Veronika Wild

  The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity THE ARCTIC Polar Bears Who can forget the widely circulated image of a polar bear trapped on an icefloe with neither prey nor land, nor even another ice floe in sight. Although Polar Bears can swim short distances, it takes five times as much energy as simply shuffling across the ice. Although polar bear numbers have improved in some regions – largely as a result of the ban on unregulated hunting in the 1970s, numbers generally are either  static or in decline. For the most part, shorter winters and warmer summers mean a shorter hunting season and poor condition which in turn leads to lower reproductive success. Some Polar Bears have taken to scavenging in settlements in order to get enough food. Ringed Seals which are staple of the Polar Bear’s diet, are also facing threats due to climate change and sea ice loss because they depend on sea ice for resting, breeding, and pupping in snow dens on the ice. Shrinking and th...

Moon Jellyfish - an  Aurelia species.   Although I had never seen these before, they are apparently common in other parts of the world too. Those in the picture were photographed at the Red Sea, my cousin said she had encountered them in Italy  -Alexander Vasenin , CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons There must be a Jellyfish Convention going on in Tasmania. On the news a few nights ago there were warnings about "Blue Bottles" – Portuguese Man - O’ -War jellyfish, along the coast, especially in the north of the state. The next day was rather hot so I went to my favourite swimming spot, looked around and seeing no Blue Bottles, I jumped straight in. The weather was perfect, the sea was calm, but suddenly I found myself surrounded by jellyfish, though thankfully not Blue Bottles. These were what the locals call Moon Jellyfish an Aurelia species which are not supposed to be harmful, though some people may be allergic and they do have some cousins which aren’t so...