tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-224241442026-04-05T11:55:10.844-07:00blogfishfish, oceans, conservationMark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.comBlogger1374125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-18405570767379555122014-09-08T21:27:00.001-07:002014-09-08T21:27:31.102-07:00James Nestor's fantastic new book "Deep" reviewed
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Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-78180534949389192502014-08-01T12:41:00.002-07:002014-08-01T12:41:31.031-07:00The jellyfish are comingKiss your salmon goodbye. Jellyfish are now 86% of the life in Puget Sound, a sign of things gone badly wrong. Nutrient soup from your poop, Noctiluca blooms (red-orange streaks in the water) and the fish start disappearing.
Note: proper scientific caution dictates weaselly caution words like perhaps and maybe should be in this post, so consider them to be here.
(See p. 27 Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-48209830704287692312014-08-01T12:14:00.001-07:002014-08-01T12:14:58.295-07:00Puget Sound in trouble?I just saw a very scary presentation. Scary, that is, for oceanography wonks.
It looks like Puget Sound is changing in ways that people won't like. Fewer fish, lower oxygen, more jellyfish. Thanks to nutrients from sewage treatment plants and some surprising food web changes.
You'll know you're seeing it happen if the waters light up, bioluminescence from Noctiluca blooms, Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-72911846539647048612014-07-18T09:39:00.003-07:002014-07-18T09:39:34.798-07:00Ocean fertilization experiment reviewedRemember the rogue scientists who sprinkled iron in the Pacific Ocean off Canada? Did it work?
Andy Revkin reviews the evidence and comments on the significance of the results. The iron made a plankton bloom, but the experiment was too small to be significant beyond that. No big impact on CO2 or salmon.
One thing's for sure, this subject isn't going away. Ocean Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-23222871398675631732014-06-26T11:23:00.005-07:002014-06-26T11:23:59.791-07:00Zombie orcas in Washington
Seattle's orcas are poisoned by PCBs and other toxic chemicals, and they're among the most toxic marine mammals in the world. Here in "nice" Seattle, we're not-so-nice to our neighbors, dumping PCBs and other toxic chemicals into their home.
Efforts are underway to stop the poisons, but some say we should go ahead and poison the sound because it's too costly to stop. It's Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-76158355677998978502014-06-24T14:42:00.001-07:002014-06-24T14:43:24.450-07:00Another Commission calls for ocean conservation
Ho-hum, forgive me for being bored. Another August Panel has said our oceans need conservation action. But this one is different, this one will really matter.
Actually, I'm not this cynical. But I might be.
Here's the news:
The Global Ocean Commission has put forward a report on the declining health of the planet’s high seas, the 64 per cent of the ocean surface that Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-78922047268171459902014-06-23T09:28:00.001-07:002014-06-23T09:28:15.788-07:00Barnacle that eats sharksParasites stir mixed emotions, they're biologically interesting but often gruesome. This one eats sharks, but only a little bit at a time.
Here's an unusual parasitic barnacle that attaches to sharks and makes a living using an unusual root-like organ that penetrates the sharks flesh and absorbs food from the shark's body fluids.
This barnacle seems more exciting and scary than the Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-44073733363345603782014-06-20T08:00:00.000-07:002014-06-20T08:00:01.309-07:00US Congress passes oceans health bill!Believe it or not, the US Congress acted in a bipartisan fashion to solve a problem. The Harmful Algal Blooms bill passed, with bipartisan support. President Obama is expected to sign the bill. The bill bolsters algae bloom research and control in freshwater and ocean waters.
According to Ocean Champions President David Wilmot, the bill is a
significant step forward in Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-42107301648979550522014-06-19T13:08:00.001-07:002014-06-19T13:08:43.349-07:00Underwater fireworksAmazing video of schools of fish showing off their ability to move as a group.
Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-30392105989967190932014-06-10T09:28:00.004-07:002014-06-10T09:28:44.334-07:00Feeding the world with aquaculture
Aquaculture explained as a modern food source. This is a mostly fair and balanced article, although a bit biased in favor of western perspectives. Asia leads the world and Asian innovations are mentioned mostly in passing.
The world can benefit from aquaculture and this article will help get the word out about what's possible.
Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-89884026041517502342014-05-23T11:00:00.000-07:002014-05-23T11:00:49.039-07:00Drunk fish turn into leadersRemember following bold (drunk) friends when you were in college? Now we know it wasn't your fault, the same thing happens to fish so it's probably hard-wired into your brain.
A new study found that drunk fish swam faster and more erratically, and sober fish followed them. “It is like [that the fish's drunk behavior] is perceived as a boldness trait, thus imparting a high social Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-79460418048438596782014-05-22T09:24:00.002-07:002014-05-22T09:24:50.129-07:00Scary trout that eat big thingsYou probably don't think trout are scary, but if you were just a bit smaller, had fur, and frequented Silver Creek in Southern Idaho you'd be worried. Here's a great fish story that turned out to be true, huge brown trout that eat mammals--montane voles to be precise.
Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-87473247616436816562014-05-21T14:48:00.003-07:002014-05-21T14:48:57.772-07:00My (mostly) excellent train ride
For a short family holiday, I rode Amtrak from Seattle to
Portland and back the weekend of May 10-11.
As we were leaving Seattle, I pointed out a very long oil train to my 9
year old son, and told him about recent accidents elsewhere. Moving on down the tracks, my son soon
exclaimed loudly “look dad, there’s another exploding death train,” using my
not very polite term. He Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-27920128367575611962014-05-21T09:35:00.000-07:002014-05-21T09:35:27.979-07:00Catfish that catch birds on the beachCalled freshwater killer whales, huge catfish have learned to catch and eat birds. In southwestern France, pigeons bathing on beaches are in for a nasty surprise. Big catfish lurking just offshore, waiting for a bird to go just a bit too far into the water.
This is reminiscent of killer whales lunging onto beaches in Patagonia to catch sea lions.
Check out this amazing video Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-90457991413601243862014-05-20T09:40:00.001-07:002014-05-20T09:40:53.273-07:00Maggot meal-turning compost into fishA great solution to food waste, here's how to turn compost into excellent food for farmed fish. The trick is maggots, feeding the compost to fly larvae and then feeding the maggots to fish. May not sound yummy, but insects are a natural food source for many freshwater fish. Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-65645429361833066522014-05-19T09:48:00.000-07:002014-05-19T09:57:47.329-07:00Copper River salmon frenzyWhat an amazing fish party, Copper River sockeye salmon were on sale in my local market on Friday at $34.99 per pound. The next display was wild troll-caught Chinook on special at $14.99 per pound. Wild chinook for less than half the price of Copper River sockeye? Wow. I had that chinook on Wednesday and it was really good. I'm surprised, and I would choose the Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-66501553039154878382014-05-16T15:22:00.000-07:002014-05-16T15:22:03.671-07:00Restoration can't overcome loss of natural shoreline habitats
“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.”― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Shoreline restoration in Puget Sound is failing to keep up with our ongoing development of shorelines. Despite our best efforts at restoration, we're losing habitat because we won't stop doing the damage. &Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-87781103220295348632014-05-15T10:29:00.000-07:002014-05-15T10:29:38.851-07:00Is your Copper River salmon really wild? It's Copper River salmon time again, and everyone here in Seattle is looking forward to some lovely fresh salmon. I'll be waiting a couple of weeks until prices come down, the first shipments tend to be expensive.
Is Copper River salmon worth the high price? There are a lot of good salmon out there, and I think Copper River fish are great, but so are a lot of other fish that don't Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-72511799210934541552014-05-14T09:16:00.000-07:002014-05-14T09:16:03.448-07:00Swimming with huge snakesMy swim around Bainbridge Island was an adventure, but here's a whole new twist--swimming with huge scary snakes.
Scientists say that anacondas don't eat people, but I'm not sure that the deepest part of my brain would be satisfied with that, a giant snake underwater would still feel a bit creepy.
Swiss diver Franco Bonfi went to Mato Grosso in Brazil to find, swim with, and photograph giant Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-63558002146188536862014-05-12T09:18:00.002-07:002014-05-12T09:18:59.164-07:00Herring fart to communicate
Tiny bubbles that stream from their anuses in the dark may allow herring to keep in tight schools when they can't see. Amusing, unlike human farts, herring farts seem to bring the fish closer together.
Herring farts are not gut gas, rather they come from air gulped at the surface and stored in their swim bladder (air-containing organ used to control buoyancy).
Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-43781733430846107782014-05-09T09:31:00.000-07:002014-05-09T09:31:07.915-07:00Is your Maine lobster truly wild?Fishermen are feeding young lobsters in Maine, turning the wild lobster fishery into something less that fully wild. The way this works is that lobsters enter traps, eat the bait, and then leave (studies show that 90% of lobsters escape after entering traps). Scientists have found that lobsters get enough food from lobster traps to enhance their growth rate. Sounds like a cross Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-54972358932288245082014-05-08T09:03:00.001-07:002014-05-08T09:03:16.425-07:00Scary ocean predator you've never heard of..Watch this big lingcod get caught because it won't let go of it's prey. Vicious? Stubborn? Not very clever? Regardless, I'm glad I'm not a fish in lingcod country.
Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-24955202146045819562014-05-07T09:14:00.001-07:002014-05-07T09:21:25.867-07:00Lingcod tries to eat salmonFascinating underwater video, can the salmon escape the lingcod's trap-like jaws?
Hat tip: Salish Sea News and Weather
Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-22944782933482595542014-05-06T11:21:00.000-07:002014-05-06T11:21:02.095-07:00Plants vs. Seazombies in Seattle
Good news, plants defeat seazombies in Seattle. Urban streams breed seazombies when fall
rains wash a chemical stew into creeks where salmon are getting ready to spawn. Some salmon are killed directly,
but what’s worse is that some transform into seazombies—poisoned undead fish
that come out of streams to eat your brain.
Fortunately, scientists have discovered that Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22424144.post-67783761025200701612014-04-29T09:52:00.002-07:002014-04-29T09:52:34.119-07:00SeaZombiesSeattle has a new claim to fame. No, it's not coffee, software, airplanes, or even Macklemore. It's seazombies.
You can find them in "restored" salmon streams, places we've spent good money to create happy homes for fish. After our beloved fish make it all the way back home to spawn, a flush of rain washes mysterious toxic chemicals into the water. Some die, but Mark Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121566220326246265noreply@blogger.com3