors. Birds of prey are carnivorous predators that actively hunt and feed on other animals. However, unlike most birds of prey, the osprey’s diet consists of approximately 99% live fish, including catfish, trout and mackerel. Because of their feeding habits, ospreys, also called sea hawks, have unique traits that make them elite hunters of the sea.
Structure and hunting
When ospreys spot a fish, they dive from nearly 100 feet in the air. During the dive, they close their nostrils, called nares, to prevent water from entering.
Ospreys are the only birds of prey that can dive feet-first into water, allowing them to form a streamlined shape that helps them pierce the surface and protect their heads. Their dense, oily feathers act like a wetsuit, keeping them water-resistant during dives.
Once they make contact with prey, they use their reversible outer toes and barbed foot pads, called spicules, to grip the slippery scales of the fish.
After securing their catch, ospreys use their nearly six-foot wingspan to generate the lift needed to carry fish that can weigh nearly as much as they do out of the water.
Finally, once airborne, the osprey rotates the fish to point headfirst, an aerodynamic adjustment that reduces wind resistance on the flight back to the nest.
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Habitat and breeding
Because of their dependence on fish, ospreys always live within sight of water. They typically build their nests atop dead trees or man-made structures along harbors and bays, such as channel markers, duck blinds and utility poles.
Both parents help construct the nest. These large structures, sometimes exceeding 300 pounds, are built with sticks and lined with materials like moss and seaweed.
Ospreys breed across every continent except Antarctica, inhabiting ocean coastlines, saltwater marshes, lagoons, estuaries, river mouths and even coral reefs.
Osprey pairs incubate an average of three eggs for roughly one month before they hatch. Chicks then remain in the nest for about 55 days before fledging, the stage in a bird’s life when it develops its feathers and wings enough to leave the nest and fly for the first time.
Why are ospreys important for our ocean?
Ospreys serve as living indicators of ocean health. Because they sit at the top of the marine food chain, they are highly sensitive to pollution and changes in fish populations. A decline in osprey nesting success can signal pollution, overfishing or habitat degradation.
That is why at Ocean Conservancy, we are working to address the ocean’s biggest threats, from plastic pollution to the climate crisis. But we cannot do this work alone. We need advocates like you to protect ospreys and all marine wildlife. Please take action and help us defend our ocean today.
The post Osprey: The Ocean’s Most Specialized Bird of Prey appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
When I attended the OBIS Data Mobilization Workshop in the Azores (Thanks to the Air Center) this year, one observation immediately caught my attention: compared with countries such as the United States, Europe still appears surprisingly fragmented and underinvested in biodiversity data mobilization. The issue is not necessarily a lack of biodiversity research. European scientists produce enormous amounts of ecological data. The challenge is that publishing biodiversity observations into global infrastructures such as MBON/GBIF often remains an additional task rather than an integral part of funded research. In the United States, biodiversity data publication is frequently embedded in funding mechanisms and institutional mandates. Data management, curation, and dissemination seem to be recognized research activities. In much of Europe, including Denmark, researchers often mobilize data on top of their existing responsibilities, with limited dedicated funding for long-term stewardship.
I asked myself how is Denmark performing compared with its Nordic and neighboring countries?
Denmark is not lagging behind, but neither is it leading
The numbers reveal a mixed picture.
Germany clearly stands out as the regional leader, with both the highest number of datasets and the highest taxonomic coverage. Denmark has the lowest number of occurrence records and species represented among the four countries, despite having a very active biodiversity research community. What is striking is that Denmark does not fall dramatically behind in dataset numbers. Rather, the difference appears in scale and breadth. Danish datasets tend to contain fewer records and cover fewer taxa than those from Germany, Norway, and Sweden.
Different countries tell different biodiversity stories
The taxonomic breakdowns are equally revealing. Denmark should appreciate its fish and birds’ activists. Large portions of the records belong to Gadidae (cod family), Clupeidae (herring family), Laridae (gulls), and other marine vertebrates. This reflects Denmark’s historical strengths in fisheries monitoring, marine ecology, and seabird observations. However, many invertebrate groups, microorganisms, and less visible components of biodiversity remain comparatively underrepresented in global data sets despite active programs like national Program like MONIS.
Norway shows stronger contributions from invertebrate sides such as polychaetes, bivalves, copepods, and marine benthic fauna. The Norwegian data landscape appears heavily influenced by aquaculture sectores, long-term marine monitoring programs and offshore environmental surveys. There is greater representation of marine invertebrates, which are often critical indicators of ecosystem change.
What stood out in Sweden’s data profile is the relatively large contribution from copepods, diatoms, dinoflagellates, and macroalgae. These groups are often overlooked in biodiversity databases because they require specialized expertise and monitoring programs. Sweden’s contribution suggests sustained investment in aquatic ecosystem monitoring beyond commercially important species. Well done Sweden!
Germany’s profile appears the most diverse. While fish and vertebrates remain important, there are strong contributions from polychaete worms, molluscs, arthropods, plankton in general term and benthic organisms. Germany not only contributes more records but also appears to mobilize a wider variety of biodiversity data types. You made me proud Germany 
The real gap may be invisible biodiversity
One lesson from the workshop was that biodiversity databases often reflect what is easiest to observe, identify, and fund. Fish, birds, and mammals are well represented almost everywhere. The groups that drive ecosystem processes, such as jellyfish, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, phytoplankton, and microbial communities, remain far less visible. This is particularly relevant for marine ecosystems. Some of the most important ecological changes currently occurring in our seas involve gelatinous zooplankton, plankton communities, and benthic assemblages, yet these groups remain underrepresented in many biodiversity repositories. For someone working with jellyfish and marine food webs, this raises an important question:
Are we documenting the biodiversity that is easiest to count, or the biodiversity that is most important for understanding ecosystem change?
This fall, Ocean Conservancy is celebrating its 41st annual International Coastal Cleanup® (ICC), once again bringing together volunteers to protect the beaches and waterways we all love. Ocean Conservancy recently hosted flagship events in Long Beach and Washington, D.C. that celebrated this global movement close to home.
Over the past four decades, nearly 20 million volunteers have rolled up their sleeves to remove more than 405 million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways around the world. And their impact extends far beyond what they collect. ICC volunteers have documented nearly 440 million individual items, creating the world’s largest marine debris database and providing invaluable information that helps Ocean Conservancy and others better understand—and tackle—ocean plastic pollution.
This year’s celebration continued that incredible legacy. At Alamitos Beach in Southern California, more than 150 volunteers gathered on September 19 and removed 1,109 pounds of trash, alongside members of Team USA Artistic Swimming and Olympic and Paralympic athletes. In Washington, D.C., 439 volunteers gathered on September 26 to remove 2,182 pounds of trash from Anacostia Park along the Anacostia River.
“I am so grateful to all of the volunteers who came out today for our ocean—and every volunteer who has made the last 41 years of impact possible,” said Ocean Conservancy’s Senior Director of Conservation Cleanups, Allison Schutes. “Every piece of plastic collected helps protect marine animals and habitats and contributes to research and advocacy.”
And the impact doesn’t stop when the cleanup ends. During International Coastal Cleanup events, volunteers do more than remove trash: They document what they find, helping build a clearer picture of the plastic pollution threatening our waterways and wildlife. Through the Clean Swell® app or paper data sheets, ICC volunteers contribute to Ocean Conservancy’s online, open-access d