The World Is Beautiful

The Lionfish.  Swimming the oceans with grace and beauty.  Like snowflakes, each one slightly different from the next with one exception, a single snowflake isn’t deadly…but a single Lionfish, IS.

Dramatic enough for ya?  I couldn’t help it!  I think these creatures are just lovely!

 Keep your distance though, as beautiful as they are, there’s more to them that meets the eye.   As I stated, life will find a way and the Lionfish is doing just that:

As reported on TCNews.com: Top scientists are warning about an impending invasion of a poisonous fish into Florida’s waters.

The lionfish, a native of the Pacific Ocean, is both gorgeous and dangerous. Many people may have never seen a lionfish in the waters surrounding Florida, but that will soon change.

Scientists don’t use the word “invasion” lightly, but that’s exactly what they are predicting of the exotic-looking lionfish.

The poisonous tips on the lionfish’s fins could present a danger to people who swim, dive or work in Florida waters.

Aquarium manager Anthony Bartolome said he has been stung five times by lionfish.

“It pretty much burns like fire,” Bartolome said. 

The pain from a lionfish sting lasts for about 15 to 20 minutes. The lionfish’s sting is so serious it can send victims to the hospital and even kill them.

“There is no anti-venom for this,” said Lad Akins, executive director of Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF).

Experts are so concerned about the impending invasion of lionfish they are desperately trying to warn the public.

“They’re also very bold fish, especially in this new Atlantic range where it appears that they have few, if any, predators,” Akins stated.

Lionfish have no predators because they do not belong in the Atlantic Ocean. There is nothing here to eat them or stop them from eating Florida’s reef fish.

When lionfish grow too big, aquarium owners begin dumping the fish right into the Atlantic Ocean.

Now they are breeding at a rapid pace, experts said.

Scientists and volunteers are feverishly trying to fight the invasion of lionfish.

 There’s one thing I know for sure, Life will find a way.  I learned that when watching Jurrasic Park the movie and I find that statement to be very much true.  It is irresponsible of us to believe we are the only creatures in the universe when all around us life forms are being discovered and what is already here, is evolving to adapt to the environmental changes we are experiencing.  So  it should come as not suprise to anyone to find that Scientists have discovered a new life form in Australia!

Found on Yahoo Science, written by Amy Coopes:

SYDNEY (AFP) – Scientists said Sunday they had uncovered new marine animals in their search of previously unexplored Australian waters, along with a bizarre carnivorous sea squirt and ocean-dwelling spiders.

A joint US-Australian team spent a month in deep waters off the coast of the southern island of Tasmania to “search for life deeper than any previous voyage in Australian waters,” lead researcher Ron Thresher said.

What they found were not only species new to science — including previously undescribed soft corals — but fresh indications of global warming’s threat to the country’s unique marine life.

“Our sampling documented the deepest known Australian fauna, including a bizarre carnivorous sea squirt, sea spiders and giant sponges, and previously unknown marine communities dominated by gooseneck barnacles and millions of round, purple-spotted sea anemones,” Thresher said.

Using a submersible car-sized robot named Jason, the team explored a rift in the earth’s crust known as the Tasman Fracture Zone, a sheer two kilometre (1.24 mile) drop to 4,000 metres (13,200 feet) below the ocean’s surface.

Blogging on board the ship, researcher Adam Subhas said the team witnessed some “cool biology” as they descended the fracture, including the sea squirt, which he described as “basically an underwater Venus fly trap, but much bigger.”

The sea squirt, also known as an ascidian, stands 50 centimetres tall on the sea floor at a depth of just over 4,000 metres. It traps prey in its funnel-like front section if they touch it when they swim past.

“The geology was fascinating too — the sediment was incredibly fine and lightly packed; it made me think of powder snow,” Subhas wrote.

Fossil coral fields were found, dating back more than 10,000 years. Thresher said samples taken would provide ancient climate data for use in global warming projections.

“Modern-day deep-water coral reefs were also found, however, there is strong evidence that this reef system is dying, with most reef-forming coral deeper than 1,300 metres newly dead,” he said.

Though close analysis of samples was still required, Thresher said modelling suggested ocean acidification could be responsible.

“If our analysis identifies this phenomenon as the cause of the reef system’s demise, then the impact we are seeing now below 1,300 metres might extend to the shallower portions of the deep-reefs over the next 50 years, threatening this entire community,” he said.

Rising sea temperatures are blamed on global warming caused by the build-up in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide — which is also blamed for higher acidity in sea water.

A UN report warned in 2007 that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, described as the world’s largest living organism, could be killed by climate change within decades.

The World Heritage site and major tourist attraction, stretching over more than 345,000 square kilometres (133,000 square miles) off Australia’s east coast, could become “functionally extinct”, the report said.

Love all of God’s creatures. This includes rodents. Yes, unfortunately our lovable, wonderful new weeks old half Persian Guinea Pig adoringly named Dr. Pepper is classified as a rodent.  But love him nonetheless, yes we do!

And, here is something you probably did not know. March in Milwaulkee is “adopt a Guinea Pig Month.”  Come on, you have to love that.

  I thought it would be nice to give a little history on this adorable, quite lovable creature:

Guinea pigs originated from South America where several different species can still be found. The ancestor of the domesticated guinea pig is thought to be the restless cavy, Cavia cutleri. The restless cavy lives in big family groups in the long grass, being protected from preditors by overhanging stems. They don’t burrow for themselves but instead use abandoned burrows from other animals. 

They can be attacked by meat-eating enemies so they are shy and get scared very quickly. Young cavies are not born in the safety of a burrow but out in the open. They are born fully furred with their eyes open and within two days after being born they are eating the same food as their parents.

Before the Spanish conquest of South America in the 16th century, the Incas kept them for food and even today the Peruvians breed them for their meat. Sailors, who were probably the first people to do so, kept them as pets and brought them to Europe from South America. Many people believe that is how they got their name the ‘guinea pig’, because the sailors sold them for one guinea and they make squeaking noises like a pig. Today many different breeds of guinea pig exist through the careful breeding and selection carried out over many years. Guinea pigs are nosey, friendly characters but they still retain some of their original habits, for example, very few guinea pigs will dig and they will rumage around looking for food.  (Found on Pimms-Pages).

What would the world be like without our precious furry animals to snuggle up to and adore? Lonely, that’s for sure.

For the East, the past two days have been well, slippery! When I woke this morning, my world was covered in ice. This is the view from my bathroom window.  The air is crisp and clean!

When the weather gets like this, we always try to feed the deer in the area. The deer in my community travel in little packs. They’ve learned to be aware of the cars on the road and trust people enough to be hand fed. It could be that they are hungry enough to come close to man, but I feel it is our responsibility to help take care of God’s creatures during the hard times.  There is a momma we’ve named Big Momma because she travels with 4 young deer. I don’t know if they are all her children as I have never seen a Doe with more than two babies, but we’ve named them all.

He took it right from her hand! Connecting with nature is a beautiful thing!

What is your favorite place in the whole entire world? Is it Niagra Falls, The Grand Canyon, or Yellowstone National Park? Or maybe your own backyard perhaps?  How about where the air is warm and the cacti are prickly? It’s your choice now!

Boyoma Falls, Congo

I found the following Associate Press article on Yahoo and it just goes to prove that BEAUTY IS everywhere! 

GENEVA – The Grand Canyon, Mount Everest and Loch Ness will vie with more than 200 other spectacular places in the next phase of the global competition for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, organizers said Wednesday. The 261 nominees from 222 countries include some of the most famous mountain peaks, lakes, and other attractions, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Niagara Falls.

Over a billion people are expected to join in Internet voting that will nominate 77 semifinalists for the top natural wonders, which will share in the glory already enjoyed by the seven man-made wonders chosen 18 months ago.

“We are calling on people all over the world to actively show their appreciation for our … natural world by joining together to celebrate the most extraordinary sites on our planet,” said Tia Viering, spokeswoman of the New 7 Wonders campaign. To read the entire article,  click here!

Tubbataha Reef    Chocolate Hills

This is very exciting! There are numerous photographs to view and vote for, we only have 7 votes each, so make them count! You can also receive a certificate stating you voted!

The New 7 Wonders of Nature Campaign!