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Shark Snooping ~ Sea-Surfing Robot Tracks Marine Life

An unmanned, solar-powered Wave Glider robot has been deployed off the U.S. coast near San Francisco as part of an arsenal of ocean-observing technologies revealing in real time the mysterious journeys of great white sharks and other marine creatures. A new network that also includes data receivers on fixed buoys picks up signals from acoustic tags on animals passing within 1,000 feet and transmits information to a research team on shore, led by Stanford University Marine Sciences Professor Barbara Block.

The technology is central to Block’s Blue Serengeti Initiative, which builds on the Tagging of Pacific Predators project, part of the international Census of Marine Life (2000-2010). “The use of revolutionary technology increases our capacity to observe our oceans and census populations, improve fisheries management models and monitor animal responses to climate change,” says Block.

Shark Net is a free IOS app available at the Apple store, created by Block and her colleagues to enable a direct, personal connection between the public and wild marine animals, and to raise  awareness of the teeming ocean life just off North America’s West Coast.

Source: SierraClub.org.

 

great white shark Global Briefs
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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