Earth’s Oceans On Brink Of Mass Extinction In One Generation
Clear the ocean of all of those pesky fish, and then we can put all sorts of cool things down there. Via the Independent:
The speed and rate of degeneration of the oceans is far faster than anyone has predicted; many of the negative impacts identified are greater than the worst predictions; the first steps to globally significant extinction may have already begun.
The world’s oceans are faced with an unprecedented loss of species comparable to the great mass extinctions of prehistory, a major report suggests today.The seas are degenerating far faster than anyone has predicted, the report says, because of the cumulative impact of a number of severe individual stresses, ranging from climate warming and sea-water acidification, to widespread chemical pollution and gross overfishing.
The coming together of these factors is now threatening the marine environment with a catastrophe “unprecedented in human history”, according to the report, from a panel of leading…
Unknown 55-Foot Creature Washes Ashore In China
55 feet long and smells terrible? Must be my mother-in-law. (rimshot) The Sun reports:
A giant 55 foot ’sea monster’ has been found washed up on a beach in China. The beast from the deep is so badly decayed it cannot be identified. But according to local reports from Guangdong, in the south-east of the country, it weighed at least 4.5 tons.
People have flocked to see the creature — despite the rotting corpse’s foul stench. It was found tangled in ropes and one theory is fisherman caught it but could not land it as it was so big.
As Fish Die Off, Jellyfish To Dominate Earth’s Oceans
Around the globe, fish populations are declining while the number of jellyfish is exploding. Climate change may be “turning back the clock to the Precambrian world, more than 550 million years ago, when the ancestors of jellyfish ruled the seas,” writes Yale Environment 360. Bow down to our future gelatinous overlords:
The world’s oceans have been experiencing enormous blooms of jellyfish, apparently caused by overfishing, declining water quality, and rising sea temperatures. Now, scientists are trying to determine if these outbreaks could represent a “new normal” in which jellyfish increasingly supplant fish.
The Nomura’s jellyfish is a monster to be reckoned with. It’s the size of a refrigerator and can exceed 450 pounds. For decades the hulking medusa was rarely encountered in its stomping grounds, the Sea of Japan.
Then something changed. Since 2002, the population has exploded six times. In 2005, a particularly bad year, the Sea of Japan brimmed with as…
Blobfish In Danger Of Extinction
Oh no! How was it possible to miss this news? Nature’s saddest-looking animal, the blobfish, is in danger of going extinct due to over-fishing. I would sacrifice a hundred rare white timberwolves to save a single blobfish. The Telegraph reported:
Scientists fear the blobfish, which can grow up to 12 inches, is in danger of being wiped out by over-fishing in its south eastern Australian habitat.
The fish, which lives at depths of up to 800m, is rarely seen by humans but it lives at the same depths as other ocean organisms, such as crabs and lobsters and other edible sea creatures.
As a result the fish, which is inedible, is being dragged up with other catches by trawler fishermen.
Giant Monster Crab Found In England
The Daily Mail reports on something scary. This giant crab may kill us all:
With its enormous legs and lethal claws, this monster of the deep is already the biggest crab ever seen in Britain. But astonishingly, the arthropod — which measures a staggering 10ft from claw to claw — is still growing, and could live until it is 100.
Nicknamed ‘Crabzilla’ after the fictional giant monster, the Japanese Spider Crab has legs [that] can straddle a car. They will eventually measure a massive 15 ft. Crabzilla was caught by fishermen in the Pacific Ocean.
Out of the water, the crab looks limp and languid because it cannot support its heavy limbs.
But in its own habitat &mdash up to 2,500 ft down in the cold seas of the ocean — it is a lethal predator.However, it also has predators of its own — humans — as it is considered a delicacy in Japan.
