Creatures 'great & small': something's fishy here!

Asked to imagine rescuing creatures who live in water, you might picture large sea animals being helped somehow.  Sure, that happens.  But how about goldfish --300 of them -- in a flooded basement?  What then?

That’s a job for New York City’s “on-call fish-rescuer,” Brenda Prohaska, whose lifesaving tendencies began with a casual interest in fish and grew to large-scale life-saving, attracted a partner in fish-rescue and earned recent publicity and kudos for both of them.

Well, why not?  They deal in aiding aquatic creatures in life-threatening situations who, as with other animals in distress, also need help: "Attention must be paid!”  And, with about 90 rescues in the last three years, this Bronx cosmetology teacher agrees.

Typically contacted for rescue via her Facebook page, Prohaska shows up in her “fish-rescue ambulance,” otherwise known as a beat-up hearse, carrying her rescue gear and space for those she saves.  Her partner, Laboy Wiggins, a disabled construction worker, drives up to three hours from his home in Pennsylvania to NYC to help in a cause that he also finds restful and healing.

Both rescuers also house fish in their homes, but Wiggins wins the “biggest tank" prize because he has opted to care for some surprisingly large fish.    https://tinyurl.com/mpan27rh 

Meanwhile, back off our coast          

Humpback whale

Fish stories like that one remind me of the ongoing coverage about much bigger marine creatures, like whales, dying off NJ’s coast, along with mass-strandings of dolphins.  The good news is that two NJ legislators have asked NOAH (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to hurry up with findings about these deaths so speculation can be put to rest and safety steps might be enacted.

Right now, various theories for why these deaths have occurred are in play – from boat strikes to offshore wind development -- with no definitive problem identified and therefore no protective solutions implemented.  A sad media photo of a dead humpback whale being hauled back from the water for beach burial must serve as motivation for quick action to protect humpback and right whales, as well as dolphins.

(assumed to be a sperm whale)

As Heathcote Williams details so convincingly in Whale Nation, whales are of huge importance to human survival.  Do enough people know that?       

Sperm whales are family folk

“Sperm whales are the loudest and largest-brained of marine animals.  They might also be the most tender.”

If that caption doesn’t prompt you to read the rest of the book review, replete with stunning whale photos, just read the highlights here.  After being nearly wiped out by the 1970s, this whale species is slowly repopulating.  Humans can best see (and hear) sperm whales diving deep, sleeping vertically, grooming, nursing and at play off Dominica in the Caribbean.

That’s where the author-marine scientist-photographer Gaelin Rosenwaks went before producing Sperm Whales: The Gentle Goliaths of the Ocean (Rizzoli).  In their complex matrilineal society, females (about 30,000 pounds) stay bonded for life, averaging 70 years, while males (who can reach 100,000 pounds) stay with their mothers for a decade before going off on their own.  Social beings who associate in families, then in clans, sperm whales use their rhythmic sonar clicks, or “codas,” to communicate and hunt.    

“There is nothing like looking into the eye of a sperm whale,” the author says.  “Their eyes are filled with wisdom that penetrates your soul.”   https://tinyurl.com/2s4k96e6

Watch a short video of the author with a sperm whale and listen to the clicks.    https://tinyurl.com/2rnpt3ps

Megalodons ruled ancient seas 

And finally, among water creatures, sharks – or one shark in particular: the megalodon, the biggest predatory fish of all time.  While long extinct, the megalodon “ruled the waves” and all other animals in ancient oceans. 

Today, in “Sharks,” a long-running exhibition at Manhattan’s American Museum of Natural History, the gaping jaws of a scientifically accurate model of megalodon greets visitors as the start of the exhibition. This is a reminder of an earlier post here: Now is the time to pick a date for your NYC visit and order timed ticket(s) online  (AMNH.org/exhibitions/sharks) well before Labor Day/Sept. 4, when the exhibition ends.     

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