The Radula blog reports that students at John Adams Middle School vandalized some of the fish tanks during a recent fieldtrip to the Albuquerque Aquarium.
There is damage to two separate tanks, which had been gouged and “tagged”. The massive shark tank may be repairable but the tank holding the moon jellies will have to be replaced at a cost of over $30,000. The biopark has banned the school (an APS school) from all future biopark venues.
If you would like to donate to help repair the aquariums, contact the office of the BioPark Director at 505-764-6211 for details.
![Credit: NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Marine Observer Program [200x150, 9.6K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070414_NOAA.jpg "A ghastly view of fish squeezed through the net by the tons of fish trapped within the main body of the net.")
The World Wildlife Fund has launched its third annual Smart Gear Competition. They are offering cash prizes for innovative ideas for reducing bycatch. Many non-target species are caught up in the gear, nets and hooks of modern commercial fishing fleets. This effort tries to bring together industry, environmentalist, scientists and educators to find practical solutions.
WWF and our partners created the International Smart Gear Competition to inspire innovative, practical, cost-effective ideas that allow fishermen to “fish smarter” - to better target their intended catch while reducing bycatch. The Competition awards a cash prizes for the best entry to reduce fisheries bycatch, which is the leading threat to many endangered marine mammals, cetaceans, sea turtles, seabirds and certain fish species.
The 2007 International Smart Gear Competition will award a $30,000 Grand Prize and two 10,000 Runner-Up Prizes.
Entry Deadline: July 31, 2007
The competition is open to all - fishermen, professional gear manufacturers, teachers, students, engineers, scientists and backyard inventors.
Please visit www.smartgear.org for entry materials and to learn about the winning ideas from the first two competitions.
![Humpback whale's tail [200x150, 6.8K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070413_NOAA.jpg "Humpback whale's tail; Captain Budd Christman, NOAA Corps;")
Hey, NOAA has updated their online photo library. Because most of these images are taken as part of the normal operations of this federal agency, they are copyright free and in the public domain. All they ask is that proper photo credit is given.
Bizarrely, the search function is currently not working, making perusal of the collection a somewhat arduous expedition.
- More than 10,000 new images.
New search capability.- Many new albums that better reflect NOAA’s stewardship role and range of operations.
- Hundreds of Hurricane Katrina images that help record the extent of damage of this American tragedy.
- Thousands of stunning ocean exploration photographs, coral reef photographs, and polar regions photographs.
- New additions to albums including remarkable lightning photography, coastal photographs detailing the nooks and crannies of our American coastline including a medley of American lighthouses, and new images detailing the Treasures of the NOAA Library.
- And in this, the 200th Anniversary of the Coast Survey, NOAA’s oldest ancestor agency and America’s first science agency, thousands of newly digitized historical photographs detailing the work of the Coast Survey, Fisheries Commission and Weather Bureau.
In addition to still images, NOAA also makes available a number of copyright free video clips. The quality is a bit mixed, but it’s a nice way to build a royalty-free library.
NOAA maintains a library of video footage, which is compiled and categorized by subject. It’s available for the cost of reproduction on a public domain basis—no license or clearance required. It’s requested that you credit “NOAA” or “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,” when using the footage.
For your gustatory consideration:
Trolling the Google for sharky news so you don’t have to:
Swim At Your Own Risk is your daily dose of all things sharky… oh, and we’ll also try to fill you in on any other aquatic antics we stumble upon.
![Underwatertimes.com image of shark claspers [150x200, 6.6K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070315_uw_weirdshark.jpg "Freak! Malaysian Fisherman Reels in Shark with Webbed Feet")
The Underwatertimes has an article that purports to show a baby shark with webbed feet. Looks more like the myxopterygia (i.e., claspers, intromittent organs, valva) of an adult reef shark.
myxopterygium (mix-op-ter-ridge-ee-um): The copulatory organ or clasper of Elasmobranchii and Holocephali; rod-like extensions of the inner side of the pelvic fins. It is composed of the long stem cartilage, a shorter distal cartilage, the dorsal terminal cartilage (or rhipidion, fan-shaped for dispersing sperm in a radiating spray during copulation), the hook-shaped terminal cartilage (or claw) which has a cutting edge on its inner margin, and the narrow, sharp spur. The claw and spur serve to anchor the clasper in the female oviduct and a groove along the clasper enables the sperm to reach the oviduct. The siphon contracts to propel sperm into the oviduct.
So basically, this shark died with an erection.
[via JW, thanks!]
![[64x54, 4K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060326a_pinktentacle.jpg "Rare goblin shark [via pinktentacle.com]")
A couple of weeks ago the world got to see stunning video of a rare deep sea frill shark. Another bizarre looking customer is the goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni). You can check out some amazing photos and videos of a live goblin shark at this website:
We eagerly await to see if the fine folks from Pink Tentacle can help with a translation. In the meantime, here is Google Translates robotic effort.
UPDATE: According to the Underwater Times, the shark did not survive for long.
A goblin shark — a rarely seen species often called a “living fossil” — was caught alive in Tokyo Bay but died after being put on display, an aquarium said.
The grey, long-nosed shark was caught in fishermen’s nets around 150 to 200 metres (500 to 650 feet) deep. It was discovered by officials of the Tokyo Sea Life Park when they took a boat with local fishermen on January 25.
But the shark died on the morning of January 27.
The Reuters report repeats the misconception that these deep sea creatures die primarily because of a sudden pressure change. Deep sea animals have bodies composed mostly of water, with no gas pockets. Because liquids are virtually incompressible, these animals seem to suffer little pressure-induced effects from dramatic depth changes. It’s far more likely that the change in temperature is more stressful (from 4°C to ~30°C).
Sharkfin soup: it’s like a cannibal who kills people only to eat their fingernails.
![Download a White Shark Photo. Courtesy of MBA (c) 2006 [200x150, 4K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060901a.jpg "Download a White Shark Photo. Courtesy of MBA (c) 2006")
Here’s some good news for a captive shark:
The young male white shark that has been part of our Outer Bay exhibit since September is back in the wild.
Our husbandry team tagged and released him shortly after sunrise today (Tuesday, January 16). It marks the second time in two years that we’ve exhibited a white shark and then returned it safely back
to the wild.
He was released from a boat in Monterey Bay after our staff fitted him with an electronic data tag that will track his movements for the next 90 days. If all goes as planned, on April 16, we’ll get information documenting where the shark traveled, how deep he dove and the water temperatures he favored. The data will be relayed to scientists via satellite when the tag pops free.
We released him because he’d grown considerably–from an initial length of 5-foot-8 and 103 pounds when he arrived on August 31, 2006 to his current size of 6-foot-5 and 171 pounds. He was healthy and feeding at the time of release, but was large enough that to delay much longer could have posed more risks for both the shark and our staff during the move. We expect he’ll do well after release, just as our first white shark did.
My wife and I just got back from our first trip to the Georgia Aquarium. I was planning on editing the video this weekend to post here. Then comes this news. Sad.
The first necropsy on a whale shark in the United States was performed Friday at the Georgia Aquarium following the animal’s sudden death Thursday night. The 22-foot whale shark, Ralph, was one of the first two whale sharks to be held in captivity in North America.
The GAq also recently had a sick beluga whale that died.
(via Dad)
(Photo credit: clevergrrl and dawgfanjeff)
The Cephalopodcast is heading to the Georgia Aquarium today. We’ve downloaded the companion podcast tour. We’ve loaded the new video camera
with tape and fresh batteries. Look forward to bringing you all a podcast of the experience later this week!
Fun facts:
There is a special surprise coming to the Cephalopodcast. The answer will become clearer each day until the New Year.
Need another hint? Click here.
There is a special surprise coming to the Cephalopodcast. The answer will become clearer each day until the New Year.
Need another hint? Click here.
![3-D Dogfish Shark Model [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061225a.jpg)
The Delaware Sea Grant program has a neat resource for educators. I mentioned it in the latest podcast, but wanted to bump it up to its own post too. Here’s the description from their annual report:
Learn all about the smooth dogfish shark as you put together your very own 3-D paper model! This eight-page, full-color project meets the National Science Education Standards. It includes background on sharks, the model parts to cut out with scissors and tape together, and a crossword puzzle to test your knowledge. Cost: $1. Contact: Marine Public Education, (302) 831-8083.
![Interior 3-D Dogfish Shark Model [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061225c.jpg)
Unfortunately, there is no further Internet-based info that I could find, so you will have to call to find out more. Or listen to the SeaTalk Radio PSA about the model [mp3].
(Tip of the tentacle to Elizabeth and Kimberly for the resource.)
UPDATE: I notice that a lot of people searching for dogfish dissections end up finding this post. If you need illustrations of a Squalus acanthias dissection, check out BIODIDAC. They have photos and line drawings to help you. Keyword search: dogfish. Available in English and French.
![Link to Amazon [150x200, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061220a.gif)
A couple months ago, I picked up a reprint of The Whale Book by Adriaen Coenen (1585) at my local indie bookstore.
In the late 16th century, Dutch beachcomber Adriaen Coenen scanned the beaches of Holland for interesting marine material and produced several illustrated manuscripts of his findings, covering anything from the commonplace herring to the exotic moonfish. Coenen’s work contains the earliest European pictures of whales, naïve but easily identifiable, which makes it a rare visual and textual source for the natural world of his day.
![Link to Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB) [150x200, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061220b_kb.gif)
You can thumb through a detailed, Flash-based facsimile over at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (click on Blader in het Visboek). Reading the commentary in the reprint, it’s interesting seeing the transition from medieval murk to rational enlightenment. Today technology makes the oceans less opaque to exploration, but back then most knowledge came from whatever rot washed up on the shore. Consequently, it was easy to get a distorted vision of what many sea creatures really looked like.
![Link to National Diet Library [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061220c_ndl.gif)
It is also interesting to compare the European naturalist’s depictions to those from Japan. Over at Pink Tentacle, they link to the works of Kurimoto Tanshuu (1756 - 1834), who sketched wildlife during the Edo period. Japan’s National Diet Library makes hi-res scans available of these original works.
Coenen and Tanshuu worked some 200 hundred years apart and both seemed to take some liberty with their depictions. But Tanshuu’s skill and level of detail is compelling. Be sure to check out the comments on Metafilter for some translations of the Diet website.
Monterey Bay Aquarium has a new white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) and this time it’s a male. He was captured by MBA’s husbandry staff a couple weeks ago and it’s now on display in their Outer Bay exhibit. Wish I could get there to see this.
For only the second time, there’s a healthy young white shark in our Outer Bay exhibit. 5 feet 8 inches long and 104 pounds, he arrived on August 31 and is making himself right at home in the million-gallon exhibit.
White sharks are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity. MBA had a lot of success with a female specimen they kept for 198 days back in 2004. I reckon they’ll keep this male on exhibit for a couple of months too before he’s released. It’s a good opportunity to learn more about this species and educate the public about sharks.
UPDATE: Here’s some interesting links from the last time MBA had a shark. Did not realize there was a controversy.
![3-D Dogfish Shark Model [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061225b.jpg)
Jason Robertshaw
![I'm a sucker for the Cephalopodcast, science edu+ocean info, cephalopodcast.com [180x150, 39K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/cephalobanner1.jpg "Cephalopodcast Fans")
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