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So you're into sci fi? But what about sci fact? Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction...

Each month our very own Voyager Science Queen* will bring you interesting, quirky and downright bizarre tasty morsels from the world of science. And its all completely, totally, 100% true!

Science Page August 2010

Something Fishy

This month, I wanted to revisit with old loves. My fist degree was in Zoology, in Marine Biology to be more accurate. So I did a little investigation on what is the Big News in zoological circles, and all the talk is about global warming. So, if you are a global warming sceptic, you might want to stop reading now, because here is even more evidence that the Earth’s surface temperatures are changing.

Climate change is redistributing marine species. Now, distribution may bring up a mental image of a fish saying ‘Gee, it is too hot here. I need to move south to Tasmania’. Unfortunately, that isn’t quite the case.

In reality, what is happening that fish are dying out slowing in their usual habitats, and their offspring – the ones that have had the luck to discover newer territory that seems to suit them better – are thriving. So there isn’t a fish migration as such. The various species are going extinct in their old areas, and out-competing the original inhabitants of these new territories.

So, what does this mean for fish that have no new territory to move into? They go extinct. Up to five percent of indigent Tasmanian species have declined in numbers or gone extinct in the past decade, as the cold-water species have nowhere to go. Instead, coral trout are being found in Tasmanian waters.

And what about marine populations that can’t migrate, such as a coral reef? Many marine species survive by interacting with other species, such as the clown fish (to use a very simple example). They have no option but to die if the species of their host anemones die out. Coral bleaching is getting worse and worse every year, as climate changes start to affect the Great Barrier Reef. As the whole reef ecosystem weakens, animals will start going extinct because the complex ecological system of the reef no longer has the correct balance of species to function smoothly.

It might seem wonderful that you can now catch tropical species in traditionally temperate waters. However, it is undeniable proof that global warming is being to impact on the world-wide environment. For the original inspiration for this story, you can read the original news article here.

*The Voyager Science Queen is also known as Lynne Lumsden Green

So, who is this woman who attempts to entertain us with Science?

Lynne Lumsden Green lives on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, and attends the University of the Sunshine Coast. Ever the perpetual student, she is adding a B.A. in Creative Writing to her B.SC. in Zoology (Jennifer Fallon is her role model). As one of the founding members of Scriber Space, the site for USC creative writers, she hopes to create a writing community as lively and as close as the Voyager writing community. She spends her non-study hours volunteering for writing-related events, writing, reading, and – oh yes – looking after her family. She is still passionately interested in anything and everything, and enjoys the opportunity to share this passion via the Science Page. Terry Pratchett, Isaac Asimov, Neil Gaiman, and all the Voyager authors are her favourite people on the planet...and one of her goals is to meet all of those authors, well, at least those authors still in the land of the living. Recently, her own writing efforts have been meeting with better success. She is putting this down to her excellent lecturers and persistence, and to the fact that you can eat chocolate while typing.

Read previous Sci-Facts

Looking for more scientific oddities? Have you checked out Dr Steven Juan's website? He is, quite literally, the wizard of odds!