Another stingray has died at the Calgary Zoo, and it could take the zoo up to two months to receive the toxicology reports back from the lab to determine what the true cause was. Gill irritation and lack of eating were the first signs that the rays were in trouble. Now a total of 35…
(photo provided by: NOAA Photo Library) Thirty-four cownose stingrays died in a 24 hour period at the new $250,000 dollar exhibit in the Calgary Zoo. Veterinarians are stating that it must be a water problem for so many animals to die so quickly. The nine surviving stingrays are remaining under close observation while the cause…
Scientists at Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand’s national museum, have begun dissection of a colossal female squid this week, already the finds are worth documenting. The largest squid ever captured, is providing scientist with astounding insight into this mysterious creature of the deep. The first noticeable wonder on the over 1,000 pound squid was her…
Starting September 2008 Switzerland legislation is going to be enforcing some new guidelines to for fish owners. Aquariums will no longer be allowed to be transparent on all sides, and any fish over 20cm will have to be housed in a tank/pond that meets the size restrictions that will be put into place. The new legislation also speaks…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Tagged Seals are helping Australian scientists learn a great deal more about places, in the deep oceans of Antarctica, where they themselves can not travel. This summer 7 female Weddell Seals were tagged to help researchers gather information on the changes global warming is having on the oceans. The Weddell Seal is a constant inhabitant of the Antarctic, and they…
Alligator Snapping Turtles carry a reputation of fear, weighing in at over 200 lbs (90 kg) and packing a bite that earned the word Alligator in its name. Perhaps, the last place you would expect to find such a fearsome reptile, would be in the bustling city of New York. That is unless, like 45lb…
In December 2007, the Baji dolphin of the Yangtze river was declared extinct. A study has now revealed that the Yangtze finless porpoise might face the same destiny if no protective measures are taken, National Geographic News reports. A new study has shown that Yangtze river porpoises are dying in part due to exposure to…
Giant Frozen Squid. photo by: Hideki Saito A giant female Squid caught by a New Zealand fishing boat in the Antarctic last year, is finally set to undergo dissection Te Papa. The squid weighed in at an astounding 490kilograms, or 1,080 pounds! Up until its capture, the squid has remained frozen, and is now…
Saibi Ramli, a Malaysian fisherman, has caught a snakehead fish with a 2 cm (0.8 inch) horn on its head, Underwatertimes.com reports. Saibi Ramli caught the fish in a fish pond behind his home in Siburan, Kuching, using hook and bait. Ramli says he has never seen anything like it in his life and refuses…
Not exactly news but still interesting: In September 2007, approximately10,000 wilderbeest drowned in a failed attempt to cross Kenya’s Mara River during their seasonal migration, National Geographic reports. Every year, over a million wilderbeest (also known as gnu) leave the Serengeti Plain of Tanzania during late summer and head for Kenya in search of food.…
On South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, residents of the fisher town Port Lincoln have found a new way of turning fish into a profit, The Age reports. Tourists are now welcomed to tour the marina and swim with the Bluefin tuna in a pen. According to Matt Waller, a former skipper on a tuna fleet, the…
Credit: NMFS File Photo Russia has proposed a five year long ban on fishing sturgeon in the Caspian Sea, News.com.au reports. According to non-governmental organisation Caviar Emptor, the Beluga Sturgeon population has declined by 90 percent during the last 20 years. Russia has suggested that all countries bordering the Caspian should impose a ban and…
A video about the snakehead situation in the Potomac river. In certain areas of the river snakeheads now are established and competing with local fish species such as local bass. Hopefully they will be kept confined to certain parts of the river and won´t spread to other parts of the country. We will just have…
According to an article published by The Guardian, scientists believe that krill have declined 80 per cent since the 1970s. Why this has happened remains unknown, but it might be due to global warming. According to estimates made by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), there is roughly 100 million tonnes krill left, while krill harvesting…
September 27, 2008 is the projected date for the Smithsonian Institution to open its new “Ocean Hall.” The hall will be an astounding 23,000 square feet of displays, facts, history, exploration, and countless other exhibits to help bring man and the oceans together. Ocean Hall will cover an immense array of oceanic topics using an auditorium, high…
Connect to a piece of seaweed, were some fish eggs that are laid in Florida and the Caribbean catch a ride in the Gulf Stream to the coast line of Rhode Island. When they hatch they stand little to no chance to surviving as soon as the water cools down starting in th Fall. But…
A federal judge on Wednesday refused to stop Oregon and Washington from trapping and killing California sea lions at Bonneville Dam this spring to keep them from gobbling endangered salmon. The Humane Society of the United States filed a lawsuit against the plan and asked for a preliminary court injunction to stop it. Humane Society…
CBS News website has reported that a 66 year old man was attacked early this morning by a Great White Shark. The man was training with a group of triathletes in the oceans off Tide Beach in San Diego, CA. The witnesses of the attack stated they heard their friend scream “Shark” as he was…
A new species of Tetra has been found in the drainage from the Portuguese River in Venezuela. The scientific name Hyphessobrycon otrynus. Ortynus is Greek for “spur,” which describes, the large bone spur-like hooks that curve from each side of the anal fin on the adult males of the species. Further information on this new species…
Just 50 years ago, the Thames River was declared biologically dead. High amounts of pollution from industrialization and mass urbanisation, had literally killed the river. Now, after nearly 2 decades of conservation efforts, the Thames River is slowly making a come back; with over 120 species of fish now calling the Thames River their new…
According to an article in Underwatertimes.com, a strange fish found off the Indonesian coast might represent a family of vertebrate unknown to science. The fish was sighted off the Indonesian Ambon Island and is a type of anglerfish. Finding a new vertebrate family in the ocean is really special, because during the last half century…
The Black Sea Bass is a popular fish among sport fishers and sushi lovers alike, but during recent decades the landings have decrease along the United States Atlantic coast. This has caused the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a governmental agency responsible for supervising National Marine Sanctuaries, to launch two separate culture trials focused…
During recent years, a lot of fascinating discoveries have occurred in Vietnam and now scientists from the Cleveland Zoo claim to have discovered a Swinhoe’s giant turtle living in a lake in the northern parts of the country. According to an article from the BBC, the team from Cleveland spent three years looking for the…
According to the BBC, conservationists are increasingly concerned over the future for the Bangladesh river dolphins since they are now threatened not only by pollution, over-fishing, accidental deaths caused by fishing nets, and shortage of prey, and but also by declining freshwater supplies. The situation is especially serious for the Ganges River dolphin and the…
According to Wildlife Extra, 12 different specimens of the endangered Giant freshwater stingray were caught in over the course of just 3-4 months last year. The findings where made in both the Ban Pakong and the Maeklong Rivers, and one of the specimens was a young stingray measuring no more than 12 cm (4.7 inches).…
A video about the problem Asian carp causes. part 1 part2
In the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA) have decided to investigate if the ribbon seal should be protected by law, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. NOAA will also investigate the situation for three other species of ice seal: the bearded seal, the spotted…
Lungfish (not the fish in the story) Copyright www.jjphoto.dk Well, it is not really his birthday since no one knows exactly when he was born, but as of 2008, Granddad has lived at Chicago’s John G. Shedd Aquarium for exactly 75 years. Granddad is an Australian lungfish and the longest-living fish in any aquarium in…
To the Greek, the Amazons where a mythical ancient nation consisting of females only. According to BBC News, scientists from the University of Edinburgh now believe that the Amazon Mollies – who also live in this type of all-female societies – might occasionally grab some DNA from males of other species to avoid the problems…
picture provided by cocoa_pleco of the AC The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) have developed a new way of determining which of the coral reefs are at highest risk against climate change effects, and which reefs have the greatest potential for conservation success. Each Year, for the past 30…
Fishermen in Bangladesh beat a rare Ganger River dolphin to death because they had not seen “this kind of creature before”, CNN reports. The dolphin was caught in Bagerat, a city located near Sundarbans, one of the biggest mangrove forests in the world. According to the national Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha news organization, the fishermen left…
Imperator angelfish – Copyright www.jjphoto.dk Colour in fish is probably an advanced for of communication, according to Professor David Bellwood of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University, Queensland. In an article in Telegraph.co.uk, Professor Bellwood shares his knowledge about fossil specimens of reef fish from Monte Bolca, Italy.…
Giant Mekong catfish. Copyright www.jjphoto.dk According to Zeb Hogan, head of the National Geographic Society’s Megafishes Project, a new dam project planned for Khone Falls in Laos threatens the migration of the Mekong giant catfish. The largest Mekong giant catfish ever caught weighed in at an astonishing 293 kilograms (646 pounds), but the existence of…