Australian hybrid fish story – Media jumps the shark ( Global Warming blamed )

watts up with that? ^ | January 4, 2012 | Anthony Watts

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Pretty much everyone who has seen this today shakes their head and wonders. I’m wondering too. First, the story which is being serially regurgitated without any thought in media outlets world wide:

Please  read this excepted text from the story carefully:

In what is being hailed as the world’s first evidence of inter-species breeding among sharks, a team of marine researchers at the University of Queensland have identified 57 hybrid sharks in waters off Australia‘s east coast.

…

Ovenden speculated that the two species began mating in response to environmental change, as the hybrid blacktips are able to travel further south to cooler waters than the Australian blacktips. The team is looking into climate change and human fishing, among other potential triggers.

Pretty clear with the headline, right? There’s more examples of this, such as this one from the Business Insider which takes the cake:

Now, read the actual press release from the University of Queensland this story was based on:

World-first discovery of hybrid sharks off Australia’s east coast

[TASMANIANRED]

Lab breeds with Poodle and creates Labradoodle...Proof of global warming.

[Oztrich Boy]

A shark can adapt to changing climate.

Except the theory they give makes no sense

Ovenden speculated that the two species began mating in response to environmental change, as the hybrid blacktips are able to travel further south to cooler waters than the Australian blacktips

That would have always been the case, the hybrid advantage of greater range would have been there before global warming. If anything warming oceans would have been an advantage to unhybridized Australian blacktips which could then go further south anyway.

It might make sense if the oceans were cooling. That would put environmental pressure on all blacktips and restrict their range. Hybrid blacktips could then fill the environmental niche of the waters which unhybridized Australian blacktips had had to abandon.

[VA Voter]

The detailed article quotes from “Business Insider” which is NOT a conservative website. It actually supports liberal doctrine.

[dartuser]

Lab breeds with Poodle and creates Labradoodle...Proof of global warming.

That does appear to be the logic.

[SouthTexas]

It was a touch of sarcasm. Sharks have been there, done that before there even were T-shirts. ;)