Deadly lionfish invade Florida waters?

Top scientists are warning about an impending invasion of a poisonous fish into Florida's waters.

The lionfish, a native of the Pacific Ocean, is both gorgeous and dangerous. Many people may have never seen a lionfish in the waters surrounding Florida, but that will soon change.

Scientists don't use the word "invasion" lightly, but that's exactly what they are predicting of the exotic-looking lionfish.

The poisonous tips on the lionfish's fins could present a danger to people who swim, dive or work in Florida waters.

Aquarium manager Anthony Bartolome said he has been stung five times by lionfish.

"It pretty much burns like fire," Bartolome said.

The pain from a lionfish sting lasts for about 15 to 20 minutes. The lionfish's sting is so serious it can send victims to the hospital and even kill them.

"There is no anti-venom for this," said Lad Akins, executive director of Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF).

Experts are so concerned about the impending invasion of lionfish they are desperately trying to warn the public.

"They're also very bold fish, especially in this new Atlantic range where it appears that they have few, if any, predators," Akins stated.

Lionfish have no predators because they do not belong in the Atlantic Ocean. There is nothing here to eat them or stop them from eating Florida's reef fish.

When lionfish grow too big, aquarium owners begin dumping the fish right into the Atlantic Ocean.

Now they are breeding at a rapid pace, experts said.

Scientists and volunteers are feverishly trying to fight the invasion of lionfish.

To do this, they are studying - and killing - the lionfish, now found in deep and shallow water.

Experts believe lionfish in the Bahamas and in Cancun, Mexico, will, as larvae, make their way to Florida on the ocean currents.

Once established, they will start destroying reefs and throwing the ecosystem out of balance.

This change will threaten the lobster, grouper, snapper and many more animals that call these waters their home.

New studies headed by Mark Hixon of Oregon State University are about to be published in a peer-reviewed science journal found one lionfish can deplete 79 percent of a reef in just five weeks.

That means coral ecology dies and algae takes over.

"You know the potential is there for it to be devastating," said Tom Jackson with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Jackson's job is to track invasive species and creatures that can sometimes change and destroy a vital ecosystem.

His personal opinion is it would be best to ban the sale of lionfish completely.

"In 2003, nearly 8,000 were imported to Tampa alone, 8,000. You only need 15 or 20 in one area to create a population," Jackson said.

Volunteers are being recruited to help stop the invasion of this species into the South Florida waters.

SOURCE: TCPalm

Spawning coral turns sea pink

Ah, Wednesday. Mid-week. Hump day.

The perfect day to squander your lunch hour viewing videos of coral reefs.

This clip of spawning corals is from BBC News. If you check the video credit, however, the footage actually comes "courtesy of Reefvid.org."

Oh really ...

... well, I have a 60-minute lunch so of course I checked out the site and watched, like, 6 more videos. Most of the stuff I searched for—clown, blue tang, giant clam—came up with at least one watchable video snippet.

Alas, the time has come for me to clock back in. If you find any cool videos you want to share, comment with a link so we can check 'em out later.

Happy hump day!

Invasion Beyond the Coast: Conservation Through Responsible Reef Keeping

For the last two weeks, we have discussed the potential impact of invasive species that threaten to undermine the delicate ecological balance off the Eastern coast of the United States. Luckily, scientists have discovered this problem and are taking action to correct it.

But what can you, as an aquarist, do to help?

The easiest thing to do is to not release any organisms back into the wild. Even if the species you are releasing is indigenous to the area, the fish may carry diseases that can wipe out a native population. At the very least, your fish has become accustom to not working for food and will most likely starve if it needs to hunt again.

A more proactive approach is to join a local conservation group, such as reef.org or SCCAT.com. These groups not only help to monitor the current state of invasion, but also assist in the cleanup process.

Thank you for joining us on this 3 week journey of discovery and conservation. Through responsible reef keeping, we can maintain wild populations and save the natural balance.

Dolphin rescues stranded whales

WELLINGTON (AFP) — A dolphin guided two stranded whales to safety after human attempts to keep the animals off a New Zealand beach failed, a conservation official said Wednesday.

"I've never heard of anything like this before, it was amazing," Conservation Department officer Malcolm Smith said.

The actions of the dolphin, well known locally for playing with swimmers at Mahia beach on the east coast of the North Island, probably meant the difference between life and death for the whales, Smith told AFP.

Smith had been working for over an hour and a half to save the two pygmy sperm whales which had repeatedly become stranded despite his attempts to push them back out to sea.

A bottlenose dolphin, named Moko by locals, appeared and guided the whales to safety after apparently communicating with them, Smith said.

The whales, a three-metre (10-foot) female and her 1.5 metre male calf, were apparently confused by a sandbar just off the beach and could not find their way back to open water.

Smith had been alerted at daybreak on Monday by a neighbour about the two stranded whales on Mahia beach near his home.

"Over the next hour and a half I pushed them back out to sea two or three times and they were very reluctant to move offshore," Smith said.

"I was starting to get cold and wet and they were becoming tired. I was reaching the stage where I was thinking it's about time to give up here, I've done as much as I can."

In that situation, whales are often humanely killed to end their suffering.

Smith said Moko arrived on the scene and he could hear the whales and the dolphin making noises, apparently to one another.

"The whales made contact with the dolphin and she basically escorted them about 200 metres (yards) parallel with the beach to the edge of the sandbar.

"Then she did a right-angle turn through quite a narrow channel and escorted them out to sea.

"There's been no sign of the whales since Monday, they haven't restranded."

"What the communication was I do not know, and I was not aware dolphins could communicate with pygmy sperm whales, but something happened that allowed Moko to guide those two whales to safety."

Moko has become famous for her antics at Mahia, which include playing in the surf with swimmers, approaching boats to be patted and pushing kayaks through the water with her snout.

Such close interaction with humans is rare among dolphins but not unknown. "She's become isolated from her pod obviously for one reason or another, but obviously made Mahia home just at the moment."

Mahia gets up to 30 whale strandings a year, most of which end with the whales having to be put down.

"I don't know if next time we have a whale stranding we can get her to come in again. She certainly saved the day for us and the whales this time."

Source: Google News

Free Presentation in Boulder, CO

With an even greater biodiversity than rainforests, coral reefs provide spawning, nursery, refuge, and feeding areas for more than one million marine species. But this breathtakingly beautiful ecosystem now faces a potentially lethal combination of threats. Chronic stresses such as over-fishing, pollution, and coastal development have decreased coral reefs’ ability to withstand the impacts of a changing climate and acidifying oceans. Join Dr. Rod Fujita for an engaging discussion of the critical issues surrounding coral reef conservation and learn how you can take action to save this vibrant and endangered ecosystem.

Dr. Fujita is a Board Member of The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), and a senior scientist with Environmental Defense. He played a pivotal role in creating the first marine reserves protecting U.S. coral reefs in the Florida Keys, and in the establishment of the world’s first marine reserve network in California’s Channel Islands. Dr. Fujita has also been a leading advocate for actions to slow down and stop global warming, to end overfishing and habitat damage, and to reduce ocean pollution. He is a recipient of the Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation and is the author of dozens of scientific papers, popular articles, and the well-received book Heal the Ocean (New Society Publishers).

Dr. Rod Fujita, Scientist/Author
Free Presentation - CORAL REEFS: IN HOT WATER
5:30 to 7:00 PM
Boulder Public Library Auditorium
1000 Canyon Boulevard, Boulder

Source: The Coral Reef Alliance

Stranger Than Fiction

Back in February, I posted a picture of a very unusual fish.

A fish so unusual, in fact, that I posed the question: is this monster of the deep, in fact, real … or some Photoshop’d monstrosity created by a graphic designer with too much time on his hands.

A month passed before an anonymous commenter concluded our “Fact or Fiction?” was indeed fact. Further, our unnamed hero even identified the silver beast as an Oarfish.

SeaSky.org had this to say about the Oarfish:

The oarfish, or Regalecus glesne, is the longest bony fish in the sea. Also known as the ribbon fish, it can grow up to 50 feet in length and weigh as much as 100 pounds. The oarfish is easily distinguished by its shiny, silvery body and its bright red crest that runs the entire length of its body. Oarfish live in the deep ocean at depths down to 3000 feet. They have only been known to come up to the surface when sick or dying and have rarely ever been seen alive. Oarfish have a small mouth and no teeth. They strain crustaceans from the gill rakers in their mouth. It is believed that an oarfish can survive with only half of its body intact. Many researchers also believe that the oarfish may have been responsible for the many sightings of sea serpents reported by ancient mariners. It is indeed one of the strangest looking fish in the sea. Oarfish are found throughout the deep seas of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea.

Conclusion: Fact
Case: Closed

I would like to leave you with a poem:

Crashing waves bring something in
Among the swell a bright red fin
What is this coming in to the shore?
A strange sea creature never glimpsed before.
With a piercing glare and silvery eyes
I stopped to stare at its unusual size
An enormous beast and true sea monster
Spawned from deep to creep and leap
From ocean waters to scare young daughters
Who beg & plead for no more fish
One more victim of the old Oarfish

Six Legged "Hexapus" discovered in Britain

I came across this article last night and I thought I would share it with everyone. Enjoy!

Source: Yahoo! News

Too Close For Comfort

These two kayakers got more than they bargained for on a trip to spot sea turtles off the Hawaiian island of Maui - winding up in the path of an anxious female humpback whale, surging out of the water to protect her young.

The female adult flapped her fin at the passers-by to warn them off, before coming up out of the water as the kayakers quickly escaped. Neither was hurt.

Humpback whales are not aggressive, but adults can reach up to 16 metres in length and 36,000 kilos in weight.

About 60 percent of the population of North Pacific humpback whales migrates to Hawaii every winter to mate and to give birth to calves conceived during last year's breeding season.

What makes the waters so welcoming is their relatively shallow depth. The maximum diving depth of a humpback is about 180 metres, and the plateau linking the Hawaiian islands doesn't get any deeper than that.

Researchers believe that the population has been rising at a rate of about 7 per cent per year for some time. Just two weeks ago, Maui’s annual Great Whale Count logged a record number of sightings. 150 participants counted 1,726 whales in a three-hour period, almost 400 more than the previous year.

Humpback whales have been internationally protected since the 1960s and shielded under United States federal law. Boat drivers are required to follow an "approach rule" forcing them to travel below 13 knots and to stay 100 yards away from the whales.

"Obviously this can't be helped if the whale comes up beneath or next to you," said Dr Quincy Gibson, Research Director at Pacific Whale Foundation, Maui's oldest and largest marine conservation organization.

"We are not at the peak of the season yet. There will be a lot more whales here before the winter is over," said Dr Gibson. "We want to remind ocean users to operate with utmost care and at slow speeds in areas where whales are present."

Just a few thousand miles away, the future of many humpbacks hangs in the balance as Japan temporarily halts its controversial "scientific whaling" at the request of the International Whaling Commission.

Source: Times Online

Researchers probe Southern Ocean's icy depths

Researchers from Australia, France and Japan have returned to port from the Southern Ocean following a two-month jaunt to probe the icy depths, which yielded some impressive footage of the abyss as well as a range of hitherto-unknown Antarctic sea monsters.

Oz's Aurora Australis joined France's L'Astrolabe and Japan's Umitaka Maru on the "census of life" dubbed the "Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census" (CEAMARC). While the French and Japanese ships busied themselves with examining the mid and upper ocean environment, Australian researchers concentrated their efforts on the ocean floor.

Aurora Australis head scientist Dr. Martin Riddle says that the vessel's expedition uncovered "a remarkably rich, colorful and complex range of marine life in this previously unknown environment".

He added: "Some of the video footage we have collected is really stunning – it's amazing to be able to navigate undersea mountains and valleys and actually see what the animals look like in their undisturbed state.

"In some places every inch of the sea floor is covered in life. In other places we can see deep scars and gouges where icebergs scour the sea floor as they pass by. Gigantism is very common in Antarctic waters – we have collected huge worms, giant crustaceans and sea spiders the size of dinner plates."

CEAMARC, the Australian Antarctic Division explains, forms part of the international Census of Antarctic Marine Life which it coordinates, and will involve 16 voyages to Antarctic waters during the "International Polar Year" of 2007-2009.

The census will "survey the biodiversity of Antarctic slopes, abyssal plains, open water, and under disintegrating ice shelves", and aims to "determine species biodiversity, abundance and distribution and establish a baseline dataset from which future changes can be observed".

Riddle elaborated: "This survey establishes a point of reference to monitor the impact of environmental change in Antarctic waters. For example, ocean acidification, caused by rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, will make it harder for marine organisms to grow and sustain calcium carbonate skeletons.

"It is predicted that the first effects of this will be seen in the cold, deep waters of Antarctica. Our results provide a robust benchmark for testing these predictions."

There are links to more pictures and movie material of the Southern Ocean's depths here.

Source: The Register

"Trash Island" discovered in the Pacific Ocean

It has been described as the world's largest rubbish dump, or the Pacific plastic soup, and it is starting to alarm scientists.

It is a vast area of plastic debris and other flotsam drifting in the northern Pacific Ocean, held there by swirling ocean currents.

Discovered in 1997 by American sailor Charles Moore, what is also called the great Pacific garbage patch is now alarming some with its ever-growing size and possible impact on human health.

The "patch" is in fact two massive, linked areas of circulating rubbish, says Dr Marcus Eriksen, research director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, founded by Moore.

Although the boundaries change, it stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the coast of California, across the northern Pacific to near the coast of Japan.

The islands of Hawaii are placed almost in the middle, so piles of plastic regularly wash up on some beaches there.

"The original idea that people had was that it was an island of plastic garbage that you could almost walk on. It is not quite like that. It is almost like a plastic soup," Dr Eriksen says.

"It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States," he says.

The concentration of floating plastic debris just beneath the ocean's surface is the product of underwater currents, which conspire to bring together all the junk that accumulates in the Pacific Ocean.

Moore, an oceanographer who has made the study of the patch his full-time occupation, believes there is about 100 million tonnes of plastic circulating in the northern Pacific - or about 2.5 per cent of all plastic items made since 1950.

About 20 per cent of the junk is thought to come from marine craft, while the rest originates from countries around the Pacific like Mexico and China.

Australia plays its part too, he says.

The waste forms in what are called tropical gyres - areas where the oceans slowly circulate due to extreme high pressure systems and where there is little wind.

The garbage in the patch circulates around the North Pacific Gyre, the world's largest.

A lack of big fish and light winds mean it's an area of the Pacific less travelled by fishing boats and yachts.

Moore says he discovered the floating mass of rubbish by chance, after steering his catamaran into the gyre while returning home from a yacht race.

Historically, flotsam in the gyres has biodegraded. But modern plastics do not break down like other oceanic debris, meaning objects half a century old have been found in the North Pacific Gyre.

Instead the plastic slowly photodegrades, becoming brittle and disintegrating into smaller and smaller pieces which enter the food chain and end up in the stomachs of birds and other animals.

Because the plastic is translucent and lies just beneath the surface, it is apparently undetectable by satellite photos.

"It is not like going to a parking lot after a rugby match. It is not like a landfill," he says.

"The material is breaking down continually. It is photodegrading all the time. It is what I call a kaleidoscope or an alphabet soup. You won't see it from a satellite shot of the ocean. You only see it from the bows of ships," he says.

If the waste is to be controlled people must stop using unnecessary disposable plastics, otherwise it is set to double in size during the next 10 years, Moore warns.

Dr Eriksen said the small plastic particles acted like a sponge to trap many dangerous man-made chemicals that found their way into the ocean, like hydrocarbons and DDT.

"What goes into the ocean goes into these animals and onto your dinner plate, It is that simple," Dr Eriksen said.

Larger pieces of plastic are also a threat to birds, which mistake them for food. Dr Eriksen said he has found syringes, cigarette lighters and tooth brushes from the patch inside sea bird carcases.

Professor David Karl, an oceanographer from the University of Hawaii, said the garbage patch represented a new habitat, and more studies were needed to find out what impact it was having on the ocean's eco-system.

— Source: Australian Associated Press