As noted on the Save Our Seas Foundation website, “Compared to other commercial fisheries, the shark-fin industry is opaque, secretive, and often operates in a legal grey area, exploiting loopholes in anti-finning laws and keeping few records. In addition to this, reporting can be unreliable and misleading, as member countries of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report shark catches with varying degrees of detail and accuracy”. There is some forward momentum. A ban has been put in place in California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington to end the practice. California will also implement a ban on the importation of fins starting January 1, 2013. Although, as the LA Times writes, it is still an uphill battle in China.

Wildaid, in conjunction with artist Kiki Karpus, created this powerful “What is shark finning?” infographic as a was to understand more on the harmful effects the practice has on the entire ocean ecosystem.

Striped bass

Some species of fish can regulate their salt tolerance easier than others. For instance, many of the species that call the estuary a nursery or breeding ground can adapt to a wide range of salinity (less than 30 ppt). These animals (or plants) are known as euryhaline. Other animals that cannot tolerate a wide range of salinity are known as stenohaline. Some euryhaline species include striped bass, mummuichug, puffer, shad, herring, and sturgeon.

1. The woodstork is the only stork native to North America.
2. They are very colonial birds and prefer to nest in the company of other storks.
3. Even though they might look like they would be awkward in the air they are particularly graceful in flight.
4. The time it takes for the woodstork to grab a fish and take it in its beak once is it detected is one of the quickest in the animal kingdom.
5. The woodstork has earned the nickname “Preacherbird” because they insist on the practice of standing around, as if contemplating life, after eating.

And, this is not necessarily a fact, but the population of the woodstock in North America is in trouble with continuous droughts in Florida. One part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project (CERP), the Stormwater Treatment Areas, are very incredibly beneficial to reinvigorating the species.

I ask you, what is more adorable: a baby woodstork or a baby giraffe?

Image (c) top – gatorland.com, bottom – blog.catandturtle.net

Several species of crabs are considered ‘decorator crabs’ because they conceal themselves with sponges, bryozoans, anemones, and other vegetation. The crabs will hold a piece of decoration against it shell until it begins to grow there. They are equipped with velcrolike bristles to keep their camouflage attached. Surprisingly enough, the decorations remain with the crab even when it sheds its exoskeleton. When the old shell splits, the vulnerable crustacean crawls out. The crab hides from predators while a new shell forms.

Image (c) thosenorthernskies.blogspot.com.

This festival is entirely student-run and is held in conjunction with the Benthic Ecology Meeting, a scientific conference. Alexandra Warneke, a student committee member for the festival, states, “the goal is to encourage widespread science communication by inspiring people to tell stories of their science and conservation efforts”. Submissions are welcomed from any ocean enthusiast, from professional filmmakers to students to scientists. The deadline for submissions is February 24, 2012 and the festival will be held in Norfolk, Virginia in March. You do not need to be present at the festival to submit a film. To learn more about the festival and the submission process, please see our website:http://www.beneaththewavesfilmfest.org/

January 23 will bring a very significant celebration for those that live by the sea … it is the year of the water dragon which only occurs every six decades! To commemorate such an occasion, BCS will highlight two very remarkable and elaborate dragons found off the coast of south and east Australia. The leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques) and the weedy seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) are related to the more familiar seahorse and pipefish.

Leafy Seadragon

Although they may share the similar feature of a long snout with the seahorse and pipefish, the seadragon’s appendages coming from their solid, armor-like skin are what really set them apart. The leafy seadragon, often yellowish-green, is much more ornate than the reddish colored weedy seadragon. Although, the weedy seadragon does have some striking bright blue bands along its upper body. Unlike seahorses,  seadragons do not use their tails to grasp onto the seaweeds or algae that they call home. In fact, the seadragons prefer to drift although they can use their transparent dorsal and pectoral fins to help navigate.

Weedy Seadragon

Similar to seahorses, male seadragons do the child bearing. The males have a brood patch under their tails (unlike the seahorse that have a pouch on their belly). The female will lay approximately 250 eggs on the patch at the time of fertilization and the eggs will hatch approximately 6 weeks later. The tiny juvenile seadragons look exactly like their parents but are immediately independent from them. This is their most vulnerable time of life when they may be eaten by various anemones, crabs, or hydroids. But if they avoid these predators and eat plenty of zooplankton the seadragon will grow to be either 14 inches (leafy) or 18 inches (weedy). The adults usually feast on sea lice or mysid shrimp. Of course, that is also if they manage to evade people collecting them for black market aquariums and staying away from areas where there is pollution and habitat loss.

Other interesting facts about seadragons are that their eyes move independently and they have no teeth or stomach!

Resources:

• http://australian-animals.net/dragon.htm
• http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/sea-dragon/
• http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/efc/efc_splash/splash_animals_seadragon.aspx

Image via Wikipedia

From time to time I like to write about what is going on with other amazing organizations around the world. Today I am highlighting the work of Project AWARE. As they like to say, the Foundation is “a growing movement of scuba divers protecting the ocean planet – one dive at a time.” One of their major focuses is marine debris. Marine debris is a serious problem and effects us all. Did you know that NOAA stated in December that debris from the earthquake in Japan is making its way to Hawai’i already? The folks involved with Project AWARE are ‘diving for debris‘ and not only removing it from the ocean but are also collecting data on what and where they find debris to be used to effect policy and change in the long term. Keep up the great work!

Also, check out these divers (with the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre in Bamfield, BC) as they witness and explain how the swift nudibrach outsmarts a sunflower seastar. Maybe the sea slug should be renamed sea-spark plug?

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• Sea slug offers clues to better long-term memory (msnbc.msn.com)

Image via Wikipedia

I love getting questions from you. This post is in response to one of my favorite people wanting more information on the whaling laws in the United States. This is what I uncovered so far and am more than happy to hear and read comments about what I’ve missed or legislation that’s been updated.

1. The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) made it illegal for anyone living in the US to kill, hunt, injure or harass all species of marine mammals (dolphins, manatees, sea lions, seals, whales), regardless of their population status. Also, it made it illegal for anyone to import marine mammals or products made from them into the United States.

2. In accordance to the MMPA it is illegal to approach a whale in the wild as it can be seen as harassment.

3. Also, since underwater noise (most often military tests using sonar) can be attributed to whale beaching requests for such testing must be made under the MMPA.

4. The Endangered Species Act made it so that it is illegal for anyone living in the US to kill, hunt, collect, injure or harass them. Also, it is illegal to destroy their habitat. Lastly, it is also illegal to buy or sell any whales. All great whales are listed as endangered.

5. The Pelly Amendment stated the US has an obligation to impose import sanctions on the fish products of the countries that violate any international fishery conservation program, such as the International Whaling Convention.

6. The Packwood-Manguson Amendment reduces the fishing rights of the countries that violate international fishery conservation programs in waters of the United States.

7. The International Whaling Convention was in 1946 and implemented an indefinite ban on commercial whale. This ban is still in effect, with certain exceptions. Countries such as Japan and Norway have not honored the ban. The International Whaling Commission will be having its annual meeting in Panama this June.

8. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) had its 25th anniversary in 2007 and in the beginning was seen a more rigorous guideline to follow than the duties put forth by the International Whaling Convention of 1946.

9. Gillnet restrictions have been passed making it illegal for anyone using a gillnet to leave it unattended for more than two hours.

10. The US Coast Guard has imposed regulations since whale collisions with ships are a major source of injury and death for many whales. When vessels enter their habitat they must immediately report to a shore-based station to gain a better understanding of their surroundings and learn measure to avoid hitting a whale.

For more information how how to save whales please visit the American Cetacean Society.

The scales are taken as a by product from a relatively large scale commercial fish processing industry of herring. Herring are one of the most abundant and most important fish groups in the world. Herring are not only important to the food web in the ocean but also to the health of many coastal communities. You can get a glimpse of a family fishing for herring in Alaska on the TLC show, “Hook, Line and Sister“. Also, on the Atlantic coast the Herring Alliance is “a coalition of environmental organizations that formed in May 2007 to protect and restore ocean wildlife and ecosystems in the northeast United States, from Virginia to Maine, by reforming the Atlantic herring fishery. We seek to accomplish this mission through public education, advocacy and support of ecosystem-based fisheries management.”

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