Sea Notes

A Crazy Little Thing Called Love

It's April Fools' Day, but this is no joke.

A UC Berkeley research team has found that at least one species of octopus is quite "romantic" in its approach to reproduction, engaging in rather sophisticated lovemaking tactics such as flirting, passionate handholding and keeping rivals at arms' length.

That's the conclusion from observations in Indonesia of the striped octopus (Octopus Abdopus aculeatus) just described in an article published in the journal Marine Biology.

"This is not a unique species of octopus, which suggests others behave this way," Dr. Roy Caldwell, a professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley and co-author of the study, told the UC Berkeley news service.

The researchers spotted octopuses staking out the dens of their preferred female mates, attempting to strangle would-be rivals, and saw other males masquerading as females to get a chance to nab the favorites for themselves.

T hey also described the challenges of studying octopuses -- animals both shy and also possessed of keen eyesight.

"They're obsessively secretive, solitary and pretty spooky," Dr. Caldwell said. "If you watch them, they watch you back. It's hard to study them."

There's more to read about their findings, as well as videos (PG rated, at most) and photos.

Enjoy!

Salmon Farm Plague

It's an aquaculture nightmare, only there's no waking up from this one.

As the New York Times reported this week, a viral infection (which leaves lesions like those shown in the photo on the left) is killing off millions of farmed salmon in Chile.  The aquaculture industry is taking the blame for following practices -- too many pens crowded too closer together with too many fish, and overuse of antibiotics -- that make a plague like this more likely.

It's also being blamed for the resulting layoffs of at least 1,000 people who worked on farms hit by the devastating disease.

These aren't the only problems with salmon farms that we've blogged about recently Nor are they the only troubles afflicting Chile's booming farmed-salmon industry.

But it's certainly the biggest black eye for farmed salmon in a while. -- a problem on a huge scale, especially given the prevalence of Chilean farmed salmon in the marketplace.

And it comes on the heels of news about the collapse of California's wild salmon run.

Alaska's wild salmon season begins in late spring and early summer, though flash-frozen fish is also available throughout the year. Wild-caught salmon remains a "Best Choice" of our Seafood Watch program.

Although the United States Department of Agriculture does a better job of addressing threats like this in our domestic aquaculture industry, farmed salmon remains solidly on our "Avoid" list.

Film Friday: How to feed a white shark

Here's a great new video we just posted on our website and on YouTube. 

Just how do you feed a white shark? Do they like finger food?

Find out the answers and watch as our juvenile male chows down on his sustainable snack of the day.

Remember, if you want to be sustainable as a white shark, check out our Seafood Watch website at www.seafoodwatch.org

Learn more about where our white shark is today.

Pavlov's Fish

Can you train an ocean fish to swim home in time to be caught and turned into seafood?

That's the hope of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and research scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachussets. NOAA has awarded $270,000 for a research grant to see if the concept works.

Woods Hole scientists are working with black sea bass, a depleted Atlantic Coast species found from Florida to New England. Their idea is to feed the fish only after a distinctive tone sounds, get them used to associating the sound with food, then release the fish to the wild and see how many swim back to a feeding station when the tone sounds again.

If the Pavlovian training works, the ultimate idea is to rear the fish in aquaculture centers while training them to associate food with the sound of a distinctive tone. They fish would be released to the wild, and return to the same feeding station for supplemental food each time they hear the dinner bell.

The fish, presumably, would also be drawn to the sound when it's time to catch them and bring them to market.

"It sounds crazy, but it's real," Simon Miner, a research assistant at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole told the Associated Press.

First, researchers played the tone for 20 seconds, three times a day, for about two weeks, he said. Afterward, whenever the tone sounded, "you have remote-control fish. You hit that button, and they go into that area, and they wait patiently."

It remains to be seen how long the memory will last, or how many will be caught in the wild before making it to market.

In the meantime, if you're looking for sustainable seafood right now, check our Seafood Watch pocket guides for recommendations. You'll find choices that are good for a meal, and protect ocean wildlife and the ecosystems they need for survival.

Photos courtesy Associated Press/Steve Senne.

Lights Out (for an Hour)

It's a simple, yet compelling idea: For just one hour, on just one day, turn off the lights and unneeded appliances to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

That's what Earth Hour 2008 is all about. On March 29 at 8 p.m., you can be part of a global movement -- and really make a difference.

It began in Sydney, Australia in 2007 when over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off, leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. What began as one city taking a stand against global warming caught the attention of the world.

This year, 24 cities worldwide will participate in Earth Hour at 8 pm on March 29.

Earth Hour is the highlight of n international  campaign to encourage all of us -- individuals, businesses, communities -- to take the simple steps needed to cut our greenhouse gas emissions. As the organizers say, it's about making simple changes that will collectively make a difference.

And we must make a difference. There's abundant and growing evidence about the impacts of climate change on ocean life. And a growing campaign to get people involved in shifting energy use to sources that don't produce greenhouse gases.

This is another step along the road. It may seem small, but it takes us in the right direction.

Tell your friends, and plan now to flip the switch this Saturday at 8 p.m.

Giant mysteries of the deep

These giant sea stars were just one of the new species scientists found in a recent deep sea exploration of one of our planet's least visited habitats.

The survey was conducted as part of International Polar Year, a global programme aimed at achieving a better understanding of the land and sea environments of the Antarctic and Arctic and to monitor the effects of climate change in the regions.

You can read the full story here.

For more deep sea news, check out our sister institution's website www.mbari.org

White Shark Phones Home

We've been fortunate at Monterey Bay Aquarium to exhibit three juvenile white sharks since 2004, each for a period of a few months. In each case, we returned the young sharks to the wild (equipped with tracking tags). And in each case, they survived and thrived.

The third release took place on February 5. The only difference is that this shark is carrying a Smart Position Only Tag (SPOT tag) that beams in his position via satellite every time his dorsal fin breaks the surface.

In just 44 days, he's traveled from Monterey Bay to Mexican waters just off the coast of Mazatlán.

It's exciting stuff, because it took the second shark we released 90 days to get just as far south as Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of Baja California.

It's also exciting because anyone and everyone can check the shark's position, in nearly real time, on the web. Just log onto the Tagging of Pacific Predators site (or link there from our site) and click on the Juvenile White Shark link.

In addition to the three sharks released from our Outer Bay exhibit, we've also worked with research partners to tag a dozen other juvenile white sharks in southern California waters. Since so little is known about their life history as juveniles, this is filling a huge void in the science.

And a better understanding of the movements of young white sharks in the ocean is essential if we want to protect them at this critical stage in their lives.

Where will the shark go next: Farther south? Up into the Sea of Cortez? Log in and find out.

Prius the hybrid Albatross

Here's a great story from our friends at TOPP (Tagging of Pacific Predators) -- an albatross that's a hybrid between the two species that nest on U.S. soil, the Laysan albatross and the black-footed albatross.

Says Melinda, the researcher shown here with Prius: "In appearance, he's almost a perfect blend of the two species. He has black feet and a dark head, with white around his beak and eye, like a black-footed albatross. But his beak is a light orange-pink, and his wings and body are two toned -- dark wings and lighter body -- like a Laysan. He tends to socialize mostly with black-footed albatross, but his dance repertoire contains moves from both species. His vocalizations also sound like a mixture between the two species."

Both species are listed on the IUCN "red list" as species in danger of extinction, along with most of their relatives in the southern hemisphere. In fact, of the 22 species of albatross worldwide, 19 are threatened with extinction.

Most of these albatross species are particularly threatened by interactions with fisheries -- especially longlining and trawling, where they can be snagged by hooks or caught by other gear. In a recent study in South Africa, 12 foreign longline vessels fishing between June and December snagged and killed over 1,000 albatross. It is estimated that tens of thousands of others die this way each year. You can find out about the work being done by the Albatross Task Force - a team of people working with fishermen to show them how to avoid accidentally catching seabirds at www.savethealbatross.net

Fresh Fishery News

Plenty of news lately on the seafood and fisheries front -- and much of it is good news.

First, the really bad news: The all-but-certain decision next month by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council to close the West Coast salmon season because of the virtual collapse of the Chinook salmon populaton south of Alaska. The stunning collapse is bad news in itself for fish lovers as well as fishing communities -- and because of what it says about the state of the oceans, rivers and estuaries on which healthy salmon populations depend.

On the plus side, the Maine lobster industry is seeking certification as a sustainable fishery so it can tap into a growing movement by big seafood buyers to purchase only sustainable seafood. It's currently ranked by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program as a "Good Alternative" because of uncertainties about the status of the lobster population.

In potentially positive news, the National Marine Fisheries Service has released a recovery plan for endangered Stellar sea lions in Alaska -- a plan that includes continued restrictions on commercial fishing in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Later this year, NMFS will get a biological opinion on whether fisheries, as currently restricted, jeopardize sea lions or their habitat.

All these are just more reminders of what marine biologist Ed Ricketts and Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck observed in their 1941 book, Log from the Sea of Cortez:

"And it is a strange thing that most of the feeling we call religious, most of the mystical outcrying which is one of the most prized and used and desired reactions of our species, is really the understanding and the attempt to say that man is related to the whole thing, related inextricably to all reality, known and unknowable . . .It is advisable to look from the tidepool to the stars and then back to the tidepool again."

Monday's Photo: I'm all white, thanks!

In the animal kingdom, a different appearance can lead to all kinds of issues, and it can be unusual for these individuals to survive to adulthood.

Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were therefore astonished and delighted when they came across a pod of orca (killer whales) and found that one member of the pod lacked the characteristic black markings that make this largest of the dolphin species so recognizable. (Click on the photos for full size view).

Scientists do not believe that this male (estimated to be fully grown, around 25 feet in length and weighing 10,000 lbs) to be a true albino, as the body showed patterns of pigment, especially around the saddle patch. This is the area behind the dorsal fin (shaped like a horse's saddle); usually gray, but with some variation and are a shade of yellow in the Antarctic population.

A true albino whale (a humpback) is a star on his own right in Australia, with his own website!