Federal biologists checking the upper Potomac River have found that abnormalities in bass there are even more widespread than they'd earlier reported. But they're no nearer to understanding what's causing it.

At least 82 percent of male smallmouth bass and 23 percent of the largemouth bass had immature female germ cells in their reproductive organs, according to a release by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey.  Abnormalities also were found in some female fish.

(Those who watched the PBS documentary "Poisoned Waters" Tuesday night saw researchers collecting bass for study and sampling the Potomac water. They also heard scientist Vicki Blazer say she probably wouldn't drink water from the Potomac -- where many Washingtonians get their water -- because of uncertainty about what's in it, even after it goes through municipal processing for drinking.)

Scientists think the abnormalities may be linked to hormone-like chemicals in medicines and a variety of consumer products. They had theorized that the contaminants, known as endocrine disruptors, were getting in the river from wastewater treatment plants that discharge into it. But the problems are not limited to areas downstream from sewage plants, they found. 

Anglers and fisheries officials, meanwhile, say the bass downriver are abundant and seem healthy. The largemouth at left, captured visually by Sun photographer Doug Kapustin, came from Mattawoman Creek, a Potomac tributary. 

Officials now say they are looking to see if multiple chemicals, and not just those from sewage plants, may be responsible for the intersex conditions.  They're also expanding their search for fish with abnormalities to the rest of the Potomac and to other East Coast rivers.

For more on the issue, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:28 PM in Wildlife | Permalink
                       

Some Maryland scientists have been trying to get to the bottom, figuratively and literally, of what's going on in the Bering Sea off Alaska.

Along with an international team of more than 30 other scientists, Lee Cooper and Jacqueline Grebmeier, research professors at the University of Maryland's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, spent much of March aboard a Coast Guard icebreaker exploring the ice and open water around St. Lawrence Island.  A story I wrote about their research cruise is in the Closeup section of today's Baltimore Sun.

They're involved in a six-year, $52 million study of the Bering, from the sea bottom to the atmosphere above, as well as the people who live along its shores.  The sea, which supplies half the seafood eaten in the United States, has been undergoing dramatic changes in recent years, as the ice that covers its surface in winter thins and melts earlier.  Scientists want to understand how the changing climate is affecting all aspects of the sea, and project what's to come.

Cooper's and Grebmeier's piece of the multi-dimensional study is to assess changes in the clams, worms and other benthic creatures on the bottom, which are an important food source for walruses and sea ducks.  They and their team dropped buckets down to the bottom to scoop up the sand and any critters in it - numbing work, with tempertures below and barely above zero degrees Fahrenheit.  Some of the crew are pictured above.

You can read more about the Bering Sea Project here and an account of the cruise here, with plenty of photos.  And check out "Extreme Ice," a Nova video series on the research.

Cooper, seen at left working inside the icebreaker Healy, told me he's been visiting Alaska regulalrly since he first visited it 30 years ago as a graduate student studying sea grasses. He lived in Fairbanks for five years while getting his Ph.D. He and Grebmeier, besides sharing a professional interest in that part of the world, happen to be married.

In addition to Cooper, Grebmeier and five others from the university's Center for Environmental Science, there was a teacher from Charles County aboard for the three-week cruise: Deanna Wheeler (no relation).  You can read her journal here.  Definitely not your ordinary spring break trip! 

Besides the brutal cold, the folks on board had to be mindfull that the seemingly empty frozen sea surface might harbor polars bears, camouflaged in white, prowling for food.  Coast Guard crew members kept watch, as seen below.

Photos courtesy of Chris Conner, UMCES) 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:32 AM | Permalink
                       

While the Chesapeake's oysters and crabs may be hurting still, according to the EPA's "Bay Barometer," Maryland apparently saw an uptick in visiting waterfowl this past winter.

Biologists for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources counted  498,200 Canada geese in January, up from 373,100 tallied in the winter of 2007-2008.  According to a summary on the EPA Bay program Web site, the survey this time toted up a grand total of 836,900 ducks, geese and swans, a slight increase from 2008.  The winter visitations of migratory waterfowl are not tracked as part of the bay's overall health, though they are certainly one of its more visible manifestations.

The colder temperatures the state experienced this past winter may have been rough on residents' heating bills, but Larry Hindman, DNR's waterfowl project leader, suggests the more typical chilly weather is what brought more waterfowl to the state.

For every silver lining, there's a cloud or two, though.  There was a big drop in the number of scaups seen, from 140,000 in 2008 to 51,600 in January.  The North American scaups have been on the decline for years.  Biologists can't say for sure why - they've suggested it may be less food or habitat, poorer water quality, contaminants or climate change.

And while the wintertime waterfowl population has been increasing the past two years, it's still not back to what it was in 2005.  See here for details.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:00 AM in Wildlife | Permalink
                       

Another report card to take note of:  a comprehensive new look at the state of the nation's birds finds that several major groupings of our feathered friends are in trouble, particularly seabirds, coastal shorebirds and those that frequent grasslands and open prairies.  (The bird pictured above, photographed by Greg Lavaty, is a cerulean warbler, which favors forests.)

In all, nearly a third of the nation's 800 bird species are endangered, threatened or in significant decline, the State of the Birds report says.  Among the chief culprits are habitat loss and invasive species.

The report pulls together data from long-running bird censuses conducted by flocks of citizen bird-watchers and professional avian biologists, including the Breeding Bird Survey run by the federal government and the National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count.

"From shorebirds in New England to warblers in Michigan to songbirds in Hawaii, we are seeing disturbing downward population trends that should set off environmental alarm bells," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in releasing the report.

Of particular concern is Hawaii, where 71 bird species have gone extinct in the millenia since humans settled the Pacific islands.  In the past 40 years alone, 10 more species have vanished.

About 39 percent of U.S. seabirds are declining as well, which experts attribute to pollution, loss of fish and warming ocean temperatures.  And some coastal shorebirds, most notably the red knot, are in serious trouble.

Birds that nest and forage in wetlands seem to be doing well, the report finds. Pelicans, herons, egrets, osprey and ducks all have benefited from efforts to preserve and restore marshy areas, experts say.  Those and others, like the bald eagle and peregrine falcon, have recovered from reproductive problems caused by DDT poisoning.

Still, birds that favor forests, dry areas and grasslands are struggling, in large part because their habitats are being altered and destroyed by development and agricultural practices.

The chart below shows the trends among key species, by habitat type. For more, look here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:02 AM in Wildlife | Permalink
                       

Maryland has announced it will curb the catch of female horseshoe crabs in state waters this year - short of the moratorium that some wanted but one that biologists hope may provide an indirect boost for the troubled red knot.

The red knot is a globe-trotting shorebird that stops off on the shores of Delaware Bay in May and June as it flies from its winter home in South America to the Arctic, where it breeds.  While in the region, the birds gorge themselves on the eggs that are scattered about the beach by horseshoe crabs as the prehistoric-looking creatures trundle up onto the beaches to reproduce. 

The number of red knots showing up in Delaware Bay every spring has plummeted since the 1980s, and as reported here before, federal biologists have suggested that a decline in horseshoe crabs - and their eggs - may be a major cause.  Conservation groups have appealed for federal endangered-species protection for the birds, so far to no avail.

The slow-moving, helmet-shaped crabs are not restaurant fare, but they are caught by fishermen along the mid-Atlantic coast to use as bait for catching conchs and eels.   (Horseshoes also are commercially valuable to the medical industry because a protein in their blood can be used to test for the presence of endotoxins, which can sicken or kill humans.  But the crabs are only "bled," not killed, to harvest this resource, and then they are returned to the sea.)

Maryland's role in  the red knot's fate is key, even though the birds prefer Delaware for their spring stopover.  Crabs caught by Maryland fishermen off Ocean City are part of the same stock that goes into Delaware Bay to spawn, biologists say. 

The state took steps a decade ago to reduce its harvest, and now operates under a quota set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.  But while there is some evidence horseshoe crabs are recovering, the red knots are not - thus, the pressure to do more to boost the horseshoes faster, and possibly help the birds.

Some conservation groups wanted Maryland to impose a total moratorium on the horseshoe catch.  The 170,000 crabs that can be caught off Ocean City and in the Chesapeake Bay is the second largest catch quota of all the mid-Atlantic states.  

Instead of shutting down the fishery, though, Maryland officials opted to require fishermen to take two males for every female they catch.  State officials saw that as a "prudent action" that should boost the number of females left in the sea while not putting fishermen out of work.  There are only 10 fishermen in Maryland permitted to catch horseshoe crabs, says Tom O'Connell, fisheries director for the Department of Natural Resources, but their catch provides bait for about 20 conch fishermen and about 60 eel fishermen.  Restricting the catch of females will cost the fishermen time and money, advocates say, since the males tend to be smaller and worth less.

Groups like the American Bird Conservancy praised the state's action as progress, and said they expected it should lead to more eggs on the beach for the red knots' migratory refueling.  But Darin Schroeder, the group's vice president, said that if the birds don't show greater recovery in their population soon, conservationists may call for still more reductions in the horseshoe harvest. Nor have they given up on federal protections, though they acknowledge the shorebird lacks the size or charisma of more popular endangered species.

"If the .. red knot were American bald eagles, you would see greater management actions being taken," contends Schroeder.  

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:30 AM in Wildlife, fisheries | Permalink | Comments (1)
                       

Virginia's seafood industry is seeking permission to grow 1.1 million Asian oysters over the next year, even as Maryland, Virginia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wrestle over whether the imported bivalves should have a role in restoring the Chesapeake Bay's depleted oyster population.

The Virginia Seafood Council asked the state to let 11 growers plant batches of 100,000 sterile Asian oysters in cages and bags around the bay and on the ocean side of the Eastern Shore, according to The Virginian-Pilot.  It quoted the council's executive director, Frances Porter, saying the Newport News-based industry group has been experimenting with the non-native oyster for seven years now without any problems.

Environmental groups and federal environmental agencies have weighed in against the request, however.  They argue that even such limited trials risk an accidental release of reproducing Asian oysters into the bay, where they could spread and harm efforts to bring back native oysters.

In a letter to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the bay office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service argues that the Asian oysters are not truly sterile, and that they are still capable of reproduction.  The agency says reproduction may already have happened from earlier experiments, but has so far been undetected. 

And, says the federal wildlife agency, there have been at least 11 instances in the last eight years in which Asian oysters being grown by Virginians "escaped" -- most recently last December.  The bivalves in those mishaps were spilled into the water when bags or cages that contained them broke open -- in a couple cases entire containers turned up missing.

The Virginia commission is to decide the issue in April -- about the same time the two bay states and the Army are to finalize an Environmental Impact Statement on the future course of oyster restoration in the bay.   

Seafood businesses and watermen in both states favor using the Asian oysters, because they grow faster and are resistant to the diseases that have decimated native oysters.  Environmentalists and many scientists contend a non-native is too risky, and urge focusing on native oyster restoration.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:00 AM | Permalink
                       

In dry bureaucratic language, the federal government has acknowledged what bird-watchers have been saying for some time - the globetrotting shorebirds known as red knots are in trouble because the mid-Atlantic horseshoe crabs on which they depend are also in trouble.  Both need protecting, activists say, but they say federal and state action to date has been inadequate. 

In its annual review of plants and animals that may need federal protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that red knots are dwindling, most likely because their primary food source - eggs laid on Delaware Bay beaches by spawning horseshoe crabs - are likewise reduced.  The report was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday.

The numbers of red knots counted on the Delaware Bay's beaches by biologists and dedicated bird-watchers have plummeted from around 95,000 in the 1980s and '90s to less than 14,000 lately.  These birds make one of the longest migrations of any in the animal kingdom, flying from the coast of Chile and Argentina in winter to their breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic, and back.  They stop off on the mid-Atlantic coast, primarily around Delware Bay, in May and June to replenish their energy by feasting on eggs laid by horseshoe crabs that have crawled up from the depths to mate.

The helmet-shaped horseshoe crabs, dubbed "living fossils" because of their prehistoric lineage, have been harvested for years by fishermen for use as bait.  Efforts to protect the slow-moving crabs have been mixed.  New Jersey banned harvesting them, and Delaware tried a two-year ban, only to have it overturned in court last year.  The state responded by restricting the harvest to males only. 

Under those and less restrictive catch limits set by the Altantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the harvest of horseshoes in New Jersey and Delaware has declined substantially since the late '90s, but the federal report says it's unknown whether the crab population will rebuild or how long it might take to increase the production of eggs, since the slow-moving creatures take eight to 10 years to reach maturity.

Though concerned birders have filed petitions three times over the past four years to protect the red knot under the Endangered Species Act, the federal government has declined to nominate the species for listing. 

Darin Schroeder of the American Bird Conservancy says wildlife activists will continue to press for action from the fish and wildlife service, which in this week's report rated the red knot as more threatened than previously. In the meantime he's urging more protective measures from the states, particularly Maryland.

"Obviously, what we're hoping for is a moratorium (on harvesting horseshoe crabs)," Schroeder said. "But short of a moratorium, any action that would substantially increase the number of female crabs on the beaches would be beneficial."

To those who wonder why Maryland should do more to limit catch of horseshoe crabs in its waters when the birds are feeding primarily on eggs laid in Delaware Bay, Schroeder notes that studies have suggested that the crabs range up and down the Atlantic coast.  So those seen in Maryland at times may wind up laying eggs on the Delaware shore.

Maryland's Department of Natural Resources held a public meeting this year to discuss what else it might do about horseshoe crabs, Schroeder noted.

"So we're hoping that Maryland will once again see this assessment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serivce and it will spur them to take some immediate steps of their own," he said.

UPDATE: State natural resources officials say they are considering furrther action soon, though they downplayed how much help Maryland catch restrictions alone would be for the Delaware Bay's horseshoe crabs, or for the troubled red knots.

Continue reading "Knot to worry - time to quit horseshoe-ing around?" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:20 PM in Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (1)
                       

I was moved to think about the nexus between immigration and the environment the other day when I saw "In the Borderlands."

It's a brief multimedia film on YouTube that portrays the rich variety of wildlife and plants found along the U.S.-Mexico border and how the fence being erected along our Southwest boundary keeps animals as well as people from crossing.

"In the Borderlands" was produced by members of the International League of Conservation Photographers as part of what they call a RAVE - a "rapid assessment visual expedition" to depict the environmental impact of the border fence.  It's a different take on this emotional issue, looking at the unintended consequences of the 670 miles of fencing being put up by the Department of Homeland Security to keep out illegal immigrants.

The brief slide, show set to doleful guitar music, is just a taste of the league's ongoing efforts to highlight the issue.  It plans to send a team of nature photographers, writers, filmmakers, and scientists to the border area to document the  effect of the border wall and immigration on this landscape.  For more on the group's borderlands project, go here.

(Photos by permission of Krista Schlyer)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 2:18 PM in Wildlife | Permalink
                       

Whales are big these days.  Threatened historically by commercial whaling and now by habitat degradation, whales are getting a big boost from nonprofits and the media.

Ocean Conservancy, a group dedicated to saving the planet's whales, has put together an interactive online game to demonstrate the hazards whales face in oceans degraded by submerged flotillas of trash and debris.  You have  to keep the endangered right whale, like the ones pictured at left, from choking on floating plastic as it searches out food beneath the waves.  Try your hand here.

Meanwhile, Animal Planet, a branch of the Maryland-based Discovery Channel, is premiering a new series called "Whale Wars" starting Friday, Nov. 7. It features the crusade of the controversial Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to stop illegal whaling.  For more info, look here.  

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:31 PM in Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (1)
                       

A federal judge in Washington has ordered the National Marine Fisheries Service to reinstate rules aimed at protecting right whales, humpbacks and fin whales from becoming fatally entanged in fishing gear.  The court issued a preliminary injunction Friday in a lawsuit brought by Defenders of Wildlife and the Humane Society of the United States.

For details on the groups' lawsuit and their concern about fishing gear trapping and killing whales, go here.  Right whales were hunted almost to extinction for their oil and their baleens, which once provided the support in corsets.

For more background on right whales, which migrate along our Atlantic coast, I recommend an article by Douglas Chadwick in this month's issue of National Geographic.  The photos by Brian Skerry are not to be missed, either.  The one at right is not his, but from NOAA.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:25 PM in Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (1)