Bali's Hidden Magic (Eight New Fish and One New Coral Species)

Shear English - Scientists from Conservation International have discovered eight new fish and one new coral species off Indonesia’s Bali island. The new species include eels and damsels, the colourful little fish that dart among coral branches and help give reefs their dazzling appearance while playing a key role in reef ecology.

“We have carried out a marine survey in 33 sites around Bali island. We have identified 952 reef fish, and among them we discovered eight new species,” team senior adviser Mark Van Nydeck Erdmann said.

The surveys were carried out off the popular tourist island’s northeast coast at Tulamben, a well-known recreational dive site, as well as Nusa Dua, Gili Manuk and Pemuteran, at depths of 10 to 70 metres (11 to 77 yards).

Erdmann said the new fish species had not been named but they were in the genuses of Siphamia, Heteroconger, Apogon, Parapercis, Meiacanthus, Manonichthys, Grallenia and Pseudochromis. In their two-week marine survey which ended Wednesday, the team also found a new species of Euphyllia or bubble coral.

Indonesia is a massive archipelago of 17,000 islands which form part of the so-called Coral Triangle, an area of rich marine biodiversity deemed vital to the health of the seas and global food stocks. Tulamben is the grave of the US Army Transport ship Liberty, which was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1942. 

English - KOMPAS.com

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Migration of Tringa Birds to Air Mati Beach - Ketapang

Shear English - Tringa brevipe birds of Siberia, Northern Asia, from March to April migrated to Air Mati Beach, Muara Pawan district, Ketapang district for search of food in the winter, an environmental activist said here Monday. The birds which were looking for food in the muddy shore are 25 centimeters long, a member of Bird Observers Association (bird watching) of Ketapang bird’s friends, Abdurachman Alkadri noted.

"The birds are one of the migrant birds from other countries," Abdurachman said.

They are also regular visitors of Air Mati Beach. In March and April they can still be found in Air Mati, Sungai Pawan village. According to him, the bird watchers association, managed to capture the activity of the birds including while they were looking for food.

"These birds migrate from their original place to the continent with a tropical climate or a tropical country to avoid the winter, " Abdurachman explained.

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More Radiation from Nuclear Plant Could Cause "Bizarre Mutations"

Shear English - In the past week, seawater samples taken near the nuclear power plant, on Japan's eastern coast, have shown elevated levels of radioactive isotopes, including cesium 137 and iodine 131, according to the New York Times. All life on Earth and in the oceans lives with exposure to natural levels of ionizing radiation—high-frequency radiation with enough energy to change DNA. Most such genetic damage heals, but the addition of human-made radiation can make it harder for the body to repair broken genes.

Radiation concentrations in the Japanese seawater samples have fluctuated in past days, but on Wednesday the amount of iodine spiked to 3,355 times the legal limit for seawater, Japanese nuclear safety officials told the Associated Press. That level is the highest so far—and an indication that more radiation is entering the ocean, though how is still unknown, the agency reported. Cesium was also found to be 20 times its safety limit on March 28, according to the Times.

Radiation Can Cause "Bizarre Mutations"

Once in seawater, radiation can hurt ocean animals in several ways—by killing them outright, creating "bizarre mutations" in their offspring, or passing radioactive material up the food chain, according to Joseph Rachlin, director of Lehman College's Laboratory for Marine and Estuarine Research in New York City.

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