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New Tonga island 'now home to flowers and owls'
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoSays the animals likely came from 'nearby islands'. But the Sooty Tern flies halfway around the world, routinely. Maybe just a throwaway remark, but those birds can come from anywhere.
- MisterOctober 8y agoIs that the African, or European Sooty Tern?
- TheLoneAdmin 8y agoAfrican Sooty Terns are non-migratory.
- quacked 8y agoI see. And what is the air speed velocity of an unladen African Sooty Tern?
- logfromblammo 8y agoI think I know where this is going, and you're going about it all wrong. You see, it would have to weave the coconuts together with saliva and fiber strands from the husks, like a floating nest-raft. Then it would have to ride the southbound East Australia side of the south Pacific gyre to the Antarctic circumpolar, get off at the northbound Benguela side of the south Atlantic gyre, cross west on the equatorial currents, and catch the northbound Gulf Stream side of the north Atlantic gyre, and bear left at the North Atlantic Drift. Then it would have to bear right at the Outer Hebrides, shoot between Orkney and Shetland, and try to make landfall at Norfolk. It could raise its wings in favorable winds, or flap around a bit in still air. Certainly doable for an experienced seabird.
- Pharmakon 8y agoSurely it would stop for a bit in Shetland to take in the scenery, go to a festival and a few gigs?
- logfromblammo 8y agoToo many gannets. They wet their nests.
- smackay 8y agoFor fans of new islands, Surtsey (date of birth 1963) is another example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surtsey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surtsey. The speed at which life colonised the island is quite amazing.
- Kirth 8y ago"An improperly handled human defecation resulted in a tomato plant taking root which was also destroyed."
- kjs3 8y agoOne of my sister in laws is a civil engineer who does a lot of work with sewage treatment plants. She has commented that apparently tomato seeds can survive almost anything.
- rolleiflex 8y agoThat’s not special to tomato seed. In fact, fruits being eaten and seeds defecated by animals in far out lands is why seeds are in the sweet, tasty, sugary fruits for the most part!
- kjs3 8y agoI get what you're saying, but apparently there is something special about tomato seeds. It's not that they're surviving a digestive track (by design) or my compost pile (something almost nothing else does...not a single squash, cucumber, okra, peach, apple, etc., etc. has done), they're surviving a sewage treatment plant. Bioreduction and chemical treatment. So...tomatoes are pretty cool.
- naravara 8y agoI assume I'm not the only one who thought of that explorer song from "Moana" when they read the headline. It's incredible that this happens within the course of a human lifetime. It really puts the sense-of-wonder behind all those Polynesian myths and stories in perspective.
- goda90 8y agoIt'll be interesting to see if vegetation takes hold quickly enough to prevent rapid erosion.
- samstave 8y agoWhat would be the argument against helping flora and fauna a bit? to seed plants to that island, that are native to the surrounding Tonga Islands - and helping its eco system speed up development a bit?
- beaconstudios 8y agowe're generally not very good at environmental engineering - you wouldn't want to accidentally introduce an imbalance that caused unintended negative effects. Nature on the other hand is rather self-balancing if left alone.
- lxmorj 8y agoNot at island preservation over long periods of time, apparently. Seems like the islands we have are explained by largely by survivorship bias
- beaconstudios 8y agoOf course nature is destructive too, but I think we overestimate how much we understand ecosystems.
- schnevets 8y agoI don't know if anyone really gains from speeding up the process. On the flip-side, science can benefit by watching the process play out naturally. Here's a related article about scientists learning about water erosion on Mars by observing the island from afar: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42169466 https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42169466
- ivl 8y agoFrom the previous article on this island, it was not expected to last this long, and now if I'm remembering correctly it's not expected to last more than 30 years. It may just be better to research what happens naturally for the time it's around.
- cm2187 8y agoIf such an island appears outside of any country's territorial waters, who gets to claim ownership of the island?
- ccnafr 8y agoFirst one to plant a flag in it. As always.
- ceejayoz 8y agoFirst one to plant and successfully defend a flag. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerva_Reefs#Republic_of_Minerva https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerva_Reefs#Republic_of_Mine...
- sp332 8y agohttps://www.businessinsider.com/canada-and-denmark-whiskey-war-over-hans-island-2016-1 https://www.businessinsider.com/canada-and-denmark-whiskey-w...
- have_faith 8y agoWhoever gets there first? finders keepers.
- BurningFrog 8y agoDepends on how much oil there is.
- danohuiginn 8y agoor guano https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guano_Islands_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guano_Islands_Act
- ccnafr 8y agoI wonder how much time until the ocean dumps some plastic waste on those beaches
- fenwick67 8y agoLooks like there's trash on the beach in the last photo in the article. full-size image: https://blogs.nasa.gov/earthexpeditions/wp-content/uploads/sites/257/2018/12/P1030688.jpg https://blogs.nasa.gov/earthexpeditions/wp-content/uploads/s...
- ccnafr 8y agoThat was fast
- MadcapJake 8y agoBut that's the crater in the middle! So that must've been there when it erupted. Though it could have washed in with a big wave.
- BurningFrog 8y agoThis island is contiguous with an old island, so it's a definitional matter if it's new or an expansion of the old one.
- dmix 8y ago> and is already nurturing pink flowering plants, sooty tern birds, and even barn owls I was surprised to learn recently that Barn Owls are one of the most prevalent avian species across the whole world: >> The barn owl is the most widespread landbird species in the world, occurring in every continent except Antarctica. Its range includes all of Europe (except Fennoscandia and Malta), most of Africa apart from the Sahara, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Australia, many Pacific Islands, and North, Central and South America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl#Distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl#Distribution
- analog31 8y agoWhat do they eat? Other birds? Or does the presence of owls indicate the presence of small rodents?
- smackay 8y agoMostly small mammals but also small reptiles and insects. In this case I think it is likely to be the latter. To give you some idea of how widespread this species is, there are Barn Owls on the Desertas Islands, (SE of Madeira), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertas_Islands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertas_Islands. These islands are as dry as the name suggests and are little more than rock with short grass. There is a plentiful supply of (introduced) mice and lizards however. For a species that (supposedly) does not disperse very far from their natal area, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/German_Lopez-Iborra/publication/319964607_DISPERSAL_AND_CAUSES_OF_MORTALITY_OF_THE_BARN_OWL_TYTO_ALBA_IN_SPAIN/links/59c3d74aaca272fb3f2887d7/DISPERSAL-AND-CAUSES-OF-MORTALITY-OF-THE-BARN-OWL-TYTO-ALBA-IN-SPAIN.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/German_Lopez-Iborra/pub..., they certainly get around. Next stop Antarctica.
- pvaldes 8y agoThe flower is most probably Beach Morning Glory, Ipomoea pes-caprae. Pes-cabrae means literally "goat's foot" (shape of the leaves) so is also called Goat's foot creeper and bayhops. A good early coloniser and stabilizer of sand dunes in that case. Is not transported by animals as is said in the article; the plant is salt tolerant with floating seeds, able to cross the ocean alone with the sea currents Ipomoea are normally poisonous (not eaten by most animals) but this species has some medicinal uses. Used as poultice from Brazil to Australia to alleviate cuts, it seems. There is a second species also. Monocot in this case. I'm not able to identify it with that photo but Spinifex would be my first try (even better to fight against erosion and keep the soil in place). Fascinating history.
- pelagic_sky 8y agoBeing from Florida, when I saw the image I thought "of course it's going to be morning glory".
- i_feel_great 8y ago"Ipomoea are normally poisonous ..." Note that Ipomoea batatas is sweet potato is a staple throughout the world and is very delicious, especially the purple-skinned, cream-fleshed variety. The young leaves can also be cooked and eaten.
- pvaldes 8y agoYes, is an exception to the rule, hence the "normally". Convolvulaceae is a sister family to Solanaceae, and share their fondness for making some pretty evil alkaloids. Ipomoea (and other related genus) work often with lysergic acid derivatives. From LSD to vasoconstrictor or even gangrenous substances.