Marine News Roundup

Welcome to the fortnightly Marine News Roundup, gathering together the best of the marine news stories from the past two weeks!

Act Now to Save 'the Most Important Fish in the Sea'
Atlantic menhaden, often called “the most important fish in the sea,” have reached a turning point. These fish play a critical role in the marine food web as prey for striped bass, bluefish, tuna, whales, porpoises, seabirds, and other wildlife. But the essential role menhaden play in the marine ecosystem is now at risk. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has taken a historic first step to restore the menhaden population by laying out a plan that could significantly increase the number left in the ocean, finally taking into account the needs of their predators.

Kraken lair? Paleontologist identifies giant sea monster's bone heap.
Scientists have uncovered the lair of an ancient sea monster similar to the legendary Kraken, which has appeared countless times in myths and stories, notably in the 2010 film, 'Clash of the Titans.' Evidence for the kraken and its gruesome attacks comes from markings on the bones of the remains of nine 45-foot (14 meter) ichthyosaurs of the species Shonisaurus popularis, which lived during the Triassic, a period that lasted from 248 million to 206 million years ago. The beasts were the Triassic version of today's predatory giant squid-eating sperm whales.

Florida's wildlife officials encouraged by sea turtle nest count
The populations of two of the three species of sea turtles that nest in Florida are growing and the number of nests of the third – the iconic loggerhead – seems to have stabilized after a substantial and steady decline since 1998. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission this week released the results of its annual nest count. The survey is not the total number of nests in the state, but only on targeted beaches where turtles are known to nest year after year. The good news for green turtles, which are on the federal endangered species list, is that the survey showed a record high annual nest count in Florida this year. It is the most ever counted since the survey began 22 years ago. Leatherback turtles' nests numbered high as well, with the count falling just shy of the previous high mark two years ago. Leatherbacks also are on the federal endangered list.

Target commits to 100% sustainable, traceable fish by 2015
The second largest discount retailer in the U.S. has announced that it will sell only sustainable, traceable fish by 2015. Minneapolis-based Target Corp. operates 1,762 stores, many of which are converting to incorporate PFresh markets that sell fresh and frozen foods, including fish. In 2010, Target stopped selling farmed salmon, Chilean sea bass and orange roughy due to various sustainability issues. It currently sells 50 different brands of fish certified by either the Marine Stewardship Council or the Global Aquaculture Alliance.

Mysterious outbreak killing Arctic Alaska ringed seals
A mysterious and potentially widespread disease is thought to have contributed to the deaths of dozens of ringed seals along Alaska's Arctic coast. Scores more are sickened, some so ill that skin lesions bleed when touched. The animals are an important subsistence food for Alaska Native hunters and their families, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has proposed listing them as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Man 'surfs' great white shark
Doug Niblack was trying to catch another wave before going to work when his longboard hit something hard as rock off the Oregon coast and he found himself standing on a thrashing great white shark. Looking down, he could see a dorsal fin in front of his feet as he stood on what he described as 10 feet (three metres) of back as wide as his surfboard and as black as his wetsuit. A tail thrashed back and forth and the water churned around him. Niblack estimated that he was standing on the shark for no more than three or four seconds. The dorsal fin caught his board and dragged him for about a metre by his ankle tether. In six years of surfing, Niblack said he had seen sharks in the water, but never so close. He said he had been dreaming about sharks, but was planning to go back out to surf. When he does he will take a waterproof video camera his roommate gave him. He has also put a sticker on the bottom of his board to ward off sharks – a shark with a red circle and a slash over it.

'Whale war' kicks off as Japan sends strengthened fleet to Antarctica
As the Steve Irwin approached the equator last week, word that Japan would be sending a strengthened whaling fleet to Antarctica next month reached the bridge of the old Aberdeen-built customs vessel. The crew of activists on board cheered, as their veteran leader, Captain Paul Watson, resigned himself to his eighth "whale war" among the icebergs and 100mph winds of the Southern ocean. Watson, on what is nearly his 350th voyage in nearly 40 years defending whales and other marine wildlife at the helm of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is sending three ships to intercept, chase and harass the Japanese. He promises "aggressive non-violence", while the Japanese, still smarting from last year's humiliation when their fleet took only a fifth of its planned whale catch, say they will heighten security and take an armed government fisheries patrol vessel.

Mississauga bans shark fin products
Mississauga councillors unanimously adopted a bylaw Wednesday that bans the possession and sale of shark fin products in the city. The decision makes Mississauga the largest city in Canada to ban the controversial products, the consumption of which has pushed many of the world’ shark species to the brink of extinction. The move came a day before a Toronto council committee was to address the issue, and following introduction of a ban in Oakville in July. At the municipal level, much of the debate revolves around whether cities have the jurisdiction and the ability to enforce such a ban. Mississauga Councillor Pat Mullin says cities certainly have the jurisdiction but adds there are issues to be worked out regarding enforcement.

Endangered Sea Turtles Drowning In Shrimp Nets, Groups Sue For More Protection
Several wildlife protection groups are suing the federal agency that regulates fishing in U.S. waters, claiming the government isn't doing enough to protect endangered sea turtles from drowning in shrimp nets. The lawsuit filed in Washington claims the National Marine Fisheries Service violates the Endangered Species Act by letting some shrimpers operate without required turtle excluder devices on their nets and exempting some shrimping from the requirement. The gear is required on many shrimp trawls in federal and state waters, but some kinds of trawls and other nets are exempt under certain conditions. A Louisiana law passed in 1987 makes it illegal for state wildlife agents to enforce turtle excluder device regulations in state waters.

Rare dwarf sperm whale sighted off Cornwall coast
A dwarf sperm whale was spotted in Mounts Bay off Penzance, where it was caught on camera swimming just off the shore. It's the first ever recorded sighting of the species off the coast of the UK . A video, posted on YouTube, shows the 3 metre mammal circling the bay in shallow water. There are no official figures for dwarf sperm whale population because they usually stay in deeper waters, feeding off fish and crustaceans on the sea floor.

Amazing animal-inspired inventions!
A BBC Earth blog looking at some of the amazing things animals can do and how we've learnt from nature...

Humpback Whale-inspired Hydroelectric Turbines:

In the search for more renewable sources of energy, scientists have turned to one of nature’s most wonderful creatures for ideas. The Humpback Whale’s amazing agility is down to its slightly odd flippers. The unusual bumps on the leading edge of the whale’s flippers give it incredible manoeuvrability for an animal so big. Scientists over at WhalePower realised the potential of this oddity in a number of different technologies and have applied bumps to hydroelectric turbines, ventilation fans, irrigation pumps and wind turbines. The gains in efficiency are massive. Compared to smooth fins, the bumpy humpback’s fins have 32 per cent less drag and an 8 per cent increased lift in their movement through air and water. The efficiency gains are huge enough, potentially 20 per cent, to make the likes of wind power a source of energy fully competitive with alternatives.

People have always campaigned to save the whales and now they could save us energy!

Friction reducing Sharkskin:

American hero Michael Phelps may just owe a debt of gratitude to sharks. Phelps swam to his record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics wearing a revolutionary new swimsuit based on a study of sharkskin. The suit increases a swimmer’s speed by reducing drag through water by up to 4 per cent more than the next swimsuit. Sharkskin is covered in tiny ‘teeth’, varying in shape and positioning, that regulate the flow of water around the body. Researchers are now developing ‘sharkskin’ coatings for ship's hulls, submarines, aircraft fuselage, and even swimwear for humans.

With only spines attached, shark fins come ashore
Despite recent measures to crack down on the practice of shark finning, Costa Rican fishermen and environmentalists believe that foreign fleets are once again using methods to evade Costa Rican fishing laws and regulations.  In recent months, three Taiwanese ships landed shark fins attached only to the shark’s spine at the public dock in Puntarenas. The sharks’ flesh was shaved away from the sharks’ spines, leaving only skeletons attached to full fins. Last year, the Costa Rican Agriculture Ministry (MAG) and the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute (Incopesca) barred foreign fleets from unloading at private docks. Instead they must land at public docks, where inspectors can enforce the law. A public backlash begun nearly a decade ago helped ban the practice of shark finning in Costa Rica. However, shark fishing remains legal in the country. Today Costa Rican regulations stipulate that only three authorized cuts can be made when shark fishing: the head, the entrails and a partial cut to allow the bending of the fin. Yet recent cases in Puntarenas have shown that the law has left grey areas that fishermen exploit. The Taiwanese boat Wang Jia Men was the first ship discovered using the new practice of landing only skeletons. According to Incopesca Executive Director Luis Gerardo Dobles, it was the first time that the fisheries institute had seen the new tactic. An Incopesca inspector let the ship unload and reported that 36 sharks had landed without full carcasses. When members of the Pacific Coast Fishermen’s Union found out, the ship had already been allowed to sell the fins. The union, made up of Costa Rican fishermen, strongly opposes the practice.

Global warming: A tipping point for phytoplankton?

An elaborate lab experiment done by a San Francisco State University research team shows that warmer increasingly acidic oceans may fundamentally change the role some phytoplankton have in capturing carbon from the atmosphere. The study published this week in the journal Global Change Biology suggests that at least one species of ubiquitous phytoplankton - Emiliania huxleyi- forms incomplete or hollow coccoliths in high carbon and high ammonium conditions, resulting in less carbon sinking to the ocean floor. The results suggest in the future there will be overall lower amounts of calcification and overall lower amount of transport of carbon to the deep ocean. To measure the impacts of warmer temperatures and increasing acidification, the scientists raised more than 200 generations of Emiliania huxleyi in the lab, adjusting carbon dioxide levels and the type of nitrogen in the phytoplankton’s seawater bath. Changes to this massive carbon sink could have a critical effect on the planet’s future climate, especially as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise sharply as a result of fossil fuel burning and other human activities. The shell-building capacity of the phytoplankton could also be inhibited by thickening layers of warm water that prevent upwelling of nitrate-rich water. Emiliania huxleyi typically use nitrates to make proteins, but this form of nitrogen may be in shorter supply as ocean temperatures change. At the same time, the warmer temperatures favor bacteria that turn recycled nitrogen from surface waters and the atmosphere into ammonium, and acidification inhibits the bacteria that turn ammonium into nitrate. The study is the first to look at the intertwined effects of ocean acidification and changes in nitrogen on phytoplankton like Emiliania huxleyi. It’s also one of the first studies to observe these effects continuously over a long time scale, “so the responses of the phytoplankton are likely what we’ll see in the ocean itself”.

Scientists Seek A Break In Aquaculture's Fish-Eat-Fish Chain

Aquaculture, one of the fastest growing sectors of agriculture in the US, combats the global dilemma of depleting wild fish populations. But a new report from the group Food & Water Watch says factory fish farms risk the health of other, stable species swimming in the sea. One of the biggest problems? The fish food. It takes about three pounds of feeder fish to produce one pound of farmed salmon. And we need more fish to keep up with a hungry, growing, human population. But feeding more salmon depletes the ocean's smaller fish. Wild-caught, carnivorous fish like salmon chow down on smaller fish and crustaceans because those delectable treats are high in protein and fat - essential nutrients to a fish. Farmed fish need the same nutrients but get it as a blend of various nutritional ingredients - all targeted to increase the efficiency of a fish's growth and its health. Researchers are looking into new fish feed using renewable sources, such as biofuel co-products, poultry by-products, soybeans and so on. Finding alternative sources of fat and protein to supply aquaculture could help provide fish with the necessary nutrients without depleting the ocean.

On ocean's floor, death is not the end
On the dark, cold floor of the ocean, death is not the end. Dead organic material settles to the bottom, where, like compost in a garden, it is converted into nutrients, including nitrate and phosphate. Coastal winds help complete the circle of life, lifting clear, cold, nutrient-rich water into the sunlit shallows. The upwelling promotes a population explosion of phytoplankton, the microscopic plants that form the base of the marine food web.

Dolphins 'decompress like humans'

Scientists have found tiny bubbles beneath the blubber of dolphins that have beached themselves. The bubbles were discovered by taking ultrasound scans of the animals within minutes of stranding off Cape Cod, US. The team's findings help confirm what many researchers have long suspected: dolphins avoid the bends by taking long, shallow decompression dives after feeding at depth. If human divers ascend too quickly, dissolved nitrogen forms bubbles in the body, causing decompression sickness. But marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, and seals are highly adept at dealing with the pressures of the deep. They slow their hearts, collapse the tiny air-filled chambers in their lungs, and channel blood to essential organs - like the brain - to conserve oxygen, and limit the build-up of nitrogen bubbles in the blood that happens at depth. However, even marine mammals ascending from the deep must rid themselves of the gas that has built up in their tissues, or risk developing the bends. If dolphins come up too quickly, there is evidence that they "grab another gulp of air and go back down again," in much the same way a human diver would "re-tank and re-ascend" to try to prevent the bends. But there's one place they can't do that - "sitting on the beach".

'Criminal' penguin caught on film

A "criminal" stone-stealing Adelie penguin has been captured on camera by a BBC film crew. The team, filming for the documentary Frozen Planet, spent four months with the penguin colony on Ross Island, Antarctica. The footage they captured shows a male penguin stealing stones from its neighbour's nest. The birds build their stone nests to elevate and protect their eggs from run-off when the Antarctic ice melts. Males with the best nests are more likely to attract a mate, so, in a colony of half a million penguins, the best stones are highly prized. Each male adelie penguin builds its nest just out of "pecking distance" of its neighbours. The film crew managed to capture a remarkable sequence, with one penguin repeatedly returning to its nest to add stones, apparently unaware of the fact that his neighbour would steal a stone every time his nest was unattended.

Toxic Seaweed Poisons Coral Reefs on Contact

“Attack of the killer seaweed” may sound like a cheesy horror flick, but for many coral species, murderous multicellular algae have become real-life villains. A new study of reefs in the South Pacific suggests that some algae can poison coral on contact. This chemical warfare may be increasing the pressure on struggling reef communities worldwide, researchers say. Along the reefs dotting Fiji, overfishing has pitted corals against algae in a battle royale. On swaths of coastline where fishing is restricted, corals such as the tall and branching Acropora millepora rule. But where Fijians spear lots of herbivores such as bird-beaked parrotfish, few fish remain to prune back the region’s seaweeds, a blanket term for many types of big algae. These algae then creep in, extending their tendrils over close to 60 percent of the ocean bottom and turning waters a sludgy green. Such “seaweed-covered parking lots” aren’t unique to Fiji either. Recent studies have hinted that this ocean greenery may be carrying out a subtle chemical war on sensitive reefs. To investigate this covert struggle, researchers strung eight different species of Fijian seaweed across growing corals, including A. millepora colonies. True to the researchers’ suspicions, many of these algal species seemed to wield a poison touch. In less than 2 weeks, the test coral often began to discolor and even die where it rubbed against the seaweeds. Faux seaweeds made of plastic had no such effect.

Hearing the Repertoire of a Very Fearsome Fish

Everyone knows that piranhas have razor-sharp teeth, but they have another distinguishing characteristic: They make noise. Until now, however, scientists have never understood why. Now, using a hydrophone to record underwater sounds, researchers from the University of Liège in Belgium say they have found an answer. These are sounds made during fighting, charging and frontal display,” said Eric Parmentier, a morphologist at the university and an author of a new study on the noises, published in The Journal of Experimental Biology. It was previously thought that piranhas produced a single barking call. But the researchers also recorded a drumlike sound, made when the fish fought for food, and a croak the fish’s jaws produced when it snapped at another piranha. Dr. Parmentier and his colleagues also discovered that piranhas make the barking and drumming sounds by rapidly contracting a muscle attached to the swim bladder. The contractions occur 100 to 200 times a second and cause the bladder to vibrate. The moment the contractions stop, the vibration stops, as the swim bladder itself is unable to vibrate on its own. Researchers are discovering that many types of fish produce sound because it is a good way to communicate underwater. At least 100 fish families are known to produce sound - "sound travels faster in the water than in the air".

And finally...

Farting Fish

Flatulence might be rude to us humans, but for herring, it's a survival strategy. Herring have a secret, and funny, way of communicating with each other - by farting. They just have to hope neighboring predators aren't listening in...

That's it for now - the Marine News Roundup will be back in two weeks.

European Shark Week

European Shark Week takes place each year and provides a week of activities for shark enthusiasts to find out more about shark conservation and get involved with campaigns that will help to secure the future of shark populations in Europe. This year it takes place from 15th-23rd October. So what can you do to get involved?

Have you signed the Shark Alliance's petition to protect Europe's sharks? At the time of writing this blog, 24,142 people have already signed the petition, which targets national fisheries ministers in EU member states to ensure that loopholes in the current EU finning ban are closed. You can also check their events calendar to see if there are any Shark Week events happening near you.

You can find out more about European Shark Week on the Shark Trust website - and why not 'like' their facebook page? The Shark Alliance, Support Our Sharks, Support Our Sharks Europe and The Global Shark Conservation Initiative are also great sources of information about sharks on facebook (and don't forget Respect Our Seas is on facebook too!).

Project AWARE are also running a Big Shark Shout Out week and have their own petition you can sign. So far, 79,567 people have signed this petition. You can also email messages of support for the Shark Shout Out Wall, make your own Shark Shout Out wall, display a Big Shout Out or Not Too Loud poster or sticker, organise or join a Big Shark Shout Out event, download the Shark Petition app, display the Shark Petition Widget on your website, or even display your own "I Shouted for Sharks" PicBadge on your facebook and Twitter profile pictures!

Whatever you do for European Shark Week, do leave us a comment and let us know!

Marine News Roundup

Welcome to this week's Marine News Roundup. From now on we will be posting the Roundup every fortnight, but don't worry, we'll make sure we include even more fantastic stories in each edition!

What's more dangerous than diving with 100 sharks?
When the BBC Earth Deadly 60 crew travelled to South Africa to film blacktip sharks they were prepared for a frightening dive. Little did they know that just getting themselves to the right place, at the right time with all their kit working would pose the biggest challenge of all. Read the full blog for more on this fascinating story!

Can piranhas eat a human being alive?
Legend has it that piranhas gather in predatory shoals and can strip human beings to the bone and eat them alive. In the last of the Deadly 60 blogs for BBC Earth, the team have taken to the water to find out exactly why the piranha has developed such a fearsome reputation. They can also detect a drop of blood in 200 litres of water and shoals can clean off meat from a carcass with alarming effectiveness. Getting in the water to lure them in with a piece of steak had frightening results for one member of the Deadly 60 Team.... Read on to find out more!

New Dolphin Slaughter of Striped Dolphins
Save Japan Dolphins is a campaign conducted by the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute. SaveJapanDolphins.org was formed to put an end to the Japanese drive fishery slaughter of dolphins and stop the capture and live trade of dolphins to zoos and aquariums around the world. The slaughter of dolphins in the small fishing village of Taiji at The Cove is carried out by about 26 fishermen. They kill the dolphins with a permit from their government. Tia Butt, volunteer Cove Monitor in Taiji, filmed the slaughter of a large pod of striped dolphins and the capture of a live dolphin on Tuesday 4th October.

A Growing Movement to Save Sharks
More than 70 million sharks die each year, killed for their fins, which end up in soup. At that rate, nearly a third of all shark species may soon be threatened with extinction. The loss of those predators would have an enormous effect all the way down the marine food chain. One country at a time, there are growing restrictions on finning - cutting the fin off a shark and leaving it to die - and, increasingly, shark fishing. Last month, Mexico announced that it would ban shark and stingray fishing beginning next year. Several island nations - Micronesia, the Maldives, Palau, and the Marshall Islands - have already created shark sanctuaries. There is hope that Honduras and Colombia will follow suit, perhaps creating a protective corridor reaching to the Galapagos Islands. The United States has not banned shark fishing, but it has banned finning since 2000 and, in January, President Obama signed a law requiring that sharks be brought to port intact, with their fins in place. Several states, including California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii, have also banned the sale of shark fins. These are welcome steps toward keeping the ocean in balance by leaving its top predator in place. The Marshall Islands government has created the world's largest shark sanctuary, covering nearly two million sq km (750,000 sq miles) of ocean. Other countries cannot control the growing passion for shark-fin soup in newly affluent China and East Asia - but they can deny them the raw material.

Fish That "Walks"
Scientists have discovered that the Pacific Leaping Blenny can walk on land, using a tail-twisting movement. It could give scientists a clue as to how life evolved to live on land. Watch the video for more details of this little-known fish!

New technology may revolutionize shrimp farming
A Texas AgriLife Research scientist has created new shrimp production technology that produces record-setting amounts of shrimp. The patent-pending technology, known as super-intensive stacked raceways, yields jumbo-size shrimp weighing 1.1 oz each. These are known as U15 shrimp and give world-record production of up to 25kg of shrimp per m3 of water using zero water exchange and/or recirculating water. The indoor system will lower US dependence on foreign shrimp - the US imports about 90% of the shrimp it consumes - and could help address world hunger. The shrimp are grown in four columns of piled raceways; raceways are long tubs with circulating water of a depth measuring just 5-7in. As shrimp develop, they are moved to a raceway below; baby shrimp are added to the top while the mature shrimp below are harvested. Economic data shows an estimated rate of return of 25-60%.

Nine bags of beach litter
We previously mentioned our involvement with the Marine Conservation Society's Adopt-a-Beach initiative and that we were running a cleanup on a local beach for their Beachwatch campaign. The cleanup was reported on by The Herald and they mentioned that we removed nine bags of rubbish from the beach, the majority of which was plastic. We also found half an anchor and the remains of of Conger eel. For more information on how you can get involved in this sort of activity, please see our previous blog post on the Marine Conservation Society.

Government ends all turtle hunting
The Trinidad and Tobago Government is moving steadily in its effort to cease the slaughtering of turtles after Cabinet approved an amendment of the Fisheries Act earlier this week. The amendment seeks to protect Turtles and Turtle eggs under Section 4 Chapter 67:51 of the Act. The amendment is a landmark piece of legislation which prohibits the killing, harpooning and sale of turtles. The Act states, “No person shall, at any time, kill, harpoon, catch or otherwise take possession of any turtle, or purchase, sell, offer or expose for sale or cause to be sold or offered for sale any turtle or turtle meat”. All turtles are regarded as critically endangered worldwide according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) and turtles can no longer now be considered a by-catch.

Humboldt squid make surprise return off Orange County
Humboldt squid are deep-water denizens that can measure 7 feet and weigh up to 100 pounds. Their historic range is off South America but they've been expanding their territory for many years. They show off Southern California every 4-5 years. Their appearance off Orange County, California, has prompted sport-fishing landings to schedule more night trips in search of the mysterious cephalopods.

Big catches mask dwindling numbers of sea bass
A study has found that the populations of kelp bass and barred sand bass have plummeted 90% since 1980. Overfishing and warmer ocean temperatures are blamed for the decline. However, sport-fishing boats have been able to keep their catch rates high in part because they have targeted bustling spawning grounds. As reliably as masses of sea bass gather off the Southern California coast each summer, boatloads of anglers arrive to reel them in. But their bountiful catches are an illusion, scientists say. Each summer, when sand bass migrate to half a dozen hot spots from Ventura to San Diego, half-day trips on sport-fishing vessels, commonly known as party boats, typically fill up with paying customers who bring back loads of the fish. Some 80% of the year's sand bass are hooked at those six sites in a matter of weeks. Even so, Southern California sport-fishing groups said they have seen a noticeable decline in sand bass in recent years, with lackluster catches even during the summer boom time. Fishermen who work kelp forests that rise up from rocky reefs in places like Point Dume in Malibu say they haven't noticed a decline in the kelp bass. Many fishing groups suggest that even such dramatic drops are cyclical, and they resist the notion of a collapse. The explanation may not be as simple as overfishing, they say; the sea bass could also be responding to changing water temperatures, dwindling food supplies or increased predation. To determine the health of Southern California's sea bass stocks, researchers went beyond traditional catch rates, using fish reports published in The Times, logs of the number of fish sucked up by ocean-cooled power plants and an underwater visual census conducted by Occidental College since 1974. The downward trend it revealed for sand bass was particularly startling. The plunge of both species mirrors some of the most famous examples of fisheries in peril, such as the North Atlantic cod in the 1990s. However, the collapse does not mean extinction; if measures are taken to protect the fish, they could rebound. The solution could be as simple as asking wildlife officials to reduce catch limits and tighten size limitations so the very smallest and the largest fish would have to be released, changes some fishing groups have been backing for years.

That's all for this week - and don't forget, the next Marine News Roundup will be published in two week's time. In the meantime you can keep up-to-date with us on Twitter and Facebook.