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Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Rare image of great white shark captured off the coast of Maine
The nonprofit National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world, funded Explorer Brian Skerry's work through a collaboration with Builders Vision. Learn more about the Society's support of Explorers. As soon as National Geographic Explorer and photographer Brian Skerry locked eyes with the enormous animal, he knew immediately what was staring back at him. 'There's no mistaking that face,' he says. A nearly 10-foot long great white shark was just four feet away. Sharks tagged with tracking devices have been documented off the U.S. coast of Maine, but Skerry thinks this is the first underwater photo of one here. Skerry started diving in these waters around 50 years ago. Since then, he's spent more than 10,000 hours underwater , photographing marine animals from above and below the water. Once rare, great whites are now flourishing in the Gulf of Maine, which stretches from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Nova Scotia, Canada. While these growing numbers might make it easier to see or photograph a shark in nearby waters, experts say the risk of being bitten by a great white remains low. Skerry's encounter on July 8 was fleeting. 'Maybe three minutes,' he says. 'Then she was gone, and we never saw her again.' Luckily, his camera was ready. He snapped a photo of what he suspects is a juvenile, mouth slightly open and white belly glowing against the eerie green water. Her surface reflection hovered above her like a halo. 'White sharks have always been here,' says John Chisholm, a marine biologist at the New England Aquarium in Boston who says this is the first confirmed underwater photo of a great white shark he's seen in Maine. In the Gulf of Maine, great whites have been recorded in historic fisheries data and 1,000-year-old teeth have been found in archaeological digs, but trophy fishing and commercial bycatch in the 1970s and 1980s may have caused populations to decline by around 73 percent. In 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act created legal protections for seals and thereby protected one of the key prey species great whites feed on. Over two decades later, in 1997, the National Marine Fisheries service began more tightly regulating and in some cases prohibiting shark fishing, a protective regulation Massachusetts strengthened in 2005 after the state banned the possession and sale of lucrative shark fins. They are now protected throughout their Northwest Atlantic range–it's illegal to catch, keep, or possess a white shark in U.S. waters. This helped great white populations rebound. Scientists recorded over 100 individual great whites in Maine waters between 2012 and 2023. 'We started seeing both seals and white sharks in more and more numbers than we had ever seen in recent memory on the Cape,' says Camrin Braun, assistant scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's marine predators group. Braun is also unaware of any previous such image of a great white in Maine. A fatal shark bite in 2020, the first in the state's history, made the public aware that there were even white sharks off the coast, he adds. Could warming sea surface temperatures be luring more sharks to Maine's coastline? The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 97 percent of the world's oceans. 'It's one of the global epicenters for warming,' says Braun. Warmer waters might allow juveniles to travel further north into waters that were once too cold for great whites, though Chisholm thinks an increase in shark numbers is more likely to result from conservation regulations. More sightings might also be the result of more people on the water with a digital phone camera. Twenty years ago, it could take Chisholm days, weeks, or even years to confirm a sighting. Now he receives dozens a day through the Sharktivity app. And while a new photo of a great white has now surfaced, it's no indication that New England beachgoers should now be more fearful of setting foot in the ocean. There's a higher risk of being hurt while driving to the beach than getting bitten by a great white shark in the water, Chisholm says. We can coexist with sharks if we are mindful 'in the way that somebody in Alaska walks in the woods knowing there might be a grizzly bear,' Skerry says. 'We can learn to appreciate these animals, even if we don't want to swim out and give them a hug.' To be shark smart, don't swim alone, in murky water, or if you see seals or big schools of bait. Avoid swimming at dawn and dusk and don't 'make a commotion… That can attract a shark,' Chisholm says. As apex predators, sharks play a vital role in keeping the ocean healthy, but they face more danger from us than we do from them. Humans kill over 100 million sharks each year, says Skerry: 'The only truly scary ocean would be one without sharks in it.'
National Geographic
14-07-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
What this one-of-a-kind great white shark photo may say about Maine's future
National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry has logged more than 10,000 hours under water—but he's never before snapped a photo of a great white in Maine before. A juvenile great white shark, about 10 feet long, swims beneath the surface about 15 miles off the coast of Harpswell, Maine. Photograph by Brian Skerry The nonprofit National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world, funded Explorer Brian Skerry's work through a collaboration with Builders Vision. Learn more about the Society's support of Explorers. As soon as National Geographic photographer and explorer Brian Skerry locked eyes with the enormous animal, he knew immediately what was staring back at him. 'There's no mistaking that face,' he says. A nearly 10-foot long great white shark was just four feet away. Sharks tagged with tracking devices have been documented off the U.S. coast of Maine, but Skerry thinks this is the first underwater photo of one here. Skerry started diving in these waters around 50 years ago. Since then, he's spent more than 10,000 hours underwater , photographing marine animals from above and below the water. Once rare, great whites are now flourishing in the Gulf of Maine, which stretches from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Nova Scotia, Canada. While these growing numbers might make it easier to see or photograph a shark in nearby waters, experts say the risk of being bitten by a great white remains low. A brief encounter Skerry's encounter on July 8 was fleeting. 'Maybe three minutes,' he says. 'Then she was gone, and we never saw her again.' Luckily, his camera was ready. He snapped a photo of what he suspects is a juvenile, mouth slightly open and white belly glowing against the eerie green water. Her surface reflection hovered above her like a halo. 'White sharks have always been here,' says John Chisholm, a marine biologist at the New England Aquarium in Boston who says this is the first confirmed underwater photo of a great white shark he's seen in Maine. In the Gulf of Maine, great whites have been recorded in historic fisheries data and 1,000-year-old teeth have been found in archaeological digs, but trophy fishing and commercial bycatch in the 1970s and 1980s may have caused populations to decline by around 73 percent. In 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act created legal protections for seals and thereby protected one of the key prey species great whites feed on. Over two decades later, in 1997, the National Marine Fisheries service began more tightly regulating and in some cases prohibiting shark fishing, a protective regulation Massachusetts strengthened in 2005 after the state banned the possession and sale of lucrative shark fins. They are now protected throughout their Northwest Atlantic range–it's illegal to catch, keep, or possess a white shark in U.S. waters. This helped great white populations rebound. Scientists recorded over 100 individual great whites in Maine waters between 2012 and 2023. 'We started seeing both seals and white sharks in more and more numbers than we had ever seen in recent memory on the Cape,' says Camrin Braun, assistant scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's marine predators group. Braun is also unaware of any previous such image of a great white in Maine. A fatal shark bite in 2020, the first in the state's history, made the public aware that there were even white sharks off the coast, he adds. Could warming sea surface temperatures be luring more sharks to Maine's coastline? The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 97 percent of the world's oceans. 'It's one of the global epicenters for warming,' says Braun. Warmer waters might allow juveniles to travel further north into waters that were once too cold for great whites, though Chisholm thinks an increase in shark numbers is more likely to result from conservation regulations. More sightings might also be the result of more people on the water with a digital phone camera. Twenty years ago, it could take Chisholm days, weeks, or even years to confirm a sighting. Now he receives dozens a day through the Sharktivity app. And while a new photo of a great white has now surfaced, it's no indication that New England beachgoers should now be more fearful of setting foot in the ocean. There's a higher risk of being hurt while driving to the beach than getting bitten by a great white shark in the water, Chisholm says. We can coexist with sharks if we are mindful 'in the way that somebody in Alaska walks in the woods knowing there might be a grizzly bear,' Skerry says. 'We can learn to appreciate these animals, even if we don't want to swim out and give them a hug.' To be shark smart, don't swim alone, in murky water, or if you see seals or big schools of bait. Avoid swimming at dawn and dusk and don't 'make a commotion… That can attract a shark,' Chisholm says. As apex predators, sharks play a vital role in keeping the ocean healthy, but they face more danger from us than we do from them. Humans kill over 100 million sharks each year, says Skerry: 'The only truly scary ocean would be one without sharks in it.'
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Inside a low-key Walmart heir's bid to save nature (while making a profit), after crediting it with helping him survive rare cancer diagnosis
Lukas Walton, an heir to the fortune, has quietly invested $15 billion of his wealth into Builders Vision, a Chicago-based organization focused on environmental and societal impact through sustainable investments in clean energy, food, and agriculture. Preferring to stay out of the spotlight, Walton believes in engaging the business community for scalable change and insists that impactful projects can deliver financial returns comparable to traditional investments. In the current economy, the work, opinions and battles of billionaires can be hard to avoid—yet the dynasty behind the leading business in the Fortune 500 tends to stay out of the spotlight. Every now and again members of the Walton family, whose relatives began the Walmart empire, will quietly share their thoughts on the political or economic outlook before returning to their work. And that's precisely how Lukas Walton has wanted it to be. The man worth $39 billion courtesy of the business founded by his grandfather, Sam Walton, established Builders Vision in 2017 as an umbrella for his philanthropic, investment, and advocacy work. The focus of the Chicago-based company is to deploy capital, advocate for change, and support partners more widely in a range of endeavors across clean energy, food and agriculture, and ocean preservation. Walton had declined all media interviews, but spoke to the Financial Times for the first time in an interview published today, saying he had made the decision to prevent people 'leading with their assumptions' about him. Instead Walton has directed his time and funds towards environmental efforts and told the FT he had plowed $15 billion of his own funds into Builders Vision—to bankroll endeavors that come with both financial and societal returns. Walton, 39, is adding his voice to a wider push from other billionaire philanthropists for a greater focus on a more sustainable and equal planet. Earlier this year, for example, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates confirmed the largest philanthropic donation from an individual in modern history. He announced the Gates Foundation will receive the vast majority of his wealth—approximately $200 billion—to be spent within the next two decades. While Walton's motives are clear—he wants the world to be more 'humane and healthy'—he has experienced first-hand the benefits that access to good nutrition can bring. As a preschooler Walton was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and, according to the Walton family, was cured in part thanks to his mother feeding him an all-natural diet. Walton said he is 'constantly reminded' of how lucky he is to be alive, and added: 'My parents taught me the good habits that have kept me around. My mom basically raised me out of her garden, and that way I got to learn where our food comes from.' The Colorado College graduate continued: 'Starting with food and agriculture, I want to put my money to work and I saw there was a space for innovative, flexible capital. 'My gut feeling all along has been to engage the business community because of its size and scale.' Fundamental to Walton's belief is that investors—and indeed his high net worth peers—need to see returns if they are going to fully engage their capital in projects which have societal or environmental benefits. As such, he told the FT, his projects should not be framed as charitable because they have a very clear focus on returns that either match or outperform the rest of the market. Walton has already undertaken significant projects which he says demonstrate returns, for example backing a business in Nebraska that purchases and then leases farmland for organic agriculture. Making the green economy a more palatable investment than markets is certainly no small undertaking, but Walton, the CEO of Builders Vision, maintains: 'The opportunities are out there. '[The finance gap] is not for lack of pipeline. But people first need to realize that the environment is industry, it's infrastructure, it's financial products, it's not simply trees.' It seems Walton—ranked 37th on Bloomberg's Billionaires Index—is happy to get on with the job in his own way. He's often spotted cycling to the office in Chicago, and drives a Volvo SUV instead of the higher-end luxury vehicles preferred by other billionaires. His urge to stay out of the limelight extends to his hobbies. The quiet of trail biking, he says, is a draw because 'it's one of those places I can't be on a phone call.' This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Cision Canada
18-06-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Carbon Upcycling Closes $18M Investment Led by Builders Vision to Bolster Cement Manufacturing Resiliency
CALGARY, AB, June 18, 2025 /CNW/ - Carbon Upcycling Technologies ("Carbon Upcycling"), a leader in carbon and resource utilization, announced today the closing of its USD 18 million investment round led by Builders Vision, a team of investors and philanthropists accelerating tomorrow's most promising solutions across agriculture, food, and oceans. The latest investment builds on a landmark period of momentum for Carbon Upcycling as the company develops its first-of-its-kind carbon capture & utilization technology project at the Ash Grove Mississauga Cement Plant, and executes on its newly signed memorandum of agreement with TITAN Group to assess projects at two of its cement plants. The investment round garnered follow-on participation from a strong contingent of existing investors, including Business Development Bank of Canada, Climate Investment, Amplify Capital, and strategic investors CRH Ventures, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, and TITAN Group. The continued participation of returning investors underscores the growing confidence in Carbon Upcycling's commercial readiness and role in manufacturing localized, low-carbon building materials. "Builders Vision's investment, along with the continued support of our partners, is a powerful signal that the market is ready for scalable, science-based solutions like Carbon Upcycling," said Apoorv Sinha, CEO of Carbon Upcycling. "With the support of Builders Vision and our strategic partners, we are setting the foundation for low-carbon construction, demonstrating that it is not just possible — but practical, profitable, and available today." Carbon Upcycling's groundbreaking technology produces high-performance, sustainable supplementary cementitious products by utilizing and upcycling locally sourced, low-value materials and captured CO₂ emissions. In doing so, the technology localizes critical building material supplies, bolstering construction supply chains and significantly reducing cement emissions. "Carbon Upcycling is redefining what's possible in industrial decarbonization by turning waste and emissions into valuable, scalable materials," said James Lindsay, Investment Director at Builders Vision. "Their technology is widely applicable to a number of local feedstocks and quickly integrates onsite to existing production facilities, and that's what the market needs. We're proud to support their growth as they lead the charge toward a more sustainable and resilient construction industry, starting with a flagship project that sets a new global standard." With this latest investment, Carbon Upcycling is poised to lead the next era of low-carbon innovation in construction. By combining scalable carbon capture with waste utilization, the company addresses a critical environmental challenge while laying the groundwork for a resilient, clean supply chain to support tomorrow's infrastructure. To learn more about Carbon Upcycling, visit About Carbon Upcycling Carbon Upcycling is a carbon and resource utilization company, strengthening critical cement supply chains for the infrastructure of tomorrow. Its technology offers a value-add solution for CO₂ emissions and industrial waste materials by upcycling them into low-carbon supplementary cement products. The patented system captures and reduces emissions through carbon capture and abatement while fostering localized, circular supply chains. Carbon Upcycling is backed by a syndicate of strategic investors, including Builders Vision, Business Development Bank of Canada, Climate Investment, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, Clean Energy Ventures, and Amplify Capital, as well as three of the world's leading cement manufacturers: CRH, Cemex, and TITAN Group. Learn more at About Builders Vision: Builders Vision is a team of investors and philanthropists accelerating tomorrow's most promising solutions across food and agriculture, energy and oceans. By deploying capital from grantmaking to market-rate investments, we aim to maximize financial returns and lasting impact. We are diversified and risk-aware, ensuring our investments balance both financial growth and long-term sustainability. The team's portfolios include over 300 grantees, over 100 emerging and established fund managers across all asset classes, and nearly 50 direct investments in companies and accelerators. A more resilient future for investors, communities, and the planet requires harnessing the collective power of innovation, capital and collaboration. We work closely with leaders and visionaries at the cutting edge of sustainability. At the heart of everything we do are our partners — the entrepreneurs, advocates, scientists and co-investors — who are closest to the solutions that will transform industries and achieve lasting impact.
Cision Canada
03-06-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Energize Capital raises $430 million to capitalize and scale digitally-enabled climate solutions
Backed by leading institutional Limited Partners, Ventures Fund III underscores the need for thematically aligned investors in today's market CHICAGO, June 3, 2025 /CNW/ -- Energize Capital, a leading multi-stage investor in climate solutions, today announced the close of its Ventures Fund III ("Ventures III") totaling $430 million in capital commitments to the fund and its related vehicles. The firm's fifth institutional fund and third of its Ventures strategy, Ventures III will deploy into earlier-stage companies focused on scaling energy and industrial transformation through digital and software-enabled solutions. This latest raise brings Energize's total assets under management to over $1.8 billion and will empower the specialist firm to continue leveraging its team's decades of expertise in climate technology to support entrepreneurs through both financial capital and extensive operational and commercialization support. Today's economy is undergoing a profound transformation, placing new demands on capital partners to navigate emerging complexity and create value. Technologies like AI are redefining industrial processes, driving innovation, efficiency, and scalability. At the same time, the reshoring of manufacturing, evolving global supply chains, and the accelerating energy transition are reshaping critical infrastructure. These shifts are creating significant opportunities in areas such as grid interconnection, next-generation manufacturing, and the circular economy—all of which increasingly rely on digital tools to manage complexity and unlock value. With a thesis grounded in digital-first climate solutions and a track record of scaling companies in these evolving sectors, Energize is well-positioned to be a critical partner in this next chapter. "Now on our third ventures fund, the Energize team has been investing in climate technologies and solutions across several cycles, and we've experienced firsthand how this space has evolved in both market size and complexity," said John Tough, managing partner at Energize Capital. "Today more than ever, operators need specialist investors with deep domain expertise and operational know-how to help them scale their solutions and achieve enduring growth. We are excited to back the next generation of entrepreneurs and are honored to be supported by a group of world-class Limited Partners who align with our mission of investing in climate solutions with ambition." Energize's Ventures Fund III is backed by LPs that represent leading institutional, corporate strategic, family office and impact investors. New LPs in the fund include Första AP-Fonden (AP1), Capricorn, Reference Capital, Keeling Capital, Keysight Technologies, WEX Venture Capital, and several other international pensions. Among returning investors are GE Vernova, CDPQ, Builders Vision, UBS, WEC, and others. "As an investor committed to accelerating the energy transition, Builders Vision values Energize's deep industry insights and proven approach to scaling energy transition SaaS businesses," said Scott Gerdes, director of private investments at Builders Vision. "The close of Ventures Fund III is an opportunity for Energize to further enhance its in-depth research, valuable industry connections, and hands-on team, all of which are crucial for driving broader market adoption. By collaborating with forward-thinking companies and leveraging cutting-edge technology, Energize is fueling growth and contributing to the creation of a cleaner, more resilient energy ecosystem." 1 The fund will back asset-light climate solutions, with a particular focus on companies operating in the industrial digitization, next generation infrastructure and energy transition sectors. To date, Energize has deployed capital from Ventures III into several investments, including Tyba, a battery software optimization platform; Archive, a technology solution for brands to launch and scale profitable resale businesses; and Nira, a software platform that supports grid interconnection for energy developers. About Energize Capital Energize Capital is a leading investor in climate solutions. Founded in 2016 and based in Chicago, Energize seeks to scale sustainable innovation by partnering with the builders and operators shaping the future. To date, Energize has funded 36 companies and deployed more than $920 million through its Venture and Endurance strategies. Founded in partnership with Invenergy, the firm is backed by strategic, institutional, and impact LPs including Första AP-Fonden (AP1), GE Vernova, Capricorn, CDPQ, Builders Vision, UBS, WEC, Reference Capital, Keeling Capital, Keysight Technologies, WEX Venture Capital, and more. For more information on Energize, please visit
