The Wednesday Wetness - ใต้น้ำ

Which, as near as I can figure out translates to Chicken in Water from Thai. Is it a clever pun? I'd like to think so.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Obligatory World Cup Post up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

I'm Back From Fishin'

And I won't lie, as far as fishing goes, it was the toughest fishing trip I've been on in a long time. A warm, mostly overcast day, we started at Location X, where, after a few drifts, only a couple of fish were caught.

We crossed over to the Little Choptank River, where we were fishing points for Speckled Trout, with no luck, but we were accompanied along the way by a pod of about 5 dolphins. You can barely see on the their fins in this photo. At some points we actually saw huge schools of fish both on the side scan sonar and even visually, but they had a bad case of lock jaw, and with a couple of exceptions, refused our offerings. 

We ended up on the back side of Hoopers Island, where we found something both Pete and I (and none of our other anglers) have seen in this portion of the Bay before, a seal. It seemed almost as curious about us as we were about it, and kept popping its head out of the water and staring at us.

Our pictures aren't very good, so getting a species name is probably out of the question, but it's worth noting that a Harbor Seal has been known to wind up in Baltimore Harbor, even farther up the Bay..

Local Man Make the News

Seal heel bone with Great White Shark tooth fragment

Southern Maryland Chronicle  Ancient Shark vs. Seal Battle Captured in 4.5 Million-Year-Old Fossil

SOLOMONS, MD – A groundbreaking discovery has brought to light an ancient interaction between two of the ocean’s most formidable creatures. Scientists have uncovered the first-ever evidence of a great white shark tooth embedded in a fossilized seal bone, marking a significant milestone in our understanding of prehistoric marine life.

The remarkable find, consisting of the tip of a fossilized great white shark tooth within a seal’s heel bone, was surface collected by Paul R. Murdoch Jr. at the Mosaic’s South Fort Meade Mine in Florida, USA. This discovery provides concrete evidence that seals and great white sharks have been engaged in a predator-prey relationship for over 6 million years, a fact previously hypothesized but not directly proven until now.

Originating from the Pliocene Epoch, specifically within the Bone Valley Member of the Peace River Formation, the isolated seal bone is approximately 4.5 million years old. The partial tooth embedded in the bone has been identified as belonging to an Early Pliocene great white shark, scientifically known as Carcharodon carcharias. This instance represents the first occurrence of a great white shark tooth found embedded in any fossilized bone, offering a unique glimpse into the interactions between these ancient marine animals.

The international research team, including Stephen J. Godfrey from the Calvert Marine Museum in Maryland, USA; Paul R. Murdoch Jr. (CMM Research Associate);Leonard Dewaele of the Institute of Natural Sciences and Antwerp University, Belgium; Victor J. Perez from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, USA; and Clarence Schumaker of Day Break Studios, published their findings in the journal Comptes Rendu Palevol (https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/en/periodiques/comptes-rendus-palevol).

Paul Murdoch (back right) with
Girl Scout troop on Fossil tour

The presence of the shark tooth in the seal’s hind flipper bone suggests an active predatory encounter rather than scavenging behavior. This deduction is further supported by the lack of evidence indicating any healing on the part of the seal, implying that the seal succumbed to the attack. This detail underscores the predatory prowess of the great white shark and provides a vivid snapshot of the natural history that has shaped the evolutionary paths of both species.

The discovery not only confirms the long-standing interaction between seals and great white sharks but also contributes significantly to our understanding of the ecological dynamics of ancient marine environments. By unveiling this direct evidence of predation, scientists can gain deeper insights into the behavior, diet, and hunting strategies of one of the ocean’s most iconic predators, as well as the survival challenges faced by its prey.

Paul Murdoch is a local guy with a long standing interest in paleontology. He has found at least one new species of dolphin in fossils from the cliffs, which he kindly had named after his wife, Hillary. He is a very active member of the community, serving on both the local water board (with me), and in the local homeowners association (with Georgia). He is a regular on the beach, where he supplements his retirement income by leading fossil finding tours with his company Chesapeake Heritage And Paleontology Tours, aka CHAP tours, which I recommend to anyone who wants to start fossil hunting more systematically that wandering on the beach and picking up things, which is our strategy. 

The Wednesday Wetness

The Wombat resurfaces with Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday: Double-Dip Extra Scoop Donna D’Errico Edition at The Other McCain.

Staycation, Day 1 at the Beach

Low 50's, a bit breezy but not bad, and glowering clouds that threatened rain, but haven't delivered any so far. The tide was not good and we didn't get as far up as we often do. We did find a few good teeth, though.

Top is a Cow Shark upper tooth that Georgia found, and the experts have already identified the tooth I found on the lower left as a seal tooth and the right is, of course, a complete ray plate chevron.

 A closer look that the seal tooth.

And the Cow Shark tooth. My beach pictures didn't come out.

Up the Klamath and Back Again

Today's entertainment was a trip up the Klamath River in a jet boat. We drove up to where the Klamath crosses Highway 101.

Mary and Georgia await the boarding call.

The boat. 860 horse power, twin turbine jet powered, seating about 30.

A sea lion hunting salmon in the estuary.

In the estuary, near the mouth of the river, where it joins the Pacific Ocean.

Once upstream, the fog was gone, and we had a sunny ride uo

Apparently, the river has a big run of salmon going on, and there were many boats out fishing, anything from kayaks to other jet boats.

A familiar friend, a Great Blue Heron. We also saw Bald Eagles and Ospreys.

Below, one minute taste of the jet boat ride.

On the way home we hunted for elk, taking a long cut through Prairie Creek State Park where they often hang out. We didn't find any. But then, just south, a couple of bulls got out in the road and stopped traffic. We later saw two large herds, one out in a field near Orick, and another on the roadside near the lagoons.

Seals Storm Virginia Beaches

Shyly but surely, harbor seals have warmed up to Virginia waters

Traditionally, seals have been regarded in these parts as wintertime oddities – migrants precariously nosing along alone or in small groups around the lower Chesapeake Bay until the waters up north warm and lure them back.

Rees and other biologists are beginning to view their presence differently, however.

Around the man-made islands of the bridge-tunnel and on the sandbars of the marshy lower Eastern Shore, harbor seals are thriving in what seem to be growing numbers from mid-autumn to mid-spring. Rees has counted as many as 30 at one time around one bridge-tunnel island. A few weeks ago, Nature Conservancy scientist Alexandra Wilke logged 46 sunning in a seaside spot in Northampton County.

A northern animal found in increasing numbers in the south? Sounds like global cooling to me; or:

Thanks to a landmark 1972 federal law that banned killing or harassing them, seal populations had already dramatically rebounded in the heart of their territory from New England northward.

Late springtime estimates for harbor seals along the Maine coast nearly tripled to more than 75,000 between the mid-1990s and 2012, according to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, a federal research arm based in Woods Hole, Mass. It found dramatic increases for gray seals and harp seals in the hearts of their ranges as well.

A Harp Seal was found up in Baltimore Harbor back in 2012, hanging around the aquarium. So, they're eating themselves out of house and home, and some of them are moving to the tropics to find grub.

Fortunately, nature always finds an answer.

In Massachusetts, around Cape Cod and islands like Nantucket, gray seals have become numerous and aggressive enough to earn distinction as “the most controversial animal in New England,” according to a Yankee Magazine article in 2014. They swarm popular beaches and snatch fishermen’s catches. And to the horror of many beach lovers, they’ve attracted a sizable following of white sharks, which love to chomp them (and still rarely attack humans).

Don't Scare Me Like That!

Instead of kayakers, it could have been an Orca or a Greenland Shark.

Greenland sharks are one of the slowest-swimming sharks, which attain a maximum swimming speed that is about half the maximum swimming speed of a typical seal. Therefore, biologists have wondered how the sharks are able to prey on the seals. Evidence has been found that Greenland sharks search out seals and ambush them while they sleep. Greenland sharks have also been found with remains of polar bear, horses, moose and reindeer (in one case an entire reindeer body) in their stomachs.

Welcome Aboard!

Tomorrow it will be two fish.

There's a Reason They Call Them Sea "Lions"

Watch what happens to the small yappy dog when he finally gets the Sea Lions' attention, right at the end of the video:



Those things are big and strong, and they have big teeth and bad breath.

Don't Kiss the Seals!

Tuberculosis is 6,000 years old

... and sea mammals (not Europeans) introduced it to the New World.

Pre-Columbian mycobacterial genomes reveal seals as a source of New World human tuberculosis

Kirsten I. Bos et al.

Modern strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the Americas are closely related to those from Europe, supporting the assumption that human tuberculosis was introduced post-contact1. This notion, however, is incompatible with archaeological evidence of pre-contact tuberculosis in the New World2. Comparative genomics of modern isolates suggests that M. tuberculosis attained its worldwide distribution following human dispersals out of Africa during the Pleistocene epoch3, although this has yet to be confirmed with ancient calibration points.

Here we present three 1,000-year-old mycobacterial genomes from Peruvian human skeletons, revealing that a member of the M. tuberculosis complex caused human disease before contact. The ancient strains are distinct from known human-adapted forms and are most closely related to those adapted to seals and sea lions. Two independent dating approaches suggest a most recent common ancestor for the M. tuberculosis complex less than 6,000 years ago, which supports a Holocene dispersal of the disease. Our results implicate sea mammals as having played a role in transmitting the disease to humans across the ocean.

Besides, seals stink. If you want to kiss sea mammals, maybe you should stick to dolphins.

Wombat-socho has the grand "Rule 5 Sunday: Labor Day Weekend Lovelies", up at The Other McCain.

Berries, Birds, Bull Seals and Buckeyes

The night before last was Mom's 91st birthday, and after a family dinner at her and Dad's favorite Pismo restaurant (Rosa's Ristorante) with 13 children, children in-laws and assorted grand children, we all gathered around one of the fire pits at the Seacrest for birthday cheesecake and raspberries. From the left, Georgia's legs, Mom, Dad, Kat, Ted and Brigette.

This morning we had the first foggy morning of the trip; lack of which is unusual for Pismo on summer mornings:

In the bottom pic we see birds, mostly cormorants and pelicans, streaming off the rocks to head out to the fishing grounds just offshore.

Today's expedition was to see the giant Elephant Seals who loll about on several beaches around San Simeon, some 50 miles up the road.

An interesting story, and a sign of the times in California, we stropped to eat in Cambria at the Main Street Grill.  The food and service was fine (for what it was), but a sign on the rest rooms directed patrons to porta potties in back as a result of water rationing.

A few more miles to the seal rookery:

A short video of Jabba the Elephant Seal asserting his beach rights, and being welcomed onto the beach by one of his harem:



But almost of equal interest to me (I've seen the seals before), was the swarm of Common Buckeye butterflies attending to the pollination needs of a lowly flower on the bluffs above, along with a few of the ubiquitous Cabbage Whites.

We turned at Piedras Blancas Lighthouse, and headed back to Pismo. Bonus pics below:

Are You the One Who Requested a Wake Up?

Just one swing of that tail. . .

He is the Walrus, Goo Goo Goo Joob!

Wombat-socho has The Other McCain's grand compendium "Rule 5 Sunday: Insert Appropriate Song Title Here" up on time and within budget.

Great Takeaways!

That was number 7 in this set:

Watch Sharks, Whales and Eagles Steal Anglers' Fish in 11 Nail-Biting Videos

Presidents are Like Great White Sharks

Come for the punchline, stay for the lesson in Presidential authority:

"You don't blame them when they eat seals"

Another Child Denied Welfare

He really looks like he wants to go back into the nice warm box, where they gave him fish he didn't have to catch, doesn't he?

Seal Lions Join War On Humanity

Do you think the Pelican was passing on intelligence?

Cool Visit

I think he's a spy for the Orca conspiracy. They've never been caught eating a human.