Spring has arrived officially on our calander with the Spring Soltice on March 20/21 2014, but spring has arrived early if you feel the warm to hot air temperature and see that some trees and plants are blooming early here in Southern California. If it can reach 90 in early March, what will the summer be like? Temperatures in the 100's are hard to bear and no doubt with higher air temperature comes higher water temperature in our streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Much of California is in drought and there are reports of severe water shortages in areas where the farmers grow food for the entire nation. Since they will either have to buy water from other areas or not plant, we can expect even higher food prices.
Global Warming seems to be a reality, but yet much of the United States has had a long and bitterly cold winter... so I prefer the term EARTH CHANGES or WEATHER PATTERN CHANGES.
Here at SIREN'S LINK TO SEA, ocean ecology is an important topic.
Siren
3/18/14
3/15/14
UPPER LAYERS OF OCEAN GETTING LESS SALTY! CLIMATE CHANGE PAPER!
NATURE WORLD NEWS - CLIMATE CHANGE - TRAPPED HEAT OCEAN full article link.
Part of the article:
"For the study, researchers worked with their colleagues at University of Pennsylvania to analyze data from the past 60 years.
They found that the ocean surface has been getting less salty in the past few decades, which has prevented the water underneath from mixing with the top layer. Thus, the heat trapped in deep oceanic water hasn't had an escape route in several years.
"Deep ocean waters only mix directly to the surface in a few small regions of the global ocean, so this has effectively shut one of the main conduits for deep ocean heat to escape," says Casimir de Lavergne, at McGill University and lead author of the paper."
Part of the article:
"For the study, researchers worked with their colleagues at University of Pennsylvania to analyze data from the past 60 years.
They found that the ocean surface has been getting less salty in the past few decades, which has prevented the water underneath from mixing with the top layer. Thus, the heat trapped in deep oceanic water hasn't had an escape route in several years.
"Deep ocean waters only mix directly to the surface in a few small regions of the global ocean, so this has effectively shut one of the main conduits for deep ocean heat to escape," says Casimir de Lavergne, at McGill University and lead author of the paper."
3/12/14
PANDORA THE OCTOPUS DIES AT THE NATIONAL ZOO
WASHINGTON POST : PANDORA DIES AT NATIONAL ZOO full article link
At five years old Pandora was in old age...
"The cause of the octopus’s death is still unknown, although most octopuses die after breeding. Pandora had released unfertilized eggs, each the size of a grain of rice, in April 2013.
Zoo curators began to worry about Pandora on Feb. 10, when she started exhibiting the common signs of old age in octopuses: limited movement and less muscle tone."
(GOOD PICTURE OF PANDORA AT THE LINK!)
At five years old Pandora was in old age...
"The cause of the octopus’s death is still unknown, although most octopuses die after breeding. Pandora had released unfertilized eggs, each the size of a grain of rice, in April 2013.
Zoo curators began to worry about Pandora on Feb. 10, when she started exhibiting the common signs of old age in octopuses: limited movement and less muscle tone."
(GOOD PICTURE OF PANDORA AT THE LINK!)
3/9/14
FRENCH TRIBUNE : INCREASED RISK OF SHIP-WHALE COLLISIONS - BERING STRAIGHT full article link
"Actually, migrating whales are increasingly using the route through the Bering Strait because of less ice there and more number of ships use the same route. This has increased the risk of collision between ships and migrating whales.
It was reported by Discovery News that a research team has recorded more and more whales migrating through the Bering Strait between 2009 and 2012 as Arctic ice melts. Some whales that usually reside further south have begun using the Strait in more numbers."
"Actually, migrating whales are increasingly using the route through the Bering Strait because of less ice there and more number of ships use the same route. This has increased the risk of collision between ships and migrating whales.
It was reported by Discovery News that a research team has recorded more and more whales migrating through the Bering Strait between 2009 and 2012 as Arctic ice melts. Some whales that usually reside further south have begun using the Strait in more numbers."
3/6/14
WHALE WITH 280 FEET FISHING LINE IN MOUTH- THAT WASN'T DENTAL FLOSS
MERCURY NEWS - WHALE WITH 280 FEET OF FISHING LINE IN ITS MOUTH full article link.
"Entanglement in commercial fishing gear and collisions with ships off the East Coast are considered the greatest threats to the right whale's survival. Experts estimate only about 450 of the large whales remain. Each winter they migrate to the warmer waters off Georgia and Florida to give birth to their calves...."
"Entanglement in commercial fishing gear and collisions with ships off the East Coast are considered the greatest threats to the right whale's survival. Experts estimate only about 450 of the large whales remain. Each winter they migrate to the warmer waters off Georgia and Florida to give birth to their calves...."
3/3/14
WHALE GRAVEYARD IN THE CHILIAN DESERT MYSTERY SOLVED
MYSTERY BEHIND WHALE GRAVEYARD IN DESERT full article link:
"Over 5 million years ago, a mass stranding of whales created what is now a whale graveyard in modern day Chile....
"
THEY USED THE SMITHSONIANS new 3D Modeling tools...
"Over 5 million years ago, a mass stranding of whales created what is now a whale graveyard in modern day Chile....
"
THEY USED THE SMITHSONIANS new 3D Modeling tools...
2/23/14
ANOTHER LOOK AT GREENPEACE
GREENPEACE ORG - USA OFFICIAL SITE
Greenpeace is the largest independent direct-action environmental organization in the world... and the OCEANS are just part of that picture!
Greenpeace is the largest independent direct-action environmental organization in the world... and the OCEANS are just part of that picture!
2/22/14
OREGON CHUB FIRST FISH TO BE TAKEN OFF ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST AFTER 21 YEARS - FRESH WATER MINNOW
SC MONITOR : OREGON MINNOW BOUNCES BACK FROM ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST
full article link above
... The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that it was proposing that the Oregon chub was recovered, 21 years after it went on the endangered species list. The proposal will go through a 60-day public comment period before becoming final. The agency will monitor the fish for nine years to make sure populations continue to grow.
"We're not saying it won't need management," Paul Henson, Oregon director of Fish and Wildlife, said in an interview. "But they can leave the hospital and get out to be an outpatient." ...
full article link above
... The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that it was proposing that the Oregon chub was recovered, 21 years after it went on the endangered species list. The proposal will go through a 60-day public comment period before becoming final. The agency will monitor the fish for nine years to make sure populations continue to grow.
"We're not saying it won't need management," Paul Henson, Oregon director of Fish and Wildlife, said in an interview. "But they can leave the hospital and get out to be an outpatient." ...
2/19/14
AXOLOH - TINY WATER MONSTER FISH - MAY BE EXTINCT
io9: MEXICO TINY WATER MONSTER MAY BE EXTINCT full article link - great picture!
...The iconic axolotl — a salamander-like creature capable of extraordinary regenerative abilities — has disappeared from its only known natural habitat in Mexico's few remaining lakes...
Biologist Luis Zambrano of Mexico's National Autonomous University says the most recent three-month attempt to net axolotls found not one of the creatures. He says researchers are planning a second three-month hunt for the creatures, which still survive in labs and breeding tanks...
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SIREN HERE : THE AXOLOTL does exist in tanks if not the wild. The question I have is, will this species ever be able to live in the wild again anywhere?
...The iconic axolotl — a salamander-like creature capable of extraordinary regenerative abilities — has disappeared from its only known natural habitat in Mexico's few remaining lakes...
Biologist Luis Zambrano of Mexico's National Autonomous University says the most recent three-month attempt to net axolotls found not one of the creatures. He says researchers are planning a second three-month hunt for the creatures, which still survive in labs and breeding tanks...
------
SIREN HERE : THE AXOLOTL does exist in tanks if not the wild. The question I have is, will this species ever be able to live in the wild again anywhere?
2/18/14
STAR FISH PULLING OFF OWN ARMS - TURNING TO GOO! MYSTERY DISEASE HORROR!
LATIN POST - STARFISH MUTILATE THEMSLEVES THEN DIE full article
... mysterious health condition is actually causing starfish to tear themselves to pieces, literally.
Scientists with the United States Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center say the arms of infected starfish begin to twist and then crawl, pulling away from and eventually off of the bodies entirely.
To make things worse, the resulting holes, from which the starfish's innards are then spilling out, are not able to heal, due to the disease...
Divers and scientists first reported the macabre illness along the Washington state coast, although infected starfish have since been sighted in the waters of Alaska, as well as Southern California.
Scientists say they first detected the mass deaths among one star species, the sunflower starfish, last June.
Now the condition, dubbed "sea star wasting syndrome," has spread to 12 species, affecting stars in the wild and also in captivity, according to Jonathan Sleeman, director of the wildlife health center....
... mysterious health condition is actually causing starfish to tear themselves to pieces, literally.
Scientists with the United States Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center say the arms of infected starfish begin to twist and then crawl, pulling away from and eventually off of the bodies entirely.
To make things worse, the resulting holes, from which the starfish's innards are then spilling out, are not able to heal, due to the disease...
Divers and scientists first reported the macabre illness along the Washington state coast, although infected starfish have since been sighted in the waters of Alaska, as well as Southern California.
Scientists say they first detected the mass deaths among one star species, the sunflower starfish, last June.
Now the condition, dubbed "sea star wasting syndrome," has spread to 12 species, affecting stars in the wild and also in captivity, according to Jonathan Sleeman, director of the wildlife health center....
2/15/14
CUTTLEFISH COLOR CHANGES MAY PROVIDE TECHNOLOGY FOR BATTLEFIELD CAMOUFLAGE
UPI SCIENCE - CAMOUFLAGE INSPIRATION - CUTTLEFISH full article
... Nature solved the riddle of adaptive camouflage a long time ago," Harvard bioengineering Professor Kevin Kit Parker said. "Now the challenge is to reverse-engineer this system in a cost-efficient, synthetic system that is amenable to mass manufacturing." Neurall controlled pigmented organs called chromatophore allow a cuttlefish to change its color...
... Nature solved the riddle of adaptive camouflage a long time ago," Harvard bioengineering Professor Kevin Kit Parker said. "Now the challenge is to reverse-engineer this system in a cost-efficient, synthetic system that is amenable to mass manufacturing." Neurall controlled pigmented organs called chromatophore allow a cuttlefish to change its color...
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