Swimmers in Australia were victims of a cruel prank made by area coral. As beachgoers were enjoying the water and beach, things turned to a panic as reports of a chemical spill came in due to a strange, unknown substance in the water. After the swimmers were rescued, it was discovered that the substance in question was in fact coral spawn not a toxic contaminant. Authorities closed the beach and continued to monitor to ensure there wasn’t any hanky-panky going on with the coral hanky-panky.
[via The Australian]
A pair of whales that were stranded on a beach in New Zealand in 2010 have been identified as the world’s rarest whale. The two spade-toothed beaked whales were in fact a mother and her calf and it marked the first time these whales were seen alive. Sadly, the stranded whales died giving researchers an opportunity to study the whales in more detail and they are releasing a report with a description of the whales along with their DNA analysis in the journal Current Biology. Previously, only three partial skulls were found in the last 140 years.
“One coral to rule them all, One coral to find them, One coral to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” Maybe if Sauron was a reefer, he would have appreciated the bubblegum coral, Paragorgia arborea. Researchers have discovered that this coral that can be found around the globe in deep, cold waters, all shares the same ancestry. The widespread populations of the coral started in the North Pacific more than 10 million years ago. Hitching a ride on currents, the coral spread to the South Pacific and then into the Atlantic either from around the tip of South America or through the Central American Seaway before the isthmus of Panama closed up.
Salmon 1, Bear 0. You have to imagine this bear is not happy. With this many salmon, you’d expect the bear to have a feast but according to photographer Jamie Scarrow from his entry in the 2012 National Wildlife Federation Photo Contest, “the water was just too deep and the fish too aware of its presence.” Scarrow snapped this amazing image from a viewing platform directly above this pool in British Columbia’s Knight Inlet.
There is evidence of pollution, climate change and human recreational activities are devastating reefs around the world, but research has now discovered that the human impact on the Great Barrier Reef started a long time ago as settlement on the continent grew. Runoff and pollution killed off a lot of the branching corals on the GBR leaving a stubbier, weed-type coral in its place. The study was published Nov. 6 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggest that decades before climate change and reef tourism, humans were disrupting the ecology of the Great Barrier Reef.
[via Yahoo! News]
Clownfish are fascinating. Not only are they known to change genders, but now they also know when to cry “UNCLE!” when their siblings have them in a figure-four leg lock or have them strung up with a wedgie. It is pretty simple in fact. The larger fish dominate the smaller fish and now researchers have discovered the smaller fish actually make audible submissive calls to let their aggressors know they have had enough and are willing to submit.
[via Scientific American]