Dead crab all over again...

[rogerdodger]

we noticed this in June, then again today: a sunrise walk today along the beach to the north of Florence at low tide was on a beach covered with whole dead crabs, males and females, keeper size and larger. some still dying, way too many for the birds to get to, just whole crabs all over the beach...

we seem to be hit hard by another hypoxic dead zone as has been reported increasingly often in recent years...this SUCKS.

 

[n8r1]

That does suck. After reading your post, I had to look up Hypoxic Dead Zone because I had never heard of it before.

 

[fishtales]

Wow. This and sea foam has had me wondering for a while.

 

[eugene1]

The dead crab you saw could have just been the leftovers after they molted. Saw some posts on another forum about this.

Here is info from ODFW, I guess they molt at the same time, so large numbers of "carcasses" can wash in at the same time. Anyway, I hope that it's just natural processes at work and not man made or even natural hypoxic conditions.

Best,

 

[rogerdodger]

Nope, these are full whole crabs, some still moving slightly, almost dead or just recently dead...definitely a dead zone off Florence this year.

In the river, all through June and July, no big Female or Male crabs.....bad year.

 

[eugene1]

Gotcha, Roger.

I was just hoping for the best!

Later,

 

[rogerdodger]

Gotcha, Roger.

I was just hoping for the best!

Later,

I was hoping they were molted shells, which is why I gunked up my boots rolling so many over and around to see if they were full or empty...but a strong Chinook run will more than make up for the lack of crabs...

 

[eugene1]

What is with all of these scam/disinformation stories using a published scientific study lately with Fukushima? I wonder what these authors did before the Fukushima tragedy??

I'm certain if the authors of that PNAS study had found a link (or even a credible honorable mention) to radiation they would have been the first to bring it up. Funding is tough these days after all, and big claims/results could lead to big grants. But, leave it to some 3rd party fear mongers to find the missing link though.

Best,

 

[billfisher]

Well that's kind of harsh. I thought it was an interesting read. National geo. has about the same report and I'm pretty sure they know more about it than we do.

 

[eugene1]

I'd be interested to see the Nat geo write-up, can you post the link? I'm not trying to be harsh, just realistic with the science. This part of the story:

"The Pacific Ocean appears to be dying, according to a new study recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. blah blah ... a phenomenon that the data suggests is a direct consequence of nuclear fallout from Fukushima." is just 100% fear mongering though!

The Pacific ocean is vast, but the study area was just one area. The data do not "suggest" that is resulting from Fukushima, however. The authors of the PNAS paper do suggest that different currents are causing the observed findings, not radiation.


Best,

Well that's kind of harsh. I thought it was an interesting read. National geo. has about the same report and I'm pretty sure they know more about it than we do.

 

[billfisher]

nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/08/130807-fukushima-radioactive-water-leak ... Couldn't get it to copy but this should get you there Eugene. And I do agree that PNSA's article was hyped up.

 

[rogerdodger]

the NaturalNews 'thing' is just goofy, I was thinking that might be an Onion like satire website, then I realized they intended to be taken seriously.

missing so far seems to be the link between the leaking radioactive isotopes and sea creature kills. I don't see that connection.

hypoxic dead zones are a well known phenomena that happen now and then, are localized, and kill bottom dwelling creatures (those that cannot move to areas with more oxygen). we appear to have had one off Florence in the June/July time frame. We have not seen dead crabs washing up since September so hopefully next year our crabbing will bounce back to normal...cheers, roger

 

[bythesea]

the NaturalNews 'thing' is just goofy, I was thinking that might be an Onion like satire website, then I realized they intended to be taken seriously.

missing so far seems to be the link between the leaking radioactive isotopes and sea creature kills. I don't see that connection.

hypoxic dead zones are a well known phenomena that happen now and then, are localized, and kill bottom dwelling creatures (those that cannot move to areas with more oxygen). we appear to have had one off Florence in the June/July time frame. We have not seen dead crabs washing up since September so hopefully next year our crabbing will bounce back to normal...cheers, roger

I remember reading about that dead zone in are news paper..the crabbing was in the river was slow this year,,,but Aug,Sept over the bar was great we were getting so many crab we were throwing back the big one's for the bigger one's. made for a long day of filleting salmon and cooking a bunch of crab.Oregon's cold beer over a keg of boiling crab it's worth it.:thumb:hope this makes the sad story a little better....

 

[eugene1]

That article was strictly factual in my view, while the Natural news one posted previously was complete speculation without any justification. The two write ups were completely different. I am a scientist (fish genetics), and I try to stand up for other scientists when warranted. Any legitimate scientist would not try to cover up ANYTHING, and these days most scientists are legit and professional. So, "news" reports or whatever that seek to twist the truth get me a little fired up. I know reading the primary scientific literature is difficult for most of the public, that's what real reporters are for. Too bad some of them would seek to stretch the truth or mislead us just to gain some readership but I guess that's what greed does.


Best,

 

[billfisher]

My Bad, I should have researched that more before posting. Thank you for your input. I value your opinions and contributions to this Forum.

 

[eugene1]

No worries from me, that's what the forum is for, good discussions and conversations from everybody.

Best,

My Bad, I should have researched that more before posting. Thank you for your input. I value your opinions and contributions to this Forum.