By Dave Sigworth, publicist of The Maritime Aquarium

A new season has opened for blue crabbing in Connecticut, and a lot of folks who watch the health of Long Island Sound will be closely watching the size of the blue crab “catch.”

Over the last decade or two, the Sound has been warming (like the air and marine waters nearly everywhere). That change may – may – have cost the Sound its lobster industry, because the water temperature gets warmer than lobsters prefer.

But what has been bad for lobsters has been good for blue crabs, which tolerate warmer water.  So researchers closely watch the blue crab population for signs of changes happening in the Sound. Has a shift happened? Has the southernmost range of lobsters indeed moved north? Has the primary range of blue crabs expanded north?

“We think they’re the primary indicator species,” Timothy Visel said of blue crabs.

Visel is the aquaculture program coordinator at the Sound School in New Haven, and he’s among those who closely monitors the numbers of juvenile and adult blue crabs.

A blue crab from Long Island Sound.

So it seems more possible now to have a lot of blue crabs in Long Island Sound each summer.  But there are many factors in play that determine what kind of blue crab year it will be. A lot of it rides on what kind of winter we had.

A mild winter with a normal spring can yield a bounty. In the summer of 2010, it was Blue Crab Heaven out there. Visel estimates there were some 300 million to 400 million crabs for the taking (and boiling and steaming.)

But the numbers fell back last year, and Visel – based on what he’s seen in the central and eastern basins of the Sound – has a disappointing forecast for this summer. Two recent hurricanes – Irene and Sandy – and the coldest winter since 1957 may keep blue crab numbers down.  The forecast in the Chesapeake Bay (historically, the East Coast’s blue crab capital) also are “grim,” he said.

Why? The violently churning water during storms can pull blue crabs out of their hiding places, exposing them to predators and tossing them fatally up onto shore. And a prolonged winter kills crabs by starving them. The crabs, which can store up food energy to cover two to three months, won’t come out of winter hibernation until their water warms to about 48 degrees. If spring comes late, they may die before ever rousing from their winter beds.

But the season just opened May 1, so we’ll just have to see. No blue crabs have been collected yet during the initial 2013 outings of The Maritime Aquarium’s Marine Life Study Cruises, but we’ll be looking for them all summer.  (Join us. Our public cruises depart at 1 p.m. Saturdays through June 29; then at 1 p.m, daily in July & August.)

If you want to test your luck, all you need is a piece of string, a smelly old chicken drumstick, a net and a collection bucket. No license is required and there’s no creel limit, but there is a state size regulation: 5 inches side tip to side tip for hard-shell crabs or 3.5 inches for soft-shell.

And if you are fortunate enough to find blue crabs, be careful because they can pinch somethin’ fierce!

By Dave Sigworth, publicist of The Maritime Aquarium

Sand tiger sharks were in the news the other day. This is the primary species of shark in The Maritime Aquarium’s “The Ocean Beyond the Sound” exhibit (a.k.a., what a lot of visitors refer to as our shark tank). Sand tigers also are the largest of the shark species native to Long Island Sound.

They were in the news not because a sand tiger shark attacked a person. It’s because of how they attack each other even before they’re born.

It’s been known for a while 1) that sand tiger females will develop eggs inseminated by multiple males; and 2) that sand tiger shark embryos will eat each other in utero – in other words, before being born.

A sand tiger shark in The Maritime Aquarium.

What’s new is that scientists have concluded that there may be an evolutionary strategy behind how this happens:  the “winning” baby shark – the shark that actually will survive to be born – usually is the offspring of a male shark that is more aggressive than other adult males.

A news report quoted the lead author of the study – Demian Chapman, a marine biology professor at Stony Brook University – as saying, “This is demonstrating that embryonic cannibalism is actually whittling down the number of males producing offspring.”

For the father of the successful baby shark, he has outcompeted his rivals and it is his lineage that will live on.

Here’s how The Washington Post explained the study:

“Over the course of four years, Chapman and his six colleagues collected 15 pregnant sand tiger sharks that had died after being caught in nets set off Richards Bay, South Africa. By performing genetic tests on the embryos in different states of development, they were able to determine that while the majority of the females had mated with multiple males, in 60 percent of the cases they were carrying only babies from the same father, suggesting that all other male shark offspring had already been killed.”

The question still to be answered is this:  are these “winning” adult males able to mate first with females so that their offspring develop first, giving them an advantage over subsequent sharks fathered by other males? Or do the “winning” males simply produce offspring that develop, or gestate, faster?

Whichever the answer, the result is that all of that feasting on their brothers and sisters has paid off for the newborn sharks:  at birth, sand tiger sharks are nearly 3 feet long and thus much less vulnerable to predators.

(At the Aquarium, we’ve occasionally seen bite marks on the sand tigers that suggest evidence of mating behavior. No pups have been born, and that’s no real surprise. Sand tiger shark births in any aquarium are very very rare.)

By Dave Sigworth, publicist of The Maritime Aquarium

March 31 marked the end of the beaver trapping season in Connecticut. The season for river otters ended March 15.

It may come as a surprise to you that there are enough beavers and river otters (and mink and muskrat and foxes and other “fur-bearing” animals) in Connecticut to have legal trapping.

River otters are “not uncommon,” says Paul Rego, a wildlife biologist for the CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP).

Indeed, The Maritime Aquarium displays river otters because there are river otters in Connecticut. (Remember that the Aquarium is all about Long Island Sound and its watershed, and the animals that live in it.)

River otters live in all corners of the state. We know folks who have seen them even in the busiest parts of Norwalk. They’re just not commonly seen because they’re generally nocturnal (active at night) or  – here’s an S.A.T. word for you – crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk).

Statistics for the trapping seasons that just ended weren’t readily available last week. But Rego said the average annual harvest is about 200 river otters and 1,000 beavers. The beaver “take” is greater than of otters because: 1) there are many more beavers than otters in Connecticut, and 2) because beavers are more of a “nuisance animal” and thus a target for removal by trapping. (By law, beavers cannot be relocated.)

Harvest numbers are known because trappers are required to have the pelts tagged by DEEP officials. Trappers must be licensed, and are limited to eight otters per season but have no maximum on beavers.

Beavers were a critical economic driver to the settling of New York City. Still today, the city's official seal includes one eagle, one European colonist, one Lenape native American but two beavers.

States allow hunting and trapping as a means for controlling animal populations and, of course, as a way to make money. And it’s hardly new. Trade in beaver pelts was one of our country’s very first types of commerce. In his book, “Nature Wars,” Jim Sterba writes that the Mayflower Pilgrims shipped more than 2,000 beaver pelts to England in 1630. And trade involving beaver pelts helped to establish New York City. In fact, as Sterba notes, New York City’s official seal, which was created in 1686 but still used today, has one eagle, one European sailor, one Native American and two beavers.

“Americans who think trapping is inhumane and wearing fur is repugnant might be astonished to learn how important a role beavers played in North American history,” Sterba wrote. “The exploration and conquest of the northern United States and Canada were propelled in large part by the economic rewards of finding, catching, killing, eviscerating, and skinning these 50-pound aquatic rodents. …

“Beaver pelts became a currency. Trade in them created an economic network that spanned the Atlantic Ocean from the New World wilderness to the royal courts of Europe and lasted for 300 years.”

After centuries of trapping and of clearing forests for farming, it became harder and harder to find beavers, otters and their like here. But, over the last 100 years, as the number of farms in Connecticut dwindled down, the state has become forested again. And our Woodlands version 2.0 has allowed for the return of woodland animals.

Today, beaver and otter pelts remain just as valued for their dense lush fur. A check on ebay finds river otter pelts available for $180 to $300.  Beaver pelts range from $100 to $250.  Rego of the DEEP said some trappers with export licenses find a market for the pelts in Russia and Asia.

The harvesting of animals on land for food, economic gain and/or wildlife management is our legacy and our reality – no different than how we also have relied over the centuries on the bounty from the sea. The challenge for us, as stewards of Long Island Sound and its watershed, is to see that it is done in smart and sustainable ways.

Some animals, like the striped bass and the bald eagle, were named after distinguishing marks on their bodies.  Others, like Thompson’s gazelles and Fraser’s dolphins, were named for the people who “discovered” them.

A few creatures, however, were named simply to be identifiable by the people who pursued them. Two of the simplest examples are in the flounder family. To fishermen off our Atlantic shores, flatfish commonly caught in the summer became known as summer flounder and those abundant in colder months were named – that’s right – winter flounder.

Both eyes of a winter flounder are on its right side.

Winter flounder spend the summer months in cooler deeper water but come in closer to shore at this time of year to spawn. So now is the legal time to catch them: Connecticut’s winter flounder season opened Monday and continues through May 30.

But there’s more that distinguishes winter and summer flounder than the time of year that they’re within casting range of fishermen.  To explain, we have to start at the beginning of their lives, shortly after a tiny flounder “fry” has hatched. At this early stage of its life, a flounder isn’t a flatfish at all. It looks like a “normal” fish. But as it develops, one eye moves to the other side of its body! The little flounder can then lie flat on the sea floor and keep two sharp eyes out for predators and prey.

As if having a migrating eye isn’t wild enough, the eye that moves is different depending on the flounder species. There are “left-eyed” and “right-eyed” flatfish. With summer and windowpane flounder, the right eye shifts over next to the left eye, so they are “left-eyed.” With winter flounder, it’s the left eye that moves, so they are “right-eyed” (as are most halibut and sole).

How do you tell them apart? Imagine lifting a flounder straight up off the bottom, and trying to tilt it on its side so that its mouth is lower than its eyes. With a winter flounder, you would tip it so the eyes are on its right. Left-eyed summer flounder would get tipped to the left.

Another difference: summer flounder, or fluke, have a wide mouth with big sharp teeth. Winter flounder have a tiny mouth and small (or no) teeth.

Winter flounder (Pleuronectes americanus) are a muddy reddish brown but have hints of olive green and even black. Their underside is white. Within their range from Canada to the Carolinas (including Long Island Sound), they seek out bottoms of soft mud or sand, which they kick up over their bodies to aid in camouflage. Their prey includes worms, small crabs, mollusks and many of the sea’s tiniest swimming creatures.

Winter flounder are tasty enough to make fishing in the cold worthwhile. However, some long-time fishermen will tell you that there aren’t nearly as many winter flounder in Long Island Sound as there used to be. To try to help give the species a chance to rebound, only winter flounder 12 inches or longer can be legally kept in Connecticut. And you can only bring home two keepers per day.

(Summer flounder grow bigger and are more abundant. Their season runs May 15-Oct. 31. They have to be at least 17.5 inches long, but you can keep up to 5 per day.)

We want to mention two items today. One is exciting. One is sad.

The first is to let you know that an expedition is getting under way this week that you’re invited to join remotely.  Back on Nov. 29, The Maritime Aquarium hosted polar explorers John Huston and Toby Thorliefsson, who explained their plans for a March 2013 expedition to a remote island in Canada.

During a November lecture at The Maritime Aquarium, Arctic explorer Toby Thorliefsson talked about polar bears and other dangers in his line of work.

Well, it’s now March 2013 and they’re just about ready to leave. Huston, Thorliefsson and two other fellows are going to hike and mush for 70 days – and 630 miles – across Ellesmere Island, the northernmost landmass of North America and one of the last untouched wildernesses on Earth. They’ll be retracing an expedition route blazed by Otto Sverdrup, a Norwegian who led an Arctic mapping exploration from 1898-1902.

During their presentation at The Maritime Aquarium, they showed lots of cool slides and videos from their past expeditions and their trainings. But what really stuck with us what they eat on their trips: sticks of butter. And fudge. And deep-fried bacon. Just like high-altitude climbers, polar explorers expend a lot of energy. So they need to eat a lot to maintain their endurance – some 7,000 calories a day. But because they also have to carry everything with them, the weight of each item they pack is a huge issue.

For food, Huston said, “You want as much calories with as little weight as possible.”

They’ll be posting a regular blog about their journey. Follow along at www.forwardendeavors.com/blog.

*  *  *

And we are saddened to learn about Monday’s death of Art Glowka of Stamford, who was a fierce advocate for Long Island Sound.

A number of Aquarium staffers knew Art over the years, mainly from conferences and workshops when organizations got together to plan and share for the health of the Sound. Art was an avid fisherman who knew the Sound … and what was wrong with the Sound and what was wrong with some of the best-intended plans to help the Sound.

Every cause needs folks who will doggedly held those accountable … accountable. That was Art Glowka with the Sound. In its Facebook post about Art today, even Save the Sound acknowledged that it had “sometimes been on different sides of an issue” with Art.

But, as one Aquarium co-worker said, “He was usually right.”

We all need to be stewards of Long Island Sound.  The Sound lost a big one Monday.

Here’s a story about Art from today’s Stamford Advocate: www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Longtime-Long-Island-Sound-advocate-dies-4383329.php#src=fb

We can’t let the day go by without noting that today (March 22) is the 21^st annual World Water Day, declared by the United Nations as a day to focus attention on the importance of fresh water and the need for the sustainable management of fresh-water resources.

We hope you didn’t roll your eyes. The global needs and demands for fresh water increase every year – from population gains, droughts, agriculture and other industries. It’s serious enough that, a few years ago, one MIT professor warned that water “is the next oil” – meaning that governments will begin to trade, store and maybe fight over water rights.

According to the U.N., “around 700 million people in 43 countries suffer from a lack of water. By 2025, 1.8 billion people (23 percent of the total expected population) will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world’s population (another 3.4 billion people) could be living under water stressed conditions.”

You may ask:  for “the blue planet” – a planet whose surface is more than 70 percent water – how can this be?  Well, generally, 97 percent of the water on Earth is salt water, which is unusable in that form for most of our needs. (And desalination is costly.) That leaves 3 percent as fresh water. But two-thirds of that is locked up at the poles as inaccessible ice (ice that’s melting, which just sends it into the salty sea, causing a whole set of other issues). This leaves 1 percent of the water on Earth as accessible fresh water.  Accessible; not necessarily clean, of course.

Here’s what the U.N. says on World Water Day:  “The fulfillment of basic human needs, our environment, socio-economic development and poverty reduction are all heavily dependent on water. …  Rapid urbanization, pollution and climate change threaten the resource, while demands for water are increasing in order to satisfy the needs of a growing world population, now at over 7 billion people, for food production, energy, industrial and domestic uses. Water is a shared resource and its management needs to take into account a wide variety of conflicting interests.”

So today we raise a glass … of refreshing tap water … and remind you of some simple ways to preserve and conserve this precious resource:

•  take shorter showers.

•  use less fertilizer and pesticides on your lawn.

•  keep a pitcher of water in your refrigerator, so you don’t have to wait for your tap water to get cold.

•  fix leaky faucets.

•  watch for notices of river cleanups and volunteer your time.

•  go to car washes (where water is recycled) instead of washing your car in the driveway.

•  don’t let the water run while brushing your teeth.

•  set up a rain-water collector, to store water that can be used for gardens and landscaping.

•  and keep in touch with your legislators to encourage them to support clean-water initiatives.

Learn more about World Water Day at www.unwater.org/water-cooperation-2013/home/en/

And get more information about water conservation at www.maritimeaquarium.org/long-island-sound/conservation.

By Dave Sigworth, publicist of The Maritime Aquarium

It’s just after 8 a.m., two hours before The Maritime Aquarium will open its doors to visitors and several school groups on field trips. But much is happening.

Members of the animal-husbandry department already have been in for an hour (or more) to get the Aquarium ready for the day.  Here’s a sampling of the activity:

A bucket of fish, ready for the seals.

8:15 a.m. – Up in the third-floor “fish kitchen,” interns Daniel Delgado and Karen Echeverria are preparing food for the Aquarium’s fish, seals, otters and other marine animals. They have pulled a large container of capelin – a small fish that the Aquarium purchases by the ton – out of the walk-in freezer. They discard any fish that looks bruised or damaged; weigh out good ones for the seals; and filet and chop up others to be fed to many of the Aquarium’s displayed fish.

8:37 a.m.  –  Down the hall, aquarist Mark Wagner is going to feed the sand tiger sharks from the

A sand tiger shark comes partially out of the water while being fed a fish.

room above the Aquarium’s 110,000-gallon “Ocean Beyond the Sound” exhibit. He needs to make sure that each shark gets a meal. One at a time, he attaches a fish to the end of a long pole and offers it to each shark. Some snatch the fish with barely a tug; others snap it off in a violent thrashing.

8:58 a.m. – Aquarist Rachel Stein is in the jellyfish nursery, where the Aquarium’s year-round supply of jellies are cultured. She preps a bucket that looks to be full of a reddish-brown tea. But it’s not tea, it’s a rich concentration of brine shrimp, which the aquarists hatch each day to feed to the smaller, filter-feeding creatures on exhibit. She uses a turkey baster to squirt a sampling of shrimp into all the jelly containers.

Dr. Barbara Mangold and aquarist Mark Wagner perform a health check on a cow-nose ray.

9:02 a.m.  –  Wagner has moved downstairs to the Shark & Ray Touch Pool, where he and staff veterinarian Dr. Barbara Mangold are planning a ray health screening. Wagner is setting up a small isolation tank and puts a “relaxation” agent into the water, which will quiet the rays and make examination easier.

9:17 a.m. – The first ray has been netted and is relaxed. Wagner holds its fins while Mangold collects small samples of skin and gill, which she will examine under a microscope up in the animal-husbandry lab.  Several more will be swabbed over the next 20 minutes.

9:28 a.m. –  Delgado, the intern, and Aquarist Vicki Sawyer are working with the harbor seals. The seals get a breakfast feeding and also practice a new skill: trying to differentiate between square and round shapes.

Aquarist Sandi Schaefer with a red-eyed tree frog.

9:34 a.m. –  Aquarist Sandi Schaefer is in a support room behind the “Watershed” gallery, checking in on some new arrivals: red-eyed tree frogs for the “Frogs!” exhibit. They get a breakfast of crickets.

9:47 a.m. –  Sawyer heads up to the awaken the river otters (who spend the night backstage) and move them into their exhibit. Lou is ready to go. Bell needs a nudge.

9:50 a.m.–  Aquarist Evelia Rivera calls the meerkats into a backstage support room. She now can go into the “Meerkats” exhibit to tidy and restage their environment. (Each day, the aquarists change and move items in the exhibit, to keep the meerkats engaged.)

Aquarist Evelia Rivera readies the "Meerkats" exhibit.

10 a.m. –  The Maritime Aquarium is ready for visitors.  But the animal-husbandry department’s work is not done. Water quality will be monitored, more food will be prepped in the “fish kitchen,” and more animals will be fed throughout the day.

(Learn more about the Aquarium’s operations in a “Behind-the-Scenes Tour” on Sat., April 20 beginning at 8:15 a.m.   Tickets are $25 or $22.50 for Aquarium members.  Advance reservations are strongly recommended; click on “Buy Tickets” at the top of this page or call (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206.)