U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

Big turtle news! For the first time ever recorded, a leatherback sea turtle has nested on Virginia's shores, laying her eggs at Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex! NAS Oceana and dedicated partners worked quickly to locate, identify, and safely fence off the nesting area, giving these eggs the best possible chance of success. The largest sea turtle species on Earth, leatherbacks can grow up to 8 feet and weigh up to 2,000 pounds. Unlike other sea turtles, they lack a hard shell. Instead, their back in covered in a leathery skin that helps them dive deeper and travel farther into colder waters than any other turtle species. Conservation and national defense are more connected than you think. Military installations are often the unsung heroes of conservation, with large stretches of land providing important habitats for nesting turtles and countless other species. Photos courtesy of NAS Oceana and Maikayla

Here's a fun fact to kick off your week: a group of ferrets is called a "business." These particular ferrets are black-footed ferrets — named for the distinct black markings on their feet and face. They're also the only ferret species native to the United States. Can you think of any more perfect branding? Video of black-footed ferrets in tall grass at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center by USFWS.

Meet the Atlantic Tripletail, a fish of many names including "sleepy fish" and "buoy fish" 🐟💤 Tripletail are commonly observed laying on their sides near the surface, trying to mimic floating debris as a form of camouflage. 👀 Catch our latest podcast episode of "Fish of the Week" to learn all about this very cool fish. Co-hosts Katrina and Guy are joined by Trevor Moncrief and Eric Gigli with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.🎣 Take-homes include where to find this fish, what's known about its behavior and preferences, fishing strategies, how it's managed, and how anglers can help contribute to a growing body of knowledge and appreciation for this fish and #AllTheFish. Atlantic Tripletail. 📷 Kevin Spangler CC-BY NC 4.0

Every parent’s dream: Offspring about to leave the nest. Thousands of seabirds are fledging these days from the Pacific Ocean’s Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, also known as the world’s largest albatross colony. After months of squid feedings from parents, wing flapping and feather growth, the big adolescents are ready to take to sea where they will spend three to five years before returning to find a mate. This black-footed albatross, named ka’upu in Hawaiian, will utilize its 6- to 7-foot wingspan while facing the wind to get enough speed for liftoff. At the beginning of the year, experts counted nearly 618,000 albatross nests on Midway Atoll NWR, which lies on the northwestern edge of the Hawaiian archipelago. USFWS volunteer video: Dan Rapp Video description: Slow-motion video shows a juvenile albatross, mostly gray or brown, flapping its wings and hopping off the ground before landing, with other seabirds in the background on a cloudy day. 

Everything is bigger in Texas... except one tiny Texan: the Texas kangaroo rat. Found in North Central Texas, this unique native species faces habitat loss and a shrinking range. Conservation partners across Texas are working hard to help its populations bounce back. Through partnerships with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Fort Worth Zoo, private landowners and more, we're helping give the Texas kangaroo rat a greater shot at recovery. Learn more about the Texas kangaroo rat and how you can help in the comments. Photos courtesy of the Fort Worth Zoo

Good news: Western snowy plover population exceeds 3,000, a recovery milestone! Every year, biologists, volunteers and conservationists from Washington State to San Diego, California, come together for one purpose: to count a tiny bird the size of a sparrow, the western snowy plover. The numbers tell a compelling story. Back in 2023, the count revealed just 2,336 snowy plovers. In 2024, that number rose to 2,676. And in 2025, the most recent survey, the count reached 3,018 — breaking 3,000 for the first time since the recovery plan was developed. Visit our comments to read the full story. Photos by Micah Ashford/USFWS

Home is where the swamp is 💚 This turtle pining for the swamp is a nine-month-old Blanding’s turtle that just graduated from Zoo New England’s Headstart Program, established to give baby turtles a leg up and increase their odds of surviving until adulthood. Since the program started in 2003, more than 800 Blanding’s turtles have been released at Great Meadows NWR in MA. A conservation milestone decades in the making, this little one is one the first document offspring from a turtle that had also been through the headstart program. USFWS video of a turtle about to be released 🔗https://ow.ly/9uR750ZqI1o

Meet Washington State's only freshwater endemic fish: the Olympic Mudminnow! Despite being found nowhere else in the world, many questions about this quintessential Washingtonian species remain unanswered! 🐟 On our latest "Fish of the Week!" podcast episode, you'll get to know the habits, preferences, and close relatives of this #nativefish. Ecologist Lauren Kuehne is our guest. Get to know #AllTheFish by catching a new episode every Monday wherever you get your podcasts 🎧 📷 Olympic mudminnow from a blackwater marsh on the Olympic Peninsula. Photo courtesy of Lawrence Kent

Milkweed status check! What kind of pollinators are you spotting on your milkweed? We got double bee butts – honeybee and bumblebee – recently on this common milkweed in Illinois. Photo: Gordon Garcia

Where do you see yourself in five years? Juvenile bald eagle: Honestly, probably with white hair, yellow beak and piercing white eyes. Young bald eagles look a lot different than their parents. It can take four years for their eyes and beak to change color, and then another year for their characteristic white head. Have you seen any bald eagles lately? Photos: Gordon Garcia