Tagging Aquatic Animals Can Disrupt Natural Behavior

Oct. 31, 2013 — American and Canadian researchers have for the first time quantified the energy cost to aquatic animals when they carry satellite tags, video cameras and other research instruments.

Studying fibreglass casts of sea turtles in a wind tunnel, the team found that while most commercially available tags increased drag by less than five per cent for large adult animals in the wild, these same devices increased drag by more than 100 per cent on smaller or juvenile animals.

"Many marine animals make yearlong breeding migrations crossing entire oceans, while others may rely on high speeds and acceleration -- enabling them to catch prey or to escape predators," says T. Todd Jones, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Hawaii, who led the study while a doctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia.

"If the drag costs from carrying tags disrupts their natural behaviour, they may miss out on breeding and foraging seasons, be unable to catch enough food, or even end up becoming someone else's meal."

Continued

Warming Temperatures Cause Aquatic Animals to Shrink the Most

ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2012) — Warmer temperatures cause greater reduction in the adult sizes of aquatic animals than in land-dwellers in a new study by scientists from Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Liverpool.

The research published Nov 5 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that the body size of marine and freshwater species are affected disproportionately by warmer temperatures. This could have implications for aquatic food webs and the production of food by aquaculture.

The researchers compared the extent to which the adult size of 169 terrestrial, freshwater, and marine species responded to different non-harmful temperatures, in the largest study of its kind.

Summarising the results, co-author Dr Andrew Hirst from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, said:

"Aquatic animals shrink 10 times more than land-dwellers in species the size of large insects or small fish. While animals in water decrease in size by 5 percent for every degree Celsius of warming, similarly sized species on land shrink, on average, by just half a percent."

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121105151334.htm

Two large sharks sighted off Rottnest Island

Updated October 31, 2011 19:56:07

The Rottnest Island Authority says several beaches will remain closed overnight after two five-metre great white sharks were spotted off the coast of the island.

Surf Lifesaving WA says the sharks were spotted by an aerial patrol this afternoon about 200 metres off shore.

The authority has closed beaches at Green Island and Strickland and Salmon bays.

The authority's Roland Mau has told the ABC that action was taken to protect beachgoers.
"We are, especially in light of the recent events being more precautious, so we are extending the closure overnight until next morning," he said.

"Awaiting obviously further monitoring in that area if there's further sightings and extending any closures if necessary."

Surf Lifesaving WA says a helicopter tracked the sharks as they moved in a westerly direction.

Mr Mau says shutting the beaches was the sensible move.

"To the west side of it is Strickland which is popular with surfers, and up the other side is Salmon Bay," he said.

"At this stage, we only had about six visitors enjoying the beaches, nobody in the water, and people understood what we were doing in terms of the precautionary measures we were taking."

The sighting comes just over a week after an American man was killed by a shark while diving off Rottnest.

George Thomas Wainwright was scuba diving about 500 metres off shore on the opposite side of the island at Little Armstrong Bay when he was attacked.

His body surfaced with horrific injuries.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-31/shark-sighted-rottnest/3611120?section=wa

St Ives harbourmaster told of two 'shark sightings'

The oceanic whitetip shark is usually found nearer Portugal

14 June 2011

Sightings of a species of shark known to attack humans have been reported to harbour officials in Cornwall.

The harbourmaster's office in St Ives said two people on separate boats had reported seeing an oceanic whitetip shark about a mile (1.6km) offshore.

But a spokesman for the office said it was not "100% sure" yet if the creatures spotted by the fishermen were oceanic whitetips.

He said people should not "blow the reports out of all proportion".

'All is calm'

The oceanic whitetip shark is usually found far further south in deeper waters away from the coast, with Portugal being the usual northern-most reach of its habitat.

The Shark Trust said that the chances of the species being in British waters were very small and it would want to see photos or video footage before confirming a sighting.

Although the species had been known to attack humans, trust president Richard Pierce, from Bude, said there was only believed to have been one oceanic whitetip-related death within the past year in the world.

He said: "If I was swimmer in Cornwall I would not be worried."

Despite being cautious about the sighting, Mr Pierce added that it was "always exciting and interesting to get sighting reports of what may be new species to our waters".

The Mayor of St Ives Ron Tulley said that "panic hasn't struck and all is peaceful and very calm in St Ives", despite the reports.

"We've had lots of people on holiday and people relaxing on the beach with not much fear of a shark attack," he said.

Feed on plankton

"These stories do surface at intervals. If a fisherman said he saw it, then it is possible, but it does seem unlikely.

"It could have been some other creature."

Basking sharks are regular visitors to the county's shores, appearing each summer to feed on plankton.

Other species have been found washed up on the county's beaches, including a 12ft (3.8m) thresher shark, which was found in Hayle in 2009.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-13759504

Man eating shark spotted off St Ives coast

12:40pm Monday 13th June 2011

Fishermen have reporting sightings of one of the world's most aggressive sharks off the Cornish coast.

Three witnesses said they saw an oceanic whitetip in St Ives Bay.

The species is responsible for more human deaths than all other shark species combined.

The sightings were reported to the harbourmaster at St Ives.

The whitetip normally lives in warmer waters, but rising temperatures have seen several new species found in Cornish waters.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/camborneandredruth/9080445.Man_eating_shark_spotted_off_St_Ives_coast/?ref=mr
(Submitted by Liz R)

Feared 'Deadly Shark' Spotted Off Cornwall

Sky News – Mon, Jun 13, 2011

A species of shark thought to be to blame for hundreds of attacks on humans has been reported off the coast of Cornwall.

One sighting of an oceanic whitetip shark was made by a fisherman who said his wooden boat was rammed as he fished for mackerel.

The harbour master's office in St Ives confirmed that a second person on a separate boat had also reported seeing one of the sharks a mile off shore.

The species is blamed for many attacks on humans and brought terror to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh last year when a 'rogue' whitetip reportedly killed a German woman .

A spokesman for the harbour master in St Ives said they were not "100%" sure if the sharks spotted were oceanic whitetips and stressed that people should not blow the reports "out of all proportion".

The pelagic - or ocean-going - species is usually found far further south in deeper waters away from the coast, with Portugal being the usual northern-most reach of its habitat.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/feared-deadly-shark-spotted-off-cornwall-110415724.html

Leatherback turtle seen in The Minch off Western Isles

The turtle was photographed by researchers and volunteers aboard the Silurian

10 June 2011

A leatherback turtle has been spotted in the sea off Scotland.

Crew members of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust research vessel Silurian estimated it was about 1.5m (5ft) long.

They saw the turtle in The Minch, a stretch of water between the Western Isles and mainland Scotland on Sunday.

Leatherbacks nest in the tropics but have been spotted previously off the UK, with one sighting made near a beach at Cleveleys in Lancashire last June.

Dave Hanna, skipper of the Silurian, said seeing the turtle was the most exciting moment of his life.
The cold

The leatherback is the world's biggest turtle and listed as Critically Endangered, largely because of poaching for eggs and snaring in fishing gear.

Typically between 1m and 2m long, the animals weigh up to three-quarters of a tonne and can swim across entire oceans, returning to their ancestral nesting sites to breed every few years.

In 2002, a rare green turtle was found dead off Loch Inver on the north west coast of Scotland.

At the time it was believed to be only the third recorded discovery of a green turtle in Scottish waters in more than 150 years.

The animal normally lives in tropical and sub-tropical waters and scientists said it probably perished in the cold after losing its way.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-13727829

Monster Fish

Friday, June 10, 2011

This 420-kilogramme Koi-Koral, caught in the Bay, was being sold at Kazirdewri Bazar in the port city of Chittagong yesterday at Tk 600 per kilogramme. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=189364

Shark! Dorsal fins from two 18-footers sighted near Long Island beach

Barcelo Stephen for News

A dorsal fin breaks the surface near a Suffolk County

beach Wednesday.

BY Joe Kemp
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, June 1st 2011, 8:18 PM

Two 18-foot sharks shut down a Long Island beach Wednesday after they were spotted lurking in waters just off the coast, officials said.

A seal carcass also washed up near the East End beach, but it was unclear if it had been killed by the sharks, officials said.

Cloudy skies made it difficult to confirm the exact species of the large predators, but authorities closed the West Hamptons Dunes beach after they saw the dorsal fins poking from the ocean surface.

"My bet is that they're sharks," said West Hampton Dunes Mayor Gary Vegliante. "My hope is that they're basking [not predatory] sharks."

Reports of the sharks started Tuesday afternoon, just a day after the Memorial Day holiday, officials said.

Vegliante said that the ban will be lifted once the species of the sharks are confirmed or when they swim away, which could take a few more days.

"Once we're sure that it's safe, we'll lift the ban," Vegliante said.

The dead seal was removed from the sand where it washed ashore, and a necropsy will be performed to determine the cause of death, Vegliante said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/06/01/2011-06-01_shark_dorsal_fins_from_two_18footers_sighted_near_long_island_beach.html

'Largest' Fin whale gathering spotted in British waters

Fin whales seen by scientists 'lunge-feeding' near the
surface of the water

7 June 2011

Scientists have described whale sightings off the Cornish coast as one of the "largest gatherings" of the species ever seen in British waters.

Researchers spotted 21 fin whales 50 to 70 miles offshore, feeding near the surface over 30 minutes.

The fin whale, the second largest animal on the planet, is a globally endangered species.

Dr Tom Brereton, research director from Marinelife, said it was an "incredibly rare event".

The species were seen in an area known as the Celtic Deep, between north Cornwall and south west Pembrokeshire, on 21 May while researchers were on a three-week cruise in the area surveying numbers of schooling fish such as sardines.

The survey is due to finish on Thursday.

'Top predators'

Dr Brereton said: "It is very unusual to see those numbers, historically it's never occurred in that area.

"In the last 10 years there's been one or two sightings that have cropped up off the coast of Wales and Cornwall which has been quite big news, but to see 20 more or less together in one small area is really fantastic."

Fin whales are usually found in large numbers in the Bay of Biscay, but their presence in British waters is a relatively new discovery.

Experts on the ship suggested that the whales may have been chasing a dense crowd of krill into the area.

Dr Colin MacLeod, Marinelife's chief scientific adviser, said the sighting could be part of a wider movement of sea creatures around Britain's coast as a result of climate change.

"These changes indicate the extent to which climate change is affecting our marine animals.

"If it is affecting these top predators to such an extent, it is likely that it is also affecting other marine life further down the food chain, including species which are commercially important for the fishing industry," he said.

Marinelife is a charity working to study and maintain numbers of whales, dolphins and seabirds around the British coast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-13680731
(Submitted by Liz R)

Fossil of Giant Ancient Sea Predator Discovered

Anomalocaridids had long, spiny head limbs presumably used to snag
prey, and a series of blade-like filaments in segments across the animal's
back, which scientists think might have functioned as gills.
(Credit: Esben Horn)

ScienceDaily (May 26, 2011) — Paleontologists have discovered that a group of remarkable ancient sea creatures existed for much longer and grew to much larger sizes than previously thought, thanks to extraordinarily well-preserved fossils discovered in Morocco.

The creatures, known as anomalocaridids, were already thought to be the largest animals of the Cambrian period, known for the "Cambrian Explosion" that saw the sudden appearance of all the major animal groups and the establishment of complex ecosystems about 540 to 500 million years ago. Fossils from this period suggested these marine predators grew to be about two feet long. Until now, scientists also thought these strange invertebrates -- which had long spiny head limbs presumably used to snag worms and other prey, and a circlet of plates around the mouth -- died out at the end of the Cambrian.

Now a team led by former Yale researcher Peter Van Roy (now at Ghent University in Belgium) and Derek Briggs, director of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, has discovered a giant fossilized anomalocaridid that measures one meter (more than three feet) in length. The anomalocaridid fossils reveal a series of blade like filaments in each segment across the animal's back, which scientists think might have functioned as gills.

In addition, the creature dates back to the Ordovician period, a time of intense biodiversification that followed the Cambrian, meaning these animals existed for 30 million years longer than previously realized.

"The anomalocaridids are one of the most iconic groups of Cambrian animals," Briggs said. "These giant invertebrate predators and scavengers have come to symbolize the unfamiliar morphologies displayed by organisms that branched off early from lineages leading to modern marine animals, and then went extinct. Now we know that they died out much more recently than we thought."

The specimens are just part of a new trove of fossils from Morocco that includes thousands of examples of soft-bodied marine fauna dating back to the early Ordovician period, 488 to 472 million years ago. Because hard shells fossilize and are preserved more readily than soft tissue, scientists had an incomplete and biased view of the marine life that existed during the Ordovician period before the recent discoveries in Morocco. The animals found in Morocco inhabited a muddy sea floor in fairly deep water, and were trapped by sediment clouds that buried them and preserved their soft bodies.

"The new discoveries in Morocco indicate that animals characteristic of the Cambrian, such as the anomalocaridids, continued to have a considerable impact on the biodiversity and ecology of marine communities many millions of years later," Van Roy said.

The paper appears in the May 26 issue of the journal Nature.

This research was supported by a National Geographic Society Research and Exploration grant and by Yale University.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110525131709.htm

Giant water bug photographed devouring baby turtle

Role reversal: insects prey upon reptiles

26 May 2011
By Ella Davies
Reporter, BBC Nature

A giant water bug has been photographed eating a juvenile turtle in an unusual predatory role reversal.

Large bugs in the Lethocerinae family have been known to prey upon small vertebrates including fish and frogs.

But unlike insects that often fall prey to reptiles, scientists have observed one particular species of bug eating snakes and a turtle.

Dr Shin-ya Ohba recorded the unusual behaviour during night sampling in western Hyogo, central Japan.

Writing in the journal Entomological Science, Dr Ohba describes observing a Kirkaldyia deyrolli eating a Reeve's pond turtle in a ditch next to a rice field.

Using its front legs the giant water bug gripped the turtle, inserting its syringe-like rostrum into the prey's neck in order to feed.

The giant water bugs are known to only attack moving prey, so it is likely that the 58mm insect captured and killed the young turtle before feeding on it.

Dr Ohba has also photographed giant water bugs eating snakes in the past.

"Everyone thinks that Lethocerinae bugs live on fishes and frogs. Although eating a turtle and snake are rare in the natural condition, [this evidence] surprises naturalists [by showing] voracious feeding habits," said Dr Ohba.

He suggests that these observations of bugs predating reptiles call into question previously held opinions about predator-prey dynamics in freshwater habitats.

K. deyrolli are native to Japan where they have been found living in rice fields, feeding primarily on small fish and frogs.

The species is listed as endangered by the Japanese Environment Agency following serious declines over the last forty years, reportedly due to habitat loss and water pollution.

Giant water bugs are the largest of the true bugs (Hemiptera) and members of the sub-family Lethocerinae are found in freshwater ponds, lakes and slow-moving streams and rivers across North America, South America and East Asia.

Lethocerus species can grow up to 15cm long, are nocturnal and can fly, relying on the light of the full moon to migrate.

They possess a venomous bite which they use to subdue prey and are occasionally known to bite humans, resulting in a burning pain that can last several hours.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13500857

Did you get some good holiday snaps? Hunt is on for two alligators spotted lurking in fishing lake - in NORFOLK

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:43 PM on 4th June 2011

A holidaymaker claims to have spotted two alligators lurking in a lake - in East Anglia.

He called the police after catching sight of the reptiles in the water at a holiday park in Wortwell, Norfolk.

Police confirmed they are investigating the sighting but despite scouring the park, neither creature has been found.

Visitors to the 60-acre Waveney Valley Lakes are keeping their eyes peeled for the pair - and are giving the fishing lakes a wide berth.

Park manager Dave Potter, 58, told The Sun: 'It has caused quite a stir.

'We have 90 plots for caravans and lodges, so there are a lot of people here.

'The police had a good look around but didn't find anything.'

Norfolk Police confirmed a member of the public called to report he had seen the alligators and officers informed the park's owners.

Alligator expert Dr Laura Brandt said it was possible the alligators had been released or found their way to the water.

She warned: 'They will eat anything that moves.'

Native to the U.S. and China, the alligator is notorious for its bone-crushing bites and has existed for 200million years.

A large American alligator can weigh 800 pounds and can grow to more than 13 feet long. Their average lifespan is 50 years.

The park's website said the lakes at Waveney - about 15 miles south of Norwich - were excavated in 1942 to provide the materials for the construction of many local airfields for the Allied Air Forces war effort.

The fishery originated in the 1960s when thousands of carp, tench and bream were introduced to the lakes. It now attracts anglers from miles around.

The website states the park is a 'natural haven for wildlife' including kingfishers, herons, grebes and three species of bats.

Meanwhile, police shot a concrete lawn ornament in the shape of an alligator in the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri, this week after thinking it was real.

The drama began when a neighbour who had not seen the fake alligator before called 911 to report that his children had spotted it while playing in some nearby woods.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393797/Alligators-spotted-Norfolk-Did-good-holiday-snaps.html

Animal Planet's Jeremy Wade Risks Life And Limb To Capture River Monsters

Lee Speigel
First Posted: 06/ 3/11 08:25 AM ET

You don't have to travel all the way to Scotland's Loch Ness to search for a real monster. There may be one lurking in water much closer to home.

For those who doubt such things, just ask the folks who live near Mississippi's Chotard Lake. In February, a fisherman pulled a 327-pound, 8 1/2-foot-long prehistoric-looking alligator gar from the freshwater site.

One well-known angler, Jeremy Wade, doesn't know the meaning of the phrase "the big one that got away."

As host of the hugely popular Animal Planet series, "River Monsters," the 55-year-old biologist's life is a series of detective stories as he travels the world searching for unimaginable creatures that lurk in the murky depths of inland waterways.

"It starts with a crime scene or a story, and then it's an investigation," Wade told AOL Weird News from his home in England. "Following the analogy, I will have a list of suspects and will narrow it down to the prime suspect.

"I'll then apprehend the culprit and then I'll let him go. It's all about motivation and understanding, like why did this fish grab the leg of a person who was swimming in a lake?"

Wade is on a six-week trip to begin filming the fourth season of compelling adventures that would make Indiana Jones jealous. While he's obsessed with capturing the most fearsome, dangerous fish in the world, Wade introduces his audience to fascinating cultures who cautiously welcome him into their villages and lives.

He's been angling ever since his parents gave him his first fishing rod when he was around 7 years old.

"Fishing was a way for families to get their sons out of the house and out of trouble," he recalled. "I wasn't at all successful when I first started. There was just something about the whole experience -- something about a line in the water, just hanging there limp, nothing happening, and suddenly, it's alive.

"I was almost frightened to catch my first fish -- it was a very alien thing, from another world. For me, the attraction was to go back and catch something different, bigger and more demanding."

Wade's TV companion book, "River Monsters," (Da Capo Press) takes readers along on some of his more daring and dangerous journeys, revealing monster-sized fish in some of the most remote rivers and lakes on the planet.

What he finds is truly the stuff of nightmares. It's a rogues gallery that includes fearsome-looking catfish, tigerfish, piranha, alligator gar, as well as deadly stingrays, sawfish and electric eels.

One of the fish Wade set out to find was the fearsome goliath tigerfish of the Congo.

"From the accounts I'd read, it sounded completely impossible, like some giant piranha," he said. "The teeth of the fish are about 1 inch long. To put that into some kind of perspective, that is the same length of the teeth in a 1,000-pound great white shark. But this is something that actually swims up a river."

Wade is constantly reminded that while rivers of the world, like the Amazon and the Congo, are essential to people's lives, danger lurks nearby.

"If you haven't got running water in your house, you've got to go down to the river and wash your dishes, clothes, yourself, and you've got these fish, which are predatory, and they often have a reflex that can cause you to lose fingers or other parts of your body," Wade explained.

One of the more amazing pictures Wade snapped was in 1994 of an animal that's come to be known as the Amazon lake monster. At an estimated 9 feet long, the very prehistoric-looking beast appeared to have at least six humps on its back as it broke the surface of the water.

"In the end, the explanation turned out to be a bit mundane," Wade said. "I think it was a malformed, adult pink river dolphin.

"What probably happened is that it was likely caught in a fishing net and the fisherman possibly used his machete to mutilate it, and it became this mystery monster.

"I almost wished that I never knew that. But in some ways, the most important thing for me out of that whole story is the fact that I saw something in the water, nobody believed me, but the evidence of my eyes was correct -- I wasn't hallucinating."

Wade says that compared to the oceans of the world, scientists know very little about what lurks in the planet's vast number of rivers.

"Fresh water is a bit of a last frontier and, in many cases, the only way to find out what's in a river or a lake is to put a fishing line in there.

"There are fish that can grow up to 10 feet long, with a mouthful of nearly 500 teeth. And these are things that live really close to big populated areas. So if that doesn't fulfill the criteria for a monster, I'm not sure what does."

Most people go fishing to relax. What does Wade do?

"I take a break from fishing."

See more at: http://weirdnews.aol.com/2011/06/03/animal-planet-jeremy-ward-river-monsters_n_867182.html#s285370&title=River_Monsters

Mass extinction victim survives! Snail long thought extinct, isn't

A view of Choccolocco Creek, Talledega County, Alabama, where a
surviving population of the wicker ancylid limpet Rhodacmea filosa
(insert, not to scale), was recently rediscovered.
Credit: Paul Johnson, Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center

June 1, 2011

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Think "mass extinction" and you probably envision dinosaurs dropping dead in the long-ago past or exotic tropical creatures being wiped out when their rainforest habitats are decimated. But a major mass extinction took place right here in North America in the first half of the 20th century, when 47 species of mollusk disappeared after the watershed in which they lived was dammed.

Now, a population of one of those species—a freshwater limpet last seen more than 60 years ago and presumed extinct—has been found in a tributary of the heavily dammed Coosa River in Alabama's Mobile River Basin. Researchers from the University of Michigan, the Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center and the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission reported the rediscovery May 31 in the online, open-access journal PLoS One.

The story of Rhodacmea filosa's disappearance and reappearance is both a conservation success story and a cautionary tale for other parts of the world where rivers are being dammed, said Diarmaid Ó Foighil, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and a curator at the U-M Museum of Zoology. It's also an example of how museum specimens collected generations ago can inform scientists of today.

Limpets are snails with shells shaped like caps rather than coils. They make their homes in the riffles and shoals of fast-flowing rivers and streams, where they graze on microscopic algae. When rivers are dammed, shoals and riffles are replaced with reservoirs, and the swiftly-moving water the limpets require is stilled.

The Mobile River Basin, a "global hotspot of temperate freshwater biodiversity," was extensively industrialized throughout the 20th century, and 36 major dams and locks were built. At the time, few thought much about preserving biodiversity. The prevailing attitude was, "What's not to like about getting electricity from a natural source—especially in impoverished, rural areas—and using that to drive industrialization?" Ó Foighil said. "The dams were seen as signs of progress."

But progress came at the expense of mollusks that were found only in that area and nowhere else in the world.

"Their habitat was destroyed in huge chunks," Ó Foighil said. The result: 47 of 139 endemic mollusk species were lost, representing a full one-third of all known freshwater mollusk extinctions worldwide.

Then, about 20 years ago, thanks to increased interest in and funding for conservation projects, biologists began searching patches of the drainage that weren't affected by damming, trying to find remnants of the original, rich fauna and save whatever still could be saved. At the Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center (AABC), a former catfish experimental research station has been converted into a captive breeding facility, with the aim of breeding survivors of the mass extinction and reintroducing them into unaffected parts of the watershed.

It was through those efforts that AABC director Paul Johnson discovered the surviving population of what he thought might be Rhodacmea filosa. But how does one definitively identify a species that hasn't been seen in decades? There are no other living members of the group with which to compare specimens.

That's where the U-M Museum of Zoology collection comes in. It just so happens that 100 years ago, biologists collected multitudes of mollusks from the Mobile River Basin—never envisioning the habitat destruction and resulting extinctions that were to come—and those specimens ended up in the U-M collection. Coincidentally, the mollusk portion of that collection was largely established by Bryant Walker, an early authority on—you guessed it—the limpet genus Rhodacmea. Furthermore, the last person to study Rhodacmea was a U-M graduate student, some 50 years ago.

Using century-old reference specimens, Ó Foighil, professor emeritus John Burch, graduate student Jingchun Li and collection coordinator Taehwan Lee were able to confirm the identity in addition to performing detailed morphometric and DNA analyses.

"This is very good news," Ó Foighil said. "With conservation biology, usually it's all gloom and doom, but this is one of those rare events where we have something positive to say."

But just because survivors have been found, does that mean the species can continue to survive?

"I think they can, because of two things," Ó Foighil said. "We have a persistent population in this little tributary, but we also now have in place the infrastructure for their captive breeding and reintroduction to other tributaries."

This snail tale might well serve as an object lesson, Ó Foighil said. "The industrialization of freshwater watersheds that happened across the U.S. in the last century is now happening all over the world. For instance, right now one of the most egregious examples is the ongoing damming of the Mekong, and there are likely thousands of endemic species there. Even though we're now more aware of this—of the negative downsides—when it comes to issues of economic development, freshwater biodiversity almost always loses."

In addition to Ó Foighil, Li, Lee, Johnson and Burch, the paper's authors include Ryan Evans of the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission. Funding was provided by the State Wildlife Grant Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Science Foundation.

http://ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=8426

Beached 44ft whale dies on Redcar beach

The mammal died despite hopes it would survive until the tide went out

31 May 2011

A 44ft (13m) long whale has died three hours after becoming stranded on a beach on Teesside.

Police alerted the RNLI after spotting the 20 tonne stricken mammal on Redcar Beach, just after 0620 BST.

A rescue bid started which involved trying to keep the adult sperm whale wet until high tide but it died.

Richard Ilderton, of British Divers Marine Life Rescue, said the North Sea was not a suitable environment for such a large creature.

RSPCA officers were involved in the rescue attempt, along with those from the Coastguard and Cleveland Fire Brigade, while RSPCA vets assessed the mammal's condition.

An RNLI spokesman said: "We don't know the reasons but usually when they get to this situation the conclusion is that they don't survive.

"A post mortem will be carried out on the whale and then it will be up to the local council to dispose of it."

'Becomes malnourished'

Crowds went to the beach to see the whale.

Redcar and Cleveland Council said cordons had been put up around the whale, which is due to remain on the beach overnight, watched by security guards.

Mr Ilderton said: "While we have whales in the North Sea, it is not a suitable environment for a sperm whale because the food supply is not there.

"It doesn't eat, it becomes malnourished, it becomes dehydrated because whales do not drink - they get their liquid from their food.

"It can cause all sorts of health problems and ultimately results in something like this happening."

He said the whale's death might actually have been the best outcome.

"If we were able to put the animal back out to sea, all we would be doing is putting it back out to starve, which is massively cruel and against what we want to do," he said.

Robbie Marsland, UK Director of International Fund for Animal Welfare, said whales stranded for a variety of reasons.

He said: "While it is not possible to pinpoint the cause in every case, we do know that human activity in the seas is increasing the threats to these highly intelligent and complex marine mammals.

"Manmade ocean noise, from shipping, oil and gas excavation and naval sonar, makes it ever harder for whales to navigate, communicate, find food or mates and avoid prey."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-13601654
(Submitted by Liz R)

Mystery Mersey ‘monster’ baffles marine life experts

by Laura Jones, Liverpool Echo
May 25 2011

A MYSTERY sea creature spotted in the Mersey has experts baffled.

The “monster” was snapped off Seacombe Ferry at 9am yesterday by photographer Mark Harrison.

Paul Renolds, from the Blue Planet Aquarium, who studied the photos, said: “It is virtually impossible to actually identify, but this is the time of year when large numbers of basking sharks, the second largest shark species in the world after whale sharks, head towards waters off the Isle of Man.”

He added: “If it is not a basking shark, it could be a smaller species of whale or a dolphin because there are around 23 different species in UK waters.”

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/05/25/mystery-mersey-monster-baffles-marine-life-experts-100252-28758710

Endangered gourmet sea snail could be doomed by increasing ocean acidity

Public release date: 25-May-2011

Increasing levels of ocean acidity could spell doom for British Columbia's already beleaguered northern abalone, according to the first study to provide direct experimental evidence that changing sea water chemistry is negatively affecting an endangered species.

The northern abalone--prized as a gourmet delicacy--has a range that extents along the North American west coast from Baja California to Alaska. Even though British Columbia's northern abalone commercial fisheries where closed in 1990 to protect dwindling populations, the species has continued to struggle, largely due to poaching.

To better understand the impact climate change — and specifically, increasing ocean acidity — has on this endangered species, UBC researchers exposed northern abalone larvae to water containing increased levels of CO2. Increases from 400 to 1,800 parts per million killed 40 per cent of larvae, decreased the size of larvae that did survive, and increased the rate of shell abnormalities.

"This is quite bad news, not only in terms of the endangered populations of abalone in the wild, but also the impact it might have on the prospects for aquaculture and coastal economics," says Christopher Harley, Associate Professor with the Department of Zoology and one of the authors of the study.

"And because the species is already thought to be limited by reproductive output and recruitment, these effects are likely to scale up to the population level, creating greater limits on population growth."

Average CO2 levels in the open ocean hover at 380 parts per million, a number which is excepted to increase slowly over the next century.

What concerns the researchers are the much higher spikes in dissolved CO2 that are already being observed along the BC coast, particularly in late spring and early summer when northern abalone populations are spawning.

The findings were published in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.

"While we're looking at a single species that is culturally important as a source of food and artistic inspiration for many coastal Pacific Northwest First Nations, this information may have implications for other abalone species in other parts of the world," says Ryan Crim, lead author on the paper who conducted the research while a graduate student with the UBC Department of Zoology.

Other species of abalone are farmed around the world, principally in China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. The black, white and pink abalone are also endangered on the west coast--red abalone are still an economically viable food species.

The study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and conducted in collaboration with the Bamfield-Huu-ay-aht Community Abalone Project, a small abalone hatchery in Bamfield which has subsequently gone out of business. The dual mission of the hatchery was to produce cultured abalone for high end restaurants, and to restore endangered abalone by culturing and releasing larvae and juveniles to the wild.

Harley and Crim will continue to work with the aquaculture industry to study the effects of acidification on oysters and other shellfish.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-05/uobc-egs052511.php

Strange sea creature

19 May 2011

According to the Greek mythology, Hippo-campus was a fabulous sea creature with a horse’s head and a fish’s tail and it was believed that they drew Neptune’s chariot, the sea king.

But then what’s in a name? A seahorse is not a horse, instead is a fish unlike a fish. It swims almost upright with a graceful upper body. Its eyes operate independently of each other. Instead of scales it has protective bony plates and possesses a strong tail to grasp vegetation, coral or another seahorse.

There are about 40 species of seahorses in several colours and shapes, who are 5 to 30cm long, survive for one to four years. The most unique feature of these creatures is that instead of the females, male seahorses breed and may rise up to six broods in a single season.

They camouflage against their predators by changing colours or with leafy outgrowths on their body. Due to rigid armour plating, seahorses cannot move swiftly through the water thus glide along slowly. A tiny, vibrating fin at the back acts as propeller, it also helps them to regulate the volume of gases in their bodies thereby controlling their movement.

Interestingly adult male and female seahorses religiously dance every morning to confirm their bonding as well as their territorial rights. They swallow tiny crustaceans and planktons through their long tubular snorts, and anchor themselves in water with their apprehensible tails to seaweeds or other fellow beings to shun danger. Seahorses are found in the world’s warmer coastal waters ~ Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans apart from the north European waters.

Unfortunately, recent times have witnessed their dwindling numbers at a fast pace, mainly due to pollution and climate change. Another major threat is indiscriminate harvesting of the animal particularly in South-East Asia. Over 20 million seahorses are harvested each year and used in the traditional Asian medicines apart from being used as souvenirs.

Thus they are one of the endangered species and measures have been taken to improve their numbers through captive breeding, setting up of reserve marine areas and persuading fishing communities to reduce harvesting.

However, much depends upon our sensibilities and sensitivity.

bratin ghosh, Class VII
The Heritage School

http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=370089&catid=46

Basking shark sighted off Cumbrae

Published 23 May 2011 09:30

A basking shark was spotted off the Isle of Cumbrae as the Marine Conservation Society urge shark spotters to record sightings as they happen with their mobile phone.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) said that the sharks are once again being spotted in UK coastal waters as they cruise close to the shore, hoovering up vast amounts of plankton through their gaping mouths.

Through their long-running Basking Shark Watch programme, MCS has already been alerted by the public to sightings around Land's End, off the world famous Cobb at Lyme Regis, off Donegal, Northern Ireland, at Dingle and Kerry in southwest Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland.

The first basking shark of the year was seen very early - reported to MCS off the island of Canna, west coast of Scotland - in January, with the next two sightings reported in March, one close to Millport, Scotland and the other close to Newlyn, Cornwall.

As with all sightings of wild animals, MCS urges caution: "These impressive creatures can grow up to 11 metres long and weigh up to seven tonnes and, although they aren't dangerous to humans, their behaviour can be unpredictable and involve sudden leaping out of the water or 'breaching'," said Dr Solandt. "Seven tonnes of flailing basking shark has real potential to spoil your day if you get too close, so we urge people to keep a safe and respectful distance from them."

In collaboration with the Shark Trust, MCS has produced the Basking Shark Code of Conduct, which provides clear guidance on how the public can behave safely around basking sharks. You can find out more at www.mcsuk.org

http://www.largsandmillportnews.com/news/roundup/articles/2011/05/23/413558-basking-shark-sighted-off-cumbrae/