Jumping Shark

This video is of a mako shark that was hooked on a fishing trip and does repeated backflips in the air trying to break the fishermen’s line. The video can be watched by clicking this link: Jumping Mako.This behavior takes an incredible amount of energy and can be dangerous for the shark because it can tire itself out too much to where it cant swim away and it becomes vulnerable.

Great White Tooth

 

Phylum: Chordata, Family: Lamnidae, Genus: Carcharodon, Species: carcharias

I found this tooth along the beach at Emerald Isle, NC. It belongs to the great white shark. I didn’t expect to find one along North Carolina Beaches.

Bumble Dog

This is my pet, she is half bumblebee and half dog

Thermal Tolerance of Lionfish

In a study by Kimball et al, the thermal tolerance of lionfish was studied in order to determine what water temperatures they could survive in and what was too cold for life. They found that 10 degrees Celsius was the coldest water temp they could survive in. From their findings, they were able to determine a possible range here in the western Atlantic where they could establish populations. Lionfish are highly invasive and have become a large problem for fragile reef ecosystems. To read more about the findings from this article, visit this link: Thermal tolerance and potential distribution of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles complex) on the east coast of the United States

 

Black Sea Bass

 

Phylum: Chordata, Class: Actinopterygii, Order: Perciformes, Family: Serranidae, Genus: Centropristis, Species: striata

This small black sea bass was caught off Topsail Island, NC in the sound. These little sea bass were all around the docks behind the houses. There are size limits that must be reached in order to keep these fish. This little guy was returned to the water after we got a picture.

Sea Robin

 

Phylum: Chordata, Class: Actinopterygii, Order: Scorpaeniformes, Family: Triglidae

I caught this little sea robin off of Topsail Island, NC in the sound on a hot summer day in August. I caught this fish using cut mullet as bait and fishing it on the bottom. These fish primarily stick to the ocean floors.

Limbless Amphibian

In February of 2012, new amphibian species were discovered in India. These amphibians didn’t have any limbs and resembled a worm or snake but is in fact an amphibian that burrow into the soil. The article can be found here New Amphibians Without Limbs