SOS 007 // Do Salmon Like to Party? 🎉

Cocaine salmon, a new Portuguese man-o-war, Sylvia Earle turns 90. Plus, this week's Ocean Nibbles and SOS Wish List.

Party Animal

Cocaine Salmon

Is your salmon acting odd? Staying up all night, sleeping all day. Blabbering nonstop. Turns out your salmon has a little cocaine problem. Or maybe he just likes how it smells. Before you judge your salmon, check out a recent study that found cocaine (and its metabolite benzoylecgonine) in surface water at concentrations of 362 nanograms per liter. Analysis of the Hudson and East rivers found that 60% of the water contains cocaine 🤯. Why is that a problem, you ask? Because even at low concentrations, substances like cocaine can have life-changing effects. Just ask your old college buddy who moved to New York for a finance job, partied too hard and ended up living with his parents. But I digress. Drugs change Salmon’s lives. A recent Swedish study found that salmon exposed to cocaine swam almost twice as far as they typically do. If a fish ends up in an unfamiliar location, there are major implications for its survival, including what they eat and which predators may eat them. And cocaine isn’t the only substance that salmon contend with. Fish are “exposed to a wide range of human-made drugs on a daily basis.” Current water treatment tech doesn’t effectively remove these substances. The next step for the Swedish study researchers will be determining the effects of cocaine on salmon survival and reproduction.

A Portuguese man-o-war “jellyfish” stranded on the beach. Credit: Hansel Gonzalez // Unsplash

Deadly Denizen of the Tropics Moves North, Oh Boy

I’ve always been fascinated by the Portuguese man-of war. Maybe it’s their dual beauty/danger nature. I often find them washed up on the beach in late summer when the tropical Gulf Stream angles towards our shores. And, though I didn’t really want to, I’ve warned more than one tourist against picking up their balloon-esque bodies. Although we refer to them as jellyfish, man-o-war aren’t true jellies. They belong to a classification of organisms called siphonophores. Each man-o-war is a colony of zooids (animals that lives as part of a colony) that have different tasks contributing to the survival of the colony. The stunning neon blue and purple balloon that distinguishes a man-o-war is its pneumatophore. It serves as a sail, using the wind to carry the colony thousands of miles. Sometimes carrying it onto a beach in Montauk, New York… Worldwide, there were thought to be just four species of man-o-war. Now, Japanese researchers have identified a fifth species that they named the “crescent helmet man-o-war” after the samurai warrior Date Masamune who wore a striking crescent moon helmet in battle. The man-o-war was discovered stranded on a beach in northern Japan. Researchers posit that warming ocean temperatures are making wider ranges habitable for these beautiful assassins. Maybe that means more blue “balloons” on the beach this summer. Except these balloons won’t be emblazoned with “Happy Birthday, Princess.”

Legendary marine biologist Sylvia Earle. Credit: Michael Aw.

At 90 years old, Sylvia Earle is Still a Force to Be Reckoned with

Sylvia Earle began exploring the ocean before most of us were born and she’s not stopping any time soon. In 1964, she was the only female on a six-week expedition to the Indian Ocean. In 1968, at four months pregnant, she lived 100 feet below the surface in an underwater habitat in the Bahamas. In 1979, she was the first human to dive untethered 1,250 feet beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. In 1990, she was the first female Chief Scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Dr. Earle’s life is a catalog of firsts yet she never rested on her laurels. For decades, her voice has been chief among ocean conservation advocates. An organization she founded in 2009 and still leads, Mission Blue, is dedicated to “inspir[ing] action to explore and protect the ocean.” If you haven’t yet, check out Mission Blue and Chasing Coral on Netflix. Be inspired. The ocean needs us.

Ocean Nibbles

• Later, ‘gator. A Texas fisherman was fined after live-streaming his two-hour fight with an 8-foot, 200-pound alligator. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department cited the man for illegal possession of an alligator, intentional feeding of a free-ranging alligator and not having a hunter education certificate, and gave him a warning for hunting without a license. “Intentional feeding” 🤣

• The Mystery of the Golden Orb. In 2023, scientists were puzzled when a “golden orb” was found more than two miles deep on the seafloor of the Gulf of Alaska. Any guesses? Hint: it wasn’t a golden goose egg. The big reveal.

• How to Start a Competitive Fishing Team. Want to quit your job and make money winning fishing tournaments? I got you. Save up about $10 million and read this article in Marlin magazine.

SOS Wish List

Antigravity A1 Drone. Created by Insta360 and a team of drone engineers and enthusiasts, the Antigravity A1 is a beginner-friendly FPV drone that captures 360 footage in 8K. Press the shutter button when aloft and marvel at the first person perspective of everything. Shoot first, edit later. Buy yours here.