Video: Check Out the River Monsters Swimming Near You

Fish with scary teeth lives in a river

From Denny: Check out what could be living in a river near you! These are some toothy, scary fish sporting dinosaur style ripping and shredding teeth to make mince meat of a swimmer. Look out for those murky waters where you can’t really see well what is swimming near you.

Biologist Jeremy Wade, who is an extreme angler, also hosts “River Monsters” on the popular Animal Planet cable channel. Wade says scientists know little of what lurks on the bottom swimming in our rivers all over the globe and our rivers make for the last frontier of discovery for scientists.

In the aquarium is a smaller version of the red-tailed catfish like he caught that was over five feet long. There are stories of catfish who have grabbed a hold of small children and drug them down to the bottom of the river much like alligators do in the Florida Everglades or Louisiana swamps.

Catfish have small eyes and bad eyesight. The way they get around on the bottom of a murky river with limited eyesight is by smelling the water through their feelers. Wade said those feelers are much like using your nose turned inside out to explore your world.

What’s notable about catfish in particular – maybe because they are bottom dwellers? – is Japanese scientists have discovered the catfish can predict the coming of earthquakes far earlier and more reliably than scientific instruments. Naturally, the Japanese have taken up a serious study of the catfish to figure out how they do it.

The fearsome Tiger Fish with one-inch sharp teeth was one of Wade’s discoveries as shown in the photo. The Tiger Fish has the same teeth as a Great White Shark.

Once these fish were thought the stuff of myths and Wade went to go find out the truth. Check out some of his discoveries.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

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CNN: Japanese fishermen brace for giant jellyfish

From Denny: OK, WOW! These kinds of stories never cease to amaze us, do they? 🙂 I had no idea that a jellyfish could reach such gargantuan proportions.

From CNN: “Giant jellyfish descend on the Sea of Japan, causing untold devastation to coastal villages and leaving a trail of destruction and human misery behind.

Sounds like a great sci-fi flick. But it’s not.

It’s real and it’s a nightmare for Japanese fishermen.

The massive sea creatures, called Nomura’s jellyfish, can grow 6 feet in diameter and weigh more than 450 pounds. Scientists think they originate in the Yellow Sea and in Chinese waters. For the third year since 2005, ocean currents are transporting them into the Sea of Japan.

Monty Williams, a marine biologist at Alabama’s Dauphin Island Sea Lab, said the jellyfish grow to an enormous size as they are transported by ocean currents. He said they stay together in packs and as they drift northward, they get caught in fishermen’s nets.

The giant jellyfish are one of about 200 species of coastal jellyfish or large jellyfish that exist around the world. But Nomura’s stands out because of its enormous size.

“The sheer size of them, individually, makes them fairly spectacular,” Williams said.

Spectacular, perhaps, to scientists, but perilous to villagers along the Japanese coast who have seen the destructive habits of these colossal creatures in the past. They had giant-jellyfish invasions in 2005 and 2007, and because they’ve recently been spotted in the Sea of Japan, they’re bracing for another, potentially harmful wave this summer.

The jellyfish destroy fishermen’s nets, getting trapped in them, tearing holes and ruining catches.

Fishermen often use expensive mazelike nets that stretch for hundreds of kilometers. When swarms of giant jellyfish tear them, the result is devastating.

“Communities of fishermen and these fishing villages own these nets,” Williams said. “When these nets get wiped out, it actually has this economic devastation for an entire community.”

The good news is that previous attacks have prompted Japan to put in place a warning system for fishermen. While they still risk losing a big catch, they can, at least, save their pricey nets from the invasion of the giant jellyfish.

It’s not clear why waves of Nomura’s jellyfish have made it to the Sea of Japan in recent years. Some have speculated that overfishing, pollution or rising ocean temperatures may have depleted the kinds of fish that prey on Nomura’s jellyfish in the polyp stage. However, no one is certain, Williams said.”

From Denny: Hmmm… wonder if it’s Karma backlash for killing all those wonderful whales…

For full CNN story, go here.

Jellyfish, Fish, Yellow Sea, Marine biology, Ocean current, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, School Time, Overfishing, Japan, whales

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• Giant jellyfish wash up on shores of Wales as temperatures soar (telegraph.co.uk)

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