Stories tagged fishing
A turtle whispers its secrets to the orangutan: Unfortunately, all the turtle's secrets are about shoplifting and dirty magazines. Orangutans already know about that stuff.
Courtesy steven2005Just kidding, I can swim. Not very well, but I swim all right. As far as spearfishing goes, though, I couldn’t do that. I mean, maybe it’s just me, but I could never kill a fish with a stick. Unless it was lying on the ground, or something—then I bet I could really bash the heck out of a fish. I’d really whack its little head in.
Orangutans in a conservation refuge on Kaja Island in Borneo, however, have proven to be adept at both swimming and killing fish with sticks. Neither activity was thought to be possible for the great apes, but naturalists on the island have recently observed them swimming across a river to get at their favorite fruits, and using tree branches to stun fish in the water before eating them. Other orangutans were seen attempting to spear fish with branches, supposedly after seeing fishermen using rods. This is thought to be the first documented occasion of orangutans using tools for hunting.
It was also noted that some of the apes quickly came up with an even more efficient way of collecting fish: stealing them from human fishermen when their lines were unattended. Those damn dirty apes!
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Pelagia noctiluca aka the mauve stinger
Courtesy Wikimedia CommonsBillions of stinging jellyfish have wiped out more than 100,000 salmon in Northern Ireland, essentially decimating the region’s only salmon farm.
The attack, which took place north of Belfast just off the coast of the Glens of Antrim, involved an amazing 10 square mile by 35 feet deep swarm (or shoal) of the jellyfish species Pelagia noctiluca.
"It was unprecedented, absolutely amazing," said John Russell, managing director of the Northern Salmon Company, Ltd. "The sea was red with these jellyfish, and there was nothing we could do about it, absolutely nothing."
Workers for the company battled for hours to get through the huge mass of mauve stingers - as they are commonly known - but they were clearly outnumbered. By the time they reached the net pens all the salmon were either dead or dying from the attack. Russell fears that without some sort of government aid the company will be forced to go out of business.
Swarms of mauve stingers are not uncommon. However, they’re mostly known for stinging swimmers in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean. It was rare to see them as far north as Great Britain until recently, presumably due to climate change.
Here's some great video posted on YouTube by NewScientist of a mauve stinger swarm shot near the Balearic Islands in Spain and elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
STORY LINKS
Reuters Science News
UPI Story
Story in Minneapolis Star Tribune
These three stories are all about weird fish. No, not the restaurant in SF, but the wet kind.: Photo by lawgeek at flickr.com
I surf the web. I read the blogs. I see stuff that looks interesting, and I file it away, They accumulate, they reach critical mass, and they burst forth in full, horrendous flower.
Which is a roundabout way of saying, I’ve seen a few interesting articles on marine life lately, and rather than write three separate posts, I thought I’d wrap them all up into one.
Scientists in Hawaii have discovered a new deep-sea creature with the arms of an octopus and the mantle of a squid. Dubbed “octosquid,” it was caught in the filter of a deep sea pipeline.
Hungry squid invade California
Humboldt squid, a giant predator that can grow 7 feet long and weigh up to 110 pounds, has expanded its range into central California. It normally hangs out in tropical waters from Peru to Costa Rica. But fishing pressures have reduced its natural predators – tuna, swordfish and sharks – resulting in a squid population explosion. They have moved north into new territory. Humans, seals, otters and other mammals have nothing to fear, but the squid do eat large amounts of hake, anchovy and other commercial fish.
Check out this photo gallery of weird, cool creatures of the deep.
Catfish skullEvery month we pull an object out of the Science Museum of Minnesota's collections and put it on display here at the museum and let you write your own label for the object. This month's we found a catfish skull and it looks particularly cool to my eyes. It's spiky and and kinda looks like it has a mohawk.
What do you think about this unique fish? Head on over to the object of the month and try your hand at writing a label.
Fin whale: Courtesy Lori Mazzuca, NOAA
In a continuing world trend toward renewed whaling of endangered species Iceland whalers have killed a Fin whale. Fin whales are listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union.
Woah! Check out this creepy fish found down in Texas. It has human looking teeth. I can't find much more credible information on this fish but some are suggesting it might be a sheapshead. Any ideas?
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