Shark Net: Dr. Barbara Block/TOPP release great app to track California's white sharks

I have been fortunate to meet and speak with many accomplished marine scientists and researchers. One who is definitely on my Top 10 list is Dr. Barbara Block. Based at Stanford University, California, she oversees TOPP (Tagging of Pacific Predators), a program started in 2000 that tracks pelagic animals from tuna to swordfish to turtles to great white sharks, and more. (Couple of previous posts on the subject here & here.) Barbara is a spunky taskmaster but, working with her staff, it is that very drive  that  has  enabled TOPP to discover many of the secrets involving the migration patterns of these large and critically important animals.  It was TOPP that coined the phrase "White Shark Cafe" to describe where great white sharks from California and Mexico migrate to in the Pacific Ocean. One particularly important finding regarding these migration patterns was the possible explanation for the seasonal nature of the sharks' sojourns: Mid-Pacific upwellings which bring nutrients that feed the food chain and ultimately replenish the larger fish that the sharks feed on. Cyclical weather and ocean movement patterns produce these upwellings - and as climate change continues to present itself, there is always the possibility of shifts in the upwelling cycle that could have unknown consequences...

Read More........→February 08, 2013

Declining Rainfall Is A Major Influence For Migrating Birds Find Smithsonian Scientists

.. American Redstart. Credit: Dan Pancamo Instinct and the annual increase of daylight hours have long been thought to be the triggers for birds to begin their spring migration. Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, however, have found that that may not be the case. Researchers have focused on how warming trends in temperate breeding areas disrupt the sensitive ecology of migratory birds. This new research shows that changes in rainfall on the tropical wintering grounds could be equally disruptive. The team's findings are published in scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, today, March 30. Many of the bird species that breed in the temperate forests, marshes and backyards of North America spend the winter months in the tropics of the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Insects are the primary food for many birds during the winter, and rainfall largely determines the amount of insects available. Climactic warming, however, is causing declining and more variable rainfall cycles in many areas, affecting the availability of insects and delaying when birds leave for their northern breeding grounds. To examine this, the Female American Redstart. Credit: Jeanner Smithsonian scientists focused on American redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla), a member of the warbler family,...

Read More........→October 13, 2013