Beamish blames the 1970s advent of purse-seine fishing—where entire schools of fish are encircled in a large, vertical net—for the decline. When trevally feed, they’re often joined by fairy prions and pakahā/fluttering shearwaters, above, which nibble on the small fish and crustaceans fleeing the trevally. Fluttering shearwaters, which breed on predator-free islands, can form flocks of up to 20,000 birds.The abundance Grey witnessed was still barely diminished a generation later. Grey soon learned that where there were work-ups, there were also swordfish—the animals he had come to hunt. Everywhere he went along the Northland coast—the Cavalli Islands, Cape Brett, the Poor Knights—he found huge accumulations of fish and birds. Trevally schools still break the surface in New Zealand waters, but not the way they used to.
Fewer trevally, tarakihi and kahawai in the ecosystem makes life harder for many seabirds, says Constantine. Wednesday Davis’ love of the sea was fostered by her Grandma Janet, an early scuba diver, citizen scientist, and underwater photographer who explored Tauranga’s moana alongside her husband, Harold, starting in the 1960s. Davis grew up listening to her stories, poring over books by Jacques Cousteau and Wade Doak, and dreaming of becoming a marine scientist. Skipper Boyd Taylor brings the inflatable to a stop around 100 metres away, and technician Esther Stuck sends up a small drone.
The breeding males are brightly colored with red-orange spots on an iridescent blue-green body and bluish fins with yellow and black edges. Barrens topminnows are named for where they live — Tennessee’s Barrens Plateau, so called for the relative lack of trees. Small waterfalls and cascades isolate the waters of the plateau, keeping downstream fish from invading the topminnow’s territory. But sometime in the 1960s or 1970s, the Western mosquitofish was introduced in a misguided effort to control mosquitoes — they eat mosquito larvae, but so do Barrens topminnows. Barrens topminnows are named for where they live—Tennessee’s Barrens Plateau, so called for the relative lack of trees. But sometime in the 1960s or 1970s, the Western mosquitofish was introduced in a misguided effort to control mosquitos—they eat mosquito larvae, but so do Barrens topminnows.
It was a crisp fall day when biologist Bernie Kuhajda drove to a nondescript trickle of water running through a Middle Tennessee cow pasture to try to keep a small, brightly colored fish from becoming extinct. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It was a crisp fall day when biologist Bernie Kuhajda drove to a nondescript trickle of water running through a Middle Tennessee cow pasture to try to keep a small, brightly colored fish from becoming extinct. “They eat all the topminnows’ eggs, all their larvae, and they harass the Barrens topminnow — even though the Barrens topminnow is bigger — and nip their fins off,” Rakes said. Barrens topminnows might have gone extinct already if it weren’t for the efforts of biologists like Kuhajda to collect them, breed them in captivity and return them to the wild in an attempt to reestablish viable populations.
It really matters to these little birds—physiologically, a lot of these animals are right on the edge of living and dying a lot of the time.” Follow the birds to the fish, sure, she says—but don’t get in their way. In the 1990s, a mystery virus imported in fishing bait from Australia decimated New Zealand’s pilchard population. Australian scientists described the disease fronts there moving with the speed of a bushfire, even against the current—spreading up to 40 kilometres per day.
The listing stalled, with the Barrens topminnow popping up occasionally in the National Register over the ensuing decades as being under review. One of its champions is biologist Pat Rakes, who researched the Barrens topminnow for his master’s degree thesis at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and now co-directs the nonprofit Conservation Fisheries. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It was a crisp fall day when biologist Bernie Kuhajda drove to a nondescript trickle of water running through a Middle Tennessee cow pasture to try to keep a small, brightly colored fish from becoming extinct. “All of those animals are working so hard to find their prey, and to get enough food. If they can’t get enough, then they’re not in good body condition to lay an egg or feed a chick or to get to the next spot.
The site, which is accessed by a dirt road and protected by locked gates, looks surprisingly ordinary, despite having been the focus of recent worldwide attention. “As long as I own the farm, it will be protected. But at 79, I’m not going to own it forever.” Rock ‘n’ roll star Jerry Lee Lewis, the “Great Balls of Fire” singer who was known for his outrageous style and personal life, has died at 87. The man accused of beating House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband appears to have made racist and often rambling posts online.
You may have seen the wonderful images NASA posted from its recently launched James Webb telescope of long-gone galaxies millions of light-years away. What Michael’s images reveal in an outback paddock is the exact opposite, but it’s equally awe-inspiring. Unlike the rest of the team, he refuses to sit on a stool, knowing his knees will be crippled by the day’s end. “But at least I won’t stuff my back up, and I have a mixed grill to look forward to,” he says.
Constance Brownlow is a 38-year-old animal expert and entertainer. She has always been fascinated by animals, and she has spent her entire life learning about them. She knows more than most people about the behavior and habits of various creatures, and she loves educating others about them.
Constance is also an entertainer. She enjoys making people laugh and feel happy, and she uses her knowledge of animals to do this. She has performed all over the world, and she always leaves her audiences entertained and educated.