The average person when encountering the word ‘bear’ would think along the lines of a grizzly, brown, black, or polar bear. Certainly only a few people would think about the water bear, which is among the most unknown and most fascinating creatures on earth.
Courtesy illustration / The water bear is a tiny creature.The scientific name of the water beer is Tardigrada - slow-walking animals. The existence of Tardigrades (commonly known as water bears or moss piglets) has been reported to be almost everywhere on earth – these polyextremophiles can be found in hot springs, on top of the Himalayas, in more than 16 feet of solid ice as well as in ocean sediments. The most convenient place to find water bears is on lichens and mosses.
Other environments are dunes, beaches, soil, and marine or freshwater sediments, where they may occur quite frequently (up to 25,000 animals per liter). Tardigrades often can be found by soaking a piece of moss in spring water. Several species can be found in milder environments such as lakes, ponds and meadows.
How can an animal be found almost everywhere and at the same time is unknown to almost everybody? Ask your neighbor whether he or she knows of a water bear – most likely they will not have heard of one.
It has been described as “strange is this animal ... because it resembles a bear in miniature."
There are several reasons for the fact that we have only relatively few light microscopic photographs of water bears in the literature and on the Web. Water bears have a thick cylindrical body and they walk on their legs.
So, when using a microscope to examine a water bear from above, there will always be a problem with depth of focus. Water bears cannot tolerate being harshly fixed and flattened by the pressure of a cover-glass on as glass slide because they disintegrate and die immediately.
Moss cushions are miniature jungles which cannot be easily investigated under the microscope. Furthermore, some species cannot be kept easily in water for more than one day. On the other hand, when looking at animations at about 100 microns, one can view the impressive head with the red eyes and the dangerous claws.
The claws can move in a smooth motion very similar to the movements of a cat. Furthermore one cannot help but note the two stylets which the water bear uses to prepare its plant cell meal.
Some water bears have a color which might make a cherry seem a rather pale red. The dimensions of the well-fed animals are definitely beyond focus depth. Water bears have barrel-shaped bodies with four pairs of stubby legs. Most range from 0.012 to 0.020 inch in length, although the largest species may reach 0.047 inches.
The body has four segments (not counting the head), four pairs of legs without joints, and feet with four to eight claws each. The cuticle contains chitin and is molted periodically. The biggest adults may reach a body length of 0.059 inches, the smallest below 0.004 inches.
Freshly hatched larvae may be smaller than 0.002 inches. More than 1,000 species of tardigrades have been described to occur over the entire world, from the high Himalayas above 20,000 feet, to the deep sea to below 13,000 feet and from the Polar Regions to the equator.
A European Space Agency has experimented and shown that these tiny invertebrates can survive in the vacuum of space.
Water bears were the first animals known to be able to survive the harsh combination of low pressure and intense radiation found in space. Water bears, also known as tardigrades, are known for their virtual indestructibility on Earth. The creatures can survive intense pressures, huge doses of radiation, and years of being dried out.
To further test their hardiness, a Swedish scientist in September 2007 launched two species of dried-up Tardigrades from the European Space Agency’s M3 mission, which carried a variety of experimental payloads. After 10 days of exposure to space, the satellite returned to Earth.
The Tardigrades were retrieved and rehydrated to test how they reacted to the airless conditions in space, as well as ultraviolet radiation from the Sun and charged particles from space called cosmic rays. The vacuum itself seemed to have little effect on the creatures. But ultraviolet radiation, which can damage cellular material and DNA, did take its toll. In one of the two species tested, 68% of specimens that were shielded from higher-energy radiation from the Sun were revived within 30 minutes of being rehydrated.
Many of these Tardigrades went on to lay eggs that successfully hatched. However, only a handful of animals survived the full exposure to the Sun's UV light, which is more than 1000 times stronger in space than on the Earth's surface.
Before this experiment, only lichen and bacteria were known to be able to survive exposure to the combination of vacuum and space radiation. "No animal has survived open space before," says the University of North Carolina’s developmental biologist, Bob Goldstein, who was not affiliated with the study. "The finding that animals survived rehydration after 10 days in open space and then produced viable embryos as well - is really remarkable."
Water bears are able to survive in extreme environments that would kill almost any other animal. Some can survive temperatures of -459 °F; close to absolute zero, temperatures as high as 304 °F; 1,000 times more radiation than other animals; and almost a decade without water.
The body cavity of a water bear consists of a hemocoel {a single cell filled with blood), but the only place where a true coelom can be found is around the gonad. There are no respiratory organs, with gas exchange able to occur across the whole of the body.
Volusia County Fishing Report
The sea surface temperatures around Ponce Inlet are in the mid-70s. In the surf and around the piers, catches of whiting, bluefish, black drum, pompano and trout have been reported. In the inlet and along the jetties, there have been catches of whiting, bluefish, pompano, and sheepshead. In the Halifax River, there are plenty of fingerling mullet and anglers catching flounder and tarpon.
Up in the Tomoka River and basin, slot sized-redfish were reportedly caught using live shrimp fished over the oyster beds. Further down the river there were reports of several tarpon caught in the Dunlawton bridge area.
In the Mosquito and Indian River Lagoons, both single redfish as well as schools of twenty to thirty fish schools following schools of baitfish. Offshore mahi-mahi action was still good.
There was a report of a live weed line in about 200 feet of water. I have been repeatedly asked what is the difference between a live and dead weed line. Many times you will see boats trolling up and down a weedline. As you watch them they go for hours not catching anything.
Why you ask – are they fishing that weedline? They have false hopes that they will catch fish on that dead weed line. When we approach a weed line, I generally stay off it a short distance before approaching it and look for any baitfish activity. If I do not see any baitfish, I do not fish the weed line regardless how big it is. A weed line is formed by wind and currents. It serves as an excellent attraction for baitfish to feed and find safety.
However, if the baitfish have not found it yet or for some reason do not like the weedline then there is no sense fishing it. The predators do not generally stay under weed lines without bait so you should not waste your time .trolling dead weedlines There are other signs that will indicate whether the weed line you are approaching is a dead or live one.
The most common indicator of a live weed line is bird activity. If birds are diving on a weedline, that is an excellent sign. They are feeding on the bait or more probably the scraps left after a predator caught and consumed some of the bait. If the birds are hovering in the air sneak up to about where they are looking down and see what is going on.
New report on catch data
On April 29, 2011 a new method for measuring biomass revealed that fish stock are more stable than widely believed, according to a University of Washington researcher. In a study published in the journal Conservation Biology, Dr. Trevor Branch of the University of Washington said biomass data from stock assessments is a much more accurate measurement of stocks. He added that the inappropriate use of time trends in catch data “greatly” overestimates the percentage of stocks collapsed and overexploited.
If biomass data is used to gauge stocks, only 2 percent of fisheries are collapsed and 26 percent overexploited or collapsed, according to Branch. But, if catch data is used, around 30 percent of stocks are collapsed and around 70 percent are overexploited or collapsed.
Branch’s analysis suggests that fisheries management has led to stabilization, and even recovery, of many fisheries worldwide. “Instead of focusing on what we take out of the oceans (catches), we should be examining the actual state of the ecosystem (biomass data),” Branch said. “Catch data produce seriously biased estimates of what is going on in ocean ecosystems, and we need more effort expended on scientific surveys and stock assessments, especially in areas that are currently poorly assessed.”
Washington legislation would halt federal ban on fishing tackle ands ammunition
Bipartisan legislation has been introduced that would halt efforts to federally ban traditional fishing tackle and ammunition. Senators Jon Tester, D-Mont., and John Thune, R-SD, and Representatives Jeff Miller, R-Fl, and Mike Ross, D-Ark., introduced the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Sports Protection Act (S. 838 and H.R. 1558) to help ensure that any future regulations on fishing tackle are established based on scientific data instead of unjustified petitions.
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency dismissed a petition filed by several organizations seeking to ban the manufacture and trade of lead fishing tackle and ammunition under the Toxic Substances Control Act because the petitioners did not demonstrate that such a ban is "necessary to protect against an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment."
The new legislation supports and reinforces the EPA’s decision by clarifying the TSCA exemption for ammunition and establishing a similar exemption for fishing tackle.
I encourage all sportsmen to contact their congressional members and urge them to support the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Sports Protection Act.
Marine Fishery Service revising guidelines
The National Marine Fishery Service is going to revise national Standard 10. Recent events suggest a need to revise the guidelines for NS10. The current guidelines are 13 years old and fisheries management and fishing vessel safety science in general has evolved during that time. NOAA has new fishery management requirements and policies in place, and the implementation of these measures will lead to changes in the way fisheries are managed. Major changes in fisheries management that change the way fishing operations are conducted, including catch share programs, could impact the safety of fishermen at sea, and those impacts should be assessed during the management process.
Safety at sea purpose of new guidelines
There are also external factors that point to the need to focus on safety at sea. The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 was signed by President Obama on October 15, 2010. Section 604 of the CGAA builds on requirements set forth in the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Act of 1988, including the following: It authorizes the U.S. Coast Guard to examine at dockside, at least once every two years, fishing vessels that operate beyond three miles to ensure that they meet safety standards; it authorizes and requires a training program for the operators of fishing vessels that operate beyond three miles; and it establishes design and construction standards for all new vessels.
Furthermore, the CGAA requires that Alternative Compliance and Safety Agreement programs be developed for certain groups of existing fishing vessels. These new requirements highlight an emphasis on improving fishing vessel safety.
NMFS will ensure that revisions to the NS10 Guidelines will complement the new mandates of the CGAA. The current NS10 Guidelines do not contain any guidance on analytical methods to evaluate safety. Recent work by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the U.S. Coast Guard has shown that the fishery management process can more explicitly address safety at sea by analyzing fatalities and calculating fatality rates for the fishery and understanding the overall trend in fatality rates.
This information can be used in risk assessments to identify major hazards within a fishery. NMFS could include guidance on the analytical approaches for addressing safety considerations in the revised NS10 Guidelines. NMFS issues this advance notice of proposed rulemaking to provide background information and request public comment on potential adjustments to the National Standard 10 Guidelines.
Written comments regarding the issues in this ANPR must be received by 5 p.m., local time, on July 20.
A public meeting will be held on May 19, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the NOAA Science Center, 1301 East-West Highway; Silver Spring, MD 20910. You may submit comments, identified by ``0648-BA74'', by mail to: Debra Lambert; National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA; 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13403; Silver Spring, MD 20910. Telephone: 301-713-2341.
Capt. Budd's PostScript:
It has been written: “Your outfit may be elaborate or it may be a cane pole. Fortunately the size of your kit is no indication of the pleasure you derive.”
So whether you charter, ride a head boat, run your own vessel, stay in the river, surf fish or fish from a shore or a bridge, there are fish to be caught. Fishing is not a matter of life and death, it is so much more important than that.
Tight lines, Capt. Budd
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