Loch Ness struggles with Scotland's shifting climate
Agence France-Presse
August 4, 2023

Loch Ness, the second-largest Scottish loch by surface area after Loch Lomond Andy Buchanan AFP

Around Scotland's Loch Ness, famous for hosting a mythical monster in its murky depths, another prolonged dry spell earlier this year has heightened fears of a different kind.

The drier than usual start to 2023, alongside other gradual climate shifts, is having implications for everything from native wildlife and species -- including Scotland's famous salmon population -- to farming and power production.

"Water is becoming a commodity that's becoming scarce in this part of the world," salmon fisherman Brian Shaw told AFP during a visit early last month, as Scotland reeled from its hottest June on record.

"Everybody's looking to use the water for their own needs."

Figures released in May by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) confirmed what seasoned observers could already see: Loch Ness's fresh waters -- Scotland's largest by volume -- had dropped to their lowest level in decades.

It had not been this shallow -- with a depth of around 109 cms (3.5 ft) at a hydroelectric dam halfway along its eastern shore -- since the early 1990s.

"It's held at this level for several months now," Gordon Mangus, 84, who grew up near the legendary lake and now serves as its harbour master, noted.

"We are used to rain, but we are not used to having quite such dry spells."

The situation is mirrored in other Highlands areas, including Loch Maree to the northeast and Black Isle to the west.

- More dry weather -

"Everybody thinks of Scotland as a wet country, but the droughts are becoming more frequent now, as a result of climate change," explained Nathan Critchlow, the head of water and planning at Sepa.

"We used to see drought very rarely, about once every 18 years. By 2050, we predict you will have very low water levels about every other year.

"So Scotland's climate is changing and we are starting to see the impacts of that change."

On the banks of the River Ness, which flows from the loch into the sea at Inverness, the UK's northernmost city, Shaw pointed to the waterway's visible stone bed as evidence of its diminishing levels.

The director of the Ness District Salmon Fishery Board said the river's depth had been falling steadily for years, but the trend had become more noticeable.

"A dry winter, a really dry spring, a very hot June and the river just got smaller and smaller," he told AFP.

The warmer, drier weather had hit its wild salmon population, Shaw said.

One of the small streams that feeds the river has already dried up, leaving dead fish behind, he added.

"You're starting to see this sort of event happening all the time and I think there's real concern about the future of salmon and a more challenging environment as we go ahead."

While much-needed rain in recent weeks has brought some respite to parts of Scotland, water levels remain depleted to "an alert point" in some areas, according to Sepa.

And Britain's Meteorological Office is forecasting another dry period later in the summer.

- Demand for water -

Demand for water in summer is also intensifying, with more competition for it among farmers, fishermen, domestic users including tourists and hydroelectric firms, according to locals.

SSE Renewables, which runs a hydroelectric scheme at Loch Ness, has faced claims from fishermen and others that it was causing the loch's levels to drop by storing water to generate electricity.

The operator has denied that, saying the months of dry weather had depleted it.

Environmental experts are warning residents and businesses must adapt to the changing weather patterns and to prepare for periods of water scarcity and floods as the average temperature rises.

According to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), an advisory body appointed by the UK Government, Scotland's 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1997.

The average temperature between 2010 and 2019 was around 0.7 degrees Celsius warmer than the average between 1961 and 1990.

Wetter weather in some places has arrived in tandem with the temperature rises, mainly in winter, with the annual average rainfall between 2010 and 2019 up nine percent on 1961-1990.

At Loch Ness, before retreating back to his cabin to monitor the boats, Mangus recalled childhood memories, from entering its waters to exploring its shoreline with his father and brother.

Although the octogenarian blames the hydroelectric dam as much as the changing climate for Loch Ness's shifting water levels, he conceded that what is happening there now is "rare".

Pregnant Shark birth tracking technology provides key data for species protection

Protecting newly born shark pups crucial for balancing ocean ecosystem

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: INSERTION OF THE BIRTH-ALERT-TAG (BAT) VIA A SPECIALIZED APPLICATOR INTO THE CLOACAL OPENING OF A PREGNANT TIGER SHARK view more 

CREDIT: CREDIT: TANYA HOUPPERMANS / BLUE ELEMENTS IMAGING

Most people find sharks threatening. Who doesn’t have an image in their mind of a menacing shark fin racing through the ocean in search of its next meal? 

But it is the shark that is threatened. 

According to Defenders of Wildlife, a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting imperiled species, 75% of shark species are threatened with extinction and up to 73 million sharks are being killed each year for their fins. 

Habitats that were once secure places for sharks to give birth have also been affected. And the fact that sharks have long gestation periods, giving birth to relatively few young, and maturing late in life — complicates efforts at repopulation.

And that’s a problem.

In a new paper published today (March 1) in Science Advances, authors James Sulikowski, a professor at Arizona State University and Neil Hammerschlag, a marine ecologist at the University of Miami, describe a new technology they developed capable of remotely documenting the location and time of birth of shark pups. This type of data will enable scientists to create ways to protect the sharks’ most vulnerable habitats, where they give birth.

“If they (the mother sharks) don't have that suitable habitat, then their babies won't be able to grow up. And if babies don't grow up, we have no more sharks and literally, the ocean ecosystem would collapse,” explained James Sulikowski, senior Global Futures scientist at Arizona State University and director of the Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab at ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. 

The device is making waves in the scientific community — and for good reason.

“We've been trying to do this since we started studying sharks. This is our holy grail. We have really advanced shark science, 20, 30, 40 years,” said Sulikowski. “This novel, satellite-based technology will be especially valuable for the protection of threatened and endangered shark species, where protection of pupping and nursery grounds is a conservation priority.” 

The paper outlines the deployment and results of an intrauterine satellite tag on two highly mobile sharks — a scalloped hammerhead and a tiger shark –,to detect when birth occurs, leading to its name, birth-alert-tags (BAT).   

Here’s how BAT works. 

First the BAT is inserted into a pregnant shark. The egg-shaped technology is approximately 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. When the shark gives birth, the BAT pops out along with the pups and reaches the ocean surface. Once there, the device switches to transmitter mode sending messages announcing the time and location of the birth. 

The BAT has already yielded remarkable results. Where it was once assumed that sand sharks gave birth inland, the scientists have learned that they are most comfortable having their pups in abandoned shipwrecks on the ocean floor. 

“It was a total surprise,” Sulikowski said. “For most shark species we have no idea where they give birth or how far they must travel to habitats that are essential to their survival.”

Once habitats are discovered, efforts will be made to protect those areas, either by creating sanctuaries or expanding areas already set aside for this purpose. 

The ultimate goal is to go global with the BAT. 

Sulikowski wants to create a worldwide network of shark scientists to determine areas that are important to sharks and figure out how to protect them. 

Persistence pays off

Sulikowski is enjoying his current success. “We've had every sort of failure that can happen,” he said. “We had battery failures. We had firmware failures, we had antenna failures. I felt like giving up multiple times. But thanks to my co-author, Neil Hammerschlag, we kept forging ahead and we didn't give up.” 

“Honestly, it feels incredible to have created technology that is going to revolutionize the way that we study sharks,” Sulikowski added.

Image of the Birth-Alert-Tag (BAT)

CREDIT

Credit: James Sulikowski

In a new study, researchers used new technologies to remotely document, for the first time in the wild, the location and timing of shark birth. Ultrasounds were used to identify pregnant sharks. During pregnancy in sharks, the entrance to the uterus remains semi-permeable to allow for water exchange between the uterus and outside. So, with the aid of a specialized applicator and guided by the ultrasound, the team inserted a new type of satellite tag through the shark’s cloaca (akin to a vaginal opening) and into its uterus, where the tag was then deposit among developing embryonic sharks. Named the Birth-Alert-Tag (BAT), this new satellite tag remained inside the uterus, along with the developing shark pups, until the mother shark gave birth and expelled the newborn pups, along with the BAT, into the surrounding water. The BAT then floated to the surface and transmitted to satellites the location of where the shark birth took place. The first of its kind, the BATs were successfully deployed in a tiger shark and scalloped hammerhead shark, documenting the location birth.

CREDIT

Infographic by Bianca Rangel. Shark by Kelly Quinn / Canvas of the Wild.

JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.add6340 

ARTICLE TITLE

A novel intrauterine satellite transmitter to identify parturition in large sharks

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Mar-2023

‘Chunky dunk?’ Cleveland’s prehistoric sea monster may have been shorter, stouter, than once believed

Case Western Reserve University scientist PhD student applies new calculations to reveal downsizing and chunky details about species from Devonian Period

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT SHOWING THE RELATIVE SIZE OF DUNKLEOSTEUS COMPARED TO A HUMAN FIGURE--BEFORE AND AFTER THE NEW CALCULATIONS. view more 

CREDIT: RUSSELL ENGELMAN/CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

CLEVELAND—About 360 million years ago, in the shallow subtropical waters above what is now the city of Cleveland, an armor-plated fish many believed to be up to 30 feet long ruled the seas.

The species Dunkleosteus terrelli was Earth’s first vertebrate “superpredator” and lived during the Age of Fishes (Devonian Period)—when North America was near the latitude of what is now Rio de Janeiro.

But in nearly 150 years of research since fossilized remains of the prehistoric big fish were discovered on the shores of Lake Erie in 1867, scientists may have made some incorrect assumptions about Dunkleosteus’ size and shark-like shape.  

In research published this month, a Case Western Reserve University scientist suggests the length of this prehistoric predator may have been greatly exaggerated—that it was much shorter and chunkier.

Cleveland mascot and Ohio’s top fossil fish

“Dunkleosteus is already a strange fish, but it turns out the old size estimates resulted in us overlooking a lot of features that made this fish even stranger, like a very tuna-like torso,” said Russell Engelman, a Case Western Reserve PhD student in biology and lead author on a study published in the journal Diversity in February. “Some colleagues have been calling it ‘Chunky Dunk’ or ‘Chunkleosteus’ after seeing my research.”

Engelman said he recognizes downsizing the iconic Dunkleosteus may not be welcome news because the big fish “is essentially Cleveland's mascot when it comes to paleontology” (The species even had a Twitter account for a few years). As a native Clevelander, he said he originally had similar feelings.

Most research on Dunkleosteus is based on specimens in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, which has the largest and highest quality collection of Dunkleosteus remains in the world. And its name honors both a former museum curator (David Dunkle) and a local business owner (Jay Terrell) who discovered the fossilized species.

Dunkleosteus is such a homegrown icon that in 2020, the Ohio General Assembly declared Dunkleosteus terrelli the state fossil fish.

Even so, little research has been done on the fish since the 1930s, Engelman said.

“Without reliable size estimates, not much could be said about Dunkleosteus scientifically beyond ‘look at the big, scary fish!’” Engelman said. “These length estimates were an example of something that just slipped by everyone's notice because it was assumed this fish has been well-studied.”

Short head, short body

Most estimates of the species’ length weren’t based on hard evidence, Engelman said.

That’s because Dunkleosteus was a type of extinct fish called an arthrodire. Unlike modern fishes, arthrodires like Dunkleosteus had bony, armored heads but internal skeletons made of cartilage. This means only the heads of these animals were preserved as fossils, leaving the size and shape a mystery.

The new study proposes estimating the length based on the 24-inch-long head, minus the snout—considered a way to measure that’s consistent among groups of living fishes and smaller relatives of Dunkleosteus known from complete skeletons.

“The reasoning behind this study can be summed up in one simple observation,” Engelman said. “Short fish generally have short heads and long fish generally have long heads.”

Based on that method, Engelman concluded Dunkleosteus was only 11 to 13 feet long—much shorter than any researcher had proposed before.

‘Wrecking balls’ of the deep

“Dunkleosteus has often been reconstructed assuming it had a body shape like a shark,” Engelman said.

But a shorter body and shape of the body armor also meant Dunkleosteus was likely much chunkier.

“An 11-foot Dunkleosteus is essentially the same weight as a 15-foot great white shark,” Engelman said. “These things were built like wrecking balls. The new proportions for Dunkleosteus may look goofy until you realize it has the same body shape as a tuna…and a mouth twice as large as a great white shark.”

These new size estimates also help put Dunkleosteus in a broader scientific context. Dunkleosteus is part of a larger evolutionary story, in which vertebrates went from small, unassuming bottom-dwellers to massive giants.

“Although the reduced sizes for Dunkleosteus may seem disappointing,” Engelman said, “it was still probably the biggest animal that existed on Earth up to that point in time. And these new estimates make it possible to do so many types of analyses on Dunkleosteus that it was thought would never be possible. This is the bitter pill that has to be swallowed, so that now we can get to the fun stuff.”

Patricia Princehouse, associate director of CWRU's Institute for the Science of Origins said it was exciting to see the new work.

"This fresh take on the legendary Dunkleosteus 'sea monster' shows there's still lots of brand-new breakthroughs waiting to be discovered in the world of paleontology, even with famous species," Princehouse said. The multidisciplinary institute initiates and conducts scientific research in origins-related sciences and has promoted work undertaken by Engelman and other students.

Engelman conducted his research under advisor Darin Croft, professor of anatomy at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, who also advises students in biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

---

JOURNAL

Diversity

DOI

10.3390/d15030318 

ARTICLE TITLE

A Devonian Fish Tale: A New Method of Body Length Estimation Suggests Much Smaller Sizes for Dunkleosteus terrelli (Placodermi: Arthrodira)

Fossil Discovery Suggests Nessie, the 'Mythical' Creature, Could Have Existed

NESSIE IS NOT A PLESIOSAUR SHE IS A GIANT EEL

Story by Rosemary Giles 

One of the most famous mythical creatures in the world is the Loch Ness Monster. Spurred on by alleged sightings of the beast, along with occasional photographic evidence, amateur investigators constantly visit the Scottish loch with hopes of capturing proof of their own. While many of the photographs of Nessie have been revealed as fakes, people haven't stopped their searches. Many are still trying to find an explanation for what the monster could be.

Historically, one of the assumptions was that Nessie could be a plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile. This theory was dismissed for a number of reasons, including the fact that this creature was only found in saltwater. A discovery by scientists in Morocco might just change this belief, however. Nessie could have indeed been a plesiosaur.

Descriptions of the Loch Ness Monster

There are many varied descriptions from people claiming to have seen the Loch Ness Monster. In 1933, a couple said they saw a "dragon or prehistoric monster" cross the road and go into the water. Then, in 1934, the famous "surgeon's photograph" was taken, showing a creature with a small head and long neck peeking out of the water. It was this photograph that led people to believe Nessie could be a plesiosaur.


An alleged photograph of the Loch Ness Monster, near Inverness, Scotland, April 19, 1934. (Photo Credit: Keystone/ Getty Images)

The idea of the surviving plesiosaur was bolstered in 1975 when Boston's Academy of Applied Science used underwater photography and sonar to capture an image they believed to be Nessie. It seemed to show a flipper similar to that of a plesiosaur. Other images surfaced as well, one of which appeared to show the head, neck, and torso of the same type of creature.

Plesiosaurs could live in freshwater

Related video: 55 fossils discovered by local curator

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In a joint discovery, scientists from the University of Portsmouth, the University of Bath, and the Université Hassan II found fossils of small plesiosaurs located in a 100 million year old river system in Morocco. The fossils included neck, back, and tail vertebrae, as well as teeth and a piece of forelimb. They were found in different locations, meaning that they were from many animals, and not one single skeleton.


Rupert van der Werff puts the final touches on a Plesiosaur skeleton. 

(Photo Credit: Gareth Fuller/ PA Images/ Getty Images)

This discovery raised a lot of questions, as it was initially thought that plesiosaurs only lived in saltwater environments. It is unclear whether they lived temporarily in these freshwater environments, or permanently. However, the heavy wear on the teeth indicates that they likely ate the same type of food as the spinosaurus, fossils of which have also been found in riverbeds.

The scientists felt that their theory of plesiosaurs spending lots of time in freshwater environments was also backed up by the sheer number of fossils that they found, meaning that they weren't just traveling to the river to feed.

Could it be Nessie?

The scientists were, of course, asked about the connection between this discovery and the Loch Ness Monster. They said that given the new evidence that plesiosaurs could live in fresh water, there is a chance that Nessie might have existed in Loch Ness. However, they also said that other evidence indicates that the last of the species died roughly 65 million years ago, along with the dinosaurs.



Former Royal Air Force pilot Tom Dinsdale displays a model he made of the Loch Ness Monster which he claimed he saw. (Photo Credit: Bettmann/ Getty Images)


Nick Longrich, one of the researchers, also expressed that the environment in Loch Ness was not conducive to supporting the animal, as it is much too small. He squashed the theory, saying it would be difficult for a plesiosaur to exist undetected by humans. "Something like a plesiosaur, it's large. It's conspicuous. It has to surface and breathe air. If they existed, people would see them come up for air. One would die and wash up on-shore like whales."

Loch Ness Monster Probably A Giant Eel, According To ...

Sep. 5, 2019 — Water samples analyzed for DNA are actually referred to as “environmental DNA” by scientists. After analyzing the samples, scientists determined ...

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Plesiosaur fossils found in the Sahara suggest they weren't just marine animals

by University of Bath

Credit: University of Bath

Fossils of small plesiosaurs, long-necked marine reptiles from the age of dinosaurs, have been found in a 100-million year old river system that is now Morocco's Sahara Desert. This discovery suggests some species of plesiosaur, traditionally thought to be sea creatures, may have lived in freshwater.

Plesiosaurs, first found in 1823 by fossil hunter Mary Anning, were prehistoric reptiles with small heads, long necks, and four long flippers. They inspired reconstructions of the Loch Ness Monster, but unlike the monster of Lake Loch Ness, plesiosaurs were marine animals—or were widely thought to be.

Now, scientists from the University of Bath and University of Portsmouth in the U.K., and Université Hassan II in Morocco, have reported small plesiosaurs from a Cretaceous-aged river in Africa.

The fossils include bones and teeth from three-meter long adults and an arm bone from a 1.5 meter long baby. They hint that these creatures routinely lived and fed in freshwater, alongside frogs, crocodiles, turtles, fish, and the huge aquatic dinosaur Spinosaurus.

These fossils suggest the plesiosaurs were adapted to tolerate freshwater, possibly even spending their lives there, like today's river dolphins.

The new paper was headed by University of Bath Student Georgina Bunker, along with Nick Longrich from the University of Bath's Milner Center for Evolution, David Martill and Roy Smith from the University of Portsmouth, and Samir Zouhri from the Universite Hassan II.

Kem Kem plesiosaur silhouettes. Credit: University of Bath

The fossils include vertebrae from the neck, back, and tail, shed teeth, and an arm bone from a young juvenile.

"It's scrappy stuff, but isolated bones actually tell us a lot about ancient ecosystems and animals in them. They're so much more common than skeletons, they give you more information to work with" said Dr. Nick Longrich, corresponding author on the paper.

"The bones and teeth were found scattered and in different localities, not as a skeleton. So each bone and each tooth is a different animal. We have over a dozen animals in this collection."

While bones provide information on where animals died, the teeth are interesting because they were lost while the animal was alive—so they show where the animals lived.

Plesiosaur humerus. Credit: University of Bath

What's more, the teeth show heavy wear, like those fish-eating dinosaur Spinosaurus found in the same beds.

The scientists say that implies the plesiosaurs were eating the same food—chipping their teeth on the armored fish that lived in the river. This hints they spent a lot of time in the river, rather than being occasional visitors.

While marine animals like whales and dolphins wander up rivers, either to feed or because they're lost, the number of plesiosaur fossils in the river suggest that's unlikely.

A more likely possibility is that the plesiosaurs were able to tolerate fresh and salt water, like some whales, such as the beluga whale.

Credit: University of Bath

It's even possible that the plesiosaurs were permanent residents of the river, like modern river dolphins. The plesiosaurs' small size would have let them hunt in shallow rivers, and the fossils show an incredibly rich fish fauna.

Dr. Longrich said: "We don't really know why the plesiosaurs are in freshwater.

"It's a bit controversial, but who's to say that because we paleontologists have always called them 'marine reptiles,' they had to live in the sea? Lots of marine lineages invaded freshwater."

Freshwater dolphins evolved at least four times—in the Ganges River, the Yangtze River, and twice in the Amazon. A species of freshwater seal inhabits Lake Baikal, in Siberia, so it's possible plesiosaurs adapted to freshwater as well.

The plesiosaurs belong to the family Leptocleididae—a family of small plesiosaurs often found in brackish or freshwater elsewhere in England, Africa, and Australia. And other plesiosaurs, including the long-necked elasmosaurs, turn up in brackish or fresh waters in North America and China.

Plesiosaurs were a diverse and adaptable group, and were around for more than 100 million years. Based on what they've found in Africa—and what other scientists have found elsewhere—the authors suggest they might have repeatedly invaded freshwater to different degrees.

"We don't really know, honestly. That's how paleontology works. People ask, how can paleontologists know anything for certain about the lives of animals that went extinct millions of years ago? The reality is, we can't always. All we can do is make educated guesses based on the information we have. We'll find more fossils. Maybe they'll confirm those guesses. Maybe not."

"It's been really interesting to see the direction this project has gone in," said lead author Georgina Bunker. The study initially began as an undergraduate project involving a single bone, but over time, more plesiosaur fossils started turning up, slowly providing a clearer picture of the animal.

The new discovery also expands the diversity of Morocco's Cretaceous. Said Dr. Samir Zouhri, "This is another sensational discovery that adds to the many discoveries we have made in the Kem Kem over the past fifteen years of work in this region of Morocco. Kem Kem was truly an incredible biodiversity hotspot in the Cretaceous."

"What amazes me" said coauthor Dave Martill, "is that the ancient Moroccan river contained so many carnivores all living alongside each other. This was no place to go for a swim."

But what does this all mean for the Loch Ness Monster? On one level, it's plausible. Plesiosaurs weren't confined to the seas, they did inhabit freshwater. But the fossil record also suggests that after almost a hundred and fifty million years, the last plesiosaurs finally died out at the same time as the dinosaurs, 66 million years ago.Medical scan reveals the secrets of New Zealand's extinct marine reptiles

More information: Georgina Bunker et al, Plesiosaurs from the fluvial Kem Kem Group (mid-Cretaceous) of eastern Morocco and a review of non-marine plesiosaurs, Cretaceous Research (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105310

Journal information: Cretaceous Research 

Provided by University of Bath 

FOSSIL FISH=FRESH LAKE MONSTER

Huge 100-year-old Sturgeon Caught by Newbie Fishermen, Thrown Back in River

Jessica Thomson - Yesterday 

© Steve Ecklund / River Monster Adventures

The fishermen with the huge fish (left), and the fish jumping out of the water as they fought to reel it in (right).

A gargantuan white sturgeon that is over ten feet long and estimated to be at least 100-years-old has been caught by fishermen in British Columbia.

Novice fishermen Steve Ecklund and Mark Boise went on a fishing trip near Lillooet, B.C., with guides from River Monster Adventures, Nick McCabe and Tyler Speed, on Father's Day, when they caught the enormous fish.

The sturgeon put up a big fight: it took two hours to wrestle it into the boat, with videos showing the beast leaping out of the water, revealing its true size.

White sturgeon are the largest freshwater fish in North America, growing up to 14 ft long, and weighing up to 1,500 lbs. According to the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, white sturgeons can also live for over 150 years.

This sturgeon had not been previously tagged, leading River Monster Adventures to suspect that this may have been the first time it had been caught, which considering its age, is surprising.

Ecklund said that the sturgeon measured 10 feet and one inch long, and had a girth of 57 inches.

"Our last fish of the day ends up being the largest sturgeon caught in the company's history!" he said in a Facebook post. "This beast would definitely push 700lbs and be north of 100 years old."

Commenting on the post, River Monster Adventures wrote: "We are lost for words what a true dinosaur."

The guides scoured the river using sonar equipment to help the fishermen find the biggest catch they could. Once caught and photographed, the behemoth fish was released back into the river, as has been the rule in British Columbia for the past 25 years. Violation of this law can result in hefty fines.

Despite being able to release up to three million eggs per spawn, sturgeons only spawn every few years, meaning that they cannot easily recover their populations in the face of threats.

Sturgeon populations are in decline in parts of British Columbia, and in other habitats within its range, like California. California has occasionally seen over five consecutive years of very low population growth from spawns. The population decline may be due to destruction of habitats important to spawning, and impacts of reduced food supply.

Poaching of the sturgeons is also a problem, as the eggs of sturgeons are in fact caviar, which can sell on the black market for between $100 and $150 per lb.

In 2003, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada classified all populations of white sturgeon in Canada "endangered," with the exception of the Lower Fraser river population, which is now instead considered threatened.

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Stunning sea of 'snow monsters' take over volcanic mountainside in Japan
By Zachary Rosenthal, Accuweather.com

Visitors walk before illuminated "Juhyo," trees covered with frozen snow, during a night event at the Zao hot springs ski resort in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Also called "snow monsters," the Juhyo phenomenon happens when small particles of crystallized ice and snow strike coniferous trees under the strong winter winds. File Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA-EFE

Feb 21 -- At an elevation of more than 6,000 feet near the top of a volcano exists a land of snow monsters, a mountainside that is home to fleeting figures that come each winter and then fade along with the cold weather as spring approaches.

It might sound like material for a scary children's book, but these monsters are nothing to fear -- they're just one of nature's quirky and unique creations that materialize in wintertime.

On the summit of the volcanic Mount Zao in Japan, about 220 miles north of Tokyo, an unusual natural phenomenon gives birth to snowy, monster-like figures every year.

The strange occurrence, which the Japanese call "Juhyo," leads to the creation of thousands of "snow monsters" that rest on the mountain during the winter.

Those who come to see the monsters can safely walk near them, ski or snowboard alongside the creatures, or view them from the comfort of a cable car while enjoying stunning views of Japan.

The snow monsters can look even cooler at night, as some of the monsters are illuminated in a variety of flashy colors. Drone footage captured recently from above shows a frozen sea of snow monsters festooning the mountainside.

According to reporting from The Atlantic, the seemingly mystical occurrence can be explained by the unique mechanics of a few different weather conditions that all come together in just the right way.

The snow monsters are created through the repeated process of high winds blowing snow onto rime ice that then binds to trees and tree branches, creating snow clumps that appear monster-like.

Strong high winds also blow water from a nearby lake toward the mountainside, and the water droplets freeze on the branches. Also, fresh snow can fall and also bind to the ice. This process happens over and over throughout the winter.

Much like a snowflake itself, the chaotic process that forms the monsters ensures that no two snow monsters are entirely identical.

The unusual snow creatures are considered by many to be one of Japan's best winter attractions. Thousands of tourists travel across Japan each year to see the so-called snow monsters, which typically are around from the end of January through mid-March.

Volunteers rescue massive sturgeon after it was stranded by receding B.C. flood waters

Shari Kulha

While rescuers and volunteers were working to exhaustion to restore order to farms and properties in the Fraser Valley, two members of a local fishing association were tirelessly hauling a massive white sturgeon in a sling through thigh-deep water, alternately portaging it over three stretches of dry land, to return it home. It had been swept out of the Fraser River and then stranded in a shallow pool of water as the flood receded

.

© Provided by National Post A younger version of the B.C. white sturgeon saved in the Fraser Valley.

The fish measured two metres in length, had an 81-cm circumference and weighed 45 kilograms.

According to the CBC , the sturgeon was first seen by a helicopter crew flying near B.C.’s Herrling Island, between Hope and Agassiz, on Thursday. They sent video to the Fraser Valley Angling Guides Association , who then enlisted members Tyler Buck and Jay Gibson “on a catch-and-release mission like no other.”

Professional sturgeon guides, they had been in the area “doing debris collection and picking up garbage … when the call came in,” said Kevin Estrada, FVAGA director. “They were obviously very happy they could help out in any way.”

The duo helped not only the fish but, along with other members and organizations, had been lending assistance to the affected communities and the watershed by helping evacuate people, doing LifeLab deliveries, working as an emergency medical taxi service, as well as doing sandbagging and pump control.

This sturgeon was a young adult, at perhaps 25 years of age — they can grow to 3.5 metres and in good conditions can live 100 or more years. Sturgeon are among the world’s oldest marine species, with a fossil record going back 200 million years, and have kept many of their features largely unchanged. It has no scales and a body that appears bony, even though it is mostly made up of cartilege. They are bottom feeders, locating food by dragging four sensory barbels and sucking up small marine life from the riverbed. Their main habitat is in river deltas such as the Fraser’s but they are equally able to survive in saltwater.


The International Union for Conservation of Nature has declared 85 per cent of the 27 species of sturgeon at risk of extinction, due to habitat destruction, pollution and overfishing (mainly for its very valuable roe).

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/09/this-is-ogopogo-flat-head-lake-

monster.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=FRESH+LAKE+MONSTER

Record sturgeon catch on Fraser River ‘a lifetime moment’ for ex-NHL goalie and friends

Former NHL goalie Pete Peeters of Sturgeon County, Alta. (no less) and friends caught the 11 1/2-foot fish on Aug. 15

THIS IS OGOPOGO, FLAT HEAD LAKE MONSTER, CHAMPY, #CRYPTID #CRYPTOZOOLOGY

Author of the article: Patrick Johnston

Publishing date: Aug 30, 2021 • 

Jake Driedger (left) and Pete Peeters with the massive sturgeon they reeled in with the help of guide Kevin Estrada on the Fraser River near Chilliwack on Aug. 15 PHOTO BY KEVIN ESTRADA /Sturgeon Slayers

All week, Pete Peeters had been joking to his fishing guide that he had made people famous.

The former National Hockey League goalie won the Vezina Trophy as the circuit’s best goaltender in 1982-83 with the Boston Bruins, but prefers to make note of goals he gave up to Mario Lemieux or to Wayne Gretzky.

Lemieux scored his first NHL goal on Peeters, while Gretzky scored goals 46, 47, 48 and 49 in his 39th game of the 1981-82 season, when Peeters was a Philadelphia Flyer. The Great One scored goal No. 50 in the same game — setting a record that is likely never to be matched — but into an empty net.

“And then he said, ‘Now I’ve made you famous,'” Kevin Estrada explained with a laugh this week.

Estrada is a fishing guide — Sturgeon Slayers is his company — and earlier this month had Peeters and a group of friends out on the Fraser River, north of Chilliwack, when the group snagged something special: A sturgeon bigger than anything that’s been measured in modern history.

The fish’s fork-length was a B.C. record: 352 cm (or 11 feet, six inches). Its girth was 141 cm (55 inches) and was estimated to weigh 890 pounds. Other recent claims to similar sizes have been dismissed upon further review, Estrada said.

“I couldn’t fathom how big these fish were,” Peeters said from his home in Alberta. “Even when the fish came up, it was hard to believe.”

Kevin Estrada (blue shirt on the left), Jake Driedger (white shirt, front, second from left), former NHL goalie Pete Peeters (grey hat, front right) and brothers Bryant and Barry Bowtell (back row). The group snagged a sturgeon bigger than anything that’s been measured in modern history. PNG

The retired goalie lives in — if you can believe it — Sturgeon County, just north of Edmonton. A remarkable coincidence, though Peeters notes the area is better known for trout fishing.

Also on the boat were Jake Driedger, who traded off on the rod with Peeters to reel in the giant, as well as Barry and Bryant Bowtell. All four men are from Alberta.

“Canadians like them have kept our small business alive during COVID and we are very appreciative of all our resident Canadians who have helped us crawl through this,” Estrada said.

The measurements were confirmed by another guide, Steve Forde of Reel Sturgeon Adventures. And Estrada said he had been in touch with the Guinness Book of Records people as he believed it was a likely world record, too.

“Very rarely do you see something that is this big, over 11 feet,” Estrada told Postmedia. “Something this big could take well over 100 years to get to this size. It’s a lifetime moment. It’s hard to put into words.”

It took about 25 minutes for the group to reel in the sturgeon. Sturgeon bigger than 150 cm (just under five feet) don’t get lifted out of the water, but anglers are allowed to hold and pose with the fish in the water.

“It wasn’t slimy like the trout we have out here … it felt like a damp snake,” Peeters said.

Peeters’ group actually got a special bonus, Estrada said.

“We were actually in some clear water so we got to see the whole fish,” he said. “You don’t often get to see them in their full glory … it was magnificent to see.

“I had tears in my eyes. I’ve been fishing this river since I was 15 years old … We’ve had some spectacular fish, some very memorable fish over the years, but never anything this big.”

Credit conservation efforts over the past two decades for allowing this sturgeon to grow so big, Estrada said. The sturgeon fishery has been strictly catch and release since the early 2000s.

Alongside his business, Estrada has been a director for the Fraser Valley Angling Guides Association, an advocate to government about sustainable fishing on the Fraser River and helping the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation with a project to tag and track the local sturgeon population, which has had local school children out on the water to help.

“We have to be more sustainable going into the future,” Estrada said.

Salmon fishing, especially net fishing, is a huge risk to the health of sturgeon.

“Those nets are targeting salmon, which are between 60 and 100 cm, and that is also where we also see a decline in the population of sturgeon, it’s between that size range,” he said. “As we get older we’re going to have a big population missing unless we change very quickly to more sustainable practices.”

SEE   https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=FRESH+LAKE+MONSTER

FOSSIL FISH

Hold on! 240-pound fish, age 100, caught in Detroit River

© Provided by The Canadian Press

DETROIT — Now that's a whopper — a very old whopper!

A 240-pound (108.8 kilograms) sturgeon that could be more than 100 years old was caught last week in the Detroit River by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The "real life river monster" was nearly 7 feet (2.1 metres) long, the agency said Friday on Facebook, where the photo was shared more than 24,000 times by late afternoon.

“Based on its girth and size, it is assumed to be a female and that she has been roaming our waters over 100 years. She was quickly released back into the river” after being weighed and measured, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

The typical lifespan is 55 years for a male sturgeon and 70 to 100 years for females, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

This fish was caught on April 22 near Grosse Ile, south of Detroit, while a three-person crew was conducting an annual sturgeon study. Frozen round goby, a tasty snack for a sturgeon, was used as bait on a long line that was deep in the river.

It took about six minutes to get the fish into the boat with a net.

“I felt the fish thumping on the line. As it got closer, it just got bigger and bigger,” said Jason Fischer, who was with fellow biologists Paige Wigren and Jennifer Johnson.

Wigren recalled thinking, “Yep, this is going to be a real good fish story.”

“She was tired out and didn't fight us very much,” Wigren said. “Imagine everything that fish has lived through and seen.”

Lake sturgeon are listed as a threatened species in Michigan. Anglers can keep one a year, but only if the fish is a certain size and is caught in a few state waters. All sturgeon caught in the Detroit River must be released.

IN CANADA ALL FRESH WATER STURGEON ARE CAPTURE

AND RELEASE.

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