A few months ago I wrote about SeaSmart, a new program/company planning to revolutionize the way livestock is collected and handled, before it ends up in a local retail store. The program was working out extremely well, with an influx of sustainable Papua New Guinea fish to the market every week. The aquaculture portion of the company was on the verge of sending out the first coral frags in the coming months.
Suddenly, at the end of last year, exports from PNG stopped. Read More »
Nearly a month ago, I was able to represent That Fish Place for MACNA in Orlando, Florida. MACNA (Marine Aquarium Conference of North America), is one of the oldest and largest marine aquarium conferences in North America. Each year you will find new/advanced technology in the hobby, new companies, and of course, livestock. This year was all about LED technology, which seems to be the future of lighting in the hobby.
Amongst the chatter of LEDs was the talk of Papua New Guinea and the SEASMART program. Last year in Atlantic City, SEASMART attended MACNA in the attempt to raise awareness for the need to collect livestock sustainably with an all new approach. Dan Navin, a close friend of mine collected some information on the program while we were there. He made a side trip to Papua New Guinea while vacationing in Australia to check out the operation, a few weeks later. Needless to say he liked what he saw, and is now the SEASMART MAR (Mariculture, Aquaculture, Restoration) Division Manager. Read More »
Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Today I’d like to highlight some simple ways that you can become involved in hands-on research with marine animals. Next time we’ll take a look at programs designed for people interested in fishes.
The Caribbean Conservation Corporation, founded in 1959 by legendary turtle biologist Archie Carr, was the world’s first marine turtle protection organization. Promoting conservation through research, and political advocacy, CCC is based in Florida, and its primary field station is nestled between rainforest and sea at Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica. Volunteer researchers have always figured prominently in the group’s work, and today a number of interesting opportunities are available.
My first field trip to Tortuguero, working with green turtles and 1,500 pound leatherbacks, hooked me for life. I and other researchers tagged and measured turtles, counted eggs, and monitored nests.
I also participated in studies focusing on the area’s 300+ bird species and was lucky enough to see kinkajous, caimans, ocelots, tapirs, jaguar tracks (overlapping my own!), arboreal tarantulas, strawberry poison frogs and a host of other incredible animals.
Seals of several species are becoming increasingly common in coastal urban areas, where they face threats from boat collisions, harassment and pollution-related diseases. The Seal Conservation Society maintains a comprehensive list of organizations that assist injured seals and provides information for those interested in becoming wildlife rehabilitators, beach monitors or “seal watch” tour leaders.
Untrained people should not approach seals – injured animals and females returning from hunting to claim their pups can be extremely dangerous. In the USA, sick or harassed seals can be reported to the local police or the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s 24 hour emergency hotline: 800-853-1964.
Most people do not realize that no intravenous drug produced in the USA reaches the market without first having been tested with a chemical produced by an ocean-dwelling relative of the spiders.
Compounds within the blood of the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) far surpass synthetics in detecting drug impurities. Biomedical companies draw blood from millions of these ancient (as in “unchanged for over 200 million years”!) creatures yearly. Although horseshoe crabs harvested for blood samples are released, coastal development and collection for the bait trade has caused US populations to plummet.
Based in the Northeastern USA, Project Limulus relies upon volunteers to monitor over 5,000 spawning horseshoe crabs each spring in an effort to help formulate conservation strategies.
Over 17,000 horseshoe crabs have been tagged by US Geological Service volunteers working along the Delaware Bay. Their work seeks to assist both horseshoe crabs and a shorebird known as the red knot. Undertaking one of the longest known bird migrations (Argentina to the Arctic), red knots somehow time a stopover on their trip to coincide with the spawning of the Delaware Bay horseshoe crab population. Red knots rely upon horseshoe crab eggs to fuel the last leg of their amazing journey, and have suffered massive declines since this food source has become scarce.
Please see my article Hands on Experiences in Sea Turtle Conservation for further information on working in Tortuguero, Costa Rica.
Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg…please write in if you are interested in other research opportunities. I’ll cover fish-oriented programs in the future. Thanks, until next time, Frank Indiviglio.
That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information
