Best of our wild blogs: 9 Jan 11

Seletar Wasteland On Christmas Day 2010
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Little Grebe at the Singapore Quarry
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker eating fruit of Indian cherry
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Visits from Singapore Botanic Gardens
from wonderful creation

Singapore Botanic Gardens
from Urban Forest

Chek Jawa with the Naked Hermit Crabs
from wild shores of singapore

Green activist: Grant Pereira
from The Green Volunteers

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Vietnam: "Vampire Flying Frog" Found; Tadpoles Have Black Fangs

Charles Choi National Geographic News 7 Jan 11;

The mountain jungles of Vietnam are home to a new breed of "vampire"—a "flying" tree frog dubbed Rhacophorus vampyrus.

Photograph courtesy Jodi Rowley, Australian Museum

First found in 2008, the 2-inch-long (5-centimeter-long) amphibian is known to live only in southern Vietnamese cloud forests, where it uses webbed fingers and toes to glide from tree to tree.

Adults deposit their eggs in water pools in tree trunks, which protects their offspring from predators lurking in rivers and ponds.

"It has absolutely no reason to ever go down on the ground," said study leader Jodi Rowley, an amphibian biologist at the Australian Museum in Sydney.

However, that trick isn't what earned the species its bloodsucking name. Rather, it's the strange curved "fangs" displayed by its tadpoles, which the scientists discovered in 2010.

"When I first saw them by looking through a microscope, I said, 'Oh my God, wow,'" said Rowley, whose research is funded in part by the National Geographic Society's Conservation Trust.

Frog Fangs Still a Mystery

Tadpoles normally have mouthparts similar to a beak. Instead, vampire tree frog tadpoles have a pair of hard black hooks sticking out from the undersides of their mouths—the first time such fangs have been seen in a frog tadpole. (See more frog pictures.)

The scientists do not yet know what purpose the fangs serve. However, frogs that raise tadpoles in tree-trunk water holes often feed their young by laying unfertilized eggs as meals. The fangs, Rowley speculated, could help in slicing these open.

The new vampire flying frog species was formally described on December 21 in the journal Zootaxa.

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Malaysia: Special parks to house swiftlets

Shanti Gunaratnam New Straits Times 9 Jan 11;

THE lucrative bird's nest business has through the years come under fire from people who claim it is a health hazard and a threat to heritage.

Over the last few years, getting swiftlets to roost in converted shophouses has become big business as entrepreneurs cash in on the strong demand for bird's nests, mainly from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.

The nests, made from the saliva of Aerodamus fuciphagus, are said to be excellent for the complexion and in promoting respiratory and gastric health.


The swiftlets use their spit to string together small gauze-like nests which are the main ingredient of bird's nest soup, a Chinese delicacy.

The "bird houses" started flourishing in the 1990s. There are now an estimated 50,000 such "swiftlet hotels" in the country.

Now, there are plans to build swiftlet ranches which promise a more organised and structured method of producing the delicacy.


In the ranches, said to be the first of its kind in the world, "housing units" of detached, semi-detached and terrace types permit edible bird's nests to be cultivated in an organised manner, with the ranches also serving as an eco-tourism centre.

Fourteen swiftlet ranches have been planned throughout the country. Sites have been identified in Perak, Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu and Johor.

"We are looking to be the second largest producer of edible bird's nests in the world," said Swiftlet Eco Park Berhad chief operating officer C.H. Tan.


Swiftlet Eco Park is part of a holding company that is involved in the planning, development, construction and marketing of custom-made and licensed swiftlet farms.

According to the group's website, its first project in Manjung, Perak, was developed in collaboration with the Perak State Development Corporation. The group is developing 14 similar projects all over Malaysia and aims to complete 25 projects with 1,000 licensed buildings over the next three years at a gross development value of RM500 million.

Malaysia is, at present, the second largest producer of bird's nests in the world after Indonesia.

Indonesia produces 78 per cent of the world's bird's nests with Malaysia trailing far behind with only 10 per cent, while Thailand produces the rest.

Some 375 tonnes of raw unprocessed bird's nests were produced last year.

The development of the parks is aimed at assisting the government in addressing the current problem of illegal and disorganised bird's nest cultivation in Malaysia.

"While the industry is growing in a big way, there has also been negative perception from both the public and authorities in recent years, no thanks to errant bird house owners."

Many swiftlet house owners had been taken to task for playing loud chirping sounds round the clock to lure the swiftlets into the bird houses which were converted from old houses, commercial shop offices, or abandoned buildings without approval from the authorities.

There have also been complaints of foul-smelling swiftlet droppings which could be a health hazard.

Other problems include swiftlet houses operating in crowded urban areas.

Also other matters of concern are H5N1 bird flu, bird mites fever and unattended electrical equipment and appliances in swiftlet houses which might pose a fire hazard and the fact that many of the bird houses are illegal, thus depriving the state government of income.

"We intend to be a huge player in the bird's nest industry and are looking at producing up to 25 per cent of the world's demand.

"The whole industry is worth RM15 billion and we want a big chunk of that to flow back into the country," Tan said.

The company hopes to produce about 240kg per bird house which will bring them an income of RM300 million annually.

Initially, 50 per cent of Swiftlet Eco Park's bird's nests will be sold locally, to cater for domestic demand.

"Malaysians, for decades, have known the benefits of consuming bird's nests.

"The Chinese have included bird's nests in their diet for centuries while India, a new market along with the Middle East, is catching up in a big way along with other countries."

The company is also considering venturing into eco-tourism which include swiftlet watching, house visits, feeding swiftlet chicks, learning more about swiftlet habitat, and it has earmarked the Setiu ranch in Terengganu for this purpose.

"People have always been fascinated with bird's nests and where they come from.

"Since we construct and custom-make swiftlet farms, we are in a position to show them how they are produced.

"Bird's nests are fetching very good prices now with the raw unprocessed ones costing between RM4,500 to RM5,500 per kg, while processed ones are sold between RM11,000 to RM19,000 per kg."

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'Great Garbage Patch' in the Pacific Ocean not so great claim scientists

Environmental scientists have been criticised for exaggerating the size of an "island" of plastic waste said to be swirling around in the Pacific Ocean after a study finds that it is 200 times smaller than claimed.

Richard Alleyne, The Telegraph 6 Jan 11;

Claims that the "Great Garbage Patch" between California and Japan is twice the size of Texas is "grossly exaggerated" said the research which reckons it is more like one per cent the size.

Further reports that the oceans are filled with more plastic than plankton, and that the patch has been growing tenfold each decade since the 1950s are equally misleading, the new research claimed.

In reality it often cannot even be seen from the deck of a passing boat, said the latest analysts from the Oregon State University professor of oceanography Angelicque White.

The scientist took part in a recent marine expedition to examine the mass of plastic that is floating in the ocean and found there was a problem.

But genuine scientific concerns are undermined by scare tactics from those proclaiming the trash patch is so big that there is more plastic than plankton in the Pacific.

Prof White said: "There is no doubt that the amount of plastic in the world's oceans is troubling, but this kind of exaggeration undermines the credibility of scientists.

"We have data that allow us to make reasonable estimates. We don't need the hyperbole.

"Given the observed concentration of plastic in the North Pacific, it is simply inaccurate to state that plastic outweighs plankton, or that we have observed an exponential increase in plastic."

One popular claim is that the size of the patch is twice that of the state of Texas – half a million square miles or the equivalent of 20 times the size of England.

But while the plastic stretches across the surface, its mass compared to the amount of water means it only takes up a tiny fraction of its proclaimed area, said Prof White.

"The amount of plastic out there isn't trivial," she said.

"But the patch ... is a small fraction of the state of Texas, not twice the size."

Prof White said plastic can be toxic to some marine life forms but it can absorb other toxins – there is evidence that some organisms are breeding on tiny plastic debris.

However, it is also a danger to seabirds and fish and she said: "Plastic clearly does not belong in the ocean."

Getting rid of it is too expensive and could damage the fragile ecology under the ocean, she said. Preventing more from entering the water should now be the main focus instead.

She added: "If there is a takeaway message, it's that we should consider it good news that the 'garbage patch' doesn't seem to be as bad as advertised.

"Since it would be prohibitively costly to remove the plastic, we need to focus our efforts on preventing more trash from fouling our oceans in the first place."

Recent research by scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution found that the amount of plastic, at least in the Atlantic Ocean, hasn't increased since the mid-1980s – despite greater production and consumption of materials made from plastic, she pointed out.

'Great Garbage Patch': 20 ways to reduce your plastic consumption
The plastic debris in the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" has killed millions of birds and other marine animals. Here are 20 ways to reduce your plastic consumption.
The Telegraph 6 Jan 11;

Compost your rubbish to reduce your use of plastic bags.

Don't use bin liners – just tip your rubbish into the bin.

Bring unusable cloth bags to the shops with you.

Avoid buying beverages in plastic bottles – opt for glass where possible.

Carry your own thermal mug and ask coffee retailers to fill it for you rather than taking a disposable cup. Bring your own coffee mug to work with you.

Avoid buying foods packaged in plastic. Buy loose fruit and vegetables.

Make your own bread or buy it from bakeries that package it in paper.

Clean your home with baking soda and vinegar instead of using cleanering products packaged in plastic.

Buy washing powder in boxes, not liquid in plastic containers.

Buy cheese and meat from your local delicatessen and have it wrapped in paper.

Use bar soap to wash your dishes – and yourself.

Use scented candles or incense instead of artificial air fresheners.

Buy milk in paper cartons or glass, rather than plastic bottles.

Buy toilet paper that is wrapped in paper, not plastic.

Don’t wrap left-over foods in cling film - use aluminium or wax paper instead.

Use matches instead of plastic-encased lighters.

Give your pets cloth-based toys, like catnip mice and soft balls.

Buy cloth nappies instead of disposables.

Stuff delicate postal packages with old newspapers or junk mail instead of bubble wrap.

Use rechargeable batteries to avoid buying batteries packaged in plastic.

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Has overfishing ended? Top US scientist says yes

Jay Lindsay, Associated Press Yahoo News 8 Jan 11;

BOSTON – For the first time in at least a century, U.S. fishermen won't take too much of any species from the sea, one of the nation's top fishery scientists says.

The projected end of overfishing comes during a turbulent fishing year that's seen New England fishermen switch to a radically new management system. But scientist Steve Murawski said that for the first time in written fishing history, which goes back to 1900, "As far as we know, we've hit the right levels, which is a milestone."

"And this isn't just a decadal milestone, this is a century phenomenon," said Murawski, who retired last week as chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service.

Murawski said it's more than a dramatic benchmark — it also signals the coming of increasingly healthy stocks and better days for fishermen who've suffered financially. In New England, the fleet has deteriorated since the mid-1990s from 1,200 boats to only about 580, but Murawski believes fishermen may have already endured their worst times.

"I honestly think that's true, and that's why I think it's a newsworthy event," said Murawski, now a professor at the University of South Florida.

But fishermen and their advocates say ending overfishing came at an unnecessarily high cost. Dave Marciano fished out of Gloucester, an hour's drive northeast of Boston, for three decades until he was forced to sell his fishing permit in June. He said the new system made it too costly to catch enough fish to stay in business.

"It ruined me," said Marciano, 45. "We could have ended overfishing and had a lot more consideration for the human side of the fishery."

An end to overfishing doesn't mean all stocks are healthy, but scientists believe it's a crucial step to getting there.

When fishermen are overfishing a species, they're catching it at a rate scientists believe is too fast to ensure that the species can rebuild and then stay healthy. It's different from when a species is overfished, which is when scientists believe its population is too low.

Murawski said it's a nearly ironclad rule of fishery management that species become far more abundant when they're being fished at the appropriate level, which is determined after considering factors such as a species' life span and death rates.

A mandate to end overfishing by the 2010 fishing year — which concludes at different times in 2011, depending on the region — came in the 2007 reauthorization of the nation's fisheries law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Murawski said the U.S. is the only country that has a law that defines overfishing and requires its fishermen not to engage in it.

"When you compare the United States with the European Union, with Asian countries, et cetera, we are the only industrialized fishing nation who actually has succeeded in ending overfishing," he said.

Regulators say 37 stocks nationwide last year were being overfished (counting only those that live exclusively in U.S. waters); New England had the most with 10. But Murawski said management systems that emphasize strict catch limits have made a big difference, and New England just made the switch.

Fishermen there now work in groups called sectors to divide an annual quota of groundfish, which include cod, haddock and flounder. If they exceed their limits on one species, they're forced to stop fishing on all species.

About two-thirds into the current fishing year, which ends April 30, federal data indicated New England fishermen were on pace to catch fewer than their allotted fish in all but one stock, Georges Bank winter flounder. But Murawski said he didn't expect fishermen would exceed their quota on any stock.

In other regions with overfishing — the South Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean — regulators project catch limits and other measures will end overfishing this fishing year. Already, South Atlantic black grouper and Gulf of Mexico red snapper are no longer being overfished.

The final verification that overfishing has ended nationwide, at least for one fishing year, will come after detailed stock assessments.

It will be a "Pyrrhic victory" in hard-hit New England, said Brian Rothschild, a fisheries scientist at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. He said regulators could legally loosen the rules and allow fishermen to safely catch more fish, but regulators have refused to do it, and fishermen have needlessly been shut out from even healthy stocks.

The science is far from perfect, Marciano said. Regulators believed fishermen were overfishing pollock until new data last year indicated scientists had badly underestimated its population, he said. And some stocks, such as Gulf of Maine cod, have recovered even when fishermen were technically overfishing them.

"To say you can't rebuild stocks while overfishing is occurring is an outright lie. We did it," Marciano said.

Tom Nies, a fisheries analyst for regional New England regulators, said stocks can sometimes be boosted by variables such as strong births in a given year, but they'll inevitably decline if overfishing continues on them.

Peter Shelley, senior counsel of the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental group, said the industry's problems are rooted in years of overfishing, especially during the 1980s, not regulation.

"It was a bubble," he said. "Fishermen were living in a bit of a fantasy world at that point, and it wasn't something you could sustain."

That's why Murawski's projection about the end of overfishing is "a very big deal," he said.

"I think we're just starting to see signs of a new future," Shelley said.

What fisherman Steve Arnold, 46, sees in his home port of Point Judith, R.I., are fewer boats, older fishermen and "a lot of frowns on people's faces."

Overfishing might end this year, but the fleet has suffered and has an uncertain future, he said.

"I believe we can get to a better place, but the work isn't done," Arnold said. "We're living through something that we're learning as we go. It's not a comfortable feeling."

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Calcutta: Oil leak threatens Ridleys

While authorities beef up security for Olive Ridley turtles, pipeline crack poses threat
Manoj Kar The Telegraph Calcutta 8 Jan 11;

Kendrapara, Jan. 8: Leakage of oil from the Paradip-Haldia pipeline following a crack has posed a threat to the aquatic life including the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles.

The underground pipeline of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), for carrying crude oil from Paradip port to its oil refinery at Haldia in Bengal, cracked near the Sansara creek at Sandhakuda on the outskirts of Orissa’s port town, official sources said here today.

“There was a crack in the pipeline due to a technical snag. It occurred, most probably, on Thursday night. Fishermen informed us about the incident. We have since plugged the crack and there is no leakage now,” V.C. Suti, deputy general manager of Paradip-Haldia project of IOCL said today.

Suti, who agreed that aquatic life had been affected by the leak, said: “We will compensate the losses suffered by traditional marine fishermen after assessing the situation and obtaining a report.” In the 300 acre Sansar water body, located on the mouth of the Bay of Bengal, there are 25 prawn gheries set up by traditional marine fishermen. “We are taking up the matter with the authorities to contain the toxic effect on the water bodies as the leaked crude oil has already got mixed with the water,”added Suti.

However, he said, at present there is no cause for worry. After inspecting the spot, Pabitra Kumar Pradhan, district fisheries officer, Jagatsinghpur, said thick layers of oily substance were floating in the water and a large number of fish were found to be dead in the area under the toxic effect of crude oil.

“If the oil further slicks into the sea, it could affect the Olive Ridley sea turtles visiting the sprawling beaches in the district. The Orissa government is not equipped with the mechanism to regulate the toxic effect of oil slick. IOCL should initiate remedial measures immediately to negate the impact. We are assessing the losses caused to the fishermen,” Pradhan said.

A team of officials from Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPC) rushed to the site to asses the impact on the environment. Local fishermen said their year-long labour had gone down the drain due to the oil slick. “All the prawn catches in the area perished due to leakage and we have already suffered huge loss. IOCL should ensure that there is no repetition of such incidents,” said Gayadhar Behera, a fisherman.

Narayan Haldar, president of Orissa traditional marine fishermen’s association, said: “Oil leak or toxic impact on the water in the area being perpetrated by industries including IOCL has become routine phenomenon...Though the state government has imposed ban on fishing for seven months keeping in view safety of Olive Ridley turtles, the remaining months are marred by intermittent incidents of oil leakage and resultant toxic effect on the aquatic life.”

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Rise in flood risk could make one million UK homes uninsurable

Firms warn of effect of government spending cuts on planned defences
Andrew McCorkell The Independent 9 Jan 11;

Homeowners living near rivers and the coast face losing up to 40 per cent of the value of their homes as flood risk makes them uninsurable.

More than a million homes and 300,000 businesses are at risk, including those in parts of London, Southend, Brighton, Reading, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Hull, Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh, the Environment Agency says.

The insurance industry points to evidence that climate change and rising sea levels will increase the likelihood of floods. It has an agreement with the Government – which runs out in 2013 – committing it to provide cover for customers, as long as flood risk is properly managed.

Insurers are expressing concern about cuts to investment in flood defences implied in the coalition's Comprehensive Spending Review, and the affect of funding cuts on extending the agreement – the UK is currently one of the few countries to provide flood coverage automatically through property insurance.

Nick Starling, of the Association of British Insurers, said: "We must ensure that our spending on flood defences and flood management is targeted to those areas where it is needed the most, and that the Government implements a long-term flood management strategy."

Flooding is expensive for insurers, with claims typically between £20,000 and £40,000. In the past decade insurers have paid out £4.5bn to customers whose homes or businesses have flooded, three times the £1.5bn paid in the previous decade.

Under the spending review, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs took a 29 per cent budget cut, including £110m from planned spending on new flood defences. Defra insists flood risk management is a "priority".

Some 20,000 families in Essex coastal areas say they have lost equity and are struggling with increasing premiums. Essex County Council has approached the Government for £20m to build a sea wall to protect 35 high-flood-risk homes at Great Wavering. The Environment Agency has completed 160 flood schemes defending 160,000 properties since 2007.

Dr Paul Leinster, its chief executive said: "We will continue to reduce flood risk by investing in defence schemes, but it is essential that people are all also better prepared, by signing up to the Environment Agency's flood warning service and rebuilding damaged properties to make them more flood-proof."

'It'll be harder to sell now'

Wot Blowers, 62, a self-employed gardener from Cockermouth, Cumbria, was rehoused through her insurance company following floods in the county in 2009

"It was awful. I was out of my home for nearly a year. I am back now, but it has taken the best part of a year to get the house fixed. The whole of the ground floor was flooded halfway to the ceiling.

"I probably have lost value on my house. I've been wanting to sell it for years, but it's going to be a lot harder now. My premium was £150 originally, but when I got my insurance renewal it was £2,111. I spoke to Trading Standards, but it's still higher than it was."

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Scientists find 'drastic' weather-related Atlantic shifts

AFP The Independent 8 Jan 11;

Scientists have found evidence of a "drastic" shift since the 1970s in north Atlantic Ocean currents that usually influence weather in the northern hemisphere, Swiss researchers said on Tuesday.

The team of biochemists and oceanographers from Switzerland, Canada and the United States detected changes in deep sea Atlantic corals that indicated the declining influence of the cold northern Labrador Current.

They said in the US National Academy of Science journal PNAS that the change "since the early 1970s is largely unique in the context of the last approximately 1,800 years," and raised the prospect of a direct link with global warming.

The Labrador Current interacts with the warmer Gulfstream from the south.

They in turn have a complex interaction with a climate pattern, the North Atlantic Oscillation, which has a dominant impact on weather in Europe and North America.

Scientists have pointed to a disruption or shifts in the oscillation as an explanation for moist or harsh winters in Europe, or severe summer droughts such as in Russia, in recent years.

One of the five scientists, Carsten Schubert, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Acquatic Sciences and Technology (EAWAG), underlined that for nearly 2,000 years the sub polar Labrador current off northern Canada and Newfoundland was the dominant force.

However that pattern appeared to have only been repeated occasionally in recent decades.

"Now the southern current has taken over, it's really a drastic change," Schubert told AFP, pointing to the evidence of the shift towards warmer water in the northwest Atlantic.

The research was based on nitrogen isotope signatures in 700 year old coral reefs on the ocean floor, which feed on sinking organic particles.

While water pushed by the Gulfstream is salty and rich in nutrients, the colder Arctic waters carried by the Labrador current contain fewer nutrients.

Changes could be dated because of the natural growth rings seen in corals.

"The researchers suspect there is a direct connection between the changes in oceanic currents in the North Atlantic and global warming caused by human activities," said EAWAG in a statement.

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