African Wolf aka Egyptian Jackal

This is not really fish related but cool enough to warrant a post here anyway. Scientists have discovered a new species of Wolf in Egypt. A team a researchers from Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), the University of Oslo, and Addis Ababa University, with funding from the University of Oslo, shows that Gray wolves reached Africa around 3 million years ago before spreading throughout the northern hemisphere. The new wolf is a relative of the Holarctic grey wolf, the Indian wolf and the Himalayan wolf.

The Egyptian jackal (Canis aureus lupaster) is an importan part of the Egyptian mythology and has until now been considered a subspecies of the Golden jackal (Canis aureus) but this new research show that the egyptian jackal is infact a species of wolf. This new species is not closely related to the rare Ethiopian wolves. Ethiopian wolves are a relatively recent of spring from the gray wolf complex while this new species, ”African wolf” (suggested name by Professor Sillero), likely arrived in Africa much earlier.

Professor David Macdonald says: “A wolf in Africa is not only important conservation news, but raises fascinating biological questions about how the new African wolf evolved and lived alongside not only the real golden jackals but also the vanishingly rare Ethiopian wolf, which is a very different species with which the new discovery should not be confused.”

The jackal is important in Egyptian Mythology

The team also found genetically very similar specimens to this new wolf in the highlands of Ethiopia, 2,500 km from Egypt, suggesting that the new species might have a large distrobution and that it is not just found in Egypt.

The conservational status of this new species is not known.

Professor Sillero says: “It seems as if the Egyptian jackal is urgently set for a name-change, and its unique status as the only member of the grey wolf complex in Africa suggests that it should be re-named ‘the African wolf’.”

WildCRU is part of Oxford University’s Department of Zoology.

If you want to read the entire paper (direct link) you can do so at PlosOne:

The government, no doubt panicking over the effects of recent shark attacks on tourism, is destroying the delicate ecological balance in the coastal regions of South Sinai, as well as hurting tourism, Sharm experts and divers have charged.

Some leading figures in the Sharm El-Sheikh’s diving community are now pointing the finger at the government, accusing them of going on a witch hunt, albeit for sharks, which is indiscriminate and involves more shark massacre than was ever publicly announced.

The divers have gone so far as to even launch their own Facebook group, complete with online petition, calling on the support of everyone in stopping authorities from engaging in shark genocide.

“They killed eight sharks in an area of 10 square kilometers,” director of the Aquamarine Diving And Water Sports Club, Dr. Amr Aboulfat’h, commented to Ahram Online. “Four were killed by the National Park Authorities, and four were killed by the National Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF).”

Another source, who has requested to remain anonymous, has shed some additional light on the subject, saying that four of the sharks have been seen on Travco Jetty, and were later given over to Alexandria’s NIOF this past Monday.

The government doesn’t have much to say on the subject, except to deny any and all allegations about the shark massacre. The killing has to stop, but no one is taking responsibility.
“Who decided that it was one shark initially, and then two? And now more? And how come an authority that is responsible for protecting marine life assume the responsibility of such slaughter,” exclaimed a disdained Dr. Aboulfat’h.

Only time will tell what will become of the poor sharks.

A marine biologist from Sharm El Sheik has blown a conspiracy theory out of the water involving sharks. It appears that some people believe that some shark attacks last week oof the South Sinai resort of Sharm El-Sheikh were orchestrated by the Mossad, in a bid to try and ruin the tourist industry in Egypt. (far fetched isnt it)

A professor of marine biology with the Suez Canal University, Mahmoud Hanafy, has reported to Ahram Online that it is “sad” that an Egyptian national TV station has helped to spread such ludicrous accusations.

Captain Mustafa Ismail, a famous diver from Sharm El Sheik, was seen speaking on “Egypt Today” – a popular public TV show in the area – commenting that the sharks who were involved in the attack were normal ocean sharks and do not reside in the waters of Egypt. He was seen as posing the question then of how the sharks got there.

He went on to comment that they received a report from an Israeli diver in Eilat saying they had discovered a small shark which was implanted with a GPS device. Then the idea was posed these devices were used to track the sharks while they were attacking Egypt.

Hanafy rebutted these accusations, commenting that the Oceanic White Tip – which has been blamed for the attacks – does actually reside in the waters of Egypt. He also added that the use of GPS devices is quite common amongst marine biologists to help study the life in the sea.

It should also be pointed out, that while you can track using a GPS device, you would not be able to “control” the sharks in the same manner..

So, was it a ploy? Not likely. It looks like someone is going to have egg on their face come morning….

The Red Sea

A recent study has found that Global Warming is slowing the growth of Coral in the Red Sea, and all growth could stop by the year 2070.

By utilizing CT (computed tomography) scans, some scientists over at the WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) have found that the greenhouse effect (which is the leading cause of global warming) is killing off one of the predominant species of coral in the Red Sea.

The summer temperatures on the sea surface remained at roughly 1.5 degrees Celsius above what’s the norm for the past ten years. The growth of the coral, Diploastrea heliopora, has seen a marked decrease of 30% and as has been quoted by scientists, “could cease growing altogether by 2070” or even sooner, as the research team quoted in the July 16th issue of the journal Science.

“The warming in the Red Sea and the resultant decline in the health of this coral is a clear regional impact of global warming,” said a WHOL postdoctoral investigator, Neal E. Cantin, who is also the co-lead researcher on the project. In the 1980s, he explained, “the average summer [water] temperatures were below 30 degrees Celsius. In 2008 they were approaching 31 degrees.”

This could spell some big trouble for the Red Sea. If the Coral is being affected in such a way, what of the other species? Could it be that the Red Sea will become another DEAD Sea in the very near future? Scientists are working round the clock on a solution for Global Warming, but it seems a solution is still years from being worked out, and in the meantime we are losing out.

According to University of Washington geologist and tsunami expert Jody Bourgeois, the idea that chevrons – a type of large U- or V-shaped formations found along certain coasts – were caused by mega-tsunamis is pure nonsense.

The term chevron refers a special type of vast dunes shaped a bit like the stripes on soldier’s uniform. They can be anything from hundreds of meters to a kilometre in length and can be seen in places such as Egypt, the Bahamas, Madagascar, and Australia.

Some scientists have suggested that a possible explanation for these mysterious stripes is mega-tsunamis caused by asteroid or comet impact. According to this school of thought, the chevrons may be deposits left by gigantic tsunamis 4,800 to 5,000 years ago, tsunamis that might have been up to 10 times larger than the earthquake-caused Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2005. Due to the location of known chevrons, the Indian Ocean has been suggested as ground zero for the comet or asteroid impact.

Bourgeois, a professor of Earth and space sciences who has studied earthquakes and tsunamis in various parts of the world, does not agree. According her, the chevrons are not lined up the way you would expect from deposits caused by gigantic waves. Many of the chevrons on Madagascar are for instance parallel to the coastline, instead of perpendicular to the shore.

Models created by Bourgeois’ colleague Robert Weiss, assistant professor of geology at

Texas A&M University, show that deposits formed by gigantic tsunamis would point in the same direction as the waves were travelling when the reached land, which is mostly perpendicular to the shore.

“And if it really was from an impact, you should find evidence on the coast of Africa too, since it is so near,” Bourgeois explains.

The computer model generated actual conditions for a tsunami which made it possible to use the model to explore the effects of an asteroid or comet hitting the part of the Indian Ocean suggested by mega-tsunami chevron proponents. According to the model, the gigantic waves would approach land at a 90-degree orientation to the chevron deposits.

“The model shows such a tsunami could not have created these chevrons, unless you have some unimaginable process at work,” Bourgeois says.

Bourgeois and Weiss have used satellite images from Google Earth to get close-up looks at chevrons in different locations. Chevron are most common in coastal regions but you can find quite a lot of them in semiarid inland areas as well.

Bourgeois and Weiss wrap up their paper, which can be found in the May issue of the journal Geology, by stating that “the extraordinary claim of ‘chevron’ genesis by megatsunamis cannot withstand simple but rigorous testing. […] There are the same forms in the Palouse in eastern Washington state, and those are clearly not from a tsunami.”

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.

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.

Scuba diving tourists are an important source of income for Egypt, but now the tourism sector might be sawing off the branch on which they’re sitting by over-exploiting the sensitive coral reefs of the Red Sea. According to a study by Hasler and Ott, heavily dived dive sites near the town of Dahab have a significantly lower level of coral cover compared to areas without recreational diving.

Located off the south-eastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula, the reefs of Dahab is one of Sinai’s most treasured and well visited diving destinations. Dahab is still a fairly small town, but it is situated no more than 80 km (50 miles) from Sharm el-Sheik, a bustling tourist hub which attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year. Some of the dive sites off Dahab are among the world’s most heavily dived sites with over 30,000 dives per year.

According to Hasler and Ott, heavily dived sites in the studied area exhibited a reduced coral cover compared to non-dived sites and there were also significantly higher levels of broken and damaged corals. Differences could also be observed within the same reef, with coral communities located on reef crest areas being significantly more damaged than coral communities growing on reef slopes.

Divers are not only causing trouble by damaging corals directly; they can also stir up the sand around the reefs, thereby promoting sedimentation on top of the corals. Attached corals cannot free themselves of sediment particles and being covered in sand is therefore very dangerous for them.

In order to combat the problems faced by heavily exploited reefs, Hasler and Ott have suggested implementing ecologically sustainable dive plans for individual sites and limiting the total amount of dives per year. According to the authors, it is also very important to educate dive guides and divers.

For more info, read the results of the study which are due to be published shortly in Marine Pollution Bullentine. “Hasler H and JA Ott (2008) – Diving down the reefs? Intensive diving tourism threatens the reefs of the Northern Red Sea. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2008 Aug.”