Fish Geeks: a Primer

There's a thing about Fish Geeks: only Fish Geeks really "get" other Fish Geeks. We are a large and diverse tribe of obsessive, compulsive, and driven students, professors, researchers, divers, snorkelers, fishermen, and... artists :)

Our closets are stuffed with T-shirts, Hawaiian shirts, baseball caps, and shorts emblazoned and embroidered with fishes on them. Bumper stickers, drink coasters, keys fobs? Only fish related. Tattoos? Fishes.

Our homes are decorated with fish mounts, fishing memorabilia, fish-related awards, fishing and diving photos, and other fishy decor. If the Geek has it real bad, even his mailbox is in the shape of a fish.

We read and write and blog about fishes. We photograph, film, and illustrate fishes. We attend meetings about fishes. Our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds are fully of fishy news. Who bothers with the New York Times when we've got the Underwater Times?!

We all know the words to the songs "Fish Heads" and the zippy, rappy "Rockfish Barotrauma." We've all seen video "Fish Guys - 48 hour Challenge"––multiple times!

And who can forget the super cute and classic "Barber Lab Quartet - Coral Triangle"?

And we even cover classic songs with lyrics about fishes!

Say Croppie from Donald J Orth on Vimeo.

I think I've made my point.

Want to join the club? New members are always welcome! But be forewarned––it's a life-long addiction. And, there are no Fish Addiction Treatment Centers... yet. ;)

The Zebra Effect

Mimicry is one of the coolest adaptations in Nature. Stripes in the grass confuse. Stripes in the water warn! Banded sea snake, Mimic octopus, Pilotfish... Venomous? Best not to find out.

Image by copyright Steve Childs

Now wetsuits? Makes sense, sounds logical. That said, when we enter the water, we agree to leave safety behind. Sharks will be sharks. But this still leaves me wondering if I should stripe-out my son's surf board~! Watch to the end...

 

Mackerels, Tunas & Billfishes of the United States.

Mackerels, Tunas & Billfishes of the United States, by Val Kells

This just in... Fresh off the presses! Top-notch quality, spot-on reproduction.
You can get one HERE.

Enjoy, share, and please care for pelagics :)

Migration

Image by Mike Laptew ©

The Earth is flush with many spectacular rituals and phenomena. Think: mass coral spawning, Northern lights, phosphorescence.

Migrations have always intrigued me. When a Rubythroat Hummingbird recently showed up at my front porch looking for the jar of nectar I keep hanging each summer, I thought: "Holy COW! That little bird came all the way from MEXICO and REMEMBERED how to get back to this very spot in VIRGINIA!" I quickly prepared a new batch of nectar, hung it on the porch, and sure enough, the little bird returned again.

Fish migrations are another source of wonder. Think about it: Salmonids hatch in rivers (sometimes miles upstream), move offshore, and return to the very same stream to spawn as adults. American Eels make the opposite migration.... adults spawn somewhere in the Sargasso Sea, and their offspring move inshore and upstream until maturity. Other fish migrations remain a mystery. To this day, no one knows for sure where Great White Sharks spawn, or really why they travel such long and seemingly random distances.

Shads (collectively called "River Herring") are anadromous and a vitally important link in the food web. They used to have unimpeded pathways to their spawning grounds. When the rivers they traveled were dammed, their numbers plummeted. Aside from the dams and natural predators, they also had to overcome pollution, siltation, water withdrawal, and over-fishing. Today, some of those dams have come down, and other dams have been modified to include fish ladders. It's been proven that once a dam comes down, the fishes return almost immediately! Amazing.... An internal GPS and a drive to reproduce is hard-wired into the fish's DNA and cannot be suppressed, even by a dam.

 *****

The beautiful photo above was taken by Mike Laptew of Laptew Productions. His images document the gorgeous and often overlooked diversity of fresh and salt water wildlife, both above and below the surface. Take a look here to see more.

Fins in Motion

Cut a piece of paper into a long, narrow strip.
Fold in half.
Hold the ends of the paper in your fingertips with the apex of the fold pointing up.
The folded paper should look like a tall, skinny tent.

Now, move your fingers up and down in opposite directions:
Right side down, left side up.
Your finger motion recreates the muscle motion at the ray base, moving the ray back and forth.

Now imagine 20 or 30 rays all in sync like a line of chorus girls... undulating.

And THAT is how many fish propel themselves.

Cool, huh?

Work, Fate, Accomplishment...

Executive Editor, Vince Burke, and Bebby Bors, Senior Production Editor, JHUPress

I firmly believe that if you work hard, invest fully in your goal, keep your nose clean, and mix it up with like-minded and similarly-driven people, good things are bound to happen.

Yes, fate steps in now and again: a right turn here, a left turn there... luck, chance, stars aligning. However randomly paths seem to meander, paths DO cross. Paths can cross in wonderful ways and result in wonderful accomplishments. If you're lucky?

Above is a photo of my fantabulous executive editor, Vince Burke, and my equally fantabulous production editor, Debby Bors. They stand in the entry hall of the Johns Hopkins University Press holding our latest achievement: A Field Guide to Fishes of the Chesapeake Bay. Behind them are shelves and shelves of other note-worthy books and numerous awards our nation's oldest university press has amassed.

Some five years ago I had an idea: revamp the out-dated and out-of-print Fishes of Chesapeake Bay. I posed the idea to Vince not knowing that he ALREADY had plans to do the same. He made phone calls, set up meetings, and ba-da-bing, ba-da-bong: the team of Murdy, Musick, and Kells was assembled; the proposal was written; the contracts were signed. Soon thereafter we began work on a current, comprehensive, and much-needed guide to fishes of one the of the largest estuaries in North America. The paths of many determined people had crossed.

It's hard to describe how fulfilling it is to see years of past work come to fruition many months later and long after the project was put to bed. Every one had moved on to other projects, other work, new goals. Suddenly... surprise! It's in print! Look what we did!

It was no accident. Stars aligned for a reason.

Fish on.

Tarpon Rock...

For no other reason than sharing the gorgeousness of Tarpon...

The Amazing Diversity of Fishes

Clearly anyone who visits this little sight has an interest in fishes, fishing, diving, etc. I think for some, interest becomes fascination which becomes amazement. Fishes are... amazing!

Here is a very nice little primer on the Diversity of Fishes. It's fairly long, and only scratches the surface of the topic, but well worth the time to watch. Skip forward to about 4:00....

Enjoy!

The Grand Diversity of Fishes: Form, Function, and Evolution from HMNH on Vimeo.

Surprise!!!

If this doesn't make you laugh... check your pulse ;)

Inside Out

Came across a really neat photo album of Fish X-rays. These will be on exhibit at the Smithsonian, and will be traveling through 2015...

CLICK HERE for more information.

Scad

One Scad is beautiful. A school of Scad is gorgeous.
Tarpon and Bar Jack slicing a school of Scad is Heavenly.

Don't Touch! Or, if you are a Goatfish... Don't Sleep!

I have a HUGE library in my office. The majority of books are about fishes - but I have a sizable collection of books about many other of aquatic life forms. One of the creepiest, and more informative books I own is Dangerous Marine Animals, by Bruce Halstead, M.D. When my kids were little, I actually hid this book from them because it contains numerous, graphic photos of the injuries people have suffered due to misencounters with venomous and toxic marine animals.
The book includes the well-documented outcomes of encounters with sharks, barracudas, jellyfishes... but it also includes the not-so-well-known dangerous critters like corals, sea urchins, and sea snails. Yep, sea snails.

Cone snails are one of the most venomous gastropods in the sea. A puncture wound from a Cone snail may result in intense pain, numbness, tingling in the mouth, dizziness, and paralysis. On our coast, these snails are mildly toxic, in other parts of the world fatalities have been reported.... from a SNAIL sting! Invertebrates and fishes in the wild don't stand a chance against the Cone snail. Some Cones have lightning-fast barbs that shoot out and harpoon their prey. Other Cones use stealth to approach their prey.

In the video below, the Goatfish is at rest. While the narrator says the Cone is releasing chemicals, I haven't read anything to corroborate this. But clearly, the Goatfish does not respond by swimming away.

Bottom line: it's a snail-eat-fish world under the surface. My rule of thumb? When you're in the ocean, DON'T TOUCH! Especially if it's a Cone snail.

Fishy Friday - Smalltooth Sawfish

Sawfish ancestors first appeared in the fossil record some 100 million years ago. That's a L-O-N-G time ago! They are more closely related to skates and rays than to sharks - their pectoral fins are connected to the head, whereas sharks and their relatives have distinctly separate pectoral fins that are low on the body.

The 'teeth' in a Sawfish's rostrum, are not teeth at all. They are actually modified scales. Their real teeth are tiny, numerous, and arranged in bands along the jaws. The rostrum is a very long, flattened, cartilagenous snout. The skin on the underside of the rosturm has hundreds, if not thousands, of sensory pores that help the Sawfish locate prey in bottom sediment.

Once prey is detected, the Sawfish digs around in the bottom with its long, toothy rostrum. The Sawfish then dines on wounded fishes and invertebrates. The Sawfish also uses its rostrum to slice through schools of baitfish.

Unfortunately for the sawfish, its saw is its greatest asset and its own worst enemy. Fishermen hunted this fish for its curious snout. In addition, the saw gets tangled in nets, lines and rigging. Frustrated fishermen would kill the Sawfish in an effort to save gear. On top of these challenges, Sawfishes have to share their shallow-water habitat with millions of water-going humans. The Smalltooth Sawfish once ranged from New Jersey to Brazil. Now, populations are restricted to small pockets. They are now considered Endangered and have total protection in the state of Florida.

Most folks will never see a live Sawfish in the wild. I know I probably won't. The fishermen in the video below were obviously aware of the Sawfish's status, and had the foresight to contact Fish and Wildlife scientists. While it's sad to see such a rare fish dead, at least its body will help further conservation efforts.

For more on Sawfish, CLICK HERE, and... HERE!

Goldfish Salvation

I hope each of my dear readers gets to watch this... It is absolutely incredible. And proof that art takes all forms, but artists all share one trait: passion.

Enjoy!

Mimic Mimics Mimic

The Mimic Octopus is well known for its spot-on imitations of numerous tropical fishes. Who would have guessed that a fish would join in its party?

Jawfishes are tiny, burrow-dwelling mouth-brooders that do not typically stray far from home. This is the first record of a fish mimicking a cephalopod. Dr. Rocha's hypothesis is that by mimicking the octopus, the small and vulnerable jawfish can venture to new places.

Interesting. My questions are: did this relationship happen by chance, or over eons of evolution?

If you'd like to read more... Click here!

Lungfish

It makes complete sense that fishes would 'learn' to walk underwater before moving onto land. But I've never seen video of this before now. This is a really cool clip of an African Lungfish walking in a lab.



Here's a link to the Underwater Times article... ><{{{{*> Enjoy!

Fish Prints

Here's the skinny... I really didn't think I'd ever get into this. I never had the time! Always under deadline, always focused on a big project (think: Aquarium or Book or Kids :)

But, I've been needled for years by my friends and compatriots to sell, offer, make available(however you'd like to describe it), prints of my illustrations. Online or in stores. Whatever. There was pressure.

See, I've been blessed with this freaky, geeky gift. I have an ability and desire to illustrate fishes precisely, exactly, and lovingly. The illustrations that come out of me are pretty amazing. I look at them and go: "Cool!" But I'm not just patting myself on the back like, "Yo! I'm Awesome! Fly Val!" It's just what I do. It's what I've always done: marching to my own drummer. When I nail an illustration, when it looks JUST like the subject, I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

And, obviously, I love fishes. So I feel a deep need to further understanding, appreciation and conservation of them and their environments. So, I've honed my gift to illustrate, sharpened it, and used it to the best of my ability. If I hadn't...shame on me. I'd have wasted a gift.

So, after almost a year of research and thought crunching, I decided to go for it and finally share the illustrations.
Inspired and coached by my nephew, Leigh, I've launched Val Kells Fish Prints.

Love fish. They rock.

Jellies and Jewfish

Last summer I was shooting the breeze with my friend Norman while waiting for sharks to bite our bait. Waiting usually includes sharing many anecdotes and funny stories. (We're good at waiting :)
Norman told me one story about fishing with Jellyfish bait. Apparently, he was using Cannonball jellies to catch some kind of fish (can't remember what kind, sharks, maybe). He decided to stock up and store the jellies in the bait well with the other bluefish bait. Not five minutes later, all the bluefish were dead.

Now, Cannonballs are virtually harmless. Pick one up sometime. No sting. They're like giant, slimy, hard-boiled eggs. BUT, put enough of them together, and there is enough toxin in their combined nematocysts to kill.

What made me think of this? This story out of St. Lucie.

Too many jellies and too many Jewfish trapped together. Lethal to all.

Norman learned his lesson. Maybe the power plant engineers will too? If they can split atoms, they can prevent fish from getting trapped.
(I'm surprised the state didn't slap them with a fine. They'd have slapped a fisherman for taking the Jewfish!)

Killing Baby Swords

I thought long and hard about keeping this blog permanently light and airy. Make it all fluff and stuff. Happy happy! In other words: keep the negative news out.
Impossible.
And besides, that would make me (in simple terms) fake.
So, oh well. A depressing video of Swordfish juvies brought to slaughter.

The translation at the bottom reads: "Fishery associations and political forces are fighting to amend the Community rules on fishing bans fishing: the use of the hook no. 7 with the technique of the line makes a real slaughter of small swordfish"

Maybe these fishermen will 'get it'. Maybe not. But one thing's for sure, YouTube exposed it. Until someone takes the vid down.

No Love for Lampreys

Been away for a while... My stepdad passed away and with that there was another seismic shift in the landscape. Irrespective, he was instrumental in giving me the gift of the sea. So I decided to jump back into this and continue on in his honor...He'd have liked this and all it is.

Oh the lowly Lamprey! What a conflict of issues! Most folks find it repulsive (but not to me - I don't care - the uglier the more interesting it is). It's a parasite (and feeds on sought-after gamefishes). But on the other hand, it's also revered table fare?! Huh? News to me.

Reviled yet farmed, sought, and sauteed. Yeah, Lamprey. (Um, NO!?)

Click here... here!