Category Archives: Uncategorized


Google maps now adding marine parks

Google is now adding marine parks to their maps, starting with the famous Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. It is now possible to use Google Maps to see islands, reefs, cays and even rocks on the reef, but the future of the map function might be even more exiting since Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chairman Russel Reichelt has expressed hopes of having current still images of the reef streamed to the map in real time in the near future.

Interview with Marc van Roosmalen

Marc van Roosmalen Today we have the pleasure of bringing you a unique interview with Marc van Roosmalen which illustrates his situation and problems as he sees them. For those of you who aren’t familiar with who Marc van Roosmalen is, what he has done, and his present situation, I recommend reading this short introduction before reading the interview.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions Marc!

You have discovered a number of different species. Was finding one of them more special than finding the others? Is it still as much fun to find new species as it was when you found your first new species?

Marc G.M. van Roosmalen (MGMvR): Most fun but also most time and energy consuming for me was finding the ‘Land of Dermis’, where the relatives of Dermis occur – the baby black-capped dwarf marmoset that was delivered on my Manaus doorstep April 1996. With decades of experience in keeping all kinds of primates in halfway houses I knew right away that Dermis represented a new species of monkey and, undoubtedly, also a new primate genus. That event instantly took away the scepsis in me as a primatologist that nowadays it would be impossible to find new species of primates hitherto unknown to science. The quest that followed to find the monkey’s distribution somewhere in the huge Rio Madeira Basin had me stumbling into a Conan Doyle type of ‘Lost World’ – the Rio Aripuanã Basin – a hotspot of biodiversity that I soon recognized to be a totally new ecosystem within Amazonia, whose fauna and flora had never before been inventoried by naturalists, animal collectors, botanists and ornithologists alike. It took me a number of boat surveys to find Callibella humilis, a needle in a haystack as big as France. During innumerable surveys of the local rainforest and through interviews with the locals showing pictures of Dermis I happened to identify at least five other hitherto undescribed primates in the area.

Other highly memorable discoveries were those of some large terrestrial mammals whose existence I did not know of until I had close encounters with them while hiking alone through the forest. First spotting of a giant peccary (Pecari maximus) family silently crossing my trail while I was watching a group of Gray sakis in the canopy, or a group of dwarf peccaries (Pecari?) bumping literally into my feet while chasing one another through the undergrowth. And, back in camp, asking the locals what the hell the creature was that I had come upon that day…

Nowadays, under the Lula regime, it is not so much fun anymore to find new species because you run the risk to get caught in the ‘criminal’ act of collecting and transporting living evidence to support the validity of your find. To be able to publish it in a peer reviewed scientific journal you need at least to collect and deposit holotype material in a Brazilian museum. Without the proper collecting permits – a federal “license to kill” you can apply for in Brasilia, but never get granted – you seriously run the risk to be thrown in jail on accusation of what officials in Brazil call “biopiracy”. That is when you – like me – still collect, transport or keep alive any biological sample that could serve as holotype material or for DNA analysis in order to determine the phylogenetic and taxonomic status of your find. This way they make it impossible for Brazilian as well as foreign scientists to carry out biodiversity studies so needed for a sound nature conservation policy.

What do you feel when you finally find a species you have been looking for during a long time?

MGMvR: In the field you really feel yourself catapulted back in time, following the footsteps of the great naturalists such as Alexander von Humboldt, Wallace, Bates, Spruce, Spix & Martius. Little progress has been made in the Brazilian Amazon ever since my natural-history heroes collected and described a large part of the Amazonian flora and fauna. In this euphoria one tends to forget that times have changed. That having the great privilege to pick up the thread these icons left behind some 150-200 years ago is now considered a ‘criminal act against nature’.

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Marc van Roosmalen

Born in the Netherlands in 1947, Marc van Roosmalen is a Brazilian primatologist of Dutch birth living in Manaus, Brazil. After studying biology at the University of Amsterdam he did four years of doctoral fieldwork in Suriname studying the Red-faced Spider Monkey. Since then, van Roosmalen has devoted his life to the scientific exploration of the South American flora and fauna.

Marc van Roosmalen is described as a hand-on naturalist and has spent long periods of time doing research work in the Amazonian rainforest, while simultaneously producing prolific amounts of scientific papers, books, reviews, and wildlife documentaries. His work has led to the discovery and description of several new species, such as Callibella humilis, the dwarf marmoset, the second smallest monkey in the world, and Lecythis oldemani, a tree belonging to the Brazil Nut family. From 1986 to 2003, van Roosmalen served as senior scientist at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) under the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology.

Parallel to his research work, van Roosmalen is a dedicated conservationalist trying to protect the Brazilian rainforest from destruction by humans. During the late 1980s, he launched “The Center for the Rehabilitation and Re-introduction of Endangered Wildlife” in the federal Rio Cuieiras Nature Reserve; a centre where all kinds of animals, but especially monkeys confiscated from the illegal pet trade, were rehabilitated in the local rain forest. In 1999, he founded the NGO “Amazon Association for the Preservation of High Biodiversity Areas” (AAPA) and began purchasing areas of pristine rainforest in regions harboring extremely high biodiversity and/or animals and plants new to science.

For his outstanding work in South America, van Roosmalen has received several honors and was knighted as Officer in the Order of the Golden Ark by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 1997. At the turn of the millennium, van Roosmalen was selected as one of the worldwide recognized “Heroes for the Planet” by Time Magazine.

You can read about van Roosmalen’s current predicament in our interview with him which is found here. More information can also be found in this Wired article and this article published by the Smithsonian institution.

“For if there are out there big tree-dwelling, ground-dwelling and even aquatic mammals not known to science – a dwarf tapir, a giant peccary, a white deer, a dwarf manatee, another river dolphin, to name a few – what do we really know about its flora and fauna? Very Little. About its ecology – the utterly complex web of relationships between plants and animals? Even less. Then what do we know about the sustainability of this ecosystem? Absolutely nothing.”

– Marc van Roosmalen

Lake Monster sighted in Connecticut

Another lake monster sighting. This time in West Hartford, Connecticut. The pictures that are supposedly depicting a lake monster were taken in a water reservoir last Friday. The photos were taken by Barbara Blanchfield who claims that she witnessed the sea monster in her pictures surface and then submerge again while out photographing. The Metropolitan District Commission was shown the pictures and it is now working with their wildlife and patrol department to determine what (if any) is in the water.

People who have seen the pictures say that it don’t look like any known animal from the area. My personal opinion after having looked at the pictures is that it looks like a part of an old wooden, stockade like construction of the type that often used to be constructed around channels and ponds to prevent land erosion at the water edge. That also seems like a plausible explanation based on the fact that the sighting took place in a water reservoir which hardly seems like the most likely place to find an undiscovered Sea monster. But I might be wrong and no one would be happier than me if I was proven wrong and the pictures actually depict a new species.

Take a look at the video below and let me know what you think. Am I right or do we have a new (or perhaps a known) species on our hands.

So what do you think about the movie:

Not long ago we also reported on this video of a sea monster filmed with U/W cameras in Sweden.

Black widows established in Sweden

Unlike many other countries, Sweden has traditionally been blessed with the absence of dangerously venomous spiders, snakes and similar critters, but this might be about to change as more and more new species establish themselves in Scandinavia. One of the latest additions to the Swedish fauna is the Black widow spider, according to Naturhistoriska riksmuseet (Swedish Museum of Natural History) in Stockholm.

black widow spider in sweden

This year about 10 black widows have been sent to me, but I will of course only find out about a small fraction of all discovered specimens”, says Bert Gustavsson, assistant curator at Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, to Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (TT). He also adds that a lot of the spiders that reach Sweden as cargo stowaways manage to avoid discovery altogether.

According to Bert Gustavsson, it is safe to assume that the black widow has now established itself in Sweden for good. “One example is the guy in Värmland who imported a car from the U.S. The car was stored in a garage for three years. When he was about to move the car, spiders emerged from it. This means that they had been reproducing in the garage for three years.

A protective garage is however not necessary for these spiders to thrive and the Swedish climate is not a problem for them since black widow spiders can be found in parts of Canada and northern United States subjected to even colder winters and warmer summers than Sweden.

Swedish hospitals do not hold black widow anti-venom and will instead focus on handling the various symptoms that can appear when a person has been bitten, such as muscle spasms and changes in blood pressure. “Fatalities have occurred around the world, but that depends on how much venom that is injected and the location of the bite” says Dr Anna Landgren at the Swedish Poisons Information Centre to TT. “In 80 percent of the cases the bitten person will only develop mild symptoms in the form of sweating and ache.”

Facts about the Black Widow:

The name black widow spider is used for three different spider species within the genus Latrodectus: Southern black widow (Latrodectus mactans), Northern black widow (Latrodectus variolus), and Western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus). The Southern black widow is native to south-eastern United States, the Northern black widow hails from north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada, and the Western black widow lives in the western parts of the United States, the south-western parts of Canada, and in much of Mexico.

Underwater museum to be constructed in Alexandria, Egypt

On September 4, UNESCO announced its plans to help Egypt build an underwater museum in the Bay of Alexandria. Parts of the museum will be submerged while other parts will be located above the surface. This construction will allow visitors to view not only marine life but also the myriad of archaeological artefacts that can be found on the site.

egypt giza

The proposed area for the underwater museum holds archaeological remnants from thousands of years ago. In 1994, remains of the illustrious Alexandria Lighthouse, also known as Pharos, were discovered on the floor of Alexandria’s Eastern Harbour by divers, and more findings have now been done with the aid of satellite imaging. The Lighthouse of Alexandria was constructed between 285 and 247 BC on the island of Pharos in Alexandria. For many centuries, it was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world and it is traditionally regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

According to Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, the proposed museum will help raise awareness of the need to protect underwater cultural heritage sites. “Until UNESCO’s Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention enters into force, there is no specific international law that can protect it against treasure hunters”, says Matsuura. “This project will certainly enhance the appreciation of underwater cultural heritage and raise awareness of the urgent need to protect it from looting.

The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage was adopted in 2001. You can learn more about it and about our common underwater cultural heritage in this film produced by UNESCO: http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/underwater/film/. As scuba diving equipment and other technical devices becomes more and more advanced and affordable, the risk of pillaging and heritage destruction increases.

UNESCO is a specialized agency under the United Nations. Its stated purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the UN Charter.

Some Large Hadron Collider (LHC) fun.

Many of you might have already seen this rap video but I decided to post it anyway as some of you no doubt missed it. It is a small rap video explaining how the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) works and the purpose of the facility. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is located in CERN in France and have stirred a lot of controversy as some believe that it will bring about the end of the world by creating micro black holes that will grow and consume the earth and our solar system. But don’t worry, most scientist don’t believe this can happen as the black holes created are too small. Personally I will remain an optimist and don’t think the world will end this week either.

Here is the video. Enjoy!!

No more flushing

goldfish cruelty

Switzerland has adopted new strict animal cruelty laws. The new law contains more strict rules regulating how to keep most pets and domestic animal. An example is that many animals such as hamsters, lamas, alpacas and sheep no longer can be kept alone. They need to have visual contact with other specimens of the same species. Another example is that people who want to buy their first dog have to go to compulsory classes for “want to be dog owners” before they can legally buy a dog. The law details how all domestic animals should be kept regardless of whether they are kept as pet, for scientific research or in zoos.

I will not go into depth about exactly what this new rule stipulates but I will say a few words relating to fish keeping (If you live in Switzerland and want to know more about I recommend reading the original law text or contact a local authority).

The law bans the flushing live fish. You need to kill the fish before you can legally flush it. The law does not state exactly how the fish should be killed before being flushed.

On the bright side – The upside of high oil prices

An attempt to look at the bright side. The media writes a lot about all the problems the high oil price causes. The problems it causes in house hold budgets, how it affects the US trade deficit and how it drives inflation but we don’t take the time to see the positive effects associated with a higher oil price. You might not think the benefits are large enough to offset the drawbacks and you might be right but it can none the less be good to be aware of the benefits. Below I will list a few of the benefits but there are many more.

oil - high oil price

Reduced oil consumption

The increased oil price means that people drive less which reduces the carbon dioxide emissions. It might feel like an inconvenient to walk to the movies instead of taking the car or otherwise change ones travel habitats but it do help the environment. Even if we look beyond our personal driving habits we can see that high oil prices can have more far reaching benefits as it creates an incentive for car manufacturers to make more fuel effective car as a mean to compete in the market. It can also change the buying pattern towards not buying bigger cars than we actually need. The high energy price can also affect our consumption in other areas such as air tickets. Hopefully some of these changes will stick even after the oil price has return to more acceptable levels.

Alternative energy sources

Higher oil prices makes new greener energy sources more economic viable. Some green energy sources become more compatible and are economically competitive when energy and oil prices rise. Higher oil and energy prices also create more incentive for companies to develop and refine green technologies and energy sources as there is a potentially larger, more lucrative market available to sell these products on. One green energy source that becomes more viable with the higher energy price is algae oil. Algae can be used to produce high quality oil that can be used to produce gasoline and even jet fuel. Algae is much more productive than other crops and one acre used for algae farming can produce several hundred times more oil than other crops used to produce green fuel such s corn. A few algae oil plants are being built this year but the technology is still to be considered experimental. I will post more info on algae oil in a separate article later this week if you want to know more about it. Algae oil is just one example on green energies that becomes more viable when oil prices are higher.

Unfortunately high oil prices also increase the pressure to explore oil resources in sensitive are such as in Alaska and of the Florida coast.

algae oil

Some fish species get a much needed break

The high oil prices can give a much needed breather for some fish species as fishermen no longer find it economically viable to fish these species or in certain areas. An example of one fish that might end up benefiting from the high oil price is the idiotfish. The idiotfish is a deep sea fish living of the coast of British Columbia and is an appreciated food item in parts of Asia. It was listed as a species of special concern last year by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. The high oil prices have resulted in large parts of the deep sea fishing fleet in British Columbia’ staying in port or fishing in shallower water closer to land. This gives the idiotfish population a much needed chance to rebound. Other fish are in a similar situation and might benefit from the high oil prices.

This was just a few of the benefits of higher oil prices.

Nothing you have read will make it less painful to pay the current gas prices but it can still be nice to know that this misery have a silver lining.

Sharks Facing Extinction on the Great Barrier Reef – Shark Fishing to Blame

Shark

Sharks are facing extinction on large parts of the Great Barrier Reef as well as in other parts of the world. The reason for this is ruthless fishing to provide the Asian markets with shark fins. The fins are removed from caught fish while they are still alive and the sharks are then flung back into the sea where they sink towards the bottom and to their death. Most shark species need to swim to be able to breathe and drowns after they have been thrown back without their fins. A very high number of sharks fall victim to Asian shark fishing vessels and end their life this way each year. This doesn’t just threaten the world’s shark populations but also constitutes an enormous waste of resources as most of the sharks (everything except the fins) is simple flung back into the sea without being used.

Many sharks fishing vessels ignore fishing rules and fish in protected areas and marine preserve which have led to plummeting shark populations in marine preserves as well. This does not only leave us without protected shark populations that might help restock the populations outside the preserves but also put stress on the eco system within the preserves. This might put other species in the preserves at risk as well.

An example of this illegal fishing was recently reported in north Queensland were a research trip done by Richard Fitzpatrick and his team showed that it was hard to find and catch sharks on the reefs off Cairns and Port Douglas.

Mr Fitzpatrick says the decline is the result of over-fishing on the reef.

The team found dead sharks thrown back into the sea in protected areas in the Cairns and Port Douglas, area like the cod hole which might indicate that shark fishing vessels fish within protected areas. They also found sharks that simply had their tail fins cut of and most likely had been killed by people who don’t like sharks and that simply wanted to kill them. It is however possible that they where fished for their tailfins and that they where caught for commercial reasons but if that was the case it is likely that the other fins would have been harvested as well.

The shark fin trade is to a large extent a black market and no one has a good overview of it and how big it really is. This is making it extremely hard to take actions against this fishing and the only way to create effective shark preserves might be to create large patrolled areas that are off limit to all non authorized vessels. A more desirable method to target the problem would be campaigns designed to limit the demand for shark fins. The question is how and if an effective campaign like that can be created,