Barracuda Fast Facts

Barracudas are fearless marine fish swimming in the world's tropical and subtropical oceans. They are known for their fierceness and 'ambush' hunting - they lie in wait and catch the prey by surprise.


There are approximately 25 species of Barracuda. The best known is the great barracuda, which are usually hunted for game. Great barracuda can grow up to 1.8 m (6 ft) long and swims in the Atlantic from Florida to Brazil.


The northern sennet, another type of barracuda, is 46 cm (18 in) long and can be found from Bermuda to the Gulf of Mexico. The European barracuda and some others are known to attack humans for no apparent reason; however this is very rare.


Barracudas are hunted as game and for food; the Pacific Barracuda and the California barracuda, which spends the winter off the shore of Mexico, are good food sources. Large barracudas will often travel alone while the smaller ones will travel in schools of even thousands of fish.

Physical description


Barracudas have long, thin bodies whose color fades from dark on top to a very pale shade on bottom. They have a large mouth, with teeth looking like tiny daggers jutting out from the lower jaw, giving it the nickname "tiger of the sea". Barracudas have two separate dorsal fins with a forked tail fin. They have no eyelids and are slow-moving when asleep.

Ciguatera poisoning


Barracudas caught in the tropical waters may be poisonous and can cause a type of food poisoning in humans called "Ciguatera". This happens because barracuda feeds on fish that in turn feed on algae containing the toxin ciguatoxin (particularly, the micro-algae Gambierdiscus toxicus). The giant barracuda, the Indo-Malaysian barracuda and the great barracuda are the ones who are likely to be toxic.

Eating habits


The barracuda moves quickly through coral reefs in search of food. It has a huge appetite and uses its acute eyesight to hunt. A barracuda can be lazily drifting and suddenly shoot out to catch the next meal at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. Mullets, anchovies, and grunts, groupers, snapper, bream and even young barracudas are some of the small fish the barracudas eat. Barracudas will sometimes hunt in a group by herding small fish into shallow water. They will strike anything that moves.

Mating and lifespan


Barracudas move to warmer waters to mate in April and the young feed on plankton. Great barracudas' spawning habits have never been recorded but it is known that they don't nurture their young. They mature in about 2 years. So far no one has been able to tell the male from the female.


You can measure a barracuda's age by counting the rings on its scales or in a tiny structure called an otolith in its ear. For each year of its life, a fish has one new ring, and it can live up to fourteen years.

Interesting tidbits


In 1992, at Christmas Island, Republic of Kiribati, the world record weight of a captured barracuda was 85 lbs.


Classification:

Class: Osteichthyes - Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Sphyraenidae
Genus: Sphyraena
Species: Sphyraena borealis (northern sennet), Sphyraena barracuda (great barracuda), Sphyraena argentea ( California barracuda).

2007: A busy Year for Hurricanes in the U.S.?

The awesome destructive force of Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, has re-awakened the world to what a powerful hurricane can do, in the wrong place at the wrong time. The year 2007 could produce more of the same, with increased hurricane activity forecasted for the Atlantic Ocean producing more hurricanes than normal, and with a higher strike probability on the U.S. coastline.

The Tropical Meteorology Project, at Colorado State University is the entity that produces our most reliable, and most widely used hurricane forecasts. Each year, for the past 24 years, Dr. William Gray and Doctorate Candidate Phil Klotzbach study worldwide weather trends, and past activity, and then apply sophisticated computer modeling to attempt to forecast what we can expect in the upcoming year. Their forecasts have historically been surprisingly accurate, given the difficult nature of the subject. What they tell us for 2007 should serve as a warning, far in advance of the actual need.

For example, during the last century, the probability of a major hurricane (category 3, 4, or 5) striking somewhere on the U.S. coastline in any particular year has been 52%; in 2007 that probability climbs to 64%.

Also, during the period 1950-2000, there were on average 5.9 hurricanes per year, in 2007 we can expect 7 hurricanes, an ominous increase.

During the same period of 1950-2000, there were on average 9.6 "named storms" (which are tropical storms and/or hurricanes), in 2007 we can expect 14.

Finally, the Atlantic basin Net Tropical Cyclone (NTC) activity in 2007 is forecasted to be about 140 percent of the long-term average.

The above information, and much more, will be used by Federal, State and local governments to help anticipate their needs for 2007, so that they can respond adequately to the increased risks that are faced by all the States that border the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.

Individual citizens should also take precautions, as the hurricane season nears, to protect their lives and property. By remaining vigilant during the hurricane season (1 June to 30 November) and taking prudent action when a Hurricane Watch or Hurricane Warning is issued, citizens can do much to protect themselves and their loved ones from the type of destruction and loss that the victims of Hurricane Katrina suffered, and are still trying to fully recover from, today.

There are many ways to keep informed of hurricane activity; the author of this article has created a website (www.Hurricane-Tracking.us) that is designed to be of effective help in all aspects hurricane awareness: it provides complete and current worldwide hurricane tracking, weather radar, tracking maps, current hurricane watches and warnings, multimedia and much more, for all hurricanes and tropical storms. In addition it also provides an email notification service, to notify you by email when any hurricane watch or hurricane warning is issued, so you will never be caught off-guard.

As the hurricane season of 2007 draws near, and threatens to be very intense, we can at least take heed of the warning. If past history is any indication of future performance, our government agencies will be hard pressed to deal with a large-scale disaster. So, individually we should ensure that we are ready for whatever may come.

Ancient ruins may give Dalke 'archaeological merit'

In mid-November, during the preliminary phase of developing the Dalke property in Prescott, Arizona into a another housing subdivision, bulldozers scraping away the scrub oak and manzanita uncovered a significant archaeological find - what one witness called "an entire village," replete with human remains. While hikers and explorers have been finding archaeological artifacts on the property for more than a century, this major discovery, combined with an anonymous offer of $2.5 million, sparked new hope that the Dalke might yet become a public park.

Heavy equipment pauses on a new road cut close to the Dalke petroglyph rocksThe discovery coincides with another unfolding drama that, for a few days, seemed to mean the salvation of the property as open space when an anonymous donor came forward with an offer of $2.5 million for the land. The bulldozers stopped. The developer, John Finn, seemed agreeable, even relieved. The Trust for Public Lands got involved.

The discovery coincides with another unfolding drama that, for a few days, seemed to mean the salvation of the property as open space when an anonymous donor came forward with an offer of $2.5 million for the land. The bulldozers stopped. The developer, John Finn, seemed agreeable, even relieved. The Trust for Public Lands got involved. Even the previously intractable Open Space Acquisition Committee perked up, and it seemed like everything would fall into place to officially designate the property as a park.

There were a few annoying details of course, like the fact that whoever purchased the property would have to foot 20 percent of the bill for the East West Connector road, and the fact that the developer wanted to include in the price of the property the 'improvements' wrought by the bulldozers. Still, it seemed possible.

But, according to two knowledgeable independent sources, the Dalke, once priced on par with that patch of impassable scrub at the base of Thumb Butte that the city bought a few years ago, would now sell for no less than $10 million - about one quarter of Prescott's total 15-year open space budget.

And so it was "no deal." But when the bulldozers roared back to life, they uncovered ancient ruins and added fire to the widespread struggle to save the Dalke.

"It's no longer petroglyphs and potsherds," the anonymous donor said. "It's circular stone rooms and human remains."

Archaeologist Tom Motsinger, who's responsible for the development's archaeological compliance, said that it's pretty hard to develop property in Prescott without encountering burial sites, and that the City is actually doing an uncommonly good job managing the Dalke's "cultural resources" (archaeological sites). But while the Dalke may have a wealth of cultural resources in common with Prescott Lakes and Daybreak at Bensch Ranch, even Motsinger agrees it's a very special piece of property.

"I would have loved to see the land picked up and purchased as open space like a lot of people would have," he said.

What's happening instead, Motsinger said, is a second-best scenario that protects the archeology and designates the area around the petroglyphs as public land. "They're probably the most outstanding petroglyphs within the city limits, so it'll be very nice to get them passed out of private hands and into public ownership," he said. And that's what the developer had apparently always intended. "This is truly an opportunity to incorporate the past [with] the present and make the best of both," said Finn's surveyor, civil engineer Mike Haywood, in an April, 2005 site analysis.

Meredith Marder's attorney, Gil Shaw, wasn't so encouraged, and he echoed the calls of a few residents this week for the City's use of eminent domain to protect the Dalke's archaeological resources. The archeology was, after all, Marder's rallying cry last year when she submitted a petition with 500 signatures along with a letter that read, in part:

"Many feel that the Dalke Property should be preserved as Open Space based on its archaeological merit."

Eminent domain is a touchy subject in Arizona, and in Prescott particularly.

"I can't see eminent domaining for open space," Prescott City Councilman Bob Luzius said, "not with the things that have gone on before" - a reference to the Council's controversial use of eminent domain for the Walmart on Gale Gardner Drive.

But the councilman who, in part, won his 2005 campaign on a platform to protect open space, ended his comments on what save-the-Dalke proponents could take as a more hopeful note. "If it's for the good of the people, I could see eminent domain," he said. "I hope we can find a way to save that site."

But the bulldozers continue to crush and scrape around archaeologists excavating the site while hopefuls continue to talk and plan; Shaw says that the hotly contested development should cool its heels while Motsinger and his staff excavate the Dalke. "I think they have the responsibility to stop the development on this property until people can take a collective deep breath and decide what to do," he said.

Science Projects made easy

Have you ever thought about a science project and immediately think of test tubes and a scientist with a long white lab coat, goofy glasses and a bed-head hairdo?

Most people do think of this when they think of science and when all of a sudden children are asked to do a science project you become immediately panic stricken.

Many scientists work outside with soil and water and do tests everyday using agriculture. As a matter of fact many people do science experiments daily without evening thinking about them. Have you ever put one plant at an East window and one at a North window to see which window is the best for growing your flowers? You just did a science project experiment. It was a simple project. How about planting some plants in a hanging basket and some in the ground to see how this plant thrives the best. Maybe you grow a garden and planted some seeds directly in the garden and started some inside. These are all ways people actually do science projects daily without even thinking about it. When we lose weight we are experimenting with carbs, fat grams, sugar and testing a theory on ourselves to see what combination makes excess weight come off.

Children are staying inside more and more and do not realize the importance of the agriculture around them. There are easy simple science projects that can be done with soil or plants or seeds.

Here is a simple project for children:

Get a package of seeds from a dollar store, You need 4 pots or containers, Soil or dirt, Apple juice, Milk, Vinegar, Water and dishwashing liquid, Cheap inexpensive notebook from dollar store, Marker to mark pots #1, #2, #3, #4

You ask can plants grow with other liquids than water only? Choose which one you think will work the best.

Place the soil/dirt in each of the 4 containers and plant the same number of seeds in each pot. Place the pots in the same location with the same light and temperature. Now water one pot with vinegar, Water one pot with apple juice, Water one pot with milk, Water one pot with water mixed with 1 tbsp dishwashing soap, IT'S THAT EASY! Now get your notebook and label each page with a new day. Every day record what you see from each plant and list when you water the seeds and how much. You will want to give each pot the same amount of liquid as the others so use a measuring cup. When the seeds germinate record that.

After 2 to 3 weeks explain if seeds can grow in other liquids and which liquid worked the best.