Are the Moray Eels of Bonaire Really Dying?

This is rather distressing. It doesn't sound like there has been any sort of major, published, peer-reviewed, quantitative documentation of this yet. But that said, something is not right when so many sport divers not only count dozens of dead or dying eels (the diver on this blog itemized in detail 50 encounters with dead eels), but even post video footage of one writhing in what looks to be the death throes.

In all the thousands of hours I've logged diving on Caribbean coral reefs I've never once seen a dead or dying eel. It's a rather disturbing mystery for now.

i-e9f7bc8c8fd1836859073b55a77bd1a4-eel.jpg


Did we do something to the moray eels of Bonaire?

More like this

I've been fishing, swimming and walking the shoreline around my mom's summer house for almost 30 years, and so I have a pretty good idea of what kinds of fish there are out there. Most of them I have only seen during fishing with nets, so it's clear that the visible sample of fish species depends…
This article is reposted from the old Wordpress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science. In the Alien movies, the eponymous monster killed shipmates and marines with a fearsome set of double jaws. That may have been science fiction but science fact isn't too far off. In our planet's tropical…
Last week's post on a Peer-Reviewed Research icon has generated a tremendous amount of interest, including many very thoughtful comments and an incisive post over on Cabi Blogs. I'll get to Philip's comments in a moment, because they are at the core of what "peer reviewed" means, but first let me…
Is poetry a driving force of Oceanography? Read Rimbaud! - Phillipe Diolé   I've written many times, although not recently, about the ocean. When I first began Universe in 2005, it was practically a ship's log: meandering pieces on narwhal tusks, the accidental poetics of my hero, Rachel Carson,…

randy...

the bonaire marine park authority has contracted with a fish epidemiologist who is conducting the primary analysis... the final report has not yet been produced... preliminary findings are pointing to a parasite (likely a protozoan) as the agent here...

what started these events and why an outbreak of protozoans targeted morays are my first questions... apparently, unusual mortality events involving morays have occurred before (albeit not in bonaire)...

i'll keep you posted as the marine park gets more answers...

And as we know, the first suspect in something like this is always temperature. You raise the temperature in a marine environment and all the organisms become more vulnerable. Hate to try and attribute another problem to global warming, but basic physiology makes it an obvious direction to look.

By Randy Olson (not verified) on 11 Dec 2008 #permalink

what started these events and why an outbreak of protozoans targeted morays are my first questions... apparently, unusual mortality events involving morays have occurred before (albeit not in bonaire)...

super site .Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Your website is very useful. Thanks for sharing.

And as we know, the first suspect in something like this is always temperature. You raise the temperature in a marine environment and all the organisms become more vulnerable. Hate to try and attribute another problem to global warming, but basic physiology makes it an obvious direction to look.what started these events and why an outbreak of protozoans targeted morays are my first questions... apparently, unusual mortality events involving morays have occurred before (albeit not in bonaire)...

the bonaire marine park authority has contracted with a fish epidemiologist who is conducting the primary analysis... the final report has not yet been produced... preliminary findings are pointing to a parasite (likely a protozoan) as the agent here...