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.
