How do Seahorses Feel About Paparazzi?

What do you do when you see something cool? ⁣ In the diving industry it's not uncommon for divers to use flash photography to capture the unique marine fishes swimming around them.⁣

⁣Up until recently the impacts of fash photography were unknown.  A study just released by Maarten De Brauwer and his colleagues, found that seahorses, in particular, were more impacted by the manipulation surrounding the photo then the flash itself.⁣

⁣Despite the 4,600 exposures to full power flash guns over 34 days there were no observable impacts on sea horse feeding behavior or foraging success.⁣

⁣While the flashes don't impact them we should still be respectful of these animals' environments and avoid harassment.⁣

⁣If you would like to read the whole article it is available to the public here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37356-2

De Brauwer, Maarten, et al. "Behavioural and pathomorphological impacts of flash photography on benthic fishes." Scientific Reports 9.1 (2019): 748.

Female Sea Turtles on the Rise...

Temperature plays a key role as sea turtle eggs are incubating in the sand. Sea turtles experience a Temperature-Dependent Sex Determination or TSD. When the sand temperature is warmer around 33 degrees Celsius, the eggs develop into female turtles while slightly cooler temperatures below 28 degrees Celsius, cause the eggs to develop as males.

Scientists predicted that as a global temperatures climbed female turtles would be come the majority. As the numbers of female sea turtles increase there are fears that the girls could have a hard time finding mates, but that's a ways off in the future right?  

Actually its not as far out in the future as you might think. Jensen et al. released a study in 2018 where they looked at populations of green sea turtles in the Northern and Southern parts of the Great Barrier Reef. They found turtles in the Southern area had a population that was 65-69% female. Even further illustrating their point, they found the Northern population to be 87-99% female. Researchers concluded that it was possible the Northern population would be come 100% female in a few years.

So what then? Considered to be a charismatic mega fauna and beloved by many, it is likely that with this trend in skewed sex ratios, we will see the rise of sea turtle hatcheries where temperature (and other factors their success depends on) are able to be regulated.

Curious about Michael Jensen's research paper? It is free and available for your reading pleasure:

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)31539-7 

Bluefin Tuna Breaks Records...

Bluefin tuna are a highly sought after delicacy, especially in Asian markets. At the first auction of the year in Tokyo's new fish market, a Bluefin Tuna broke records, selling for ¥333.6 million ($3.1 million). According to the New York Times, the fish was purchased by Japan's "King of Tuna" Kiyoshi Kimura for his sushi restaurant chain-- Sushi Zanmai.

Bluefins are considered a vulnerable species, especially the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, which are endangered. The populations have shrunk to less than 3.5% of their historic size and continue to fall due to the pressures of overfishing. Not surprisingly demand continues to increase. Just take a look at the size of and prices paid for Bluefin Tuna between this year and last.

2018- A 892lb Bluefin sold for $323,000
2019- A 612lb Bluefin sold for $3.1 million

Despite this years record tuna weighing 278lb less than last years fish, it sold for nearly $2.8 million less.

What can you do to make a difference? I highly encourage you to make smart choices when ordering and purchasing seafood. For more information about it, be sure to check out:  www.seafoodwatch.org .

Want to learn more about world tuna populations? Check out these websites:
World Wildlife Fund: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/bluefin-tuna
Pew Charitable Trust: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/global-tuna-conservation