Octopus caught accidentally in groundfish fisheries in federal waters off Alaska may be sold, but there is no commercial octopus fishery in federal waters. The information could also have ramifications for by-caught octopus. The knowledge researchers gain will be valuable on its own to reveal details of a little-understood invertebrate, but will be even more so if anyone proposes an octopus fishery in Alaska, he said. The population estimates so far indicate octopus numbers may be as much as two orders of magnitude larger than estimated, about 200 to 600 octopus per square kilometer. We also don’t know how far they range and population sizes.” “We know that people use octopus for bait, they throw them back over the side of the boat when accidently caught, and they sometimes eat it. “Scientists haven’t learned enough about octopus in Alaska to provide for an ecosystem approach to management,” Brewer said. He has found them shifted by only a kilometer in two to three months. He is trying to get a handle on the population size off of the Aleutians and learn how far they range across their waters. He has tagged 1,700 and recovered 220 to 230 over the two summer study seasons. To distinguish individuals, he used different dot-color patterns in the tattoolike tagging.
OCTOPUS MOUTH SKIN
“Different colors are mixed up and injected just under the skin into little dots that are noninvasive,” Brewer said. Brewer used new tagging technology to outwit the clever octopus: tiny, bright, flexible tags that show through the octopus’ skin after they are implanted. More than just the children were reaching out to claim one after Saturday’s talk.Ī first step in gathering good data involved solving the tagging problem. But the largest Brewer ever witnessed came to 18 feet and weighed about 600 pounds.īrewer gives out vials of ink from octopus gathered in his two-year study. Giant octopus are rumored to be up to 30 feet long. For a lot of people, the octopus is an amazing, favorite critter.” “This especially is a popular topic with fishermen. “This is such a fun talk to give because people really like to hear about octopus, and they are really curious about these creatures,” Brewer said. The talk, “Octopus and other creatures run wild,” was accompanied by photos of the cephalopod’s little-known underwater world off the Aleutian Islands. Large crowds attended his weekend lectures during the National Wildlife Month at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center in Homer. He is at work on a doctorate with the University of Alaska Fairbanks as he gathers baseline studies of octopus habitat. The octopus holds uncanny intelligence indicating an ability to problem solve, said marine biologist and diver, Reid Brewer.
What marine animal can unscrew the lid of a jar, squeeze into a water jug, shoot out clouds of ink to mimic its own shape and tear off scientific tags meant to track him? A giant octopus is found aboard a fishing vessel.
0 kommentar(er)
