Octopus can appear extremely intelligent, as a result of their intelligence being quite specific. They are superb problem solvers (and are capable of watching other octopus and learning through this), very capable escape artists (in an aquarium, an octopus was shown leaving its tank, and entering the neighbouring tank to catch fish at night) and have a phenomenal ability to change their body colour and texture to match the background.
Their brain setup, is completely different to mammals similar to humans, as their brain is spread through their body.
It should be noted, that an octopus can grow at 5% a day, which means that they are a very efficient way to create meat. Still, I would be very hesitant to eat them regularly (and obviously, any octopus that you might consume must come from populations that are being harvested in sustainable ways).
I would argue that farming highly intelligent octopus for food may not be great, but is much better than hunting wild octopus for food.
The quiet bays in the Melanesian archipelago are perfect for the sea grass meadows, which in turn means that it is fantastic for dugongs – animals also known as sea cows. Just a few years ago, these animals were a regular sight. Growing up to 4m long and 400kg, just a few years ago, it would not be an unusual day when you would see one of these animals in both the morning and afternoon. Now they are rarely seen.
Officially, they are only classed as vulnerable (one of the lowest forms of endangered), but given how long it has been, it is unclear how the population is doing. However, unfortunately, given fishermen (and other people on the wate), are encountering them so rarely, it is likely to have got worse. Dogongs in this area behave differently to Australia where they have huge seagrass meadows, so this full survey is certainly required.
It would be another area, where a growth in the ecotourism industry (ethical – not damaging the animals or stressing them) could be fantastic. Many surveys done on sea mammals, take on tourists to reduce their cost. Personally, I will always look for a research boat, as they want to be there, and will not go out if there is no chance of sightings.
The next-door population of New Caledonia was recently downgraded to endagered, and the east African population is classed as critically endangered.
Globally, the threats to these animals include gill-net fishing, boat traffic, coastal development and even hunting. Unfortunately, climate change is also a threat – rainstorms are becoming far more common, and these are damaging the seagrass, alongside cyclones.
Currently, it is estimated that the world looses 7% of its seagrass meadows each year. This should be concerning, as sea grass has a roughly equal ability to draw down carbon dioxide to land rainforests – so the more we loose the harder it will become to halt global warming. It should also be noted, seagrasses grow more healthily with dugongs present – help keep seagrass beds healthy by grazing on them, which controls their growth and disperses their seeds. This process is called “cultivation grazing”. The benefits on seagrasses include growth control (rapid growth can be bad for the long-term survival of the seagrass), disperse seeds (often with some ‘fertilizer’, which can help the seeds grow particularly well- and like various plants and elephants, seeds that have gone through a dugongs digestive tract is more likely to grow than those that do not), Improve genetic diversity (dugongs move between areas of the meadow, and take seeds with them) and help recovery after cyclones (by connecting areas of the meadow, reseeding meadows in danger from elsewhere where they are doing alright).
Unfortunately, this makes the dugong a keystone species – therefore, its loss would have a very negative impact on the whole ecosystem. Other species that rely on seagrass including sea turtles, manatees, a wide array of fish, many sharks are born in the seagrass, including lemon sharks nurse sharks, and bull sharks. A wide array of birds are similarly reliant.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I decided to stop writing over the Christmas period this year, however, we are back and there is much going on. We have spent the down time working on our members areas, and we are hoping to have people join us on these in the near future.
I have also been reading, and have a large number of articles waiting to be written (though as the members area grows, I hope to be able to write a smaller proportion of the articles in question.
I have talked about about wolf hunts in Sweden in the past. They recently reduced the required minimum population from 300 wolves down to 170 – given that the 300 was worked out scientifically (and most people believe that this population is way too small anyway).
The current population is 374, with a target kill this year of 30. The intention is to kill 5 families. However, this number of wolves is certainly not good. Sweden is a country of similar size to France, and much of the country is wild so a far larger population would be capable of not impacting humans.
Campaigners are claiming that this is illegal (and it is hard to argue them) as the Berne convention states that protected species cannot be caused to have their population fall below sustainable numbers – 170 is well below this level, and indeed 300 is likely only healthy long-term, because of wolves crossing over the border from Russia.
I have been lucky enough to see 2 Swedish wolves, one from a bear hide, and the other while watching a group of Elk. Well structured, the wolves in Sweden could be a huge positive for the country, particularly tourism and one would think would be important as Sweden has positioned itself as an ecotourism hotspot.
Without a change, they will destroy this early market which is good for the country.
