The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Japanese fish survive 5,000-mile trip across Pacific in tsunami boat Posted: 12 Apr 2013 08:10 AM PDT
The batch of striped beak fish — five in all — were discovered submerged in the hold of the 20-foot-long fishing skiff, dubbed the Sai-shou-maru, on Long Beach in southwestern Washington. The vessel, found beached right-side-up, was confirmed this week to have originated from the region of northern Japan devastated in the immense tidal surge generated by the March 2011 Fukushima earthquake. Other boats carried away by the tsunami have previously washed up along the US Pacific Northwest and Alaska, as have chunks of piers and large quantities of other debris. But the fish found aboard the Sai-shou-maru are the first vertebrates — animals with backbones — known to have made the voyage. Marine biologists studying the phenomenon are puzzled over precisely how striped beak fish, natural denizens of warmer, shallow southern Japanese waters, ended up as live stowaways in the well of the boat, and how they endured a two-year journey across the ocean. "It is quite remarkable," Curt Hart, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, told Reuters. "Everyone is very amazed that these fish survived for two years in that hold." The fish were apparently swept up with the skiff as it was washed down the coast of Japan and out into the Pacific. Scientists surmise that the fish made their home beneath the boat for much of the trip as it drifted upside down and partially submerged, feeding on other organisms that became encrusted or otherwise attached to the inverted vessel. Then they might have been scooped up into the skiff's hold when wind or waves righted the vessel, Hart said. NOURISHMENT MYSTERY The middle of the Pacific is far less rich in nutrients than coastal waters, raising questions of how the fish found enough food to survive the trip, said Jeff Adams, an expert at Washington Sea Grant, an agency supporting marine research. The 6-inch-long striped beak fish, named for their protruding mouths and black-and-white striped markings, were the most surprising of an estimated 30 to 50 species of marine organisms that hitchhiked across the Pacific with the skiff. Other stowaways included various types of algae, anemones, crabs, marine worms and shellfish. Many were believed to be non-native species, and all were treated as potentially invasive — capable of displacing native organisms and disrupting the natural ecological balance if allowed to escape into the environment and propagate. As a precaution, state officials swiftly removed the Sai-shou-maru from the shoreline before samples of organisms were collected for study, and the boat was scraped and steam-cleaned, Hart said. Four of the fish found alive in the boat on March 22 have since died, and the lone surviving specimen has been moved to an aquarium in Seaside, Oregon. The Sai-shou-maru is not the only Noah's ark of potential invasive species carried to the US West Coast by the tsunami. Several more Japanese boats have washed ashore since last year in Washington, Oregon and California, and a fishing vessel found drifting off Alaska was scuttled by the Coast Guard. Dozens of non-native and potentially invasive species — more than hitched a ride aboard the Sai-shou-maru — were previously found attached to two large hunks of piers that washed up, one in Oregon and one in Washington, Hart said. — Reuters <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/maACbuRyuGw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> |
| Austerity-hit London sex workers put lives at risk-study Posted: 12 Apr 2013 07:23 AM PDT LONDON, April 12 — Sex workers in London are being forced to slash prices they charge clients because of the impact of the recession on the British economy and an influx of foreign competition, putting themselves at greater risk of attack, according to a report.
That meant sex workers, who often worked alone, were accepting clients who appeared more dangerous, putting them at risk of rape, sexual assault, physical abuse and robbery. "Falling demand and an increase in those selling sex has resulted in a collapse in prices, with female sex workers in particular taking more risks," said Councillor Ian Rowley, chairman of Westminster's Sex Worker task group. "As a result the risk of violence has increased substantially." Westminster covers Soho and Paddington, two districts long associated with the sex trade. The report said exact figures were hard to gauge but estimated there were 30 to 40 prostitutes working on the street in Paddington with up to 100 known brothels in Westminster, the highest number in London. The number of women selling sex on their own off-street had increased considerably in the last few years, with the majority hailing from Eastern Europe, South America, particularly Brazil, and South East Asia, especially China and Thailand, it added. "In our interviews with sex workers, they reported a 50 per cent reduction in prices over the last few years," the study said. "This means that many sex workers are selling sex in more risky environments in order to make enough money, putting them at more risk of violence." The report said the women working in "walk-up" brothels earned from about 20 pounds (RM715) an hour, seeing six clients in one shift, while those in "mid-tier" establishments, often women working on their own advertising via the internet or telephone cards, would earn up to 200 pounds per hour. In 2011, The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), a welfare body for sex workers, said desperate British students were turning to sex work to help make ends meet. — Reuters |
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