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News & Analysis | REG•WATCH Blog | Press Room
Friday, October 15, 2004
Fish and amphibians are in peril
Two stories in today's Washington Post, neither likely to make you want to order a nice fish taco or fried frog legs any time soon.
First, there is the news that MALE fish in the Potomac are OVULATING.
The South Branch of the Potomac River is as clear as bottled water here, where it rolls over a bed of smooth stones about 230 miles upstream from Washington. But there is a mystery beneath this glassy surface.
Many of the river's male bass are producing eggs.
Scientists believe this inversion of nature is being caused by pollution in the water. But they say the exact culprit is still unknown: It might be chicken estrogen left over in poultry manure, or perhaps human hormones dumped in the river with processed sewage. Chances are, it is not something that federal and state inspectors regularly test for in local waters.
The discovery has made the South Branch the latest example of an emerging national problem: Hormones, drugs and other man-made pollutants appear to be interfering with the chemical signals that make fish grow and reproduce.
--from David A. Fahrenthold, "Male Bass in Potomac Producing Eggs: Pollution Suspected Cause of Anomaly in River's South Branch," Washington Post, Oct. 15, 2004, at A1.
But, wait, there's more! There is a problem of a global nature: frogs are dropping like flies rather than eating them.
Amphibians are experiencing a precipitous decline across the globe, according to the first comprehensive world survey of the creatures, which include frogs, toads and salamanders. As many as 122 species have disappeared since 1980, and 1,900 are in danger of becoming extinct.
The rapid drop -- the equivalent of tens of thousands of years' worth of extinctions in just a century -- is being caused by a range of factors that include deforestation, pollution, habitat loss and climate change, researchers said. But they added that the phenomenon also tells a disturbing tale of broad environmental degradation that may ultimately threaten humans and other animals, as well. Amphibians are often considered "canaries in the coal mine" because their permeable skin makes them especially sensitive to environmental changes.
--from Juliet Eilperin, "Worldwide Report Says Amphibians Are in Peril," Washington Post, Oct. 15, 2004, at A3.
Posted by Robert Shull
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