Giant, Unknown Animals Found off Antarctica

March 28, 2008—Giant sea stars or starfish that measure 24 inches (60 centimeters) across are held by Sadie Mills, left, and Niki Davey of New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research on February 15, 2008.

They and other researchers collected 30,000 sea creatures—many new to science—during a 35-day census in Antarctic waters in February and March, according to a March 26 announcement.

The large-scale survey was part of the International Polar Year and Census of Antarctic Marine Life programs, which study the diversity of Antarctic marine life.


This hydroid—likely a new species—measures 2.5 inches (6.5 centimeters) across its “head” and has stalks over 39 inches (100 centimeters) long.

The colorful coral-like animal was snagged from one of 39 sites surveyed by New Zealand scientists in southern Antarctica's Ross Sea in February and March 2008.

On the 2,000-mile (3,218-kilometer) journey, the team collected specimens from the surface to the seabed, where this hydroid was found.


Collected from the Ross Sea shelf in southern Antarctica, this 9.8-inch-long (25-centimeter-long) giant sea spider was one of 30,000 animals found during a 35-day census in early 2008.

The marine arachnids, which prey on hydroids and bryzoans—branching, coral-like animals—are larger and more common in Antarctic waters than anywhere else on Earth.

Cold temperatures, few predators, and high levels of oxygen in seawater could explain their gargantuan size, Don Robertson of New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research told the Associated Press.


A mysterious animal with a small crustacean perched on its back floats 7,218 feet (2,200 meters) below the surface in the Ross Sea off southern Antarctica.

The 19-inch-long (50-centimeter-long) creature might be a tunicate, or sea squirt, say scientists who found it during a large-scale survey of Antarctic life in early 2008.

The Antarctic summer's perpetual daylight meant that the New Zealand team could canvass the sea day and night.


An Antarctic octopus found at 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) in southern Antarctica's Ross Sea was one of about 18 octopus species recorded during a survey conducted in early 2008.

New Zealand scientists estimate they also collected 88 species of fish—8 of which are new species—as well as 8 species of squid on the 50-day journey.


This predatory fish, called a stareater, uses its luminous red chin appendage to lure prey into striking distance.

The fish was one of more than 30,000 marine creatures hauled up by a team of 26 scientists and 18 crew during a census of Antarctic life in early 2008.

The team endured icy weather as cold as 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 degrees Celsius)—which caused equipment to freeze up and samples to ice over as soon as they landed on deck.


This 19-inch-long (50-centimeter-long) daggertooth sports a striking iridescent body and sapphire blue eyes.

An Antarctic neighbor of the predatory stareater, this fish is one of the southernmost daggertooths ever caught, said New Zealand scientists who captured it during a marine census in early 2008.

The animal uses its long mouth and forward-curved teeth immobilize prey, clamping down and pulling back to tear through and paralyze the victim's spine.


This sea cucumber—held by Sadie Mills of New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research—is known as a sea pig.

Mills and colleagues collected the organism, among more than 30,000 animals, during a marine census of southern Antarctica in early 2008.

Sea cucumbers are part of a group of marine animals that inhabit the seafloor, including sea squirts, sea stars (starfish), sea slugs, corals, clams, sponges, and urchins.


This shrimplike crustacean was collected 985 feet (300 meters) deep on the Ross Sea shelf, during a marine census led by New Zealand scientists in early 2008.

This amphipod species was first discovered during a 2004 Antarctic voyage aboard the research ship Tangaroa.

The tiny creatures are found in both seawater and fresh water, as well as in mud and sand.


High-powered cameras photographed this sea star or a starfish of the genus Labediaster (lower left) surrounded by brittle stars on a seamount 492 feet (150 meters) below the surface of Antarctica's Ross Sea.

The early-2008 marine survey is expected to yield eight new mollusk species, Stefano Schiaparelli of Italy's National Antarctic Museum in Genoa told the Associated Press.

“This is a new brick in the wall of Antarctic knowledge,” he said.

--National Geographic

White Killer Whale Spotted Off Alaska

Researchers working near Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Feb. 23 spotted a white killer whale, which they estimate was 25 to 30 feet long and weighed more than 10,000 pounds. This is only the third time in the past 15 years that such a whale has been seen in the area.

White Killer Whale Spotted Off Alaska
By MARY PEMBERTON,AP
Posted: 2008-03-07 10:57:34
Filed Under: Science News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (March 7) - The white killer whale spotted in Alaska's Aleutian Islands sent researchers and the ship's crew scrambling for their cameras.

The nearly mythic creature was real after all.

"I had heard about this whale, but we had never been able to find it," said Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle who photographed the rarity. "It was quite neat to find it."

The whale was spotted last month while scientists aboard the Oscar Dyson, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research ship, were conducting an acoustic survey of pollock near Steller sea lion haulout sites.

It had been spotted once in the Aleutians years ago but had eluded researchers since, even though they had seen many of the more classic black and white whales over the years.

Fearnbach said the white whale stood out.

"When you first looked at it, it was very white," she said Thursday.

Further observation showed that while the whale's saddle area was white, other parts of its body had a subtle yellowish or brownish color.

It likely is not a true albino given the coloration, said John Durban, a research biologist at NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. That's probably a good thing - true albinos usually don't live long and can have health problems.

Durban said white killer whales have been spotted elsewhere in the area twice before: in 1993 in the northern Bering Sea around St. Lawrence Island and in 2001 near Adak in the central Aleutians. There have also been sightings along the Russian coast.

While Alaska researchers have documented thousands of black and white killer whales in the Bering Sea and the Aleutians during summer surveys, this was something new and exciting, Durban said.

"This is the first time we came across a white killer whale," he said.

The scientists observed several pods over a two-week period. The white whale was in a family group of 12 on a day when the seas were fairly rough. It was spotted about 2 miles off Kanaga Volcano on Feb. 23.

The ship stayed with the whale for about 30 minutes.

"Everybody actually came out and was taking pictures," Fearnbach said. "It was a neat sighting for everybody."

The whale appeared to be a healthy, adult male about 25 to 30 feet long and weighing upward of 10,000 pounds.

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Chimo was another white orca that was captured in the 1970's.

Rare Animals Flee Fires in Kenya Park

February 25, 2008—Rhinoceroses flee fires in Kenya's Lake Nakuru National Park on February 23, 2008.

After beginning on February 21, the blazes have so far destroyed about a third of the park's 72 square miles (188 square kilometers), which are home to leopards, flamingos, giraffes, zebras, both black and white rhinos, and hundreds of other species.

"The buffalo really panicked, going in this direction and that," observer Jayne Nguatah told the Times of London. "There were rhino and impala as well, all trying to get out of the way."

Nakuru's black rhinos may have borne the brunt of the disaster. Listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union, the species numbers only about 60 in the park, and its chief foraging areas—the park's forests—were among the hardest hit areas of the park.

No human fatalities have been reported as a result of the fires.

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