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Marine Spotlight
Spring Is for Salamanders
 To Adam Frederick, spring means tromping through the woods near his home
in Frederick, Maryland. A born naturalist and an education specialist for
Maryland Sea Grant Extension, Frederick is always on the lookout for
interesting creatures to share with students and teachers.
Last month, he visited a favorite vernal pool in the Catoctin Mountains of the Frederick City watershed. Vernal pools are ephemeral bodies of water that appear in the spring and provide a place for salamanders to lay their eggs, a safe haven from hungry fish. Ensconced in this one, Frederick found hundreds of egg masses, ranging from 4 to 6 inches long and 2 to 3 inches in diameter.
Herpetologist Don Forester of Towson University confirmed that the eggs
belong to the spotted salamander,
Ambystoma
maculatum, which can grow up to 10 inches long. In over 20 years
of visiting this “hot spot,” Frederick says that he’s never seen so
many egg masses. The pool was also filled with 4-inch, adult newts, he
noted, who were attracted to the eggs’ gelatinous coating.
[more] |
Stopping Invasive Species
 For years, natural resource managers have contended with unwelcome aquatic invaders. Zebra mussels. Mitten crabs. Snakeheads. Some species fade away, but others become highly invasive, causing both economic and ecological harm.
One of the most devastating examples in the Chesapeake Bay was MSX, a parasite most likely brought to the region in the late 1950s with the imported Japanese oyster,
Crassostrea gigas.
No one knows when the next unwanted invader will arrive. To get at the source of the problem, invasion biologists are now moving from a species-by-species approach — called by some "the species of the month" approach — to focus on how invasive species move from one place to another, so-called "vectors."
On December 2, 2009, Maryland Sea Grant teamed up with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Panel of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force to host a workshop focused directly on examining and controlling exotic species vectors.
[more] |
Learning to Read Rip Currents Could Save Lives
 As the season’s first hurricanes swing near the U.S. coast, churning
out large waves, they bring the threat of dangerous rip currents all
along the Atlantic Seaboard.
On the beach at Ocean City, Maryland, nearly a hundred lifeguards have
their eyes trained on the waves, watching swimmers and looking for
telltale signs of rip currents. Located right in the middle of the East
Coast, Ocean City draws crowds of beachgoers from the Mid-Atlantic and
beyond. The lifeguards know that rip currents can put swimmers’ lives
at risk –– most drownings on American beaches are rip current drownings.
[more] |
Chesapeake Quarterly Wins Awards
 This year
Chesapeake Quarterly took home
two Awards for Publication Excellence (APEX) for articles focused on
the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. This is the fourth year in a row
that the magazine has been so honored.
[more] |
Poisoned Waters: Frontline to focus on Chesapeake Bay
On April 21, “Frontline,” the acclaimed documentary series, turns its camera eye on the demise of two of the nation’s coastal jewels, the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. Entitled “Poisoned Waters,” the two-hour documentary will describe the sorry condition of two treasured estuaries, one on the East coast and one on the West. Both bodies of water have drawn thousands to live, work, and play along their shores, and both have suffered from development, runoff, and weak political will.
[more] |
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