Authorities in coastal states from Maryland to Maine are warning consumers not to eat (LARGE) striped bass or large bluefish very often because they contain too much mercury. Pregnant women and children under age 6 are warned to avoid stripers or bluefish larger than 14 inches entirely, and everyone is being asked to limit consumption. That’s some serious stuff, as both species are major game fishes in the region and are widely eaten. Unfortunately both species collect so much mercury because they are high-ranking predators on the food chain, eating lots of smaller fish who each have far lower levels of the toxin. Mercury hangs around in an animal’s system for a while, so your body needs a break between meals containing it in order to stay healthy. Fish-eating fishes don’t get that break.
The silver lining is that bluefish are better eating at 14 inches and below — the larger they get, the oilier and fishier they get. And large stripers over 36 inches are typically big breeding females, a group of fish we want to keep alive. Like bluefish, large stripers tend to have coarse meat that is not as fine as that from a smaller fish.
Tag: pollution
Tijuana River Plume Tracking | Watershed | San Diego Ocean Conditions
Stormwater Plume Tracking: Tijuana River Flow Rate | San Diego Ocean Meteorological Conditions: Temperature, Wind, Waves, Rain. See also: Especially for Teachers: Southern California Ocean Observing System (SCOOS) lesson plans.
via Plume Tracking » Tijuana River.
Sample Plume Tracker snapshot from Jan 31, 2010: Outflow is heading south so Coronado beaches are clean…
Especially for Teachers: Southern California Ocean Observing System
Contains information and sample lesson plans from the Weather and Water 5th Grade Program, two activities that allow 5th grade students to use real-time data in the classroom, and a link to the student-friendly Forces of Nature web site
See also Tijuana River Plume Tracking (pollution outflow)
via SCCOOS.
via Especially for Teachers: Southern California Ocean Observing System.