A litter picking group gathers every month to remove rubbish from the River Wear in Durham.
Hayden Leigh, a forensic science graduate, is studying the hair of Boris the bear.
Reserve manager Helen Deavin says the site helps rare species not just survive, but thrive.
Four projects have been nominated in the environmental category in Devon's Make a Difference Awards.
The US president says the move will help ranchers, but conservationists say it could derail efforts to recover populations.
Conservationists say the budding relationship is "exciting" for the species and their habitat.
The Seal Research Trust backs calls to make deliberate seal disturbance an offence.
Researchers said numbers in one of the UK's most significant colonies of the seabirds may have fallen by 30%.
The Australian icon was killed in 2006, after a stingray's barb pierced his chest during filming.
