Manatees reflect quality of health in marine ecosystems, longterm study finds. A longterm study conducted by researchers at George Mason University may be a benchmark in determining health threats to marine mammals. Over ten years of research in Belize was conducted studying the behavioral ecology, life history and health of manatees in an area relatively undisturbed by humankind. "Manatees are the proverbial 'canaries in the mineshaft,' as they serve as indicators of their environment and may reflect the overall health of marine ecosystems," says Alonso Aguirre, executive director of the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation and coauthor of a paper on this research published recently in PLoS One journal, in collaboration with scientists of University of California-Davis, USGS and Sea to Shore Alliance.
Aguirre calls them a "sentinel species," which means they are early warning indicators of environmental change. "Studying them may help us predict a change that has the potential to be devastating to an ecosystem or a habitat if left unaddressed," Aguirre says.
Seal rescued from busy Melbourne road. A seal sunbakes in Port Melbourne. Barely an hour after being rescued by police and a wildlife officer - and causing traffic to slow to a crawl in Middle Park - a fur seal crawled back onto busy Beaconsfield Parade. Wildlife Victoria volunteer Amy Amato was called to the scene at 9.30am - one hour after she and two police officers herded the animal back into the water with a blanket.
"The fact he doesn’t want to stay in the water suggests he’s not well," Ms Amato told Fairfax. "He didn’t look 100 per cent.’’ The visiting seal was briefly stuck on top of a bluestone fence. Ms Amato and workers from the Melbourne Zoo caught the distressed animal in a container. Advertisement It was taken to the zoo and checked by senior veterinarian and seal specialist, Dr Michael Lynch. ‘‘The seal is a young, male, New Zealand fur seal,’’ Zoo spokeswoman Judith Henke told Fairfax. The seal dozes on a Port Melbourne footpath. Ms Amato returned to the scene an hour later after the seal crawled back on the road.
Underwater noise decreases whale communications in Stellwagen Bank sanctuary. According to a NOAA-led paper published August 15 in the journal Conservation Biology, high levels of background noise, mainly due to ships, have reduced the ability of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales to communicate with each other by about two-thirds. From 2007 until 2010, scientists from Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and Marine Acoustics Inc. used an array of acoustic recorders to monitor noise levels, measure levels of sound associated with vessels, and to record distinctive sounds made by multiple species of endangered baleen whales, including "up-calls" made by right whales to maintain contact with each other. Vessel-tracking data from the U.S. Coast Guard's Automatic Identification System was used to calculate noise from vessels inside and outside the sanctuary.
Amazing facts about bowhead whales and how you can help protect them | The Blog Aquatic. Did you know bowhead whales can boast some surprising statistics? Their blubber is more than a foot thick, andtheir baleen—plates in the mouth that filter prey from water—can grow 15 feet long. But one of their most eye-opening attributes is their longevity. Chemical analysis on samples from whale eyeballs the size of billiard balls revealed ages up to an estimated 211 years. Accounting for a margin of error of about 16 percent, the oldest bowhead studied could have been up to 245 years old—no other mammal is known to have lived as long. More than 13,000 bowheads swim off Alaska’s coast, but threats are growing. “We know they react to the noise of activity related to oil drilling at distances of more than 12 miles,” explains bowhead researcher Craig George.
As sea ice retreats, commercial shipping lanes will likely bring additional traffic. Learn more about bowhead whales and how you can take action to help protect them. Feds to reroute SF Bay ships to protect whales. Dolphin Carries Dead Baby Animal's Body Out To Sea (PHOTOS) Tourists in China captured a poignant moment on camera recently when they saw an adult dolphin carrying its deceased calf out to sea. In the photograph, the dolphin has mounted the baby's limp body on its back and a large, bloody gash can be seen in the calf's side. According to the Daily Mail, it appears the dolphin might have been hit by one of the tour boats that ferry around the well-known dolphin-watching area in China's Guangxi Zhuang region.
"I have heard dolphin saves human, but it’s my first time to see such a scene," a boatman familiar with the area told CEN/Europics. According to the caption on the photo from CEN/Europics, the baby dolphin's body slipped off and nearly sank several times, but the adult dolphin managed to retrieve the body. The Mail notes that the scene raises the question of whether dolphins are aware of their own mortality, which has long been debated by researchers. Researchers have observed, however, that dolphins do mourn and grieve for their dead. Navy testing could devastate whales and dolphins, groups say - Wire Lifestyle. Humpback whale freed from net in Australia - video | World news. Orca attack dolphins off north Scotland. Orca watchers witness attack on white-beaked dolphins May 2012. Watchers looking out for orcas from Duncansby Head on the very north of mainland Scotland were stunned to witness an attack by a six strong pod on five white-beaked dolphins.
Pentland FirthSea Watch NE Scotland co-ordinator Colin Bird is leading a week-long watch to gather data about the various cetacean species using the Pentland Firth - an area where tidal and wave energy turbines are set to be developed. Collaborative behaviourSea Watch Sightings office Danielle Gibas says: "It is extremely rare to witness an event like this. Killer whales are collaborative hunters and many people will have seen them in action in wildlife documentaries filmed in other parts of the world. Karen Munro, who regularly reports sightings to Sea Watch and is assisting Colin during the week, caught the attack on camera and picks up the story: "Colin starting his watch at Duncansby Head at 6am. Dolphins die of heroin overdose at zoo | Hot Topics. Other dolphins in Hawaii in 2005. (AP Photo/Star Bulletin, George F. Lee) A toxicology report has surfaced that says two dolphins who died last year after a zoo rave in Switzerland that says heroin was found in the mammals’ urine.
MSN.com reports: About a year ago, dolphins Shadow and Chelmers died agonizing deaths in Connyland, Switzerland, after the zoo allowed a rave (attended by thousands) to be held near their training pool. AOL UK reports that it was originally believed that the techno music pumping out from the club just yards from the dolphins’ pool had caused their deaths: But toxicology tests carried out by the forensics institute in St Gallen show that the heroin substitute Buprenorphin was present in the dolphins’ urine.According to The Sun, Dutch marine biologist and dolphin expert Cornelis van Elk said: “Opiates are extremely dangerous for underwater mammals and would never be used in any legitimate treatment. Oh, the huge manatees | Hot Topics. Whales sensed Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster. A sperm whale.Franco Banfi A technique that monitors whales through the sounds they emit has answered a key issue raised by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago this month.
The sound-monitoring technique revealed that sperm whales retreated from the immediate area around the spill caused by the explosion. "There's obvious evidence of relocation," said team member Azmy Ackleh, professor and head of mathematics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The discovery is important because it provides information about a species almost hunted to extinction for its valuable oil in the 19th century.
Sperm whales are listed as endangered under the terms of the United States Endangered Species Act, and estimates of their population vary between 200,000 and 1.5 million worldwide. Traditionally, zoologists have measured the location and size of whale populations by spotting them from boats or tagging individual whales with radio transmitters. Mystery disease is killing Arctic seals - life - 10 December 2011. VETERINARIANS in Alaska are at a loss to explain a disease that has killed almost 200 Arctic ringed seals since July. The animals' hair falls out, they develop ulcers on their flippers and skin, and they have lesions in their lungs, livers, hearts and brains. The disease may have spread to other species including spotted seals, bearded seals and walruses.
"We don't know what's causing it," says Julie Speegle, speaking for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's office in Alaska. Tests have ruled out viruses including poxvirus, papillomavirus and morbillivirus, which killed hundreds of seals in Europe in 1988. Vets continue to screen for other viruses, bacteria and fungi, and for algal toxins and others that may be responsible. Similar seal deaths have been reported in Canada and Russia, where scientists have joined the investigation. New Scientist Not just a website! More From New Scientist Space elevator trips could be agonisingly slow (New Scientist) More from the web.
What is a Dugong - Abu Dabbab Bay, Egypt - Rutger Geerling - PhotoBotos.com - Providing Superior Photos and Product Reviews One Day at a Time!! PhotoBotos.com. Click to Enlarge What is a Dugong? What is a Dugong – Abu Dabbab Bay, Egypt – Rutger Geerling What is a Dugong? I am sure most people have never asked this question because they probably never knew that they existed. Well hopefully these beautiful images by Rutger have peeked your interest. A dugong is a close relative of the manatee that lives in tropical areas of the Pacific and Indian Ocean.
They are vegetarians and typically feed on sea grasses in shallow bays. You can see more of Rutger’s amazing work at website portfolio. www.rudgr.com. You can also like him on Facebook (CLICK HERE) And Follow him on Twitter (CLICK HERE) Enter Rutger: Knowing there is something to photograph but not being able to find can be rather frustrating, especially when you are underwater – limited by an annoying but finite thing as an air supply. Seeing these pictures you’ve probably guessed we found it but it took us two one-hour dives to actually find it. Share and Enjoy ShareThis Copy and Paste. Fin whale washes up at Point Reyes — struck by vessel | SFGate Blog. Photo courtesy of Sarah Allen of the National Park Service A male juvenile fin whale washed ashore at Point Reyes National Seashore last week after a boat struck and mortally wounded it, authorities said. The 47-foot long whale was found on the shore of Marin County on June 21.
A necropsy report found that the whale had fractured ribs and vertebra consistent with being hit by a boat, said Jim Oswald, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center. The U.S. Coast Guard said a whale was struck by a vessel earlier this week near Point Reyes, but it is unknown if it was the same whale. The whale had most likely come from the Gulf of the Farallones, where fin whales are so rare that only two have been spotted since 2004, said Mary Jane Schramm, spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Fin whales are a federally listed endangered species. Whales putting on a show near Santa Cruz beaches.
A 200-pound man in a kayak has nothing on a 40-ton humpback whale hunting for breakfast, but that's not stopping dozens of sightseers from getting cozy with a pod that has strayed unusually close to shore near Santa Cruz. So far, no one's been hurt, but at least one sailboat was damaged this week when it struck a whale in the warm waters of Monterey Bay, according to the National Marine Sanctuary there. Both the sanctuary and the U.S. Coast Guard issued warnings Tuesday advising the public to stay at least 100 yards away from the animals or risk a hefty fine - minimum $2,500 - for whale harassment. The Coast Guard plans to have vessels in the area today to keep people a safe distance from the whales. The pod in question is on its annual migration down to Mexico, where the whales will start breeding during the winter months. Following the fish Good time to watch Still, it's not like people need to avoid the water altogether.