TOTOABA : MEXICO'S ENDANGERED FISH : TOTOABA : FISHING ALSO ENDANGERING THE VAQUITA PORPOISE : DUAL EXTICTION DUE TO BYCATCH : SEA SHEPHARD ORG

PORPOISE CONSERVATION SOCIETY

Excerpt: Capable of reaching over six feet in length and weighing up to 220 pounds, these fish were once abundant in the region, serving as a staple for local communities and a thriving commercial fishery in the mid-20th century. However, overfishing and habitat degradation have led to a dramatic decline in totoaba populations, pushing them to the brink of extinction. ...

It is the totoaba’s swim bladder, an organ that helps the fish control its buoyancy, that has become the epicenter of a black-market boom. In traditional Chinese medicine, these swim bladders, known as “fish maws,” are believed to have numerous health benefits, including promoting longevity and vitality. This demand has driven up the price of totoaba swim bladders to astonishing levels, earning them the nickname “cocaine of the sea.”

The illegal fishing methods used to catch totoaba, particularly gillnets, have proven disastrous for the vaquita population. Gillnets, designed to catch fish by their gills, are indiscriminate, often trapping and killing vaquitas as bycatch. As a result, the vaquita, already struggling with declining numbers, has become collateral damage in the race to supply the lucrative totoaba trade.
A Dual Extinction

The intertwined fates of the vaquita and the totoaba have given rise to the term “dual extinction,” highlighting the fact that both species are teetering on the edge of oblivion. With the vaquita’s population plummeting to fewer than 20 individuals and the totoaba’s numbers in a critical state, urgent action is needed to prevent both species from disappearing forever.

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Did you know that you can bring up past posts about the Vaquita?  Use the search feature embedded in this blog!

JELLY FISH ORAGAMI

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THANK YOU TO DOVER PUBLISHING FOR THIS SAMPLE.

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM - UNITED KINGDOM : ON SO MANY JELLYFISH : THEY ARE OLDER THAN THE DINOSAURS

NHM - UK : JELLY FISH 

I think jelly fish are so beautiful and - usually - graceful. This web site has some excellent photographs, illustrating the diversity of jelly fish beauty!

Excerpt: Jellyfish come in incredible shapes, colours and sizes. Most jellyfishes’ bell-shaped bodies are between two centimetres and 40 centimetres across. However, some species can grow to more than two metres in diameter, with thin trailing tentacles that are even longer than that.

Jellyfish have radial symmetry, meaning that if you sliced a jellyfish down the middle, the parts would be symmetrical, like the segments of an orange.

These cnidarians are famous for their stinging abilities. The intensity of the sting varies by species.

Some jellyfish can also generate their own light, called bioluminescence – further adding to their otherworldly beauty.

*** Search this article to learn HOW THEY EAT and HOW THEY STING!

C 2025 Sirens Link to Sea

PINK MEANIES - FLOATING COTTON CANDY? THESE JELLY FISH WASH ASHORE - THEY CAN HAVE 70 FOOT TENTACLES and THEY STING

HART RESEARCH ORG

Excerpt:

The Gulf is the ninth-largest body of water in the world. It’s more than twice as big as Texas. But its vast scale isn’t the only thing that makes it significant. The Gulf is a laboratory to explore all the big challenges facing our oceans today.

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CBS : PINK MEANIE JELLY FISH GULF OF MEXICO

They eat moon jellies!

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In 2011 they were identified as a new species.... They can be found in the Gulf of Mexico, South Africa...

CABRILLO MARINE AQUARIUM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SPECIES - INCLUDING THE BLACK ABALONE, ACORN BARNACLE, BLUE SHARKS, and SO MANY OTHERS

CABRILLO MARINE AQUARIUM : SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SPECIES  Check out this list ! Click on the photograph and go to the science facts!

Which of these creatures are considered to be HERBVORES because they eat algae?

REACH

 

TIDEPOOLING : HOW TO BEHAVE TO SHOW RESPECT FOR LIVING SEA CREATURES and THE ECOSYSTEM

HOW TO BEHAVE TO SHOW RESPECT FOR LIVING SEA CREATURES and THE ECOSYSTEM

1) Do take your camera. Photograph during the day. No flashes.

2) Do place feet carefully on dry or drier areas. Wear no-slip shoes. (Rubber thongs are not recommended. The creatures may be too tiny to see.) Take it slow.

3) Don't touch any sea creature or algae/kelp or plant life. (They are feeding and this is all part of the local eco-system they depend upon.)

4) Don't collect or take any sea creature, algae/kept or plant life, shells or stones. Simply take photographs or take notes of what diversity you've seen or perhaps note that the tidepools seems to be devoid of life.

5) Do not pour any liquid into the water. Not even your bottled water.

6) Do not urinate or defecate in the water or in or around the tidepools or beach.

7) Do not leave any trash in the water or around the tidepools or beach. If it's easy to do so without hurting yourself or the sea creatures, remove the trash others have left there.

8) Report your visit - what you saw - when and where and what time of day - to those who care.  This blog has so very many links so organizations that do care.

9) Get out of there if the wind is high or the tide is coming in. Low tide is the best time to go.

10) Do some beach clean up. Plastics, wrappers, cans, surfing board wax, sunglasses, shoes, all of it will eventually go back to the tidepools or the ocean, so getting it off the beach does help.

C 2025 Siren's Link To Sea

THE BLACK ABALONE : CALIFORNIA STATE SEASHELL and ECOSYSTEMS : TAKE THE TIDEPOOL FIELD TRIP

LAGUNA OCEAN FOUNDATION

Excerpt: Tidepools are technically pools of water left behind in the rocks when the water recedes during low tide. However, tidepools typically refer to the entire rocky area in the intertidal zone which are submerged during high tide and exposed during low tide. Tidepools are home to many species of animals, seaweeds, and plants. The organisms that live in this habitat are very resilient because of the stress they have to go through on a daily basis due to tidal change and the threat of desiccation (drying out), but humans can cause irreversible harm if we are not careful where we step and how we act in the area.

THE BLACK ABALONE : AN ENDANGERED MOLLUSK SPECIES WE DON'T OFTEN THINK ABOUT

CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY : BLACK ABALONE 

Excerpt : Black abalone were once the most abundant large shellfish clinging to the rocks of intertidal zones between Baja and Oregon. A savored delicacy for sea otters and native coastal people alike, these hard-shelled marine snails were prized for the iridescent colors and the occasional pearl found inside their shells. Like most other species of abalone native to coastal California, black abalone have been decimated by seafood enthusiasts and the fisheries that fill their plates.

OFFICIAL HAWIIAN OUTLOOK ON THE ENDANGERED MONK SEAL : HIGH ESTIMATE IS 1600 INDIVIDUALS

Excerpt: These seals are generalist feeders, meaning they eat all sorts of prey, including sea cucumbers, eel, octopus, lobster, and various reef fish. Seals have never been observed hunting pelagic fish, such as mahi-mahi, ahi, aku, etc. Monk seals can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes and dive to depths of more than 1,800 feet [1]. When searching for food they often flip rocks with their noses to find more cryptic prey [2]. Sometimes sharks and large predator fish follow the seals around and snatch up fish that seals spook into the open [3]. Monk seals spend about one-third of their time resting on land, preferring sandy beaches, tidepools, or rocky intertidal areas to rest away from the crashing surf.

Excerpt: Although they are now protected by federal and state laws, current drivers of this decline are not certain; however, the most likely culprit is inadequate prey availability

DIVISION OF AQUATIC RESOURCES HAWAII : ENDANGERED MONK SEAL

DUSK

 

HAWAIIAN MONK SEALS ENDANGERED SPECIES