Many of us may think about clown fish as commonly found reef fish but the fact is that many clownfish species might becoming endangered in some areas such as of the coast of Australia at least if we should believe Dr Billy Sinclair, University of Cumbria.. A big culprit is the aquarium trade. Just five years ago there were still plenty of clownfish out there but than come the very popular movie finding Nemo from pixar. The movie which was a success in theatres and have sold over 40 million DVDs created an instant demand for clown fish species looking like Nemo. (like the Percula clownfish) Even though a lot of clownfish is being bred in captivity each year the captive bred stock couldn’t satisfy the demand and therefore over-harvesting of wild specimens became a reality. Many (most) marine biologists agree with the effect the movie has created.

A problem is that people who buy them don’t know how to manage a marine aquarium and just set one up like they would a goldfish bowl. This often leads to death of the fish as the owners don’t know how to care for them or a saltwater tank.

Clownfish sales have gone up eight-fold since the movie was released and not only biologist like Dr Billy Sinclair see a decline in the wild populations. Divers also reports how much rarer it has become to see clownfish. It has also become much rarer for clownfish to be caught accidentally by commercial fishermen

The study done by Dr Billy Sinclair shows that shoals that used to number dozens of clownfish now only contain a few specimens. This makes it harder for the species to breed. In some area they are more or less gone completely. Hopefully however populations can recover quickly if the pressure from the collection of clownfish from the pet trade can be reduced. The pet trade is however not the only culprit in the population declines. Coral bleaching and die off (caused by rising temperatures) is also believed to play a role.

A series of photos have been published of an orangutan fishing using a spear while hanging out over the water from a branch. The orangutan in the pictures is a male living in a sanctuary on the island of Kaja in Borneo. This reserve offers home for animals that have been displaced and homeless by logging and other development. As orangutan have a hard time spearing swimming fish it spears fish stuck in nets and lines. Another orangutan used the method to “catch” floating fruit. It is believed that the orangutans have learned this by observing local fishermen. You can see the pictures by clicking here.

Orangutans are highly endangered and some scientist warns that they might be gone from the wild within 10 years of not drastic measure are taken to protect them.

It has long been now that ghost nets (lost nets drifting in the ocean) are a serious problem to the marine environment but no one has ever really known how big the problem is until now. Scientists working for the Northwest Straits Initiative have monitored ghost nets in Puget Sound and the impact they have on the wildlife by regularly check the nets for dead fish and birds as well as the degree of decomposition. They noted species, decomposition rate and tagging newly-entangled animals to collect as much data as possible.

They found that fish caught in ghost nets decompose in 10 days or less. This makes it hard to really see the damage the et causes as the evidence of the deaths they cause soon vanishes.

One net the monitored are calculated to have killed 2,300 fish and 1,200 marine birds during its 15 years as a ghost net.

The program has also removed 870 ghost nets from the sea. In those nets they found 30,000 entangled animals, including 22 dead marine mammals, 378 dead birds, 1,022 live and dead fish, and 29,517 live and dead invertebrates.

You can read more about the Northwest Straits Initiative, the study, and its results here.

Todays post will not report on any news. Instead I have choosen to post two videos that I think some of you might find interesting. They are from a invasive species symposium and are all about invasive species and what can be done about them. The first part is a about invasive species regulation and the second part about invasive plant life.

Be warned. Each of these videos are almost an hour long.

Regulation:

Plants and weeds:

The lionfish is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region, but this fish – also known as Dragon fish or Turkey fish – has now invaded the warmer coral regions of the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

To combat the problem around Bermuda, 31 volunteers have been issued special licenses by the Ministry of the Environment and Sports to engage in spear fishing of lionfish within the one mile limit that is legislated for spear fishing activities, The Royal Gazette reports.

“The Lionfish constitutes a real threat to Bermuda’s reef ecosystem and commercial fishery. It is incumbent on us in Bermuda to do all we can to protect our marine ecosystem. In fact, even though this problem is relatively new to Bermuda, we are already being hailed by other countries and international organisations as an example of proactive management of Lionfish.” minister of the Environment Elvin James said to The Royal Gazette.

Several species of fish the family Scorpaenidae are known as lionfish, but the species causing trouble around Bermuda is Pterois volitans. It is believed to have been introduced to the ecosystem by saltwater aquarists in Florida. In order to better understand Pterois volitans and the effect it might have as an invasive species, the Department of Conservation Services will be collecting Lionfish from local waters and study them.

If you see a lionfish in the waters around Bermuda, contact the Marine Conservation Officer at 293 4464 extension 146 or email lionfish@gov.bm. The Marine Conservation Officer wish to know date, location and depth, and the approximate length of the fish (from snout to tail tip). The Marine Conservation Officer might need to contact you for further questions, so leave a phone number or email address.

Don’t try to catch the fish, because lionfish can give you a venomous sting with its fins. If you’re stung by a lionfish, seek medical attention right away. The sting is really painful.

You can read the full article in The Royal Gazette, Bermuda’s only daily newspaper.

http://www.royalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d85e3330030009&sectionId=60

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh believe that the Amazon Molly may be using genetic survival tricks to avoid becoming extinct. The species in Texas and Mexico interact with males of different species to reproduce. The fry are clones of the mother and never inherit any traits of the male. This species will soon develop problems reproducing and will often become victims to extinction.

At Edinburgh University, the scientists have studied mathematical models on a computing system to look at the case of the Amazon Molly. Researchers have decided that the time to extinction for the fish may be over many thousands of generations. They can now say that this fish should have been extinct within the past 70,000 years. Scientists think that the Amazon Mollies are still dwelling in the rivers of Southeast Texas and Northeast Mexico and are using the special genetic tricks to stay alive.

To read more on this visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7360770.stm

The Bolivian Amazon (picture by: Thomas van den Berk)

The Bolivian River Dolphin has finally been graced with the acknowledgement that it is, in fact, a separate species from its close relative, the Amazon River Dolphin. Lighter in color, smaller, and having more teeth, are only a few of the things that separate this newly named species apart from the others. It is able to move its head side to side; something other dolphins can not do,  to manuever through flooded forests during heavy rains and flooding.

Unfortunately the Bolivian River Dolphin, like all dolphins, is facing a questionable future do to pollution, fishing, industrialization, damming, and deforestation. 1,500 dolphins are caught and killed each year by fishermen to be used as bait. Hopefully, unlike the newly extinct Yangtze River dolphin in China, the Bolivian River Dolphin will be able to saved by awareness and conservation efforts.

for a complete article on the Bolivian River Dolphins visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/29/eadolph129.xml

Detroit Sky Line (picture by: Keith Syvinski)

The opportunity to reclaim once flourishing breeding grounds is now looking good for the sturgeon in the Detroit River. These massive fish that live over 100 years and can grow over 7 feet, are being given a helping hand in finding love. Once fished to near extinction, the sturgeon have fought against the odds to stay around; the pollution and runoff into the Detroit River however, destroyed their breeding grounds; but now years of Detroit River restoration efforts have finally provided clean water for breeding to be done in. The next step, rebuilding a breeding reef for the sturgeon to lay their eggs and rear their fry. The reef will cost a whopping $178,000, which has been paid for through foundations, the government, and other institutions.

To read this article in its entirety visit : http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008804280360

picture by: Philipp Rassel

Newcastle may be faced with a new threat to its natural species of fish, the platy. Typically a beginner fish, do to their sturdiness, the platys originate from Central America. Recently however, scientists in Australia have found this livebearer infesting their waters. It is especially concerning because their numbers grow quickly, being live-bearers. Platys also eat frogs and fry from fish spawning, leaving native species fighting against a growing tyrant.

Six platy were found in a drain connected to a main water supply in Newcastle; leaving scientist with the concern that they fish have found their way to the dam. If this is the case, it may be too late to control the situation. So how did they get there? Experts believe it is from, what they are now calling, “Finding Nemo Syndrome.” In the movie Finding Nemo by Disney and Pixar Studios, “all drains lead to the ocean.” The movie has led many inexperienced fish owners with the assumption that flushing unwanted fish is a proper way to dispose of them humanely. Thus, people introduce a new, non-native species into the waterways, which can cause major ecosystem troubles for the natives.

For Information on the proper way to dispose of an unwanted fishie friend Read the Article “Don’t Flush that Fish” by Shirlie Sharpe http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/a/noflush.htm

To read this article in its entirety visit: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/InNews/threat2008.html

picture provided by: NOAA Ship DELAWARE II

Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has developed a new Right Whale listening buoy for the Massachusetts Bay. The buoys are designed to recognize the distinctive call of the Atlantic Right Whale which migrates throughout the bay. When heard, the buoys emit a signal to a web-site and marine warning system that lets ships know that the whales are in the shipping lanes; thus, they are able to avoid collisions with the endangered species.

These 50 ton ocean wonders were hunted to near extinction, leaving their numbers today, at less than 400 whales. During the winter and spring months the Right Whales gather at the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary; near the Boston Harbor. Over 1,500 vessels pass through this area, and collisions with the whales are the leading cause of the animals deaths each year.

The 10 buoys are placed strategically along the inbound and out going shipping lines. Each buoy has a 5 mile radius of listening and alerts analysts of the whale calls its hearing. This gives the workers time to inform ship captains that the whales are in the area they are headed, with time to avoid accidents. The warning call remains in effect for a 24 hour period after the Right Whales have been detected, to further protect them during times where they are being non-vocal. Ships must slow to 10 knots and post whale/sea turtle look outs during an alert.

The buoy alert system is expected to stay operational for the next 40 years while the Liquefied Natural Gas terminal is expected to stay in business. Hopefully, but protecting the whales now, during this vital time in their attempt to reestablish their numbers, they will still be around for future generations.

You can here the whales live through the public alert website at : http://listenforwhales.org

for the complete article about how buoys are being used to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whales visit science daily at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428104518.htm