These trout are cutthroat

Yellowstone National Park was the first of its kind anywhere in the world. Established in 1872 with the goal of preserving part of the American west for future generation, Yellowstone has undergone many changes in its years: there was the return of bison, eradication and then return of wolves and cougars, and the change of mindset from entertainment to preservation and education. These grand and majestic changes are fascinating and interesting to learn about, but our story today is about a humble fish. Today I will talk about cutthroat trout, one of only 11 species of fish native to the Park. There are two subspecies of cutthroat trout: Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout and Westslope Cutthroat Trout. Cutthroat trout face a couple of issues in Yellowstone, predation from introduced fish species and introduced diseases. This is a not good as cutthroat trout are extremely important in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Let's talk about their role in the ecosystem, threats to them, and what is being done to help preserve cutthroat trout.

Cutthroat trout are an important species in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. They are an essential prey item for many species including bears, otters, and osprey. Cutthroat trout are easily digested and have a lot of protein and fats making them one of the best energy sources for bears. These trout are needed for bears in early spring and summer to help regain body weight that was lost over the winter and help mother have enough energy to produce milk for her cubs. At these times cutthroat trout are swimming upstream from lake large rivers or lakes to shallow streams, where they breed. During these months bears wade into the streams and catch trout which can be a main source of food for many bears. The levels of trout are very important as a high-quality food-source. A decrease in high-quality food-sources can lead to the Park supporting lower bear populations. The spawning time of cutthroat trout is also important for river otters. The small young of the cutthroat are easy to catch for otters and adult cutthroat trout are great energy sources. Osprey depend on cutthroat trout as a major food source. Osprey are birds of prey that feed mostly on aquatic animals. Osprey can dive up to about 3 feet into the water and cutthroat rout usually do not swim much deeper than 3 feet. Cutthroat trout have been an important source of food for many animals for a long time and play an key ecological role.



Several items currently threaten cutthroat trout in Yellowstone National Park. A less substantial threat to cutthroat trout is hybridization of the two subspecies. The two subspecies are close enough related that they can breed. This leads to impure genetics and the combining of the two subspecies. Before Euro-americans arrived in Yellowstone and the United States began implementing management techniques to help save cutthroat trout in general, the two species would have been divided by geographic boundaries such as waterfalls and rivers that did not connect. In some areas this hybridization is natural. Another issue that is harming lake trout populations is whirling disease. Whirling disease is caused by a microscopic parasite that can infect the trout, but does not harm humans. the parasite will usually infect young trout and it will feed on their cartilage. This causes skeletal deformities, a blackened tail, and poor swimming abilities. This leads to fish being unable to feed normally and they are more likely to be caught and eaten by a predator. It is estimated to infect about 20% of the cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake and it has been shown in laboratory tests that cutthroat trout can readily get whirling disease. While cutthroat rout can get whirling disease lake trout cannot and they are a main predator of cutthroat in lakes. Scientists believe the parasite came from Europe via frozen fish products. Currently no treatment is available that could effectively stop  the spread of whirling disease. By far the greatest threat to cutthroat trout are lake trout. Lake trout were introduced to Lewis and Shoshone lakes, two fishless lakes, during the 1890's when the park put fish into the lakes for sport fishing. It is believed that someone transported illegally to Yellowstone Lake, either accidentally on purpose, in the 1890' and 1990's with the first confirmed catch in 1994. Lake trout do not fill the same role as cutthroat in the ecosystem. Lake trout grow much larger than cutthroat and an adult lake trout can eat about 41 cutthroat trout each year, about 80% of their diet. Young lake trout will also eat the same food that adult cutthroat trout eat. As lake trout age they go deeper and deeper into the lake. This is a drastic difference than cutthroat that only go to a depth of 3 feet. The large depth at which lake trout can be found means that bears cannot catch them and osprey cannot dive for them. Lake trout also spawn in the lake instead of shallow streams. This means they do not make journeys up river where bears and otters can catch them. Due to the introduction of lake trout the abundance of cutthroat trout at a prominent spawning locale declined from 70,000 in 1978 to 538 in 2007. The lake trout predate on cutthroat trout meaning their is less to breed and make the trek up river. This means less food for other animals and lake trout do not replace them in these behaviors. These are all serious issues that have damaged to number of cutthroat trout in Yellowstone.

A lot is being done to to reduce the number of lake trout in Yellowstone, but many believe that it will be impossible to completely remove it from the park. Gill-netting has removed over 1.7 million lake trout since 1994 and park visitors catch about 20,000 lake trout every year. This gill-netting has been relatively successful. When you compare levels of lake trout in 1984, 19.1 per net, to 2010 levels, 5.3 per net, to 2013 levels, 13.2 per net, you can see there was a significant decrease and then increase in cutthroat trout abundance. This is a positive sign that management may be working. Park staff have also been working to remove nonnative species from from many waterways throughout the park. There will be a long period of removal before cutthroat are reintroduced. The park has also begun to place barriers in waterways to prevent nonnative species from moving into new areas. Park authorities have also been raising both subspecies of cutthroat so that they may be reintroduced into select areas. The future is still uncertain for cutthroat trout, but things are looking better. The National Park Service has been working hard to keep this species around so that it may continue to fill its niche and exist for the sake of it existing.


Check out this video about the issues the trout face.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service. Go out and check out a national park and enjoy our beautiful country. Happy Birthday NPS!!




Sites to Check out:

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/fishaquaticspecies.htm

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/Westslope-Cutthroat-Trout.htm

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/whirlingdisease.htm

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/yellowstone-indepth-episode-2.htm

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/lake-trout.htm

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/Yellowstone-Cutthroat-Trout.htm

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/beartrout.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillnetting

Pictures:

http://goeddelphotography.com/uploads/photos/_large/otter-carrying-cutthroat-trout-yellowstone.jpg

http://fisheyeguyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/yellowstone-cutthroat-brook-trout-photo-yellowstone-river.jpg

http://www.thephotoforum.com/threads/tokina-vs-osprey-aka-osprey-gasm.327459/

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/a-day-of-gill-netting-makes-a-dent-in-yellowstone/article_72926eaa-8fcb-11df-a76a-001cc4c002e0.html

Beautiful Butterflies

Alright you all have probably been reading about some great birds or mammals in my blog posts but now let's talk about something that is a bit smaller; let's talk about bugs. I don't mean bugs in general I am talking about butterflies, monarch butterflies to be specific. These beautiful orange and black butterflies inhabit large parts of North America in the summer months and during the winter they will migrate to warmer regions such as California and Mexico. In Mexico and California they will breed and spend the winter there and a new generation will fly back to habitats across the United States and Canada that their ancestors once lived where they will breed and then their descendants will fly back to the warmth in the winter and so the cycle continues. It is amazing that monarch butterflies are able to consistently travel to the same spot because they have never been there before in their life. Monarchs will only live for between 6 weeks and 2 months with their butterfly stage lasting from 6 weeks to one month. You may have had six or more generations in a single year and those born in June will not live until October to migrate south and those born in November will never go north. This constant change of individuals is what makes the annual migration of millions of monarchs fascinating. While they may be super cool monarch butterflies are in trouble. The population of monarch butterflies in Mexico for the winter was around 1 billion in the 1990's and last year they determined that the current population only numbered 30 million. This is a decrease of 970 million monarch butterflies in about a 25 year period. The number of monarchs that was lost is almost three times the current population of the United States. There are a few issues that are affecting monarchs, but there are also solutions that are able to be completed by anybody.

You may be wondering what is causing monarch butterflies to decrease so rapidly in number. One problem the monarchs face is deforestation of their winter homes in Mexico. Research that was conducted by an international team and the Mexican government indicated that a little more than half of what was previously intact forest is still there. This deforestation is happening in areas that are labeled as protected by the Mexican goverment. The problem is that the locals don't see the value of this area in their daily lives. They needs this forested area for fuel for their fires or as timber to sell. The Mexican government suggested expanding the protected area as well as compensating the locals for the income they would lose by not harvesting from the forest. That is what is happening internationally but what about what is happening in your backyard or neighborhood to cause the decline of monarch butterflies. Two issues that are hurting monarchs near you are drought and pesticides. In regions of the western United State recent summers and winters with very little rainfall have hurt populations of monarchs because they have not been able to get enough water into their diets from flowering plants. Pesticides are designed to kill insects that feed on crops and a side effect of this is the death of bees and butterflies who actually help the plants by pollinating them. The greatest threat facing monarch butterflies is the loss of milkweed plants across the continent. Milkweeds are flowering plants that produce seed pods where the flowers were. These seed pods contain many little seeds that are attached to white silky hairs that are scattered by the wind. The plant is so named for the white, sticky sap that it produces. Milkweed has been removed when areas have houses built on them and prairies are turned into cropland. Milkweed is essential to monarchs as species of milkweed are the only type of plants that monarch butterflies lay their eggs on and that the caterpillars feed upon. Without these plants the reproductive cycle of the monarch butterfly is interrupted and they are unable to repopulate areas.

                                                

I chose this topic because I found it very interesting and is something I have been involved with personally. When I was younger my family raise two monarch butterflies from their chrysalises and then successfully released them. I also try to manage the prairie behind our house to keep milkweed there. I have seen milkweed plants there continuously since my childhood, but I do hope that we can increase their abundance. You too can help save the monarchs. As a homeowner you can plant flower gardens to attract butterflies and feed them. To help monarchs specifically make sure you plant milkweed to feed the caterpillars and give the females a place to lay their eggs. Milkweed plants can also feed adults with nectar. If you are going to plant a butterfly garden make sure you use plants native to your area as they are most beneficial for insects and the ecosystem around your house. Many wonder why it is so important that we save a species of butterfly and I believe Dr. Lincoln Brower said it best when a reporter asked him "What difference does it make if Monarch butterflies go extinct." Dr. Brower responded with "What difference does it make if the Mona Lisa is destroyed or England's Crown Jewels thrown into the trash?" "Who cares about the Crown Jewels?" he continued. "The fact is people, people do care about them; they line up by the hundreds in London to see them. Why? Because, as with the Mona Lisa, they have been taught that these objects have value, that they are a part of man's cultural heritage. Shouldn't it be the same for natural treasures?"

                                                                                

Articles

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/apr/15/monarch-butterflies-crisis-west-coast/

http://www.savethepinebush.org/News/OctNov00/Monarch.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/monarch-butterflies-face-population-crisis/

http://landscaping.about.com/od/wildflowers/p/milk_weed.htm

Pictures

http://weedpatchgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Common-milkweed-7-3-2013-5-37-09-PM-3240x4320-7-3-2013-5-37-010-768x1024.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Milkweed-in-seed.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Monarch_In_May.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Monarch_Butterfly_Danaus_plexippus_Caterpillar_2000px.jpg

What is this so-called "Animal Planet"

I looked high and low and finally I was able to find it, an article written by someone who had very similar to the thoughts I had, "Animal Planet is no longer about animals". I found this article by Jen Davies while using some very specific language in a search engine. Jen tells it how it is, for the most part, in her article from 2014. She says that now Animal Planet is a channel that hosts reality shows where animals are used for entertainment instead of shows that depict animals in a light that makes us appreciate them for being animals. This is something I completely agree with and let me tell you why.

Animal Planet and a few other channels used to have great, educational television shows about animals that were interesting and made the audience want to continue to watch them, There were great presenters and wildlife enthusiasts such as Steve Irwin, Jeff Corwin, the Kratt brothers, and Jack Hanna who knew their material and were willing to do a variety of different things so that you could witness the majesty of wild creatures. Many of these shows that these hosts were on aired in the 1990's and early 2000's and a generation of children grew up on them. These shows presented animals in their native locations and made you realize how important they were. The respect for nature and want to protect it was absorbed by children who usually saw it as a neat kitty or pretty snake. These children still learned a valuable lesson that many could be taught today about respect for nature. These children grew up at the perfect time when serial documentaries such as "Planet Earth" and "The Blue Planet" were being released and they could understand them. Now nature documentaries and television shows aren't new by any means. "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" and the "Nature" documentaries were educating folks of a previous generation and teaching them the beauty of nature. Then something happened and equivalents of many of these programs are hard to find on any television channel be it for adults or children.

Animal Planet now is a shell of its former self. Instead of having programming that reflects its name Animal Planet would prefer to show reality shows about things that may be vaguely related to animals, like "Call of the Wildman" a show about an exterminator who removes animals with his bare hands and releases them and is a show that Jen and Mother Jones magazine claims is staged, to shows that have absolutely nothing to do with animals, "Insane Pools" a show about pools not animals. This is sad that a channel that once heralded itself as a place to learn about animals is now nothing like that at all. Now I understand that the channel has had some hiccups like "Whale Wars", a show that depicts the illegal but moderately well intended acts of a crew of sailors who want to stop whaling, and the legal battle that took place and lead to the captain to being labeled as an internationally wanted man The show was a t least about animals and their plight at the hands of some humans. Animal Planet also went and changed their motto in 2010 to "Surprisingly Human". This is another step away from their roots. They are trying to focus on the human aspect of everything and losing the what made them a great channel, the educational and awe-inspiring programs about the critters that inhabit the planet. What Animal Planet is doing disappoints me and is why I no longer watch anything on that channel except the occasional documentary about animals they show once in a blue moon.

I went looking for a suitable replacement for the old Animal Planet, but I couldn't really find one that functioned the exact same way. I do think that Nat Geo Wild is a decent replacement and I think they had the essence of the old Animal Planet back in their early days. They used to have a lot of programs about animals and how awesome they were and that was it. They have since changed a bit and lost some of that programming in favor of the increasingly popular veterinary television shows like "The Incredible Dr. Pol", "Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet", and "Dr. K's Exotic Animal ER". Personally I have enjoyed these shows and they do talk about animals, but they do not focus on nature and wildlife like other programs. Discovery has also lost its way. They no longer show as many cool documentaries about nature or space or amazing things, instead they show naked people running around a jungle with a camera crew. Since Discovery's loss of "MythBusters", one of the longest running science based television shows, it really makes me wonder what the state of educational television in the United States is and if people even care.

I believe that the generation who grew up on Steve Irwin, Jeff Corwin, Jack Hanna, "Zooboomafoo", and "Planet Earth" will turn out to be some of the greatest biologists, veterinarians, zookeepers, wildlife researchers, and naturalists this country has ever seen. I also fear that with the decrease in educational programming for children that the next generation may not learn to apprectiate nature and this could have dire consequences for our planet. Please go watch some educational shows about animals, look up "The Crocodile Hunter" episodes on YouTube, watch "Zooboomafoo" with your kids on Netflix, hunt through your TV guide and find "Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures" on NBC or CBS at 6 in the morning and DVR them like I did, or simply go to the library or movie rental place and pick up a copy of any nature documentary so that we can all start loving nature again.


One of my heroes and inspirations.

Seabirds and Overfishing

Overfishing is a serious problem that is affecting the fish populations and marine ecosystems around the world. Honestly many people don't think about fish as suffering from the effects of humans but they do. A group of animals that people do think about more often is birds. Birds, specifically seabirds, are greatly affected by overfishing. When I talk about seabirds I am talking about a wide variety of species including: terns, gulls, albatross, puffins, auks, pelicans, penguins just to name a few. Now lets talk about overfishing, its effects on seabirds, and what you can do to help seabirds, the fish, and ocean ecosystems.

Overfishing is the act of catching more fish in an area than the system of that area can take and thus degrades the habitat. It is a non-sustainable way to use the oceans. Overfishing happens throughout the oceans of the world. It most often happens near the coasts which are also usually the homes to seabirds. One species that is commonly overfished along the coasts of Central and South America is sardines. Sardines are a vital part of many birds' diets. When sardines and other fish are over-harvested in select areas, a dead spot is created in the oceans. This dead spot leads to a collapse of the fishery and the loss of species that fed off of that fishery. Currently there are also more fishing boats than is sustaiable. It is estimated that "fishing fleets are two or three times larger than needed to take present day catches of fish and other marine species and as what our oceans can sustainably support" All of these fishing boats may not be larger scale commercial vessels; they may be locals who fish on smaller boats and sell their fish at market. Many large fishing vessels take their catch to be processed and it is then turned into fish meal that can be put in a large array of products. Together fishing ships of all size add up and hurt seabird populations.

According to a study by the University of British Columbia bird populations have declined by 70 percent since the 1950s. The seabirds need the fish to survive and without the fish they cannot. one article puts forth the idea that if the fish population reaches one-third of its maximum level then the number of birds will decline very rapidly. without sufficient levels of fish to eat the these seabirds will not reproduce. If seabirds do not reproduce this can devastate their population. Many species will only lay one nest of eggs per year or even only a single egg per year, many species will not lay another if the firs is lost, and some species may not lay an egg every year. Those reasons are why it is so important for these birds to reproduce. Seabirds also get caught in nets and fishing lines from fishermen. The loss of seabirds can effect the whole ecosystem by losing a major predator due to the loss of a major prey item. Seabirds are also a great way to judge the health of the oceans, if seabird populations are doing poorly then so are the oceans.

This all may sound bleak but there is hope. Scientists suggest that if fishers were to fish more modestly and in larger areas then they can help deter the effects of overfishing. It is also suggested that fishers be more mindful of the ecosystem they are impacting and try to help it rather than harm it.  Nations and international governing bodies have also been setting aside areas of oceans for wildlife preserves. These preserves act as safe havens for fish populations where they can breed and then some can leave when that area is full and occupy other areas that are fished. There are also several steps that consumers like you can take. You first you should try to be informed and congratulations you have already completed part of that by reading this post and you can go further and read the articles I have hyperlinked as well as written below. You should also look at what you are eating and choose fish that have been captured in sustainable ways with low impacts on the ocean. A great way to do this is to check the Guide to Good Fish Guides. This is a great resource to find a guide in your country to what sustainable fish would be to purchase. For the United State the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch is a fantastic guide that I have used several times with great results. You can also help the seabirds by passing on the word to all your friends. Together we can help the penguins, seagulls, albatross, and pelicans.

http://wildlife.org/overfishing-climate-change-push-mexican-seabirds-north/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120228123852.htm

https://www.audubon.org/news/overfishing-starves-seabirds-heres-how-fish-responsibly

http://overfishing.org/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150709102850.htm

What You Can Do to Help Orangutans

Orangutans belong to two species that are found on Indonesian islands in southeast Asia. Indonesia is an area that is having rapid population growth and where forest is being cleared for farming and roads.  The relatively small clearing of land for subsistence farms pales in comparison to what is done by palm oil plantations. First let's talk about what the impacts of the palm oil plantations are, then we will discuss what palm oil is, and finally how you can help the orangutans.

Palm oil plantations have been cropping up on many Indonesian islands as the industry continues to grow. The rate of consumption is doubling every ten years and according to the United Nations Environment Program palm oil plantations are the number one cause of rainforest loss in Malaysia and Indonesia.  Most of the palm oil grown in the world is grown on two southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. These two islands are the only islands where orangutans are found. In the countries of Indonesia and Malaysia there are many poor people and the palm oil trade has given many people jobs. While this is economically great for these countries it is bad for their rainforests. To create palm plantations the companies generally clear-cut (remove all of the trees in an area) and then burn millions of acres of rainforest. This happens every year as they need to grow more and more palm plants. The burns that the companies start often turn into uncontrolled fires that can wipe out large areas of rainforest as well as kill orangutans. One such fire in 1997-98 killed an estimated 8,000 orangutans. This was a serious blow to the population that hurts genetic variability and the amount of animals able to bear young. As acres of rainforest is cleared for plantations, it turns connected areas of rainforest into islands. Orangutans may become isolated in these islands and not able to contact other orangutans for mating and social purposes. These isolated areas of rainforest also may end up not having enough resources to support a population of orangutans so they eventually die out or leave this area. The increasing amount of non-sustainable palm oil plantation growth is causing the extinction of orangutans and if things do not change they may go extinct in the near future.

Palm oil is found in almost 50% of the products you use on a daily basis. Palm oil is found in cookies, crackers, shampoos, soaps, lotions, makeup, pet food, and all sorts of other products. It is the most widely produced edible oil. Palm oil is able to produce the highest amount of oil per plant of all vegetable oils and is the cheapest to make into a usable product. The low cost has increased interest in using palm oil as a bio-fuel and due to its chemical composition and health benefits it has become an increasingly used item in health foods. Palm oil is named in a variety of ways. It may be called palm kernel oil, palmitate, or palmitic acid. There are over 50 names for palm oil that are used in many different items. If you are looking for palm oil you need to be vigilant and look for any of the names in the list below and on almost any product.

1. arachamide mea	25. palmitate
2. capric triglyceride	26. palmitoyl oxostearamide
3. caprylic triglyceride	27. palmitoyl tetrapeptide-3
4. caprylyl glycol	28. peg-100 stearate
5. cetyl alcohol	29. peptide complex
6. cocoa butter equivalent (CBE)	30. saponified elaeis guineensis
7. cocoa butter substitute (CBE)	31. sls
8. elaeis guineensis	32. sodium lauryl
9. emulsifier (some can be palm oil derived)	33. sodium lauryl sulphate
10. epoxidized palm oil (UV cured coatings)	34. sodium lauryl sulfate
11. ethylene glycol monostearate	35. sodium lauryl sulfoacetate
12. ethylhexyl palmitate	36. sodium palm kernelate
13. fatty alcohol sulphates	37. sodium palmate
14. glyceryl stearate	38. sodium stearate
15. isopropyl	39. sodium laureth sulfate
16. isopropyl palmitate	40. sodium laureth sulphate
17. mono-glycerides of fatty acids	41. sodium lauroyl lactylate
18. myristoyl	42. stearamidopropyl dimethylamine
19. octyl palmitate	43. steareth-2
20. oleyl betaine	44. steareth-20
21. palm kernel oil	45. steareth-21
22. palm oil	46. stearic acid
23. palm olein	47. vegetable oil
24. palm stearine	48. vitamin A palmitate

Table from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Now there is hope and you can help. The palm oil industry has been taking steps to improve sustainability and if done right, palm oil is the most productive and sustainable vegetable oil. These sustainable companies use pesticides safely, take good care of their employees, dispose of waste correctly, and use the land as productively as possible. To ensure this sustainability the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has been formed and certifies plantations. Any plantation not certified by the RSPO has harmed wildlife, violated the rights or natives, or had negative environmental impacts. These are companies who do not help the orangutans and cause further harm to them. You can look for products that have been labeled with the RSPO logo below. You can also help by trying to buy alternatives that do not contain palm oil or palm oil that was grown sustainably to products with palm oil. There are apps from the El Paso Zoo and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo as well as other to help you do this and they are available on the App Store or from Google Play. These apps will allow you to differentiate between the products. Companies who get more support from consumers who prefer sustainable palm oil will pass that on and work to make palm oil more sustainable. There are many more ways you can help orangutans and learn about these majestic apes. You can check out the following links to gather more information and find those apps. I learned a lot by reading these sites and found them extremely helpful. As an average person you may not always see yourself as being able to help wildlife around the world but you can if you make the effort. Help save the orangutans from extinction.

http://www.cmzoo.org/index.php/conservation-matters/palm-Oil-Crisis/

https://redapes.org/about-orangutans/orangutan-crisis/

http://www.elpasozoo.org/news/el-paso-zoo-launches-mobile-application-to-help-save-orangutans-elephants-and-their-habitat