Creature of the Week: American Lobster (Homarus americanus)
The American lobster (Homarus americanus) is one of about 75 species of lobsters worldwide. The American lobster is a "clawed" lobster, versus the "spiny," clawless lobster that is common in warmer waters. The American lobster is a well-known marine species and is easily recognizable from its two hefty claws down to its fan-like tail.
Lobsters have been described as aggressive, territorial, and cannibalistic, but you may be surprised to know they've also been referred to as "tender lovers".
Learn More About the American Lobster
Photo of American Lobster Courtesy of NOAA
Ilya the Manatee Goes Home
Scientists have monitored Ilya, a 10-year old, 10-foot long male Florida manatee, for the last 10 years and watched him migrate as far north as Massachusetts. Last month, Ilya was seen regularly off the New Jersey coast, causing speculation that he might freeze to death as the water dipped below 65 degrees.
Finally, a secret rescue was planned. Last year's rescue of Dennis, another male manatee, from Cape Cod, ended in frustration as Dennis died shortly after being transported to Florida. So Ilya's rescue was hush-hush, due to worry that an onslaught of media and well-wishers would stress the manatee.
When he was rescued on October 29, Ilya was near the outfall pipe of a refinery, where the water was a chilly 53 degrees. Rescuers herded Ilya to a nearby creek, where they lifted him into a stretcher using a net and a crane. He was taken to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, NJ, and then transported by a U.S. Coast Guard cargo jet, then by van, to the Miami Seaquarium in Florida where he is currently recovering. Rescuers hope he will be returned to the wild.
Learn More
Image Of a Florida Manatee Courtesy Jim Reid, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Sustainable Seafood Training for Chefs
Thanks to Blue Ocean Institute and Chefs Collaborative, chefs and culinary students can learn more about sustainable seafood using a new online training site, Green Chefs, Blue Ocean.
You can visit the site for an online, interactive sustainable seafood course, industry news, and profiles of ocean-friendly chefs. You'll need to register to participate, but the registration form looked pretty simple. If you take the course, come back and let me know what you thought!
Have a Green Halloween
This is not entirely related to marine life. But really, anything that makes the Earth a cleaner, nicer place is good for marine life. So I wanted to share this site I recently learned about - Green Halloween, which is "a non-profit, grassroots community initiative to create healthier and more Earth-friendly holidays, starting with Halloween."
Go to the site for tips on planning a green Halloween party (keep this in mind for next year if you've already held yours!), or download a parent or neighborhood action kit, where you can learn learn such things as how to make eco-friendly treat bags and recycle or compost used candy wrappers.
What are you doing to have a green Halloween?
Surprise! Whale Breath Reveals Sex Hormones
One wouldn't think of women's stockings as necessary equipment for whale research, but they are for Carolyn Hogg of the Evolution and Ecology Research Centre in Sydney, Australia, and her colleagues, who used the stockings to collect the mist emanating from humpback whales' blow holes as they surfaced to breathe.
Turns out that not only does that mist contain air and water, but the sex hormones testosterone and progesterone. The researchers made the discovery as they investigated the possibility of obtaining sex hormones from whales in a non-invasive manner.
The researchers were also surprised to find that the female humpbacks they sampled returning from their breeding grounds were producing progesterone, a "breeding hormone." This means they were sexually receptive, even though they still had calves with them.
Out on the water, sometimes we can guess that whales are pregnant based on their appearance (their sides are very round and the whale overall looks unusually fat), but we never know for sure until the whale appears the following season with her calf. This new technique, reported in New Scientist, could allow for pregnancy tests on whales in the wild, and perhaps allow us to determine why species such as the right whale reproduce so slowly.
Read More:
- Humpback Whale Species Profile
- Humpback Whale Image Gallery
- Dangling Stockings Reveal Whales' Sex Drive (New Scientist)
Photo: Humpback Whale and Calf, © Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation
Creature of the Week: Great White Shark
The great white shark might go on some people's lists of scariest sea creature. White sharks certainly have a fierce reputation, although that is being tempered by documentaries about sharks and news regarding the danger that many shark populations face.
The great white shark isn't the biggest shark - it's about 10-15 feet in length (come to think of it, about the same size as a manatee), but it is an active predator. It is also responsible for some unprovoked shark attacks, but in reality, the shark prefers the fattier bodies of marine mammals over us relatively thin humans. And you've likely heard the statement that you're more likely to die from a lightning strike, alligator attack or on a bicycle than from a great white shark attack.
What do you think about great white sharks? Have you ever seen a live one?
Read More About Sharks:
- Great White Shark Profile
- 10 Facts About Sharks
- International Shark Attack File (Florida Museum of Natural History)
Great white shark photo: Stephen Frink / Getty Images
Halloween E-Cards From Monterey Bay Aquarium
If you happen to like e-cards, here's one to try - the Monterey Bay Aquarium gives you a choice of 9 different e-cards inspired by classic horror films. Choose "Curse of the Spiny Lumpsucker", "Attack of the Ghost Shrimp," or - my favorite - "Night of the Living Bloodybelly Comb Jelly." Wish your friends a Happy Halloween and inform them about marine life at the same time.
Do you know of other great e-cards or related Internet sites? I'd love to hear about them!
New Manatee Image Gallery
I just posted a Florida Manatee image gallery, where you can view images of manatees hanging out near a power plant, breathing at the water surface, and dwarfing a scuba diver!
As their name suggests, Florida manatees are coming in Florida, but can actually be found as far north as Virginia (and in strange cases, even further north) and as far west as Texas. They are about 10 feet long on average and weigh about 1,000 pounds.
Learn More:
Florida manatee photo courtesy Jim Reid, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Halloween Costume Ideas?
Have you ever dressed as any kind of marine life for Halloween, or are you planning to this year? If you have a great idea for a marine-themed costume, let me know! Better yet, upload a photo of your costume in the Marine Life Forum!
What's the Scariest Sea Creature?
Halloween is on its way. What's the scariest, or spookiest, sea creature you can think of? Is it a creature from the deep, or maybe a well-known animal like the great white shark? One list I saw put sea lions on their top ten list!
Leave a comment below or visit the forum to post your ideas. You can even upload a photo there if you have one!
- Visit the Marine Life Forum and tell us your scariest creature.
Photo of deep-sea spider crab collected during a NOAA Gulf of Alaska 2004 Expedition. Courtesy of NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration.