Month-to-month Fishbits- August + September 2016
This time spherical now we have so much to make amends for! Visitor blogger, and founding father of The Fins United Initiative, Melissa Márquez () drops in, Evie palms in her thesis, we hear about whales larger than blue whales! *, fish gorging on mice, and the shark assault ‘downside’.
Melissa:
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Evaluation of animal accelerometer information utilizing hidden Markov fashions. Accelerometer information is my jam, so I’m all the time intrigued to be taught extra in regards to the expertise. I first heard about accelerometers from Dr. Nick Whitney from MOTE whereas I used to be in undergrad, and have been fascinated ever since. Accelerometer information permits scientists to determine correlates and drivers of exercise and, in flip, behaviour. Get excited individuals: this can be a new option to quantify animal behaviour!
How Many Fish Are within the Sea? Scientists, fishermen, coverage makers- all of them need to know what number of fish are left within the oceans, and what the protected quantity to take out and devour is. Most strategies have a easy proposed “repair” counting. But, should you’ve ever labored with counting fish, one is aware of it may be hectic and much of fish can blur into one large silver blob. The audio-visual methods delved into on this article might assess populations extra precisely with out taking extra fish out of the ocean. An incredible learn on a query that has no straightforward reply.
FIN NEWS:
WHAT IS THE SHARK-STEPS-ON-LEGO SHARK ACTUALLY DOING? First is a shark photograph that was simply too good to not make right into a meme. The truth is, it’s been the topic of a number of memes, my favorite being “Uncommon picture of a shark stepping on a Lego.” We’ve all been there. So what precisely is the good white shark doing within the image? Creator Sarah Keartes (discover her on Twitter @sarahkeartes) did some sleuthing and came upon that this image captures an excellent white shark investigating its environment with its mouth by opening it. This behaviour is called “spy-hopping,” and Keartes goes extra in depth about it. An incredible learn!
https://twitter.com/Sonikku_a/standing/781469409281921024
The following attention-grabbing shark information is the concept megalodon has resurfaced within the deep due to a video The Buzz Channel lately launched. Let me simply reiterate one thing: MEGALODON HAS BEEN EXTINCT FOR A VERY LONG TIME. MEGALODON WAS NOT JUST FOUND. Likelihood is you’ve seen this video, seeing as the way it has 2,057, 568 views on the time this text was written. And whereas it isn’t megalodon that you’re seeing, it’s a fairly cool deep-sea shark: the Pacific sleeper shark (Somniosus pacificus). These sharks are an in depth relative of the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalous), who turned well-known earlier this 12 months when researchers have been in a position to pinpoint the animal’s age at 392 by way of eye lens radiocarbon (printed findings might be discovered right here).
HASHTAGS WORTH A LOOKIE:
Have you ever been trying out the #scanAllFish hashtag? No spoilers, but it surely’s price taking a gander at when you binge watch Netflix David Attenborough documentaries (or is that simply me…?).
A WIN FOR FINS! Did you hear the fintastic information? The Conference within the Commerce in Endangered Species (CITES; you possibly can study what went on following #CoP17 on Twitter) met in Johannesburg, South Africa lately. The 182 nations of CITES listed the next sharks and rays on the CITES Appendix II: all three thresher shark species, silky shark, 9 species of satan (mobula spp.) rays. With the current listings, there at the moment are extra rays on CITES Appendices than sharks. What an enormous win! A re-hash of what went down might be discovered right here .
On a ultimate be aware, though the summer time season is being welcomed with open arms by the Southern Hemisphere (although it definitely nonetheless seems like winter this previous week in components of New Zealand), bear in mind just a few water security suggestions: Apply the buddy system (or swim in a bunch) when swimming within the ocean. Be vigilant when water visibility is low (attempt the stingray shuffle methodology to keep away from a painful jab from a startled ray); and keep away from areas the place fishers are utilizing chum, baitfish, and many others. Concentrate on rip currents and know what to do if ever caught in a single. And final however not least, put on safety from these dangerous UV rays when you’re having fun with a lie on the seaside or when you’re snorkelling/diving. I attempt my hardest to search for reef protected sunscreens, and there are just a few good ones in Australia that present worldwide transport to New Zealand for these !
Eds: Melissa can be a broadcast childrens writer: Take a look at Finley’s Nice White Journey !
Lachlan:
I all the time thought that the blue whale was the most important animal ever to stay on Earth but it surely seems that isn’t fairly right! Blue whales are big, rising as much as 30 metres in size and 180 tonnes in weight. Apparently hybrid blue and fin whales (which have been comparatively widespread traditionally and nonetheless current in affordable numbers now) are larger once more! I’m guessing it is because of hybrid vigour however I’m not sure. You’ll be able to learn extra about varied varieties of hybrid whale over at macroevolution.
*Edit: The plot thickens…damm I knew I wished this to be true an excessive amount of. Sick look into it extra after I get an opportunity.
A aspect challenge that Matt and I are engaged on acquired a little bit of a write up on the Stand.
All of us right here at Fish Thinkers went to the joint Australian Society for Fish Biology + Oceania Condrichthyan Society convention in Tasmania early in September.
The opening day of the convention included a ‘Girls in Ichthyology’ session, with talks by six keynote audio system, in addition to a dialogue discussion board and poster exhibition which was an enormous spotlight. If you happen to didn’t make the convention however would love to have a look a little bit little bit of what went on then you possibly can check out speak titles and abstracts on-line and should you aren’t a member…get entangled! It’s an excellent society of fish lovers.
Extra from the lab at UoW: “Burrowed into the icy creek beds of the Southern Highlands lives a tiny inhabitants of critically endangered native crayfish. The rarest crayfish in NSW, in truth” and it doesn’t appear to be anybody is aware of they’re there!
A supervisors photograph touch upon my PhD?
Lastly from me: Evie handed in her Honours thesis a few weeks back- yeeew! Congrats! Sick chase her up for a weblog run down on it within the close to future.
Matt:
As Lac talked about above we went travelling right down to Hobart for #ASFBOC2016 and we even managed to sneak in some fishing. You’ll be able to see a photograph recap of our session right here on our fishing journal.
Additionally, a paper my colleagues and I printed final 12 months on attracting pelagic fish to underwater cameras is now open entry!! You’ll be able to learn the complete article right here by way of College of Wollongong’s Analysis On-line.
Fascinating information from the previous couple of months has been the invention of a inhabitants of catfish with an urge for food for native mice! Catfish from this distant West Australian river have been discovered to be a lot bigger than people from different areas, in all probability attributable to their extra carnivorous food plan. This jogs my memory of what occurs over the ditch in New Zealand when unique trout gorge themselves throughout mice plagues.
Evie:
Shark-human encounters are topical for the time being, and I’ve simply completed writing my thesis about whether or not new shark assault mitigation applied sciences will work and be accepted as options, so I’m fairly immersed within the debate. Jane Williamson has written an attention-grabbing article about why extending QLD’s culling program to NSW shouldn’t be a superb choice. Analysis on the advanced behaviours of sharks and variations between species can be indicating that shark assault options might need to be species particular.
On the weblog this month:
Tagging together with the Coastal Carolina College Shark group
The Stand: Why are we scared to go within the water?
See you subsequent month!