Did Captain Kidd bury treasure at Money Cove, Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy?

EXPLORE: Black Hole Treasure Mystery, Nova Scotia

CLIMATE CHANGE: Antarctic krill: Key food source moves south AND Northern krill are moving north

Another species of krill is a keystone here along our north Atlantic coast. And they too will be moving ... but north ... taking other important species with them.

**********************************************************

Antarctic krill: Key food source moves south - BBC News

By Jonathan AmosBBC Science Correspondent, 21 January 2019

A keystone prey species in the Southern Ocean is retreating towards the Antarctic because of climate change.

Krill are small, shrimp-like creatures that swarm in vast numbers and form a major part of the diets of whales, penguins, seabirds, seals and fish.

Scientists say warming conditions in recent decades have led to the krill contracting poleward.

If the shift is maintained, it will have negative ecosystem impacts, they warn.

Already there is some evidence that macaroni penguins and fur seals may be finding it harder to get enough of the krill to support their populations.

"Our results suggest that over the past 40 years, the amount of krill has, on average, gone down, and also the location of the krill has contracted to much less of the habitat. That suggests all these other animals that eat krill will face much more intense competition with each other for this important food resource," Simeon Hill from the British Antarctic Survey told BBC News.

The study is published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

It focuses on the Scotia Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula - the places where the crustaceans are most abundant.

Scientists have been gathering data in these areas since the 1920s.

Initially, krill catches were recorded to understand the environmental consequences of commercial whaling, but the information has continued to be collected through to the present.

Dr Hill and colleagues say the change in the distribution and density of the crustaceans is a clear signal that emerges in the data from the late 1980s onwards.

It coincides with a phase change in a climate oscillation known as the Southern Annular Mode.

The SAM essentially describes the dominant pattern of pressure zones in the southern hemisphere outside of the tropics.

The mode's switch in state in the late 80s produced warmer, cloudier, windier weather, and much less sea-ice in those areas where the krill had tended to congregate.

The larval stage of the crustaceans in particular has been strongly associated with the presence of a sea-ice habitat.
Predicted changes under way

The team's analysis indicates the centre of krill distribution has now moved to where more favourable conditions are found, tracking southward towards the Antarctic continent by about 440km, or four degrees of latitude.

"The average size of krill has lengthened over this period of time as well," said Dr Hill.

"And that's because the population has increasingly become dominated by older and larger animals. This is a result of a decline in the number of krill entering the population - what we call juvenile recruitment."

Margaret McBride, from the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research in Bergen, has written a comment article on the research in the same edition of Nature Climate Change.

She said models had predicted that krill would shift southwards in the future, whereas the new research suggested this contraction was already under way.

"It offers a profoundly adverse, but highly plausible, endgame for Antarctic krill that has serious implications for both the Southern Ocean food web and sustainable management of fisheries targeting this species," she wrote.

The krill do not only support marine mammals and seabirds; an international fishery also extracts something on the order of a quarter of a million tonnes of the crustaceans each year in the Antarctic region.

The campaign group WWF-UK said the study showed "the need to protect the waters off the Antarctic Peninsula with an effective network of marine protected areas - placing conservation above fishing interests."

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

See the full article at: Antarctic krill: Key food source moves south - BBC News

POLLUTION: The truth about Boat Harbour mill pollution and the Northumberland Strait

An extremely powerful video about Northern Pulp's Boat Harbour and Mill. The killing of aquatic life began immediately on startup in 1960. Reminds me of the death of the St. Croix River and Estuary starting around the same time. In both cases promises were made which, in the end were basically lies.

LOOKING BACK 10 YEARS: Irving Fined for Destroying Heron Nests

J.D. Irving fined $60,000, pleads guilty to destroying heron nests.

Originally published Monday, 9:48 PM 2008 AT CBC News (Original deleted at CBC)

Photo from Wikipedia

Forestry giant J.D. Irving Ltd. was fined $60,000 after pleading guilty Monday to destroying a blue heron habitat in New Brunswick two years ago.

 Charges were laid against J.D. Irving in 2006 for violating the Migratory Birds Convention Act by destroying a blue heron colony near Cambridge Narrows on company property, about 80 kilometres north of Saint John. The company was building a logging road in the area where eight nests were destroyed, the court was told.  J.D. Irving was charged with disrupting the nesting colony and had originally pleaded not guilty. Judge Patricia Cumming in Burton, N.B., court handed down a $60,000 penalty — a $10,000 fine and a $50,000 contribution to Bird Studies Canada, a non-profit conservation group.  

J.D. Irving spokeswoman Mary Keith said the company decided not to fight the charge once it was decided there was going to be an allocation made to Bird Studies Canada, a group the company has had a long-standing relationship with. "Understanding that and the fact that we were likely looking at a long and protracted legal case, we made the decision to proceed with the settlement that was determined in court today," Keith said.

As well, the company cannot log in the area for five years. "I make no finding of negligence … or that this was done intentionally," Cumming said when delivering the fine. She said it was fortunate that the colony, which appears to have re-established itself, is thriving. 

EXOTIC JOBS ... HERE! THERE! AND EVERYWHERE!

Check it out! Lots and lots of exotic new jobs showing up. Subscribe by email to get the very latest! https://worldwhalebuzz.blogspot.com/

Explore Atlantica, Cape Cod to Labrador

EXPLORE OUR COMPANION BLOG ... ATLANTICA LIVE!

Atlantica is a huge area ranging from Cape Cod to Labrador. In the past, we all lived, worked and worried within our own little jurisdictions. We are at a time in history when we all need to broaden our scope and become concerned about common issues.

AQUACULTURE: Lessons We Need to Learn from Ancient Aquaculture Technology

Sustainable Ancient Aquaculture – National Geographic Society (blogs)

Posted by Mark Spalding in Ocean Views on July 11, 2013. Written by: Mark J. Spalding, Kathryn Peyton and Ashley Milton

 Lessons We Can Learn from Ancient Aquaculture Technology

1. Use plant-based feeds instead of wild fish;
2. Use integrated polyculture practices such as IMTA;
3. Reduce nitrogen and chemical pollution through multi-trophic aquaculture;
4. Reduce escapes of farmed fish to the wild;
5. Protect local habitats;
6. Tighten regulations and increase transparency;
7. Re-introduce time-honored shifting and rotating aquaculture/agriculture practices (Egyptian Model).

Phrases like “lessons from the past” or “learning from ancient history” are apt to make our eyes glaze over, and we flash to memories of boring history classes or droning TV documentaries.  But in the case of aquaculture, a little historical knowledge can be both entertaining and enlightening.

Fish farming is not new; it has been practiced for centuries in many cultures.  Ancient Chinese societies fed silkworm feces and nymphs to carp raised in ponds on silkworm farms, Egyptians farmed tilapia as part of their elaborate irrigation technology, and Hawaiians were able to farm a multitude of species such as milkfish, mullet, prawns, and crab. Archaeologists have also found evidence for aquaculture in Mayan society and in the traditions of some North American native communities.

The award for oldest records about fish farming goes to China, where we know it was happening as early as 3500 BCE, and by 1400 BCE we can find records of criminal prosecutions of fish thieves.  In 475 BCE, a self-taught fish entrepreneur (and government bureaucrat) named Fan-Li wrote the first known textbook on fish farming, including coverage of pond construction, broodstock selection and pond maintenance. Given their long experience with aquaculture, it’s no surprise that China continues to be, by far, the

ISSUE: LYME DISEASE: Seems a deer cull won't cure things.

EXPLORE DOWNEAST LIGHTHOUSES

If you are on the road and like to visit lighthouses, we bet there are some really near where you are right now ... if you are on our coast that is.

GLYPHOSATE IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM? It's in almost all your food and that's not good

Learn more at: https://fundytides.blogspot.com/2018/10/is-glyphosate-killing-us-diabetes.html

IS GLYPHOSATE KILLING US? Diabetes? Cancer? Autism? Obesity? Colitis? Asthma? You decide.

Learn more - recommended by Dr. Vrain

SEABIRDS: 40 Good reasons to protect our part of the Atlantic Ocean

A collection of seabird images from contributors to the blog “I Love Quoddy Wild” 

and public domain sources.

Compiled by Art MacKay, December 2016

Identify the birds here and in the field with this classic:
Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America, 6th Edition (Peterson Field Guides)