Big Hungry Squid Invade California Waters

Voracious Jumbo Squid Invade California
AP

MONTEREY, Calif. (July 25) - Jumbo squid that can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 110 pounds are invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations, according to a study published Tuesday.

An aggressive predator, the Humboldt squid - or Dosidicus gigas - can change its eating habits to consume the food supply favored by tuna and sharks, its closest competitors, according to an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

"Having a new, voracious predator set up shop here in California may be yet another thing for fishermen to compete with," said the study's co-author, Stanford University researcher Louis Zeidberg. "That said, if a squid saw a human they would jet the other way."

The jumbo squid used to be found only in the Pacific Ocean's warmest stretches near the equator. In the last 16 years, it has expanded its territory throughout California waters, and squid have even been found in the icy waters off Alaska, Zeidberg said.

Zeidberg's co-author, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute senior scientist Bruce Robison, first spotted the jumbo squid here in 1997, when one swam past the lens of a camera mounted on a submersible thousands of feet below the ocean's surface.

More were observed through 1999, but the squid weren't seen again locally until the fall of 2002. Since their return, scientists have noted a corresponding drop in the population of Pacific hake, a whitefish the squid feeds on that is often used in fish sticks, Zeidberg said."As they've come and gone, the hake have dropped off," Zeidberg said.

"We're just beginning to figure out how the pieces fit together, but this is most likely going to shake things up.

"Before the 1970s, the giant squid were typically found in the Eastern Pacific, and in coastal waters spanning from Peru to Costa Rica. But as the populations of its natural predators - like large tuna, sharks and swordfish - declined because of fishing, the squids moved northward and started eating different species that thrive in colder waters.

Local marine mammals needn't worry about the squid's arrival since they're higher up on the food chain, but lanternfish, krill, anchovies and rockfish are all fair game, Zeidberg said.

A fishermen's organization said Tuesday they were monitoring the squid's impact on commercial fisheries.

"In years of high upwellings, when the ocean is just bountiful, it probably wouldn't do anything," Zeke Grader, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "But in bad years it could be a problem to have a new predator competing at the top of the food chain."

Ever notice how California always seems to get invaded or populated by some kind of sea monsters. Like, it's not bad enough that they are a feeding ground for "great white sharks". Now, they have "huge" squid that are not exactly cute, cuddly or friendly. Makes for a nice comfy day at the beach! But hey, they are our fellow creatures, and, as an animal person, I support them being there.

Animalz Rule,

Bobby Sharpe www.myspace.com/akuasharpe BobbySharpe.blogspot.com

Animal Rights In Spiritualism

Animal Rights in Spiritualism aims to function in the same way as any other animal rights group, the only difference being that A.R.I.S literature will emphasise the spiritual side of the argument and their venues for setting up stall will be churches/centres worldwide. Their words will be designed to bring about an awareness of the fact that animals are not only able to suffer on a physical, mental and emotional level (just as we are) but have a spirit capable of love, thought and survival over death.

Other creatures are not here for our use but for their own spiritual progression. What Great Spirit worth its light would divine a law that favoured one species at the expense of another? Material bodies.....are just vehicles for the soul to work through and when they are shed the spirit within is seen as the sum of the love it gave in life…..or didn’t......

Because we have entered bodies with greater brain capacity than that of some other animals, we have a duty to protect and care for them where it is needed and to leave them to fulfil their lives in their own environment where not. We cannot think that because they have a lower intellect than ours they have nothing to offer but their bodies for us to eat, wear, experiment upon and torment in the name of sport, science, fashion and our taste-buds, no more than we would consider roasting a mental patient for lunch.

So, where limited intelligence cannot be used as an excuse to inflict torture, society will look for a blessing to absolve itself of all wrong-doing…. in religion. Most faiths have a lot to answer for in this respect, for their denial that an animal has a soul implies not only that it has little sensitivity to pain and fear, but adds weight, in their follower’s eyes, to the belief that its life is pointless beyond one of servitude to homo sapiens.

Others suggest that these creatures do have a soul but know they are here for human benefit, gladly giving themselves as a sacrifice for our good. Tell that to the cow who walked five miles, searching frantically for her calf who had been taken away to slaughter, the turkey, living in a crowded shed with no windows, suffering painful joints due to the way it is bred for the Christmas dinner plate or the laboratory animal living in near darkness, having a fit after being force-fed drugs through a stomach tube. It may be true that most of these victims do not bear a grudge (and it is this selfless virtue that is picked up by some psychics who put forward this theory) but that does not mean they accept the horrors we inflict upon them.

"Below are some extracts from both the teachings and philosophy of the renowned guide SILVER BIRCH regarding animal abuse:

“How can that which is cruel be right? How can that which causes pain, inflicts torture, be right? It is contrary to all that we teach. It is wrong to experiment on those who are not capable of resisting. Your world cannot produce remedies for the diseases which it has created by living contrary to the laws of The Great Spirit. There will be found remedies for all your diseases but they will not be found by experiments on animals.”

Let us have a voice on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, from the rostrum, in the newspapers and after service at every spiritualist/psychic centre in the world. Pledge your help now!

Hope this article wakes some folks up that have NO respect or anything for our fellow creatures. As the picture says, "animal love is pure love". It is also unconditional!

If YOU would like more reading materials on animals and spiritualism and, their oneness with us, check out "The Spiral Circle" bookstore at New Age, metaphysical, bookstore, spiritual, enlightenment

Peace & Love, Animalz Rule

Bobby SharpeBobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz" www.myspace.com/akuasharpe

Chinese "Dragon Bones" and Amazon Monster

Chinese Villagers Eat Dinosaur Bones

BEIJING (July 4) - Villagers in central China dug up a ton of dinosaur bones and boiled them in soup or ground them into powder for traditional medicine, believing they were from flying dragons and had healing powers.

Until last year, the fossils were being sold in Henan province as "dragon bones" at about 4 yuan (50 cents) per kilogram (2.2 pounds), scientist Dong Zhiming told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Dong, a professor with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said when the villagers found out the bones were from dinosaurs they donated 200 kilograms (440 pounds) to him and his colleagues for research."They had believed that the 'dragon bones' were from the dragons flying in the sky," he said.

The calcium-rich bones were sometimes boiled with other ingredients and fed to children as a treatment for dizziness and leg cramps. Other times they were ground up and made into a paste that was applied directly to fractures and other injuries, he said.

The practice had been going on for at least two decades, he said.

Dong was among a team of scientists who recently excavated in Henan's Ruyang County a 60-foot-long plant-eating dinosaur, which lived 85 million to 100 million years ago. Local officials held a news conference Tuesday, showing off the find to the public for the first time.

Another two dinosaur fossils were being excavated in the area, which is rich in fossilized dinosaur eggs, Dong said.

The Chinese have also recently discovered bones they say belonged to a dinosaur that was as big or bigger than a T-Rex and could fly! Who said "dragons don't or didn't exist? I seriously do not believe these people are fabricating all this stuff with "dragon bones" etc. We shall see, sooner or, later!

Amazon Monster Is Only a Myth. Or Is It?
By LARRY ROHTER

RIO BRANCO, Brazil (July 8) -- Perhaps it is nothing more than a legend, as skeptics say. Or maybe it is real, as those who claim to have seen it avow. But the mere mention of the mapinguary, the giant slothlike monster of the Amazon, is enough to send shivers down the spines of almost all who dwell in the world’s largest rain forest.

The folklore here is full of tales of encounters with the creature, and nearly every Indian tribe in the Amazon, including those that have had no contact with one another, have a word for the mapinguary (pronounced ma-ping-wahr-EE). The name is usually translated as “the roaring animal” or “the fetid beast.”

So widespread and so consistent are such accounts that in recent years a few scientists have organized expeditions to try to find the creature. They have not succeeded, but at least one says he can explain the beast and its origins.

I keep telling everyone, "there is stuff here that NO ONE wants to acknowledge, but, sooner or later, it all comes to surface"! If YOU would like to read the rest of this story, click the link Amazon Monster Is Only a Myth. Or Is It?

"The more YOU know, the more YOU grow,

The more YOU grow, the further YOU go"

Bobby Sharpewww.myspace.com/akuasharpe BobbySharpe.blogspot.com

Boto? Rare Pink Dolphin In Louisiana

It's sleek, fast, cute — and pink.

A charter-boat captain from Lake Charles, La., photographed a rare pink dolphin a couple of weeks ago in Calcasieu Lake, an estuary just north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern Louisiana.

According to Calcasieu Charter Service's Web site, Capt. Erik Rue was on the lake June 24 with fishing customers when five dolphins came into view — four normal-looking gray ones, and a bright pink one that appeared to be an adolescent.

"It appears to be an uncanny freak of nature, an albino dolphin, with reddish eyes and glossy pink skin," the Web site reads. "It is small in comparison to the others it is traveling with and appears to be a youngster traveling with mama."

There is a species of pink dolphin that lives in the Amazon River in South America, but this one appears to be a more common bottlenose dolphin.

See, you never know. Just when YOU think YOU have seen it all, BAM, out of nowhere, a "pink dolphin". And yes, pink dolphins do exist. The one that lives in the Amazon River is known as a "boto". There are also pink dolphins that live in China.

Here are two links to sites that will give YOU more info on pink dolphins and, more pictures of the Louisiana dolphin. Endangered Dolphin Duck Hunting, Goose Hunting & Saltwater Fishing in Louisiana & Texas

"The more YOU know, the more YOU grow,

The more YOU grow, the further YOU go"

Bobby Sharpewww.myspace.com/akuasharpe BobbySharpe.blogspot.com