Adventure Ausrama Blog

More research is proving that the theory of animals becoming bolder with climate is correct.  Sea water is retaining more carbon dioxide.  This is altering the body chemistry of some animals. Tests were done on the hermit crab and a "toy" of its main predator the octopus.  In a laboratory, hermit crabs were split into two group and put into aquariums.  The water in one aquarium was at a pH of 7.6; the other had a pH of 7.1.  This may seem to be only a small amount of difference in acidity but it was significant on behavior. The flicking of antennae (testing for danger of preying animals) and oxygen levels were measured.  The hermit crabs in the more acidic pH 7.1 water flicked their antennae less often.  Crabs in the 7.6 aquarium definitely responded much quicker when a toy octopus was dipped into the water. Visitors at the Third International Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World had a good laugh at the crab behavior.  A more serious problems could be the declining

If you are a business the Greenies can close you down. It's no good protesting about it. Just accept it, sack your staff, and close. That's the message that comes across in the case of a shark fishery in South Australia. The Australian Fisheries Management Authority has introduced draconian new rules in its protected zones. It is spelled out that when a "trigger point" is reached everything must stop. The authority took the advice of environmentalists and reduced the number of deaths of protected species from 15 down to one as the trigger point. Because a sea lion was killed the shark fishery must close and apply to reopen in May of 2013. An environmental spokesperson said, "We're pleased that there's now a process in place so that when there are animals killed that steps can be taken in the management of the fishery to make sure that the deaths are limited." This is shortsighted. Businesses cannot operate in this way. When May 2013 co

Weird eyes of an ancient ocean predator have been found in Australia. It was believed that all types of eyes were known. The creature with the unusual eyes has been identified. It was an anomalocaris, a very large shellfish. They didn't see the world like whales or even fish. Each eye had 16,000 lenses and was three centimeters in diameter. This is more than the 3,000 lense housefly eye, but not as numerous as the dragonfly eye with its 30,000 lenses. Make no mistake though - eye development was like an arms race, the animals with superior eyes reproducing and surviving. The anomalocaris was a good hunter, moving quickly on their prey in clear waters. This ancient hunter had an odd shape. It had spined claws on each side of the body and two giant claws on its head. Its eyes were on stalks. The mouth was circular with serrations around the edge pointing inward. The site where it was found, on Kangaroo Island, holds more strange animals to be investigated. These were the ea

A new form of chlorophyll has been identified in Shark Bay stromatolites by Min Chen of the University of Sydney. She has been awarded the Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year. Chlorophyll had previously been found in four forms. It is a plant pigment that makes sugar giving energy to plants. The new type called chlorophyll f operates in the upper red end of the visible spectrum. Future uses include solar cells and new kinds of food crops. The new type of chlorophyll was found by studying cyanobacteria within stromatolites. It was an accidental discovery. The intention was to understand more about chlorophyll d. Both types of chlorophyll are similar, but have different bonding structures. , http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Science

Western Australian beaches are in the throws of an ecological disaster. Tiny pellets of plastic resin are in the environment which absorb industrial chemicals particularly pesticides. The pellets are a bi-product of plastic drink bottle manufacturing. There is real danger that Bisphenol A will create estrogen leading to infertility. Bisphenol A was first found in plastic in the 1950s. Such plastic is now found everywhere. It is not known how or even if marine animals consume the plastic. Other chemicals, many estrogenic, are put into bottle plastic for flexibility, color and other properties. The chemicals are not fully absorbed in the plastic, so they migrate to the surface and escape. It was established several years ago that PCBs, DDT and HCH chemicals. all hormone disruptors. were in plastic resin pellets. Australia is playing a "waiting game", watching to see what other countries do in regard to these pellets. Many people are not worrying because the pellets bl

It seems humans know just about everything. This is a myth really. A new species of jellyfish has be seen in Coffs Harbour, NSW. It seems the marine creature has been there for a long time. The mystery "object" is a box jellyfish that appears to be totally harmless. It is unlike the Irujandji and is smaller than the dangerous Chironex flecker box jellyfish. Fishermen have been seeing the new jellyfish for sometime but authorities took no notice. A game crew took photos of the animal last week. Finally "professionals" acted and arrangements are being made to catch some specimens. Fish of all kinds are moving south as the temperature of the ocean increases due to climate change. It is believed the visiting jellyfish come from more northern climes. Usually jellyfish do not move south because they can be harmed by rougher seas. They prefer the warm, calmer tropics. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feed