Cute Overload

Baby Whale Shark.

Click the link for adorable copyrighted photo.

A local whale shark "interaction officer" cradles what is likely the smallest known wild example of the world's biggest fish on Saturday in San Antonio, Philippines (map). (See video below for baby-adult size comparison.)

The discovery of the baby whale shark could help protect these rare giants by shedding light on where whale sharks are born.

Early on March 7 a project leader from the international conservation organization WWF and others in the town of Donsol heard that a live whale shark was being offered for sale at a nearby beach. Expecting a stranded giant, the rescuers found instead a 15-inch (38-centimeter) shark leashed to a stake in the mud like a neglected puppy.

Pink Dolphin

An albino dolphin found in a Lake in Louisiana.

Obama Reverses Bush to Protect Endangered Species

Good news.

President Obama on Tuesday overturned a last-minute Bush administration regulation that many environmentalists claim weakened the Endangered Species Act.

The regulation, issued a few weeks before George W. Bush left office, made it easier for federal agencies to skip consultations with government scientists before launching projects that could affect endangered wildlife.

By overturning the regulation, Obama said during an enthusiastic reception at the Interior Department, he had restored "the scientific process to its rightful place at the heart of the Endangered Species Act, a process undermined by past administrations."

Under the Bush administration rule, there was no need for a federal agency to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Services if that agency determined that no harm would come to an endangered species as a result of its project.

I would way that listening to scientists on scientific matters is a good thing

Photo of the endangered Eastern Indigo snake

Beached Whale Rescue

An incredible story of mass whale beaching in Tasmania and the effort of the locals to save as many as possible.

Rescuers used jet skis, backhoes and human muscle to save dozens of whales and dolphins stranded on a beach in southern Australia on Monday, officials and news reports said.

The 194 pilot whales and half a dozen bottlenose dolphins became stranded on Naracoopa Beach on Tasmania state's King Island on Sunday evening — the fourth beaching incident in recent months in Tasmania.

Strandings happen periodically in Tasmania as whales pass by during their migration to and from Antarctic waters, but scientists do not know why it happens. It is unusual, however, for whales and dolphins to get stranded together.

Chris Arthur, of Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service, said 54 whales and seven dolphins were still alive when the rescue effort began. By late Monday, 48 animals had been returned to the sea by officials and more than 100 King Island residents who had volunteered to help.

Photo by Flickr user scotproof used under a Creative Commons License.

Another Awesome New Fish

Psychedelica

California Drought

Gov. Arnold Shwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in California due to the past three years of drought and the likely fourth year to come. A good reminder that even though it has been raining for what seems like everyday this month that we still need a lot more water.

The governor signed the proclamation Friday. Among other steps, it directs state agencies to provide assistance for affected communities and businesses.

The move encourages urban water agencies to reduce water use by 20 percent and says mandatory conservation is an option if other measures are insufficient.

Schwarzenegger called the drought a crisis as severe as an earthquake or wildfire.

Photo by Flickr user Jason-Morrison used under a Creative Commons License.

More Barreleye Fish of Monterey Bay

Another article and more information on the awesome barreleye fish on Monterey Bay

Fish with See-through Head

This is a pretty awesome looking fish courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

h/t Ryan G.

Ha!

Anti-science creationists often tout a list of somewhere around 200 Ph.D's who do not believe in evolution. To fight back the National Center for Science Education put together a list of 200 scientists who accept evolution. The kick is every one of them is named Steve or Stephanie. Well, they just added their 1000 Steve, a way too coincidental Prof. Steve Darwin of Tulane University.

But seriously this should tell one something about the consensus around the acceptance of evolution as a valid scientific theory. There are 5 times as many Dr. Steve's (and Stephanie's) that believe in evolution than Dr. "Shouldn't Really be a Scientists" that don't.

Mystery Solved

The mystery deaths of hundreds of seabirds in Monterey Bay was a normally non-toxic algae.

But after water testing, the researchers found no indication of excess oil, pesticides, acids or commercial products that might have caused the foam and gooey coating on the birds. All told, 207 birds were found dead and 550 were stranded.

Then the slime disappeared.

Now, the "mystery spill" has been solved. It wasn't the Cosco Busan oil spill in nearby San Francisco Bay or a controversial aerial pesticide spraying along the Central Coast. It was harmless-looking foam from an ordinarily nontoxic algal bloom churned up by November waves, according to a study coming out in PLoS ONE on Monday.

This unassuming foam looks like "if you beat egg whites into a meringue and sprinkle a little dirt in with it," study co-author Kudela tells ScientificAmerican.com. Although the protein-rich froth didn't contain toxins, it acted as a surfactant, which lowers the surface tension of water—especially where it comes into contact with oil. This disabled the natural water-repellent coating on the feathers of floating loons, grebes, northern fulmars and other birds in the bay, soaking them through and rendering them susceptible to the chilly autumn Pacific water.

Shark attacks down due to the economy?

Interesting theory and while I imagine it will be hard to prove, but makes common sense.

Shark attacks are on the decline due to the current economic downturn, a biologist speculated today.

In 2008, attacks worldwide dipped to their lowest level in five years, a sign that Americans may be forgoing vacation trips to the beach, said ichthyologist George Burgess of the University of Florida.

Burgess is the director of the International Shark Attack File, a compilation of all known shark attacks that is administered by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History, on the UF campus.

The total number of shark attacks declined from 71 in 2007 to 59 in 2008, the fewest since 2003, when there were 57, said Burgess, who works at the museum.

"I can’t help but think that contributing to that reduction may have been the reticence of some people to take holidays and go to the beach for economic reasons," Burgess said. "We noticed similar declines during the recession that followed the events of 2001, despite the fact that human populations continued to rise."

Photo by Flickr user g-na used under a Creative Commons License

CA Salmon News Gets Worse

Looks like we may be headed to another closure of the salmon season here in California. I would imagine the lack of rain until now really hurt things too.

A record-low number of chinook salmon returned to rivers in California's Central Valley last year, indicating that severe restrictions on salmon fishing are likely again this year, federal regulators say.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council reported that in 2008 a total of 66,264 natural and hatchery chinook or "king" salmon adults were estimated to have returned to the Sacramento River basin to spawn, the lowest estimate on record.

The council uses the estimates to determine if it should recommend limits on commercial and recreational fishing.

Photo by Flickr user stu_spivack used under a Creative Commons License

American's Don't like Science

Very disconcerting but I don't know what else to take away from this graph. This is proven as much as you can prove something in science. There is no doubt among honest scientists that evolution occurs. Hell we can even see it happening in real-time in virus and bacteria (anti-biotic resistance anyone?)

See the Gallup Poll for details.

It has been all over the news lately but it has been confirmed that the 1998 Lancet study showing a link between autism and vaccines was faked. Yep, fabricated data and all. Hope you are proud of yourself Dr. Andrew Wakefield. I say bring him up on Murder charges.

For a good run-down see this balloonjuice post.

Photo by Flickr user Andres Rueda used under a Creative Commons License

Happy Birthday Darwin!

One of the Fathers of Modern Biology Charles Darwin was born 200 years ago today. The exact same day as Abraham Lincoln so Happy Birthday to the President too.

More Darwin related posts when I return from a Darwin Birthday Party.

Photo by Flickr user Colin Purrington used under a Creative Commons License.

The End of the Salamander?

Salamander species in the tropics are seeing massive declines in their population numbers. Speculation is that Global Climate Change is playing a role.

Silent and secretive creatures, salamanders are just as quietly falling off the map in tropical forests throughout Central America, a new study says.

Two common species surveyed in the 1970s in cloud forests of southern Mexico and Guatemala are extinct, and several others have plummeted in number, researchers say.

Sorry no pictures of tropical salamanders in my photo album or that I see on creativecommons.org

Pink Iguana

Congratulations you are now your own species!

A new species of Galápagos iguana has scientists tickled pink.

The pink iguana, named after its salmon-colored skin, lives only on the Wolf volcano on the island of Isabela.

Charles Darwin did not visit the volcano on his travels to the Ecuadorian island chains in the 1830s, so the creature remained undiscovered until 1986, when it was spotted by park rangers. Only now has it been recognized as its own species.

New Colombian Amphibians

Reports of new species from Colombia's rainforest. (Pretty pictures in link)

The salamander looks like a tropical version of our Slender Salamander.

Some Good News

Dept of Interior Sec. Salazar announced today that last minutes Bush Admin. leases on National land in Utah would be canceled.

More than 100,000 acres of Utah wilderness will be protected from oil and gas drilling after the Department of Interior announced today that it will cancel 77 leases issued under the Bush administration. This is among the first actions taken by the Obama administration to protect America’s wild lands. Since December, a coalition of environmental groups – led by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), Earthjustice, and the Wilderness Society – have been working to protect these public lands. In December, the coalition filed suit to stop the leasing, and, in January, Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of the U.S. District Court granted a temporary restraining order preventing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from moving forward with these leases.

“I see this announcement as a sign that after eight long years of rapacious greed and backdoor dealings, our government is returning a sense of balance to the way it manages our lands," said Robert Redford, an NRDC trustee. "American citizens once again have a say in the fate of their public lands, which in this case happen to be some of the last pristine places on earth.”

Photo by Flickr user John Purkis used under a Creative Common License

Titanoboa Cerrejonensis

A fossil GIANT snake was found in Colombia ...

Never mind the 40-foot snake that menaced Jennifer Lopez in the 1997 movie "Anaconda." Not even Hollywood could match a new discovery from the ancient world. Fossils from northeastern Colombia reveal the biggest snake ever discovered: a behemoth that stretched 42 to 45 feet long, reaching more than 2,500 pounds.

"This thing weighs more than a bison and is longer than a city bus," enthused snake expert Jack Conrad of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who was familiar with the find.

"It could easily eat something the size of a cow. A human would just be toast immediately."

Pretty impressive that a snake that heavy could exist. Imagine the muscles needed to move it around.