Sunfish beaches on Dutch island

Translated from Ecomare museum on Texel island in the Netherlands:

Sunfish on Ameland beach – 01/03/13

A huge ocean sunfish 1.55 meters long and 1.22 meters high! Hikers found the big fish last Tuesday on the beach of Ameland. It is a remarkable find. It does not happen every year that ocean sunfish are seen along our coast, yet this is the fourth individual in a few weeks’ time. In addition, this one was pretty big. Usually people see smaller specimens. The largest one ever in the Netherlands beached also on Ameland. That was in 1889. That animal was 2.73 meters long.

Several finds

On Texel in December two dead sunfish were found on one day, one on the North Sea beach, the other one along the Wadden Sea. They were two relatively small fish of 60 and 80 centimeter. A few days later a third sunfish washed up on the beach of Domburg in Zeeland. This one was 1.13 meters long.

Yesterday, a squid beached on Ameland as well; photo here.

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Dutch grey plover news

This is a video of grey plovers in winter plumage (with dunlins and a spoonbill).

BirdLife in the Netherlands reports about grey plovers.

The Wadden Sea in the Netherlands proves to be important for these migratory birds. 90% of all Dutch grey plovers stay there.

From 1975-2005, grey plover numbers in the Netherlands doubled. After 2005, the rise is numbers was not so clear any more.

There are several threats to those waders. Estuaries in Britain are in danger. Oil and grass drilling in their northern Siberian nesting areas is a problem as well.

Cockles (important food for waders) near Rottum: here.

Invasive species in the Wadden Sea

From GiMaRIS in the Netherlands:

In three weeks time 28 non-native species are found of which twelve are new to the Dutch Wadden Sea. Some of these species like Botrylloides violaceus, which is introduced from the NW Pacific, are very brightly coloured.

Botrylloides violaceus is a sea squirt. Like Didemnum vexillum, another new Wadden Sea species. Also two Japanese crab species, including the Asian shore crab, were discovered for the first time ever in the Wadden Sea.

Source: NRC Handelsblad daily, paper edition, 22 September 2009, page 8.

Invasive Alien Species, ranging from disease and plants, to rats and goats, are one of the top three threats to life on this planet, according to a new publication coordinated by the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP), of which BirdLife International is a partner: here.

The sea squirt offers hope for Alzheimer’s sufferers: here.

What Sea Squirts Can Teach Us About the Heart: here.

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• Warming Water and Invasive Species Changing the Character of Quetico-Superior Lakes (queticosuperior.org)
• The Top Ecosystem Topplers (bloggerheadseaturtle.wordpress.com)
• Kicking Off March with National Invasive Species Awareness Week! (nationalaquarium.wordpress.com)
• New island appears off coast of Germany (telegraph.co.uk)
• National Invasive Species Week (Think Before You Buy, Plant or Dump) (swittersb.wordpress.com)
• Aquatic invasive species could threaten Scotland’s fish stocks (scotsman.com)