Awesome Photo: Predatory Coral Eats Jellyfish

Coral seems so peaceful and passive, rippling in the currents of the sea in all its colorful beauty. It’s easy to forget that it’s actually an animal and not a plant. But, perhaps this photo will remind you – captured on a dive in Israel in March, it’s the first documentation of coral feeding on a jellyfish.

From BBC News:

Ocean currents and nutrients had created a seasonal bloom of the jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) and many surrounded the reef in which the team were diving.

It was then they saw the strange behaviour.

“During the survey we were amazed to notice some mushroom corals actively feeding on the moon jellyfish,” says Ada Alamaru, a member of the research team who is doing her PhD in marine biology supervised by Prof Yossi Loya at Tel Aviv University, Israel.

“We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw it,” Ms Alamaru says.

Researchers believe that coral’s ability to survive on a variety of food sources may give it an advantage in a changing world – and it’s going to need it. Reefs are increasingly threatened by climate change, particularly increased air and sea surface temperatures, rises in sea level, changes in weather patterns and changes in seawater chemistry.

But acidification of the world’s oceans from human CO2 emissions is an extremely formidable opponent for coral to face, and it’s hard to say right now whether they’ll make it through the fight.

Link [BBC News]

Climate Change Researchers Discover Carnivorous Sea Squirt 4,000 Meters Underwater

Researchers exploring the ocean floor of the Tasman Fracture Zone in Australia to learn more about how climate change is affecting coral have discovered several new species, including a fascinating carnivorous sea squirt previously unknown to humans. The creatures were found over 13,000 feet below the surface of the water.

From EcoWorldly:

One of the CalTech researchers, Jess Adkins, described what it was like to see video images from the remote device about 2.5 miles below them on the ocean floor:

“We were flying–literally flying–over these deep-sea structures that look like English gardens, but are actually filled with all of these carnivorous, Seuss-like creatures that no one else has ever seen.”

Although a sea squirt may appear to be a worm, or other invertebrate, it actually has a spinal chord. So its basic physical structure is that of chordate animals, like birds and humans. However, unlike the other chordates the sea squirt does not have a backbone. Sea squirts have been likened to the Venus Fly Trap plant because they catch their prey in a similar manner and are carnivorous.

According to National Geographic, the 20-inch sea squirt is one of the deepest-dwelling animals ever found in Australia. Along with a few other species, including a barnacle and an anenome, it was discovered along the Tasman Fracture Zone, a crack in the Earth’s crust measuring 1.2 miles long to more than 2.5 miles deep, by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

The four-week voyage found evidence that global warming may be linked to dying coral reefs in the ocean depths.

Imagine all of the other species that have never been seen by human eyes, all over the world. It really makes you realize how outnumbered we are – how much variety and diversity there is in the natural world. The earth is amazing, isn’t it?

Link [Eco Worldly]
Photo credit: Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory, WHOI/Jess Adkins, Caltech

Frozen Water: Stunning Natural Ice Formations

(Images via Haikiba,  Lady Molly, James Carter, unc.edu, Getaway, Birch and Pixdaus)

If you can’t experience the mind-boggling, incredibly beautiful wonders of nature firsthand, the next best thing is definitely beautiful photographs that almost make you feel as if you’re there. When it’s this cold outside, it’s easy to imagine being face-to-face with the incredible ice formations featured on WebEcoist in the series, ’15 Epic Water and Ice Formations and Phenomena’.

(Image via pbase)

WebEcoist has compiled photos of some of the most breathtaking natural ice formations on both a small and large scale, from tiny delicate ice crystals to the majestic – and rapidly disappearing – icebergs of the Arctic.

(Images via Madhouse Thought, Weather Savvy, das.uwyo.edu, SPRI, Seaway and hickerphoto)

If you aren’t already reading WebEcoist regularly, add it to your RSS feeder or subscribe via email now. Check out my review of the online magazine over on Eco Chick – it really is a gem, and unique among the many sites in the green blogosphere.

Link [WebEcoist]

National Geographic’s Top 10 Photos of 2008

National Geographic has revealed its top 10 most viewed photos of 2008, and it’s quite a fascinating gallery. At number 10 is the photo of the “uncontacted” Amazon tribe taken from an airplane. Others on the list include a variety of giant animals – including squid, stingrays and starfish – as well as a leopard in the snow, a deadlock between a frog and a snake and an absolutely amazing capture of a “dirty thunderstorm”, in which a volcanic eruption produces a lightning-laced storm that looks like hell on earth.

From National Geographic:

10. “Uncontacted” Tribe Seen in Amazon

Shown in National Geographic News’s tenth most viewed individual photo of 2008, members of an “uncontacted” Amazon tribe fire arrows at an airplane above the rain forest borderlands of Peru and Brazil in May. The natural dyes covering their bodies probably signal aggression, native-rights experts say.

Later it was revealed that, though this tribe apparently is truly uncontacted, authorities have known about it for decades.

See the rest over at National Geographic.

Link [National Geographic]

Over 1,000 New Species Discovered in Mekong Basin in Past Decade

A cyanide-laced, bright pink millipede and a rat thought to have become extinct 11 million years ago are among the 1,068 new species have been discovered in Southeast Asia’s Greater Mekong region alone in the past decade, according to a new report released by the World Wildlife Fund.

The Mekong Basin is being called a “biological treasure trove” after the findings of new species that include 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, four birds, four turtles, two salamanders and a toad. That’s an average of two new species discovered every week.

From Yahoo News:

The WWF report, “First Contact in the Greater Mekong”, said that “between 1997 and 2007, at least 1,068 have been officially described by science as being newly discovered species.”

These included the world’s largest huntsman spider, with a leg span of 30 centimetres (11.8 inches), and the “startlingly” coloured “dragon millipede”, which produces the deadly compound cyanide.

Not all species were found hiding in remote jungles — the Laotian rock rat, which the study said was thought to be extinct about 11 million years ago, was first encountered by scientists in a local food market in 2005, it said.

One species of pitviper was first noted by scientists after it was found in the rafters of a restaurant at the headquarters of Thailand’s Khao Yai national park in 2001.

“This region is like what I read about as a child in the stories of Charles Darwin,” said Dr Thomas Ziegler, curator at the Cologne Zoo, who was involved in the research.

Isn’t it amazing how, despite the fact that we humans have taken over this earth like a plague and displaced so many creatures, that there are still so many we’ve never even seen? The diversity of the life on this planet is truly awe-inspiring. Unfortunately, though, scientists say many of these newly discovered species are at risk due to development. The WWF has called for a cross-border agreement between the countries in the Greater Mekong area to protect it, and we fervently hope that it becomes reality.

Link [Yahoo News]
Photo credit: WWF

Black Sun of Denmark: Amazing Photos of Starling Formations

Image via Flickr user Gail Johnson

Sunset in Denmark is made even more beautiful during the spring and autumn seasons by the ‘aerial ballet’ of gigantic flocks of black starlings, which occurs when the birds leave their feeding places and take flight before settling in for the night. You can see it from the middle of March to early April, and from mid-September to mid-October, about an hour before sunset. For about 20 minutes, the flocks of starlings seem to join together as one being and create breathtaking formations in the sky.

Image via National Geographic

This stunning natural phenomenon doesn’t just take place in Denmark – the photo below was taken in Great Britain.

Image via Geograph.org.uk

Images via Earth Science Picture of the Day

I wouldn’t stand or park directly under the flock of starlings to watch its movements, though. This is what happens when you do:

Link [Visit Denmark]

Northern Lights: Amazing Aurora Borealis Photography

  
Image via Wikimedia Commons

Not all of us can travel to the ends of the earth to personally witness the magnificent natural phenomenon of polar auroras – those breathtakingly beautiful bands of colored light that stream across the sky, primarily visible in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. It’s a sight that has inspired folklore, art and music, and it’s easy to see why. In the Arctic, it’s referred to as Aurora Borealis or northern lights, and in the Antarctic, Aurora Australis or southern polar lights.

Here’s an explanation of this beautiful display of nature:

Image via: VisitNorway.com

Image via: Borealis 2000

From Virtual Finland:

The sun gives off high-energy charged particles (also called ions) that travel out into space at speeds of 300 to 1200 kilometres per second. A cloud of such particles is called a plasma. The stream of plasma coming from the sun is known as the solar wind. As the solar wind interacts with the edge of the earth’s magnetic field, some of the particles are trapped by it and they follow the lines of magnetic force down into the ionosphere, the section of the earth’s atmosphere that extends from about 60 to 600 kilometres above the earth’s surface. When the particles collide with the gases in the ionosphere they start to glow, producing the spectacle that we know as the auroras, northern and southern. The array of colours consists of red, green, blue and violet.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

The Northern Lights are constantly in motion because of the changing interaction between the solar wind and the earth’s magnetic field. The solar wind commonly generates up to 1000,000 megawatts of electricity in an auroral display and this can cause interference with power lines, radio and television broadcasts and satellite communications. By studying the auroras, scientists can learn more about the solar wind, how it affects the earth’s atmosphere and how the energy of the auroras might be exploited for useful purposes.

Image via National Geographic

Alaska, the Scandinavian coast, areas of northern Greenland, and Siberia tend to have the best views of this amazing display, but it can be seen in other areas as well, including rare sightings in continental America.

The wonders of nature can certainly be pretty awe-inspiring.

Link [Virtual Finland]

The Mysterious Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa

If you ever visit the Death Valley National Park in California, you may notice large rocks with long trails behind them at Racetrack Playa (a dry lake bed). It looks like someone pushed the rocks along the surface. Only, it wasn’t ‘someone’. The rocks appear to slide across the playa all by themselves, but how they do it is a mystery, and no one has ever actually seen them move. There are a few theories, though.

Racetrack Playa is totally flat and almost always completely dry, with a surface covered in mudcracks and sediment made up of silt and clay. When it does rain, runoff from the mountains surrounding Racetrack Playa turn it into a shallow lake, transforming the surface into very soft and slippery mud.

From Geology.com:

Are They Moved by People or Animals?

The shape of trails behind the rocks suggest that they move during times when the floor of Racetrack Playa is covered with a very soft mud. A lack of disturbed mud around the rock trails eliminates the possibility of a human or animal pushing or assisting the motion of the rocks.

Are They Moved by Wind?

This is the favorite explanation. The prevailing winds that blow across Racetrack Playa travel from southwest to northeast. Most of the rock trails are parallel to this direction. This is strong evidence that wind is the prime mover or at least involved with the motion of the rocks.

Strong wind gusts are thought to nudge the rocks into motion. Once the rock begins to move a wind of much lower velocity can keep the rock in motion as it slides across the soft and very slippery mud. Curves in the rock trails are explained by shifts in wind direction or in how the wind interacts with an irregularly shaped rock.

There are a couple other theories, but most people agree that wind is the most likely culprit.  It may happen too slowly for anyone to see it happening, though, so we may never know for sure. It’s one of those strange mysteries of nature.

Link [Geology.com]

Bizarre Alien-Like Elbowed Squid Filmed at Oil Drilling Site

A Shell Oil robot filming a mile and a half under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico captured something surprising: a bizarre, alien-like creature with extremely long, elbowed tentacles. It was a rare sighting of the Magnapinna squid, which remains largely a mystery to science. The video was taken on November 11th at the Shell ‘Perdido’ oil drilling site, about 200 miles off the coast of Houston, Texas.

From National Geographic:

Based on analysis of videos not unlike the one captured at the Perdido site, scientists know that the adult Magnapinna observed to date range from 5 to 23 feet (1.5 to 7 meters) long, Vecchione said. By contrast, the largest known giant squid measured about 16 meters (52 feet) long.

And whereas giant squid and other cephalopods have eight short arms and two long tentacles, Magnapinna has ten indistinguishable appendages that all appear to be the same length.

“The most peculiar structure is that of the arms,” said deep-sea biologist Bruce Robison of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California.

Referring to the way the tentacles hang down from elbow-like kinks, Robison said: “Judging from that structure, we think the animal feeds by dragging its arms and the ends of its tentacles along the seafloor as it drifts slowly above it.”

The Perdido site is one of the deepest oil drilling sites in the world. Experts don’t think the Magnapinna squid’s presence there has any expert significance, and some are actually aligning with the oil industry in the hopes of capturing more rare deep-sea footage. Marine biologists are eager to use the high-tech oil industry ROV  (remotely operated vehicle) technology.

That seems like a bad idea, doesn’t it? Scientists relying on corporations for important data? According to National Geographic, most sightings of the Magnapinna have come from research vessels, not oil companies. At least one scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is being cautious about it. Squid biologist Michael Vecchione said oil industry collaborations “should not get in the way of purely scientific exploration. We need to be careful about deep-sea conservation.”

Link [National Geographic] + [YouTube]
Photo credit: National Geographic

Awesomely Creepy Trees: From Frightening Faces to Gnarled Branches

As an environmentalist, it may be a bit cliché (or just really obvious) that I like trees.  They’re just cool – how old they can live to be, how many different shapes and sizes they come in, and the way they can evoke so many different moods depending on their texture, leaves, the way their branches curve or how they’re lit at different times of the day.  I’m also a big fan of old school classic (I’m talking 1965 and earlier) horror movies, and the uniquely eccentric vision of Tim Burton, so naturally I love creepy trees.  There’s just something about them.  Here are some of the coolest creepy tree pictures you’ll ever see.

Check out the rest at Environmental Graffiti.

Link [Environmental Graffiti]

Rain-Swollen Lake Bursts Bank and Disappears

Nature doesn’t mess around. One look at this photo makes it clear how much power the forces of nature really hold, and how helpless we can be to their destruction. The photo shows two employees of Tommy Bartlett’s Water Show trying to clean debris and dead fish out of the empty bed of Lake Delton in Wisconsin, which was once a picturesque 267-acre vacation destination.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Weekend rains of biblical proportions dumped so much water into Lake Delton that it literally burst its banks.

Tens of thousands of gallons of lake water barreled through the woods, taking with it a roadway, several houses, boats, fish and lake bed. It emptied into the nearby Wisconsin River and was gone in hours.

On Tuesday morning, some 24 hours after the catastrophe, the massive lake is nearly drained. The lake is a muddy moonscape of cracked earth. Fish bake in the sun, flopping until their deaths. Mounds of dead fish are piled high. The shoreline is jagged and cracked. Boats hang in the air suspended by what is left of the docks. In parts, the little water that is left meanders like a silent brook. The roadway and earth that held the river back is now a grand canyon.

Lake Delton was formerly a lively scene of water skiing, fishing, and other recreation. State officials have vowed to refill the lake as soon as possible, but residents are afraid the lake will never be the same again. And it may not – the lake was artificially created by damming Dell Creek. Sounds like nature took things into its own hands and turned the man-made lake back into a creek, as it was originally.

Link [Chicago Tribune]
Photo credit: Chicago Tribune/ E. Jason Wambsgans

Trees Eating Bicycles, Cars & Benches

I’m about to sound like a real patchouli-scented Birkenstock-wearing treehugger, but here goes: trees are really pretty amazing, when you think about it. Some of them are astoundingly old. Without them, we simply couldn’t survive on this planet, yet we as a species have made life on Earth pretty difficult for them. That’s why I love to see things like this: trees taking back the world! Check out these photos of trees growing around objects that were left nearby for too long.

See the rest of the photos at The Contaminated.

Link [The Contaminated]

Man-Made Noise Interfering with the Earth’s Ecology

Shhh – do you hear that? It’s the sound of us effing up yet another part of ecology. Man made noise may actually be altering the sounds we should be hearing all day and night – those of nature. Field scientist Bernie Krause has been studying nature sounds for decades, and he’s noticed something disturbing: the natural sound of the world is vanishing.

Wired Magazine has it:

Krause has a word for the pristine acoustics of nature: biophony. It’s what the world sounds like in the absence of humans. But in 40 percent of the locations where Krause has recorded over the past 40 years, human-generated noise has infiltrated the wilderness. “It’s getting harder and harder to find places that aren’t contaminated,” he says.

This isn’t just a matter of aesthetics. The contamination of biophony may soon become a serious environmental issue — Krause says that man-made sounds are already wreaking havoc with animal communication. We worry about the carbon emissions from SUVs and airplanes; maybe we should be equally concerned about the racket they cause.

Krause’s argument is simple. In a biophony, animals divide up the acoustic spectrum so they don’t interfere with one another’s voices. He shows me a spectrogram of a wilderness recording, in which all the component noises are mapped according to pitch. It looks like the musical score for an orchestra, with each instrument in its place. No two species are using the same frequency. “That’s part of how they coexist so well,” Krause says. When they issue mating calls or all-important warning cries, they aren’t masked by the noises of other animals.

Nature has a way of delicately balancing every aspect of the world’s ecology, and as we humans have become more technologically advanced, we’ve fallen out of our natural place in the world and become tyrants, out of touch with our surroundings. Animals communicate with each other through sounds, and when our loud planes, construction noises and vehicles cover those sounds, an imbalance occurs. Suddenly an animal can’t make itself heard. While this might seem like a very small thing to some people, it can have huge effects on the ecosystem over time. It’s been suggested that we don’t just develop ‘green tech’, but ‘quiet tech’ as well. We certainly wouldn’t want to find out too late that yet another aspect of our dominion over the earth has created irreparable destruction.

Link [Wired Magazine]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Billy Knows a Tree When He Googles One: The Soccer Mom Syndrome

The big ass Chevy Suburban that just cut you off is not dangerous because of the cell phone-jabbing, 5′2″ super housewife behind the wheel. The real danger lives behind those tinted rear windows, in the murky back seat region, where billions of microchips and processors compete for the attention of the one little whiny occupant who reigns supreme. Fumbling from Gameboy to iPod to DVD remote control, it’s a wonder little Billy even finds the time to allow a finger to break free and troll after those boogers that are just dying to get out. Our little friend has driven through the forest a billion times, but has yet to so much as touch a tree.

In his discussion at the Aspen Environment Forum, EO Wilson (Pellegrino Research Professor in Entomology at Harvard) blamed the group that he lovingly referred to as “soccer moms” for the declining interest in nature and the environment amongst children.

DiscoverMagazine.com reports:

Wilson filled more than an hour of questions and answers with witty remarks and barbs. And to be sure, his tone was playful. Yet, there was a seriousness behind his “soccer mom” remarks that struck a cord with many people in the audience: Have children been largely cut off from nature because of technology?

Many people agreed that they have, with video games, the Internet and structured play times replacing — as comedian George Carlin commented in a recent skit — sitting outside in a yard with a stick wondering how to entertain themselves.

If Wilson is right, little urban zombies like Billy will one day rule the world, able to leap tall logarithmic search engines in a single bound, but stupidly worthless when it comes to differentiating between an acorn and a pine cone. These are tomorrow’s Republican Senators and Governors.

Links [Discover Magazine] & [The Aspen Environment Forum]

Photo credit: Flickr user MonkeyLeo13