Friday, February 23, 2007

There's lots of good fish in the sea (Gilbert and Sullivan)

I think I'm noticing a pattern here:

Prehistoric frilled shark usually very deep sea, found in shallower waters off Japan. It is in bad shape and dies hours later.

Then:
Colossal squid, known by the scientific name Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, are estimated to grow up to 46 feet long and have long been one of the most mysterious creatures of the deep ocean.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said the whopper, weighing an estimated 990lbs, took two hours to land in Antarctic waters.

The fishermen were catching Patagonian toothfish south of New Zealand "and the squid was eating a hooked toothfish when it was hauled from the deep," he said.

And this:

"The study, published in the Jan. 5 issue of the journal Science, also noted the population of eelpouts dropped as average summer temperatures increased. The impact was also observed in the short term such that eelpout numbers decreased the year immediately after a warm summer.

Animals tolerate a limited range of environmental conditions. Anything out of their tolerance window can cause damage. Fish in the North Sea have evolved to tolerate a wider range of temperatures than fish elsewhere because of the large seasonal fluctuations there.

However, warming waters and their impact on oxygen supply can stress fish to the point their thermal tolerance range is thrown off and they perish, the scientists said.

In the future, eelpouts could prove to be important bioindicators that would help experts assess what might happen to other marine species in the region, the scientists explained. "
Are these creatures moving about and coming up from the deep because of what we are doing to the oceans?

Climate changes are affecting the behavior and population of many different types of fish.

Studies have shown a decrease in the number of fish is consistent with the increase in global temperature.

The population density has been decreasing as global warming hits various areas of the ocean.


4 comments:

mapaghimagsik said...

As I like putting in the comic occasionally....


we're fuuuuuucked!

Anonymous said...

Adapt. You have no choice.

ellroon said...

Adapt or die said one dinosaur to the other....

ellroon said...

Nonsense. Adam and Eve drove their kids to school on a brontosaurus. Birds were obviously there as alarm clocks.