Flamingo Tongue Flood
There have been localized Flamingo tongue "blooms" in spots all over the Caribbean - Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Mona Island, Puerto Rico to name a few. Are they making a comeback, or is this a sign of trouble?
Categories: Conservation, Marine Biology, Scuba Diving in the Caribbean Tags: awareness, biology, changes on the reef, Conservation
The Great Lionfish Debate
For those divers who spend most of our bottom time in the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Southeast coast of the US, the word Lionfish might make you cringe a little. Seeing them underwater tears you apart – half of you wants to run over and stab it to death, while the other half whips out a camera to take a picture of those elegant fins. I’ve spent about a year and a half listening to people rave about this problem – from experts in the field to passionate divers – and I’m going to try to set the record straight about how the problem started, what’s being done to try to curb the invasion, and if we have any hope for the future. And I’m open to arguments – I’m no expert, just a good listener. I forget that some people have no idea what I’m talking about, so let me [...]
Categories: Conservation, Marine Biology Tags: Coral Reefs
Whales, Dodging Those Deadly Harpoons!
Whales, Dodging Those Deadly Harpoons! The title for this month’s conservation article was inspired by a line from a Jimmy Buffett tune, Treat Her Like A Lady, about respecting the ocean. Whales worldwide will head for the deep, like this diving Tonga humpback, as they attempt to evade Japanese, Icelandic, and Norwegian harpoons over the coming months. Whales, already endangered from years of ruthless hunting, are facing new threats to their very existence on our planet. Japan, Norway and Iceland currently lead efforts to subvert, and ultimately overturn, the International Whaling Commission’s commercial whaling ban. All species, including humpback, fin, and minke, are slated for attack by Japan, Iceland, Norway, and several other whaling countries. Strangely, even blue whale meat, identified by DNA analysis, appears in Japanese meat markets, despite Japanese denials that their “scientific” whaling program targets severely threatened blue whales. Attempting to overturn the IWC ban on commercial [...]
Categories: Conservation, Marine Biology Tags: International Whaling Commission, scientific whaling, whales, whaling
SCUBA: It’s not just a recreational sport…
I recently had the opportunity to meet an expert in underwater camouflage during part a month long educational seminar on Saba (see www.seaandlearn.org for more information). I had lunch with one of them and just chatted about his research on camouflage techniques. Somehow frogfish came up and I asked him if he knew why it took them so long to change their colors to camouflage themselves, versus groupers and octopus and so many other species of fish that can switch in a flash. He looked at me dumbfounded and said he never realized they could change color, to which I replied “We have one here on Saba that’s changing from yellow to green as we speak…!” He shook his head and started praising us – the recreational divers. We are the ones that see so much more than the scientists do. We gather more information, we see the changes, we [...]
Categories: Marine Biology Tags: Marine Biology, scuba diving, underwater camouflage
