New Worms Eat (and eat) Only on Dead Whales
(September 28, 2009) Nine new species of worms that only eat dead whales have been discovered. Although their diet lacks variety, the portion size makes up for it - a whale carcass can provide food for 20 years and is fed on by generations of worms. Read More> |
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Last Chance to See the Aye-Aye?
(September 18, 2009) One of the many repercussions of Madagascar's coup, which took place in March 2009, has been a dramatic increase in criminal networks plundering the country's protected areas for precious hardwoods and wildlife.
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Poachers Threaten Spider Tortoise
(September 01, 2009) Poachers are threatening the survival of the northern Madagascar spider tortoise, which only lives along a narrow strip of the island's coast. The animal has disappeared from swathes of its habitat, taken by collectors to supply the exotic pet trade. Wild numbers of the tortoise may have already fallen by 90%, say scientists who have just surveyed its population. The problem continues to worsen due to political instability in the country, which makes it easier for smugglers.
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Source: BBC |
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Axolotl Verges on Wild Extinction
(August 31, 2009) The amphibian that never grew up is on the verge of going extinct in the wild. New survey work suggests that fewer than 1,200 Mexican axolotls remain in its last stronghold, the Xochimilco area of central Mexico. The axolotl is a type of salamander that uniquely spends its whole life in its larval form. Its odd lifestyle, features and ability to regenerate body parts make it a popular animal kept in labs, schools and as pets. But in the wild, the future is bleak for this "Peter Pan" of animals.
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Source: BBC |
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Bats Use "Love Songs" Foul Smells to Woo Mates (August 29, 2009)
In the musical city of Austin, Texas, a group of smelly, pug-faced crooners is hoping to woo some females with surprisingly complex tunes. That's the finding of a new study of Brazilian free-tailed bats, which now join songbirds and whales as some of the only animals known to use a kind of musical language during courtship. Also known as the Mexican free-tailed bat, the species is quite numerous in Austin and around the Texas A&M University football stadium in College Park. Based on recordings of the animals from both locations, the researchers found that the bats' songs contain definite phrases made up of birdlike chirps, buzzes, and trills.
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Source: National Geographic |
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Mouse set to be "Evolution Icon"
(August 28, 2009) A tiny pale deer mouse living on a sand dune in Nebraska looks set to become an icon of biology. Within just a few thousand years, generations of the mice have evolved a sandy-coloured coat camouflaging themselves from predators. Most striking is that these mice acquired the mutation for pale fur naturally, then rapidly passed it on. That makes the fast-evolving deer mouse one of the best examples yet studied of "true" natural selection in action. Read More>
Source: BBC |
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"Stress" is Shrinking Polar Bears
(August 27, 2009) Polar bears have shrunk over the last century, according to research. Scientists compared bear skulls from the early 20th Century with those from the latter half of the century. Their study, in the Journal of Zoology, describes changes in size and shape that could be linked an increase in pollution and the reduction in sea ice. Physical "stress" caused by pollutants in the bears' bodies, and the increased effort needed to find food, could limit the animals' growth, the team said.
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Source: BBC |
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Bizarre-Looking Bat's Strong Bite
(August 25, 2009) The wrinkle-faced bat's strangely shaped skull gives it a remarkably strong bite force, say scientists. Researchers report in the Journal of Zoology that this bizarre-looking bat has evolved a powerful bite that may give it an advantage over other bats. It allows it to eat a broader range of foods than other small fruit-eaters with weaker bites. The tiny creature, which weighs just 17g, produces bite forces up to 20% higher than other bats of similar size. Read More>
Source: BBC |
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Lemurs Butchered in Madagascar
(August 24, 2009) Shocking pictures of slaughtered lemurs killed for bush meat have been released by Conservation International. A breakdown in law and order due to the recent coup in Madagascar has resulted in poachers killing lemurs for profit. The dead lemurs are sold to restaurant owners seeking to serve new delicacies, says the conservation group. It fears this upsurge in the bush meat trade may have been triggered by the suspension of conservation aid by international bodies during the coup.
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Source: BBC |
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Bizarre Newt Uses Ribs as Weapons
(August 21, 2009) One amphibian has evolved a bizarre and gruesome defence mechanism to protect itself against predators. When attacked, the Spanish ribbed newt pushes out its ribs until they pierce through its body, exposing a row of bones that act like poisonous barbs. The newt has to force its bones through its skin every time it is attacked, say scientists who have described the form and function of the barbs in detail. Yet this bizarre behaviour appears not to cause the newt any ill effects. Read More>
Source: BBC |
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France Worried by Hornet Invasion
(August 20, 2009) France faces an invasion of Chinese hornets that could hasten the decline of the honeybee population. The wasps, known by their scientific name Vespa velutina, could also threaten bee-keepers' livelihoods, researchers say. They have spread rapidly in south-western France - a region popular with tourists - and could reach other European countries soon. The 3cm-long insects are recognizable by their orange heads and yellow feet. Researchers think they probably arrived in France on a boat carrying ceramic goods from China in 2004. Read More>
Source: BBC |
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Second Brood For Rare Butterfly
(August 19, 2009) One of the UK's rarest butterflies has produced a second brood in what conservationists are describing as an extremely rare event. A second generation of the endangered Duke of Burgundy butterfly has now been spotted in Gloucestershire - the furthest north recorded so far. Normally the butterfly produces one generation a year, taking to the wing in late April. But a second brood has been recorded in August in Gloucestershire. The National Trust said this second generation, documented at Rodborough Common, was highly unexpected. Read More>
Source: BBC |
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Frogs Find Home in Elephant Dung
(August 18, 2009) They may not be the best-smelling homes, but Asian elephant dung piles provide certain frog species with shelter, one researcher has found. Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, of the University of Tokyo, found the dung-dwelling frogs in Sri Lanka's Bundala National Park, while searching for signs that Asian elephants acted as ecosystem engineers in their environments.
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Source: Live Science |
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Killer Whales Visit "Social Clubs"
(August 17, 2009) Killer whales create and visit social clubs just like people do, scientists have discovered. Up to 100 fish-eating killer whales come together in the Avacha Gulf, off the coast of Russia. But no-one knew why these orcas form these huge superpods, when they normally live in smaller groups. Now scientists report in the Journal of Ethology that these groups act as clubs in which the killer whales form and maintain social ties. Fish-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Avacha Gulf live in stable groups called pods that contain an average of ten individuals and up to 20 in the largest pods. Read More>
Source: BBC |
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New Sub "War" Range May Harm Rare Whales, Critics Say
(August 15, 2009) After considering several candidates, the U.S. Navy announced last week that it will build its latest submarine warfare training facility in the waters off Jacksonville, Florida. But even though the site won't open until 2014, the new tenant is already having trouble with its neighbors. That's because the chosen site for the Undersea Warfare Training Range is just 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the only known calving grounds of the North Atlantic Right Whale.
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Source: National Geographic |
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Epic Migration Seen "Through Eyes of" Antelope (August 14, 2009)
On foot, photographer Joe Riis provides an intimate window on one of North America's longest annual migrations, which is increasingly threatened by fences and highways. Every fall this herd of Pronghorn Antelope treks more than a hundred miles from Grand Teton National Park to their winter habitat in the Upper Green River Valley of Wyoming. This phenomenal migration, one of the longest in North America, has been taking place for the past six thousand years.
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Source: National Geographic |
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"Extinct" Booby Exposed - Found "Masked" Using Alias (August 13, 2009)
Disguises and aliases might seem like the stuff of spy movies, but real-world scientific sleuths have rediscovered an "extinct" bird living under a false name and wearing a mask. The Tasman booby has had it rough. It started when humans learned that the booby was easy to catch and tasty to eat. Native to small islands off Australia and New Zealand, the species was dealt its first near fatal blow around A.D. 1200, when Polynesian settlers on Norfolk Island (map) hunted it to the brink of extinction. Yet the Tasman booby managed to survive in one small population on Lord Howe Island for another 500 years. Read More>
Source: National Geographic |
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New Species: Flying Frog & More
(August 11, 2009)
This red-footed tree frog - discovered in 2007 in the Indian state of Assam -- is among the 353 new species found in the Eastern Himalaya between 1998 and 2008, according to a new report released today by the conservation group WWF. Dubbed the "flying frog," this unusual amphibian uses its webbed feet as an aid while gliding through the air.
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Source: National Geographic |
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Rarest Croc Returned to the Wild
(August 10, 2009) Conservationists have taken a massive stride toward saving the world's most endangered crocodile from extinction. In a major reintroduction last week, they released 50 captive-bred Philippine crocodiles into the wild. Prior to the release, hunting, habitat loss and overfishing had reduced the number of wild Philippine crocodiles to fewer than 100 mature animals. The newly-released crocodiles should be ready to breed in just a few years, the conservationists hope.
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Source: BBC |
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Extinct Walking Bat Found; Upends Evolutionary Theory (August 08, 2009)
A walking bat in New Zealand took its marching orders from an ancestor, a new fossil-bat discovery reveals. Scientists had long thought that the lesser short-tailed bat evolved its walking preference independently. Since the bat's native habitat lacks predators, researchers reasoned that-much like flightless birds on isolated islands-the bat had adapted to its safer surroundings in part by walking. But the discovery of fossils of a now extinct walking bat in northwestern Queensland, Australia, suggests that the modern-day bats descended from 20-million-year-old Australian relatives.
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Source: National Geographic |
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"Two Headed" Sea Serpents Fool Attackers (August 06, 2009) Just as Hercules had the multi-headed hydra to contend with, ocean predators tussle with two-headed sea snakes - or so it appears. Some sea snake species, such as Hydrophis pachycercos (pictured), have evolved so that sharks and other predators can't tell whether the serpents are coming or going, Johan Elmberg and Arne Rasmussen report in a new study today in the journal Marine Ecology. When Rasmussen on a research dive in Indonesia, said Elmberg, who was not in the dive, "he saw a venomous sea snake go head first into a narrow crevice. Then suddenly he was surprised to see the snake pull its head out, as if the snake had been able to very quickly turn around inside the crevice."
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Source: National Geographic |
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New Frog - Species Changes Colour with Age, Sex (August 05, 2009)
What's black and white and red all over? Hint: This time, it's not a newspaper. A new frog species discovered in the Talamanca mountains of southern Costa Rica sports a range of colors depending on its gender and age. Females are generally black with white belly splotches, such as the one pictured above. The males, meanwhile, have black, white, and brown markings peppering an orange-red base. Young frogs of either sex are mostly brown with some beige and black blotches on their undersides.
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Source: National Geographic |
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European Bison on "Genetic Brink"
(August 04, 2009) Europe's largest mammal, the European bison, remains extremely vulnerable to extinction, despite long-standing efforts to save it, new research shows. One of the two remaining wild herds of pure bred European bison is down to an effective population size of just 25. That is despite the actual number of wild bison in the herd having steadily risen to around 800. The effective population measures the bison's genetic diversity, and can help predict the animal's survival chances.
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Source: BBC |
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Feather-Eating Bugs Dull Birds
(August 03, 2009) Brightly coloured birds can become infected with bacteria that eat their feathers. That in turn can affect the health of the birds and dull their plumage. The discovery comes from a study that found that 99% of all Eastern bluebirds surveyed in Virginia, US were infected with feather-degrading bacteria. Such bacteria were first discovered a decade ago, but the latest research is the best evidence yet that the bugs affect the colour and health of birds. "Feather-degrading bacteria are relatively new to ornithologists," says Alex Gunderson of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, US. Read More>
Source: BBC |
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Honeybees Warn of Risky Flowers
(August 01, 2009) Honeybees warn each other to steer clear of dangerous flowers where they might get killed by lurking predators. Scientists made the discovery by placing dead bees upon flowers and then watching how newly arriving bees react to the danger. Not only do the bees avoid the flowers, they then communicate the threat when they return to the hive via their well known waggle dance. The discovery is published in the journal Animal Behaviour. The honeybee waggle dance is a surprisingly sophisticated mode of communication. Read More>
Source: BBC |
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New Songbird Sports Wispy "Mohawk"
(July 31, 2009) Sporting a mostly bald head, this new songbird species, dubbed the bare-faced bulbul, has been discovered on rugged limestone peaks in Laos. The thrush-size creature is the first bald songbird yet discovered in mainland Asia and one of only 40 or so known bald songbirds in the world, say experts with the Wildlife Conservation Society and Australia's University of Melbourne, who found the species. The bulbul, described in the current issue of the journal Forktail, is covered with greenish-olive feathers. The bird mostly lacks plumage on its face and head, with the exception of a mohawk-like line of wispy feathers down the center of its crown. Read More>
Source: National Geographic |
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Giant Jellyfish Invasion May Be Imminent in Japan (July 29, 2009)
Giant jellyfish seem poised to invade Japan, and experts are warning local fishers to brace themselves for an inundation that could wreak havoc on their industry. Nomura's jellyfish is one of the largest jellyfish species in the world, growing up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) wide and weighing as much as 440 pounds (200 kilograms). The giant jellyfish last swarmed western Japan in vast numbers in 2005. Their huge bodies damaged fishing nets, and their toxic stings poisoned the catch and even injured some fishers. Now the jellyfish could be gearing up for a similar assault, say experts who recently conducted some of the first surveys of the giants' spawning grounds.
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Source: National Geographic |
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People Steal Meat From Wild Lions
(July 28, 2009) Lions in Cameroon are having their kills stolen from under their noses by hungry villagers. Incidences of such kleptoparasitism, the stealing of food from another, usually occur between top predators such as lion, hyena and cheetah. But people are increasingly getting in on the act, conservationists say. They suspect the practice may be much more common than thought, and are concerned that it could threaten the dwindling numbers of lions in Cameroon.
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Source: BBC |
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Millions of U.S Turtles Consumed in China Annually (July 27, 2009)
One growing export has tipped the U.S.-China trade balance: live turtles. Each year millions of U.S. turtles that are hatched in farms or caught in the wild are devoured in China, where the onetime delicacy has become more available to the masses. The Chinese eat turtles-especially softshell and snapper species-and use the animals' parts in traditional medicines that are said to boost everything from the immune system to sexual prowess. But conservationists worry that this high demand will cause some U.S. freshwater turtle species to be eaten to extinction. Read More>
Source: National Geographic |
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Giant Toucan Bills Help Birds Keep Their Cool (July 26, 2009)
Good for more than sniffing out Froot Loops, the toucan's big bill also helps the bird dump heat when its body gets too warm, a new study says. The discovery may even lead to clues to how some dinosaurs did the same. For over a century biologists have puzzled over why toucans have such monstrous and colorful bills. Darwin theorized that they attracted mates. Others have suggested the bills are fruit peelers, territorial weapons, and visual warnings to predators. Glenn Tattersall at Brock University in Canada and a team of colleagues wondered if perhaps the beak served an altogether different purpose.
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Source: National Geographic |
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Alien-Wasp Swarms Devouring Brids, Bugs in Hawaii (July 24, 2009)
Attacking from nests as big as pickup-truck beds, invasive western yellowjacket wasps in Hawaii are munching their way through an "astonishing diversity" of creatures, from caterpillars to pheasants, a new study says. Adult yellowjackets consume only nectar. But they kill or scavenge prey to deliver needed protein to their growing broods. "They basically just carry it in their mandibles - you see them flying with their balls of meat," said lead study author Erin Wilson, who just finished her Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego. In their native habitat in the western U.S., the wasps die off in winter. But in Hawaii the wasps survive the winter, possibly due to mild year-round temperatures or subtle genetic changes. Read More>
Source: National Geographic |
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Wild Camels "Genetically Unique" (July 22, 2009) The precarious status of the Bactrian camel has been highlighted by a new genetic study. An analysis by scientists in China and Inner Mongolia shows that wild Bactrian camels are distantly related to their domestic two-humped counterparts. That reinforces the idea that the few hundred remaining wild Bactrian camels are unique, and should be kept separate from those in domestic herds. Bactrians are the last remaining wild camels of any type. Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus) are huge animals that stand up to 2.3m tall at the shoulder and can weigh up to 690kg.
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Source: BBC |
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How Penguins and Seals Survive Deep Dives (July 20, 2009) This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. My main research interest is physiology in extreme environments, particularly those with low levels of oxygen. Animals that thrive in such "hypoxic" environments are ideal species to investigate for how their physiology responds. In addition, studying adaptations to hypoxia in animals at high altitude, during hibernation, or in diving environments may provide insight for understanding and treating human medical issues, such as heart attack and stroke. Read More>
Source: Live Science |
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Moths Jam Bat Sonar, Throw the Predators Off Course (July 19, 2009)
Developing ultrasound blasts to disrupt enemy sonar may sound more like a submarine arms race than animal evolution. But, believe it or not, some moths have done just that to evade hungry bats, a new study says. Bats emit high-pitched cries, then listen as the sound waves bounce off nearby objects-allowing the bats to find and eat tiny insects in the dark, among other things. Yet bats aren't the only ones making waves. Some tiger moth species make ultrasonic clicks with their bodies. Read More>
Source: National Geographic |
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Vampire Bats Biting People
(July 18, 2009) Vampire bats in Peru are increasingly biting people, and a National Geographic Society researcher is trying to find ways to stem the resulting spread of deadly rabies. Much like their mythical namesakes Vampires Bats must feast on fresh blood every 2 - 3 days or die of starvation. They seek out warm-blooded mammals, thriving off domestic livestock living in the tropical regions of South and Central America.
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Source: National Geographic |
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Tiny Lizard Falls Like a Feather
(July 17, 2009) A tiny species of lizard is so light that it falls to the ground like a feather, scientists have discovered. Outwardly, little of the animal's body seems adapted to flying, gliding or moving through the air in any way. But a slow-motion camera has revealed that when the lizard jumps from a height, it can slow the rate of its descent and land gently on the ground. The lizard's surprising aerial ability may help explain how some animals became true gliders. Read More>
Source: BBC |
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Basking Shark Stranded on Long Island
(July 16, 2009) A reportedly 20-foot-long (6-meter-long) basking shark that washed ashore on a beach on New York's Long Island on Tuesday appears to have died from some kind of illness. New York State Parks official George Gorman said researchers will examine the basking shark to determine a cause of death. After that, it will be buried in nearby sand dunes on the beach. Basking sharks are common in the waters off Long Island. The giant washed ashore on a town beach a few miles east of Jones Beach State Park, a popular recreation area for New York City-area residents.
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Source: National Geographic |
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Dozens of Jumbo Squid Beached After Quake - Coincidence? (July 15, 2009)
Residents near a San Diego-area beach awoke to find dozens of jumbo squid, also called Humboldt squid, flapping helplessly on the shore Saturday-about an hour after an earthquake had struck off the California city at 7:34 a.m. According to local news reports, some beachgoers in the city of La Jolla attempted to throw the squid back into the water to save them from circling seagulls. The mysterious jumbo squid stranding and the earthquake, though, are probably linked only by coincidence, experts say.
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Source: National Geographic |
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More Rhinos Hacked Apart as Horn Demand Spikes (July 14, 2009)
Bloody and incomplete, their horns hacked away by poachers, rhinoceros carcasses are appearing in greater numbers, due to growing Asian demand and international trade, groups say. In Zimbabwe, for example, gangs of poachers use rifles to shoot the one-ton animals and then hack off the horns with axes, according to an account from Save the Rhino, a London-based conservation group. Poachers target adults, often leaving behind calves that are too young to survive on their own, the group added.
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Source: National Geographic |
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Amphibians Mate Under a Full Moon
(July 13, 2009) Amphibians around the world synchronise their mating activity by the full Moon, researchers have discovered. This global phenomenon has never been noticed before, but frogs, toads and newts all like to mate by moonlight. The animals use the lunar cycle to co-ordinate their gatherings, ensuring that enough males and females come together at the same time. In doing so the creatures maximise their spawning success and reduce their odds of being eaten.
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Source: BBC |
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Speedy Cheetahs Put through Paces
(July 12, 2009) Scientists are attempting to discover exactly what makes cheetahs the fastest running animals on the planet. A Royal Veterinary College (RVC) team is using high-speed cameras and a sensitive track to monitor the big cats as they sprint. Cheetahs can reach speeds of at least 104km/h (64mph) and they can achieve their top speed in just a few paces. The study is being carried out with North African cheetahs from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.
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Source: BBC |
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Monkies Recognize Poor Grammar
(July 11, 2009) Monkeys can form sentences and speak in accents-and now a new study shows that our genetic relatives can also recognize poor grammar. "We were really curious whether monkeys could even detect the common trend found in human language to add sounds to word edges, like adding 'ed' in English to create the past tense," said lead study author Ansgar Endress, a linguist at Harvard University. Previous research in cotton-top tamarins had shown that the animals can understand basic grammar, for instance, identifying which words logically follow other words in a sentence. Read More>
Source: National Geographic |
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Toxic Substance Allows Birds to "See" Magnetic Field (July 10, 2009)
A toxic substance plays a key role in helping birds migrate, a new study says. Previous research had shown that birds seem to have an internal compass that allows them to "see" Earth's magnetic field. This magnetic vision guides them on long journeys. Scientists have also studied a protein molecule, called cryptochrome, that drives the chemical processes behind the birds' magnetic abilities. But what the molecule was reacting with to create birds' special sight has been a mystery-until now.
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Source: National Geographic |
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New Salamander Found - One of the World's Smallest (July 09, 2009)
The newly named patch-nosed salamander - the second smallest salamander in the United States - had been living right under our noses. Scientists found the 2 inch long (5.1 cms) amphibian (pictured above) in 2007, in a creek near a well-traveled road in northern Georgia. The new species, named for its lighter hued snout, is so different from other salamanders in the amphibian-rich region that it was placed in a new genus. Read More>
Source: National Geographic |
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Purpose of Bat's Weird Nose Explained
(July 08, 2009) Scientists may have solved the mystery of a bat with an extremely large nose, according to a new study. The oversized feature could help the bat sharpen its sonar. The Bourret's horseshoe bat, or Rhinolophus paradoxolophus, was discovered 58 years ago in Southeast Asia and named for its strange facial trait. The bat has a roughly 9-millimeter-long nose (a third of an inch), while other species of horseshoe bats have a nose that is about half that size, said researcher Rolf Mueller, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech and director of the Bio-inspired Technology Laboratory in Danville, Va. Read More>
Source: Live Science |
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Animals of the Disappearing Mangroves
(July 07, 2009) In the watery limbo between sea and river, where salt and fresh water mingle in the roots of mangrove trees, a handful of uniquely adapted species - terrestrial and aquatic - have evolved to fill the novel niche. But more than 40 percent of the land-dwelling animals that live in mangrove forests are now under pressure from habitat loss, concludes an analysis published this week in BioScience.
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Source: Scientific American |
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Huge Declines in Woodland Birds
(July 06, 2009) The nightingale has effectively vanished from woodlands across the UK. A 30-year survey of British woodland birds has found that its population has fallen by more than 95%. Seventeen other bird species have also declined significantly, many of which overwinter in tropical west Africa where their habitat is being destroyed. Numbers of starling, linnet, bullfinch and willow warbler all crashed, while 12 species, including the blackcap, magpie and collared dove, increased.
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Source: BBC |
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Honeybee Mobs Overpower Hornets
(July 05, 2009) Honeybee hordes use two weapons - heat and carbon dioxide - to kill their natural enemies, giant hornets. Japanese honeybees form "bee balls" - mobbing and smothering the predators. This has previously been referred to as "heat-balling", but a study has now shown that carbon dioxide also plays a role in its lethal effectiveness. In the journal Naturwissenschaften, the scientists describe how hornets are killed within 10 minutes when they are trapped inside a ball of bees.
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Source: BBC |
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No Safe Haven for Rarest Antelope
(July 04, 2009) Fleeting sightings of the world's rarest antelope, the hirola, in a new safe haven are cases of mistaken identity, a survey has found. That has dashed hopes that some of the last hirola have managed to colonise a new territory where they would be less vulnerable to flooding and hunting. Fewer than 600 wild hirola remain, confined to a small area in Kenya. It is sometimes called a 'living fossil', being the sole survivor of a once diverse group of antelope species.
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Source: BBC |
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Amur Tigers on "Genetic Brink"
(July 03, 2009) The world's largest cat, the Amur tiger, is down to an effective wild population of fewer than 35 individuals, new research has found. Although up to 500 of the big cats actually survive in the wild, the effective population is a measure of their genetic diversity. That in turn is a good predictor of the Amur tiger's chances of survival. The results come from the most complete genetic survey yet of wild Amur tigers, the rarest subspecies of tiger.
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Source: BBC |
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Giant Rays' "Feeding Frenzy" Spots Protected
(July 02, 2009) A manta ray channels plankton-rich water through its mouth near Hanifaru, one of the Indian Ocean islands that make up the Maldives, in an undated photo. Hundreds of giant fish converge in Hanifaru Bay from May through November, when the lunar tide sucks krill and plankton to the surface, giving rays an all-you-can-eat buffet.
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Source: National Geographic |
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Tags to Help Solve Puffin Decline
(July 01, 2009) Scientists are using hi-tech tags to get an insight into why the number of puffins at one of the UK's key colonies has mysteriously fallen by a third. Researchers are fitting a variety of the devices on the seabirds that are nesting on the Farne Islands, located off the Northumberland coast. A survey in 2008 recorded just 36,500 puffins, down from 55,674 in 2003. The islands are considered a globally key site for seabirds, and are home to the largest puffin colony in England.
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Source: BBC |
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