‘Lost’ Seabird Seen Once More

Up to eight Fiji petrels were seen over an 11-day period

One of the world’s rarest and most elusive birds has finally been seen flying in its natural habitat.

The Fiji petrel, a seabird that once “went missing” for 130 years, has been sighted flying at sea, near the island of Gua in the Pacific Ocean.

The culmination of a meticulously planned bird hunt, Birdlife International researchers sighted the birds 25 nautical miles south of Gua.

Up to eight individuals were seen and photographed over 11 days.

The 30cm tall dark-brown Fiji petrel (Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi) is one of the most elusive of all birds.

Originally, the species was known from just a single immature specimen, collected in 1855 on Gau Island, Fiji.

But then the bird “went missing” with no further confirmed sightings of it for almost 130 years.

Then in 1984, an adult was caught and photographed on Gua, then released.

Since then, there have been a handful of reports of “grounded” birds that had crashed onto village roofs on the island. Most were immature birds, of which a few died.

Due to the extremely limited number of sightings, the bird is also inferred to be one of the rarest of all bird species.

It is one of 192 bird species which are list as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Stinky lure

But while there have been ten unconfirmed reports of the bird at sea, with the latest a possible Fiji Petrel sighted around 400km north of Bougainville Island, until now there has been no confirmed sightings.

That was until in May, when scientists and volunteers working with Birdlife International and

NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, a partner conservation organisation based in Fiji, set out to find the bird in its natural habitat.

The search for the elusive petrel is described in a paper in the latest Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club.

The researchers lured the bird with a specially made food, made from finely cut fish offal mixed with very dense fish oil.

These were then frozen into 10kg blocks, which persist for over an hour in the water, creating a pungent oil slick which attracts petrels from some miles away.

On the second day of the expedition, the first Fiji Petrel appeared, approaching the chum slick from downwind, slowly zigzagging over the slick, and suddenly changing direction to drop onto a floating morsel.

In all, the expedition team believe they saw eight individuals over eleven days of observations.

“Finding this bird and capturing such images was a fantastic and exhilarating experience,” says ornithologist Hadoram Shirihai, who lead the search team.

In 2008, Mr Shirihai also rediscovered the Critically Endangered Beck’s Petrel (Pseudobulweria becki) a bird that was also only known from two sightings in the Pacific made in the 1920s.

“To see such a little-known bird at such close range was magical,” added fellow expedition member Mr Tony Pym, describing his joy at seeing the Fiji petrel flying over the waves.

More surveys in 2010 are now planned to to locate the breeding area of the Fiji Petrel, says Dick Watling of NatureFiji-MareqetiViti.

“Once we know the location, we can assess what needs to be done to turn around the fortunes of this species,” he says.

Source: BBC Online, Matt Walker

Turtle Thought to be Extinct Spotted in Myanmar

The rare Arakan forest turtle, once though to be extinct, has been rediscovered in a remote forest in Myanmar, boosting chances of saving the reptile after hunting almost destroyed its population, researchers said Monday.

Texas researcher Steven Platt and staff from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society discovered five of the brown-and-tan-spotted turtles in May during a survey of wildlife in the Rakhine Yoma Elephant Sanctuary.

The sanctuary contains thick stands of impenetrable bamboo forests, with the only trails made by the park’s elephants, said Platt, of Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas.

Plat said he and his team were able to reach the area only by small boat and endured round-the-clock torrential rains and bands of leeches before finding their first Arakan turtle on May 31.

“At this moment, all of the physical hardships of the trip were forgotten,” Platt said in an e-mail interview.

Native to the Arakan hills of western Myanmar, the turtles were believed extinct for close to a century until they started turning up in Asian food markets in the mid-1990s.

The local name for the turtle is “Pyant Cheezar,” which translates to “turtle that eats rhinoceros feces.” Sumatran rhinos were once found in the area, but vanished half a century ago due to hunting.

Scientists blame the near-disappearance of the turtle on their popularity in Asia as an ingredient in cooking and medicine. Known by its scientific name, Heosemys depressa, it is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and has proven difficult to breed in captivity.

The discovery in May makes scientists hopeful that the species can survive.

“Throughout Asia, turtles are being wiped out by poachers for the illegal wildlife trade,” Colin Poole, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s director of Asia programs, said in a statement. “We are delighted and astonished that this extremely rare species is alive and well in Myanmar. Now we must do what we can to protect the remaining population.”

Douglas B. Hendrie, a freshwater turtle expert from Education for Nature-Vietnam who did not take part in the research, said he was not surprised by the discovery because he had heard anecdotes of hunters and guides finding the turtle.

“That said, I think it is good to bring attention to the species,” Hendrie said in an e-mail interview, adding that it is an “an important part of furthering the aims of conservation.”

Platt and the conservation society recommend that guard posts be set up on roads leading in and out of the park to thwart poaching and that additional data be collected on the species to develop a conservation plan for it.

Source: Associated Press, Bangkok

Giant Rat Discovered in Papua New Guinea

A new species of giant rat has been discovered deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea.

VIDEO: TRAPPING A LIVE SPECIMEN

The rat, which has no fear of humans, measures 82cm long, placing it among the largest species of rat known anywhere in the world.

The creature, which has not yet been formally described, was discovered by an expedition team filming the BBC programme Lost Land of the Volcano.

It is one of a number of exotic animals found by the expedition team.

Like the other exotic species, the rat is believed to live within the Mount Bosavi crater, and nowhere else.

“This is one of the world’s largest rats. It is a true rat, the same kind you find in the city sewers,” says Dr Kristofer Helgen, a mammalogist based at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History who accompanied the BBC expedition team.

Initially, the giant rat was first captured on film by an infrared camera trap, which BBC wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan set up in the forest on the slopes of the volcano.

The expedition team from the BBC Natural History Unit recorded the rat rummaging around on the forest floor, and were awed by its size.

Immediately, they suspected it could be a species never before recorded by science, but they needed to see a live animal to be sure.

Then trackers accompanying the team managed to trap a live specimen.

“I had a cat and it was about the same size as this rat,” says Buchanan.

The trapped rat measured 82cm in length from its nose to its tail, and weighed approximately 1.5kg.

It had a silver-brown coat of thick long fur, which the scientists who examined it believe may help it survive the wet and cold conditions that can occur within the high volcano crater. The location where the rat was discovered lies at an elevation of over 1,000m.

Initial investigations suggest the rat belongs to the genus Mallomys, which contains a handful of other out-sized species.

It has provisionally been called the Bosavi woolly rat, while its scientific name has yet to be agreed.

Other rodents, the group of animals that includes rats, grow to a bigger size.

For example, the largest rodent of all is the capybara, which lives in or near freshwater in South America.

It can grow up to 130cm long and weigh up to 65kg.

The Philippines is also home to a few species of cloud rat which can reach over 2kg in weight.

But of the true rats, which includes urban brown and black rats that belong to the genusRattus, few can match the new species.

In 2007, an expedition to New Guinea led by Conservation International discovered another closely related giant woolly rat, which can weigh up to 1.4kg. It also belongs within the genusMallomys.

However, that species lives in the Foja Mountains, part of the Mamberamo Basin.

Mount Bosavi, where the new rat was found, is an extinct volcano that lies deep in the remote Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

VIDEO: INITIAL SIGHTING VIA INFRARED CAMERA TRAP

The expedition team entered the crater to explore pristine forest, where few humans have set foot.

Even members of the Kasua tribe, who acted as trackers for the expedition, live outside the crater, which is 4km wide and has walls up to 1km high, trapping the creatures that live within.

The island which includes Papua New Guinea and New Guinea is famous for the number and diversity of the rats and mice that live there.

Over 57 species of true “Murid” rats and mice can be found on the island. The larger rats are often caught by hunters and eaten.

Broadcast of The Lost Land of the Volcano series will begin on BBC One on Tuesday 8 September at 2100 BST. The discovery of the Bosavi woolly rat is broadcast as part of the series on BBC One on Tuesday 22 September.

Source: BBC Online, Matt Walker

The Fish with a Transparent Head

If you had asked me 5 minutes ago if I knew of a fish with a transparent dome for a head, I would have to say no.

Strange Jellies of the Icy Depths

Scientists have published descriptions of a range of jelly-like animals encountered during submersible dives into the deep oceans of the Arctic. This deep red Crossota norvegica was observed as deep as 2,600m

Source: BBC Online, Matt Walker / Photos all courtesy of Dr. Kevin Raskoff himself

New details are emerging about the life-forms that survive in one of the world’s most inaccessible places.

Scientists have published descriptions of a range of jelly-like animals that inhabit the deep oceans of the Arctic.

The animals were originally filmed and photographed during a series of submersible dives in 2005.

One of the biggest surprises is that one of the most common animals in the Arctic deep sea is a type of jellyfish that is completely new to science.

The deep Arctic ocean is isolated from much of the water elsewhere on the globe.

One area, known as the Canadian Basin, is particularly cut off by deep-sea ridges. These huge barriers can isolate any species there from other deep-water animals.

So in 2005, an international team of scientists, funded primarily by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, conducted a series of deep-sea dives using a remote operated vehicle (ROV).

Details of what they found have now been published in the journal Deep Sea Research Part II.

“There were a lot of surprises,” says biologist Dr Kevin Raskoff of Monterey Peninsula College in California, US, a leading member of the dive team.

“One thing was just how many different jellies there were, and the sizes of their populations.”

- Dr Kevin Raskoff, Monterey Peninsula College, California

“Some were somewhat well known from other oceans, but had not previously been found in the Arctic. That caused us to rethink our ideas about what the typical habitat would be for the species. We also discovered a number of new species that had not been found before.”

During a series of dives to depths of 3000m, the ROV filmed over 50 different types of gelatinous or jelly-like animal.

A jellyfish new to science, which will be formally described later this year. The small blue jelly, a type of Narcomedusae, lives in a narrow depth range of 1,400 - 2,000m

The majority of animals recorded were Medusae, a particular type of jellyfish that tend to be bell or disc shaped.

Other jelly-like creatures seen included ctenophores, an unusual group that can look like jellyfish, but are not able to sting, siphonophores, which are actually colonies of smaller animals living together in a structure that looks like a single, larger animal, and larvaceans, plankton-like creatures unrelated to jellyfish.

Of all the Medusae observed, two species dominated at most locations visited by the ROV.

The first was a species called Sminthea arctica, which lived at depths ranging from 100m to 2,100m. This jellyfish has been recorded before by scientific expeditions.

However, the other common jelly was a species new to science.

“Probably the single most interesting discovery was a new species of a small blue jellyfish, from a group called the Narcomedusae,” says Dr Raskoff.

“This group has several interesting features that set them apart from typical jellyfish, such as the fact that they hold their tentacles over their bell as they swim.”

Most jellyfish let their tentacles drift in the water behind them, but the new species holds its tentacles out in front, perhaps enabling it to better catch prey.

The new species is so unusual that it has been classified within its own genus, and will be formally described later this year.

“It was also the third most common jellyfish found on the cruise, which is really surprising when you think about the fact that even the most common species in the area can be totally new and unexpected species,” says Dr Raskoff.

Another striking find was a type of ctenophore called Aulacoctena, which is one of the most spectacular examples of its kind.

A large bright orange Aulacoctena species, about 15 cm long, was observed on 6 occasions. The striking orange colouration appears to come from their diet of bright orange worms

At over 15cm long, its tentacles can grip almost anything underwater, yet little is known about its lifestyle.

However, one of the specimens collected by the ROV ejected its stomach contents, which revealed it may had fed on a bright orange animal.

The researchers suspect it feeds on bright orange worms that also live in the Arctic deep, and it gets it colour from its prey.

The scientists are now keen to find out much more about how these strange and enigmatic creatures interact with their environment, and how they influence or underpin the ecology of the deep ocean in which they live.

They also hope to raise funds to explore other little-visited regions of the deep Arctic ocean, as well as exploring the Aleutian trench off the coast of Alaska.

“You don’t have to go too far to find interesting areas to study, you just have to dive deep,” says Dr Raskoff.

Chrysaora melanaster is one of the largest Arctic jellies, living in the top layer of water at depths of between 20m and 40m, where the temperature remains nearly constant

This red-lipped cydippid ctenophore was a common deep-water species between 1,300 to 2,400m. It still awaits description

Crossota millsae is also found off California and Hawaii. This specimen was collected near the bottom of the Arctic Ocean at 2,000m

Benthocodon hyalinus is a small jellyfish previously known from Antarctica and perhaps California

The large colonial physonect siphonophore Marrus orthocanna. When stretched out, this animal would be over 3m long

The "sea angel" Clione limacina is a naked pteropod, a shell-less snail, and was found in the surface waters, down to 350m. This species also lives in the Antarctic Ocean.

Pigeons’ Wings Sound the Alarm

Photo Credit: Lip Kee on Flickr

Startled pigeons might not appear to epitomise the wonder of evolution, but a study has discovered that the birds can communicate with their wings.

When a crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) is startled into flight its wings produce a whistling sound which serves as an alarm call.

The pigeons have “modified wings” that produce the whistle as they fly, but only this sudden take-off creates the alarm that causes other birds to flee.

The team report their findings in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B.

Robert Magrath at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra led the study.

He and his colleague Mae Hingee took sound recordings from the birds.

“We audio recorded the sound of birds flying off from a feeder in routine flight and compared those sounds to those produced when we scared pigeons into take-off with a gliding model hawk,” explained Dr Magrath.

The birds that took off in alarm produced louder whistles with a more rapid tempo of “notes”, he told BBC News.

The researchers played back both alarmed and routine whistles to flocks of feeding pigeons.

“We found that they only fled to cover after hearing the alarmed whistles. [They] could tell the difference, and acted appropriately in response,” said Dr Magrath.

He described how the birds’ “modified” wings create the sound.

“The birds have one very narrow primary flight feather (primaries), which we suspect vibrates during flapping flight to produce the whistling,” he said.

Sue Anne Zollinger, an animal communication researcher from the University of St Andrews who was not involved in the study, said the “playback” element of the study was revealing.

“Lots of people have studied sound production by birds’ wings, but here the researchers have actually been able to put it into a context, [and] shown that the sound has a communication role,” Dr Zollinger told BBC News.

She added that this information would help researchers to understand why being in a flock might be useful for some birds.

The ANU researchers pointed out that while scientists understand some evolutionary advantages of a flock, such as having more pairs of eyes to spot predators, this has clarified exactly how the birds understand that one of their flock has spotted a potential threat.

Dr Magrath concluded: “We’d like to find out more about the mechanism of sound production, try to work out whether it evolved specifically as an alarm signal, and see if other birds also use wing sounds [as alarm calls].”

Source: BBC Online, Photos sourced by me. Due credit given.