Posted on 08/23/2005 11:19:11 AM PDT by Loyalist
HALIFAX – Scientists will begin probing waters off Nova Scotia in search of a slimy creature they believe is slithering north and could be blanketing some of Canada’s richest fishing grounds. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey plan to head out today to a vast area over the Canadian portion of Georges Bank to look for a colony of sea squirts nicknamed the Blob for its icky texture and habit of covering almost everything in its path.
‘Covers the bottom’
“It’s something new. It covers up the bottom and it forms a barrier between fish and what fish feed on, so logically you’d think it could be a problem,” said Page Valentine, a scientist with the agency. “At some point, it could get so pervasive that everybody will realize we’ve got a problem out there, and it’ll be too late.”
Valentine discovered the organism, a simple tunicate with no skeleton that filters plankton, in 2002 on the U.S. side of Georges Bank. He returned in 2003 and found that it was covering an area of at least 15 square kilometres. A year later, a thick carpet of the porridge-like goop had spread over more than 104 square kilometres.
The creature, which measures one to two millimetres individually, attaches itself to rocky bottoms and proliferates rapidly until it creates a sometimes huge carpet that can come between various fish species and their food.
Unique life form
It’s not clear how much of a threat the unique life form poses to lobster, herring, swordfish, groundfish and tuna stocks, but it could be difficult to slow or control because it has no known predators.
The tunicate, whose scientific name is didemnum, been found in British Columbia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, France, California and the eastern U.S. seaboard, but scientists haven’t determined if they are all the same species.
Similar tunicates have attacked several shellfish operations around the world, including ones along the South Shore and in Prince Edward Island, by glomming on to mussels and oysters and killing them.
Kennedy Family reunion?......
Waiting for a picture of Kennedy.
Let me be the first to say.....Bush's fault.
a thick carpet of the porridge-like goop had spread over more than 104 square kilometres.
Well, maybe it could be poisoned. Are there any pesticides for it?
They'd have to be alcohol-free.
No, No, only the cold kills it. You've got to hit it with something really chilly....perhaps have Hillary smile at it for a while.
The oceans produce some scary stuff. The West coast of Fla. off St. Pete has had a red tide for a couple of months now killing thousands of fish.
LOL!
A new endangered species for the liberals to fawn over.
When I saw the title I instantly thought of Michael Moore, but Ted Kennedy would have been a close second. :)
So, how can we blame this on global warming :)
Sounds like a tax collector!
“It’s something new. It covers up the bottom and it forms a barrier between fish and what fish feed on, so logically you’d think it could be a problem,”
I just read Mikie Moore was going to a fat farm on here. The article did not say it was underwater though.
And those pics of Teddy cost me a drink of water and almost a keyboard.
Great minds think alike.
Has anybody tasted it?
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