Ugly animals need love too!

Written by: Jana M. del Favero

Edited by: Katyanne M. Shoemaker

Illustration by: Joana Ho

   What do a dolphin, a sea turtle, and panda bear have in common? They are considered flag species, meaning they are charismatic species that can draw public attention to a conservationist cause. This concept emerged in the 1980s as a way to ensure conservation of biodiversity. Since it is not possible to finance protection projects for all species of an area, we raise the status of a charismatic species as a means of supporting its overall ecosystem. When I was an intern for the Tamar Project, I was used to receive tourists at the Ubatuba base to talk about sea turtles. While teaching them about sea turtles, I ended up also teaching them about the fish that they consumed and the damages garbage and automobile use in spawning areas caused, etc. The main message always went through several other messages. Whenever we talk about the importance of preserving the flag species, we also talk about the importance of preserving the entire ecosystem.

   Although it is an efficient concept (who does not think about the Panda Bear when thinking about WWF?), its application requires caution. By prioritizing flag species, you run the risk of not preserving those who really need to be preserved. It is important to remember that several species are threatened with extinction. Some scientists even argue that we are going through the sixth major extinction of the Earth (episodes in which large numbers of species go extinct in a short period of time).

    According to scientists all prior mass extinctions were caused by natural catastrophes, such as the fall of a meteorite. However, WE (human beings) are causing the sixth extinction! Paradoxically, although WE are causing the sixth extinction, WE are also the ones that can prevent it from being more tragic.

   So, it was in thinking about the protection of a group of endangered and "disadvantaged" animals that the biologist Simon Watt created the “Ugly Animal Preservation Society.” No, that is not a type, this idea was quite contrary to the use of traditional flag species. According to the creator, it is not fair that the panda gets all of the attention.

   The innovative idea of Simon Watt did not stop with the creation of the society. To raise funds and save aesthetically unprivileged species, he and a group of artists ventured into the United Kingdom, performing shows and stand up comedy, in which each artist featured an ugly animal. At the end of each evening, people could vote on what should be the mascot of society.

 Among some strong competition of the weirdest frogs, salamanders, snails and insects, the winning mascot was a fish, the Blobfish. Besides being ugly, this fish, scientifically called Psychrolutes marcidus, inhabits the deep waters (between 600 and 1200 meters deep) of South Australia, including Tasmania. They have no swim bladder, only the minimum number of bones needed for survival, and their body has a gelatinous consistency. But these characteristics all contribute to being able to live in their high-pressure environment, with the water around them as their main structural support.

   But I confess that I found the vote somewhat unfair. Knowing that every 10 meters that we dive to find the Blobfish, the pressure increases by 1 atm. We would meet the ugly creature in an environment with more than 60 atm of pressure pushing down on us, and our organs would crush and we would probably look like paste (actually we would have died long before!). Meanwhile the Blobfish would look like an "ordinary" fish and not the gelatinous creature we thought so ugly while we analyzed it on the Earth’s surface, at only 1 atm.

Cover of the book written by Simon Watt with an image of the mascot of the "Society of Preservation of Ugly Animals," the Blobfish.

   Another marine fish that competed as the ugliest animal was the European eel (scientific name: Anguilla anguilla). Although it is critically endangered and it looks more like a snake than a fish, I believe that this species should not even be in this competition because they are wonderful! The European eel is a euryhaline fish, which withstands great variation of salinity, and is catdromic, meaning it grows in rivers and spawns at sea. In addition, it has leptocephalus larvae, which look beautiful, last about 3 years, and reach up to 8 cm in length!

European eel: adult (left) and larva (right)

   So, have I been able to convince you that the European eel and the Blobfish are not ugly, but that they do need our attention and protection?

   In your opinion, which endangered animal is ugly and should be preserved?

About the “Ugly Animal Preservation Society” (Come in and laugh a lot watching the videos): http://uglyanimalsoc.com

A tour through the ocean: understanding the comings and goings of humpback whales

By Daniela Abras

It is immensely challenging to try to understand the mechanisms that move a 15 meter-long and 40 ton organism 9,000 km yearly.

Humpback whales migrate every year from the feeding grounds of Antarctica to the mating grounds of Brazil. The route, which is about 4,500 km each way, is made twice a year and typically takes about 2 months going, and 2 months coming back. By including their 4 month stay in Brazil mating, these whales spend 8 months of the year without food. That’s a long fast! To accomplish this feat, they need to eat a lot during the 4 months in Antarctica, and they need to stock up on energy reserves, in the form of body fat.

Map that shows the migratory corridor of the humpback whales between the feeding
area in Antarctica, and the main reproductive area on Abrolhos Bank.

But what do these whales eat? As the adorable Dory, from Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo would say, whales don't eat fish, they eat krill. Krill are small crustaceans, similar to shrimp, that are about 5cm long and live in giant clusters (swarms). Krill are the base of the vertebrate food chain in Antarctica, where most species depend on it, directly or not. Many species of fish, seals, penguins, and whales prey almost exclusively on it. Some species, like Orca whales and Leopard seals, prey on fish or penguins. This is why the food chain in Antarctica has been called by scientists “krill-dependent.”

Krill (Euphausia superba), the main food of Humpback whales
in Antarctica, live in large swarms.

Every year, whales arrive at the Brazilian coast in July and stay there until November. There are times when the population arrives slightly earlier in the year and stay longer, but they can also come later in the season and leave more quickly. In some years, there are more whales than in others. This started to raise some questions: When they stay in Abrolhos longer, is it because they fed better? When they leave the bank earlier than average, is it because of high water temperatures? Or do these things not influence their behavior at all, and they rely mostly on genetic programming? What initiates the migration process?

My Master's research focused on these questions to try to understand the diverse environmental mechanisms influencing the migratory dynamics of humpback whales. I primarily focused on the availability of their main source of energy. To do that, I analyzed parameters such as photoperiod, water temperature in both Abrolhos and in Scotia Sea (where they stay in Antarctica), and the availability of krill during summer. I compared this to 7 years of sighting data collected at a fixed location around the Abrolhos Archipelago. To observe the whales, a piece of topography equipment with 30X zoom, called a theodolite, was used. For the 5 months the whales were in Abrolhos, we observed the whales daily, and found that the population's abundance fluctuates throughout the reproductive season with a gradual increase in July, followed by the peak in August/September, and then a gradual decrease, until no more whales were present by the end of November.

Watching whales with the theodolite, 

from Abrolhos Archipelago.

The results were more than expected. In years when there were more krill available, the whales fed more and had greater energy stores. This allowed them to invest a longer period of time on reproduction and more whales were seen in Abrolhos. The opposite was also true. In years with less krill, fewer whales were seen in Abrolhos and their time at Abrolhos was shortened. The water temperature didn't seem to have significant influence on their migration, however it assisted in indicating the starting moment for the migration – the migratory timing.

The most surprising result was related to the photoperiod (length of daylight in a day). No other research had related the migratory dynamics with photoperiod, perhaps because scientists thought it was too obvious. But, sometimes, it's important to understand the obvious! The photoperiod in Antarctica has a huge difference between summer (18 hours of light) and winter (6 hours), while in Abrolhos, the difference from summer (13 h) and winter (11h) is far smaller.

Therefore, as my dissertation's conclusion, I discovered that the humpback whale's migration starts and is influenced by the sharp lowering of photoperiod when they are in Antarctica. When in Abrolhos, migration is impacted by the sum of 3 factors: the photoperiod (which is more steady than in Antarctica), the sea surface temperature (this slightly increases gradually during the reproductive season) and krill availability while in Antarctica.

It was difficult to analyze such a high volume of data, linking different environmental parameters in order to answer all of my research questions. With these results, we have started to understand complex migratory dynamics and the importance of krill in the maintenance of the humpback's population.

If you want to know more about my Master's dissertation, contact me via email at daniabras@gmail.com

The humpback whale population was almost driven to extinction in the early 20^th century from intensive commercial hunting. Before commercial whaling, the estimated population was around 25,000 individuals, but it dropped to about 800 individuals while at the peak of whaling. After the whale-hunting moratorium in 1986, the population recovered and is now around 15,000 individuals today! In 2015, humpback whales were officially removed from the endangered species list in Brazil. This is a victory for the whales as well as for those of us that have the privilege of watching them arrive annually, in bigger numbers every time, performing their aquatic ballet. Go meet them! Between July and November, they are concentrated on the Abrolhos region, but they can also be seen from the states of Rio Grande do Norte state to Rio de Janeiro.

Want to know more about humpback whales? Visit the Brazilian Humpback Whale Institute website: www.baleiajubarte.org.br

Humpback whale jumping in Abrolhos region.

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Daniela Abras is from Belo Horizonte, has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology from UFRJ, and has a Masters degree in Oceanography from USP. She has loved cetaceans since she was 8 years old, when she did a school project about them. When she was a teenager, she would say that she wanted to work with whales, but was never taken seriously. In the early 90s, she heard the famous National Geographic “Whale Songs” vinyl record and discovered the “Save the whales” project. From all of this obstinacy, her dream to study and protect whales came to life. She is now a researcher for the Brazilian Humpback Whale Institute, dedicating herself daily to studying these magnificent animals.

Devastatingly beautiful: the growing problem of Lionfish invasion

By Corey Eddy and Jana M. del Favero

Two lionfish have been sighted in Brazil, both in the southeastern area of Arraial do Cabo (Rio de Janeiro). The first one was in 2014 and another more recently in March 2015. But with only two individuals spotted, why should we care?

The lionfish!

Brazilian experts are still debating how these lionfish ended up in the Brazilian waters and if there may be more individuals in deeper waters, not observable by divers (details at: http://ciencia.estadao.com.br/blogs/herton-escobar/mais-um-peixe-leao-e-encontrado-na-costa-brasileira/).

While there is no consensus, I asked a colleague, Corey Eddy, to write about the invasive population of lionfish in Bermuda; I wanted to know what is being done there and what measures could be adopted in Brazil. Below it is the text he wrote:

Since the discovery of lionfish in Florida in 1985, their population expanded rapidly to stretch from Venezuela to Rhode Island (US). It was thought their range of invasion could eventually stretch as far south as Uruguay. As lionfish are recognized and avoided by prey in their native territory, they have evolved into opportunistic predators with broad diets. However, due to prey naivety in their invasive range, lionfish are able to consume large quantities of invertebrates, juvenile fish, and small-bodied adult fish, many of which play important ecological or economic roles. Consequently, research shows that lionfish can reduce juvenile reef fish populations by nearly 80% in as little as five weeks. Bolstered by the lack of any natural predator, lionfish populations in the Atlantic have reached densities far greater than in their native range, with the potential to affect community structure, biodiversity, and the health of coral reef ecosystems. Fortunately, they are delicious and it only takes one minute to remove their dangerous spines, making them perfectly safe to handle. If we can create a fishery for them, we can save the ocean. We have to eat them to beat them.

Representation of the worldwide lionfish distribution. Diagram by Naira Silva

Source: Lionfish illustration (http://www.supercoloring.com/pt/desenhos-para-colorir/peixes).

My doctoral work is part of a larger project, funded through the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, that is investigating the biological and ecological characteristics of the lionfish population around Bermuda and the potential impact lionfish may have upon the structure and function of Bermuda’s coral reef ecosystem. For my first chapter, I will be using the data we collect on lionfish abundance and distribution to estimate the population size. Our team is assessing lionfish abundance via underwater visual surveys at 15 sites in each of five depth zones across the Bermuda platform (10, 20, 30, 45, and 60m) using SCUBA or appropriate technical diving equipment (i.e. trimix diving with multiple tanks). Using a roving search protocol that encompasses cryptic habitats, divers record all lionfish seen and attempt to capture each individual using a pole-spear. Following capture, all lionfish are measured, weighed, dissected, and processed for further analyses. Belt-transect surveys of reef fish, focusing upon small and cryptic species, are conducted concurrently to determine the abundance and distribution of potential prey. A number of these sites are being resurveyed after one year to assess re-colonization rates. This data will also facilitate the development of a distribution map that aids removal activities targeting lionfish at key locations and times that account for seasonal population fluctuations and movement patterns.

Photo by Jorge Sanchez

My next two chapters will document the life history characteristics of this species to estimate population growth as it pertains to their potential ecological impact. In chapter two, I will examine the demographics of the lionfish population as well as growth rates and longevity of lionfish in Bermuda. This work utilizes standard otolith (“fish ear bone”) aging techniques applied to specimens captured during our underwater surveys and opportunistically from other divers, commercial fishermen, and permitted lionfish hunters. Following this, my third chapter will examine the reproductive condition and quantify the fecundity of lionfish. Gonads will be weighed, sectioned, and analyzed by traditional histological methods to determine overall fecundity, reproductive seasonality, and the developmental stage of fish, thus providing an estimate of the reproductive potential driving the overall population growth.

In my final chapter, we are investigating the feeding ecology of lionfish to explore the impact they may have on the native fish and invertebrate communities, as well as the entire local ecosystem, and to identify factors driving the population’s distribution. This research involves conventional stomach content analysis (SCA) complemented with more advanced stable isotope analysis (SIA) that reveals details not detectable through traditional methods. Because the stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) in the tissues of predators are directly related to the ratios found in their prey, the change in these ratios relative to a standard, δ13C and δ15N, are used to indicate the primary carbon sources for a consumer and an estimate of trophic position, respectively. To further indicate the potential impact of lionfish on Bermuda’s reef ecosystem, we will also perform this analysis on prey species (i.e. those identified by the SCA) and others we know are competing with lionfish for these same resources. By plotting δ13C and δ15N of lionfish and these various species, we can see the extent to which lionfish are utilizing resources needed by native species.

When completed, this project will estimate the extent to which invasive lionfish could impact Bermuda’s coral reef ecosystem and help mitigate that impact by providing data on lionfish abundance and distribution to assist the Bermuda Lionfish Task Force and the Department of Environmental Protection (http://www.lionfish.bm) in developing a comprehensive plan that facilitates large-scale, long-term removal of this species from local waters. Controlling and reducing the continued growth of the lionfish population is a crucial part of any effort to minimize negative impacts on native fish species and coral reef ecosystems, and avoid secondary impacts on fisheries and tourism.

In addition to my doctoral research, I am heavily involved in public education and one of the projects I work on may be very useful to implement in Brazil. As a volunteer for the Ocean Support Foundation (http://www.oceansupport.org), I run the Bermuda Lionfish Culling Program on behalf of the Department of Environmental Protection. This program allows any Bermudian resident, over 16 years of age, to receive the proper training and a special permit to hunt lionfish. This is different from a traditional spearfishing license because permitted lionfish hunters are allowed to hunt lionfish while using SCUBA, within one mile of shore, and on shipwrecks and other protected sites, situations normally forbidden by Bermuda law. To date, we have certified over 500 hunters, all of whom are a major help in removing lionfish and keeping Bermuda’s reefs clean and healthy. As Brazil has only recently been invaded, these early days are the perfect opportunity to mobilize SCUBA and free divers, fishermen, and environmentalists to get into the water and start hunting. Every lionfish that is removed greatly helps to preserve and protect Brazil’s marine environment, especially at this early point, when there may be very few lionfish around.  

Corey Eddy biography:

Photo by Groundswell Bermuda.

Corey Eddy is a PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island, whose study abroad program first brought him to Bermuda for a semester at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences. He is also a Fellow through the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Program and a member of the Bermuda Lionfish Task Force. As a volunteer for the Ocean Support Foundation, he developed and currently manages the Bermuda Lionfish Culling Program on behalf of the Department of Environmental Protection. His research interests focus on studying the life history characteristics, habitat use, and feeding ecology of ecologically important predators.
Contact: corey.eddy@umassd.edu