This week in ocean news

Friendly cetaceans and smelly algae 15

A federal advisory panel weighed a ban on salmon fishing in California after a dramatic decline in the fishery. "The situation now is unprecedented and off the charts," said the executive director of the Pacific Fishery Management Council ...

... a University of Tasmania scientist discovered two new types of toxic algae in the Southern Ocean, which he believes must be calculated into fishing quotas to prevent further overfishing ...

... ocean acidification caused the ears of baby damselfish to develop incorrectly ...

... it was discovered that fish that feed on plankton can smell an odor released by algae, and congregate near the source of the scent, since plankton feed on algae ...

... a computer model based on the gathering of plankton populations could help ships avoid striking right whales, which also feed on plankton ...

... a rare white orca was sighted off Alaska's Aleutian Islands ...

... a dolphin guided a pygmy sperm whale and her calf back to sea after the two were stranded on a New Zealand beach ...

... an Australian man discovered a hunk of whale spit, or ambergris, on the beach while walking his dog. The waxy substance, which can be used in perfume, could fetch $20 a gram on the international market ...

... and 775 Russians were rescued by helicopters after the ice floes from which they were fishing drifted into the Pacific Ocean.

Andrew Sharpless is the CEO of Oceana, the world’s largest international nonprofit dedicated to ocean conservation. Visit www.oceana.org.

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  1. caniscandida Posted 4:24 am
    15 Mar 2008

    hurray nice dolphin!The brilliant piece of reconstructed communication between the bottle-nosed dolphin, already plentifully observed to be friendly with human beings, and those confused mother-child pygmy sperm-whales, should in principle be terrific.
    Whatever.
    Meanwhile, the pygmy sperm-whales got away, which they would not have, if it were left to us human beings.
    "Being ignorant" is not nearly so terrible a situation as "not knowing enough to learn how to proceed."
    But "humility" works, at least if the dolphin is good-hearted and is on break.

    Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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  2. caniscandida Posted 4:34 am
    15 Mar 2008

    pale male orcaYes, and there are better, fuller accounts of that orca than that story with that frizz-head on the side examining his life-or-death board.
    The orca is not albino, but is a pale morph, exhibiting vanilla and light brown shades.
    It was observed at length by scientists who are not specialized in cetaceans, but are studying fish (actinopterygians).  Nevertheless, their observations are apparently good, and have been shared generously.
    We obviously are interested in knowing if the Orca Pale Male (for that matter, what is its sex?) relates normally with other Orcas.

    Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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  3. caniscandida Posted 4:37 am
    15 Mar 2008

    775 Russians, drunk on vodka.On thinning ice.
    Right.
    What the hell, it was East Asia, they should have ordered chow mein.

    Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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  4. amazingdrx Posted 4:41 am
    15 Mar 2008

    Dolphin/human lifeguardsTeams of dolphin and human lifeguards to save marine life and humans.  Interspecies cooperation is a great premise on which to base ocean environmental campaigns.  Beautiful synchronicity all around in these strange times of mother nature under assault.
    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2008/3/12/ ...

    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

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  5. caniscandida Posted 4:43 am
    15 Mar 2008

    note that "strong fecal smell""Whale spit" is rather too kind an expression:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris.
    Poor pup!
    But a penny saved is a penny earned, no?

    Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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  6. caniscandida Posted 4:46 am
    15 Mar 2008

    dolphins and humansAbsolutely right, Amazing.
    It is just that there are Japanese who trap dolphins in their harbors and chop them bloodily to pieces, a horrifying spectacle.
    Why in the world should dolphins trust us?

    Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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  7. amazingdrx Posted 5:04 am
    15 Mar 2008

    Interesting phenomenon CanisI have noticed wildlife becoming far more trusting in my neck of the woods over the years.  Human attitudes and actions have changed, so they actually let us see them.
    That meant death before, for any animal to show itself.  I am still reluctant to tell others where or what I saw though, lest the rumors of rare wolf or cat or otter get around to the media.  That alerts the tiny percentage of killers, hate filled humans who ride around with those "no wolves" bumperstickers.  
    Ready to get 50 bucks for a hide, half a tank of gas in their gas guzzling monster trucks.
    It is really time for a human alliance with our dolphin friends.  Heal the rift between the species.

    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

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  8. caniscandida Posted 5:08 am
    15 Mar 2008

    "Thar she blows"The ABC News presentation is less than clear, unfortunately.
    But yes, it is good that people are at work to help ship captains avoid striking endangered North Atlantic right whales, such as Calvin, whose portrait as she surfaces I have looked upon daily for quite a while now.

    Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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  9. caniscandida Posted 5:19 am
    15 Mar 2008

    Could be, Amazing.The wolves have been ready for ages to establish an understanding with us.  Not necessarily get cuddly, but, you know, establish respective jurisdictions.  Cf. Farley Mowat's "Never Cry Wolf."
    The recent well-played YouTube video, showing a near-wolf dog, a Huskie I guess, playing sweetly and intimately with a polar bear, near Churchill, Manitoba, gives testimony to how some animals have a super-human intelligence to know when they can trust one another and become friends.
    Sorry, I am too Hillary-oid and stupid and un-Barack-ishly-uncool to know how to dig up that reference.  But somebody did indeed give that reference late last year in Gristmill.

    Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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  10. Sam Wells Posted 5:54 am
    15 Mar 2008

    Saturday comedians?I have to say, reading Canis on a Saturday has become quite a routine for me ... the comedy, the woe, the intrigue ... the DMS and DMSO creating ozone busting molecules emitted from phytoplankton but being in lower numbers cause excess CO2 warming ... oops, that one wasn't on the list  Yet. My bad.

    Onward through the fog

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  11. amazingdrx Posted 6:02 am
    15 Mar 2008

    My favoriteThat's my favorite contemporary philosopher! You're talking about Sam.

    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

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  12. caniscandida Posted 11:27 pm
    15 Mar 2008

    the hearing of damselfishIt is already understood that increasing ocean acidity will be a problem for all the animals that have calcareous body parts, such as many zooplankton, who are toward the bottom of the food chain.  But we should not be surprised if it has negative effects on other structures too.  If this ill effect has been observed now in one kind of fish, that would seem to increase the likelihood that other problems are happening in other fish.

    Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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  13. caniscandida Posted 11:32 pm
    15 Mar 2008

    toxic algae, and "sustainability" againOn the research of Miguel de Salas, of the University of Tasmania:
    <<

    He has discovered fish are suffocating from the algaes, and says this means sustainable fishing level calculations are probably wrong.
    >>
    Another bit of evidence that it is very difficult to talk about "sustainable fisheries."

    Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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  14. Blueplanet Posted 12:48 am
    16 Mar 2008

    SharksI see that in some circles it is still considered macho and clever to kill sharks for sport - http://www.underwatertimes.com
    Surely if sharks are to have any chance of long term survival this sort of activity must have to become totally unacceptable to the majority of people?
    http://www.blueplanetsociety.org

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  15. Sam Wells Posted 1:54 am
    16 Mar 2008

    more red tide?I did read about the red-tide blooms off Tasmania.  It should be clarified that most all these diatoms, dinoflagellates, and algae have existed since time immemorial, and that they periodically bloom such as when fertilized by high-iron dust settling from the atmosphere. That's a suspected trigger for red tide blooms in the Gulf of Mexico. Usually the bloom is from one non-toxic kind of algae that is feasted upon by another predator; as the predator dies certain toxins and neurotoxins are released into the waters and even the atmosphere.
    I'm not aware, however, of a red tide or "dead zone" of causing regulators to change what is called the Total Annual Catch, of species-specific TAC.  Only in cases where seafood becomes contaminated and may present dangers to consumers are temporary bans put in place.  We see these bans all the time in the form of restrictions on gathering oysters, which may contain E. coli or V. vulnificus.  
    The interesting part of the story is whether Climate Change is causing the blooms of Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) to be of greater areal size, duration, concentration, and periodicity (happening more often). Some studies done by Mote Marine in Florida do seem to bear out this conclusion, although warming was also confounded by point and non-point water pollution and deposition from the Saharan dust layer.  
    And more tropical biomass seems to be transported further north along the Gulf Stream as well, include some brown tides and algal types not common to the Northeast. In fact we're seeing all kinds of crazy critters such as the manatee, Portuguese Man-O-War, and tropical dolphin-fish. I have not studied the West Coast as well but was surprised to learn about Humboldt Squid as far north as Dutch Harbor, Alaska. To me it does have all the appearances that Climate Change is changing the ocean in ways that we had least suspected, and the consequences are quite profound and shocking.  
    Yer philosopher-comedian,

    sam

    Onward through the fog

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