It’s 10 PM. Do You Know Where Your Cat Is? 🐱

My cat is a murderous, bloodthirsty killer. It may not seem like it when she’s patiently putting up with my eight-year-old daughter’s overwhelming amounts of affection for her, or when she starts gently patting my arm at 4:00 a.m. because it is obviously the perfect time for me to give her attention, but the moment she hears me pick up one of her toys, her pupils grow huge and she crouches into position, ready to send it to an early grave. She’s an indoor cat, so toys and the occasional stray hair elastic are the only victims of her predatory instinct, but the look on her face when she sees a bird get near one of our windows tells me what she might do with a taste of sweet, sweet freedom.

In this week’s feature, “It’s 10 PM. Do You Know Where Your Cat Is?,” Icelandic writer Egill Bjarnason (a cat owner himself) looks at the effect outdoor and feral cats can have on songbirds, seabirds, and other wildlife and how some Icelandic towns have introduced “cat curfews” to keep them in check. Plus, readers get the cocktail-party tidbit of what the mythical Icelandic Yule Cat is said to do to children who don’t wear new clothes at Christmas.

Mark Garrison
Art director

This Week’s Stories

It’s 10 PM. Do You Know Where Your Cat Is?

In Iceland, traditionally a land of cat lovers, bans and curfews are redefining the human relationship with domestic cats.

by Egill Bjarnason • 3,900 words / 19 mins

Reanalyzing Seaweed Ecosystems’ Role as Carbon Sinks

Researchers argue carbon offset hopefuls have jumped the gun in touting seaweed’s carbon-sucking potential.

by Clare Watson • 750 words / 3 mins

Humpback Mothers Are Being Squeezed from Both Sides

Humpbacks prefer to keep their calves in shallow water, but increasing boat traffic is pushing them out to sea.

by Marina Wang • 650 words / 3 mins

Africa’s Sinking Coastal Heritage

Dozens of important cultural, social, and ecological sites are already at risk from climate hazards.

by Petro Kotzé • 750 words / 3 mins

In Graphic Detail: Most Common Throat-Piercing Fish Bones

Researchers in Japan figure out which fish species cause fish eaters the most problems.

by Marina Wang • 400 words / 2 mins

What We’re Reading

Australian government scientists have surveyed 719 reefs within Great Barrier Reef Marine Park by air and found that 91 percent are affected by coral bleaching. This year saw the sixth mass bleaching event on record in Australia and the fourth to occur since 2016. (The Guardian)

An analysis of shell middens shows that Indigenous peoples from around the world have sustainably harvested large quantities of oysters for thousands of years. Researchers believe that this study could inform modern-day fisheries on how to harvest large quantities of food without depleting the environment. (CBC Quirks & Quarks)

The life of a female octopus is mysterious and ephemeral. After laying eggs, the octopus stops eating and soon begins to atrophy. Why female octopuses engage in this self-destruction is somewhat of a mystery, but scientists know that reproductive behavior is controlled by the animals’ optic glands. A new study describes the specific chemical pathways produced by the optic glands that govern the self-destructive behavior. (New York Times)

Hunters in Nunavut are urging Baffinland’s Mary River Mine to alter its shipping plan, as the mine’s ships and ice-breaking activities are negatively impacting narwhal populations. Narwhal is a vital food source for the Inuit living around Eclipse Sound, and hunters say there is hardly enough to feed their families. (CBC)

Humans can often sense that our loved ones are nearby from an unmistakeable patter of footsteps or the rhythm of someone’s breath, but dolphins go by a much more intimate cue: bottlenose dolphins can discern friend from foe by the taste of their urine. (National Geographic)

In the summer of 2019, long-distance swimmer Ben Lecomte swam through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in an effort to raise awareness about marine plastic pollution. Within the trash gyre, he found bountiful marine organisms clinging to the plastic debris. (Vice)

This larval hermit crab, measuring just a couple of millimeters long, is in its last stage of development before it settles onto the seafloor as a true juvenile and finds its first shell to inhabit. For now, the larval crab—known in this stage as a megalopa—still lives in the water column; this one was caught with other planktonic creatures during a recent bioblitz at the Hakai Institute’s Quadra Island Ecological Observatory. Its tail—part of which can be seen here, tucked beneath the body—is used to propel the crab through its larval life. In the larval crab’s final metamorphosis, its tail will fuse with its abdomen.

Photo by the Hakai Institute biomarathon team

Sexual dimorphism* shows up all over the animal kingdom. Learn why in the latest episode of the Hakai Institute’s Long Story Shorts series. (Video length: 1 min 15 sec)

*The “di-” in dimorphism—meaning two possibilities—describes certain situations, but the concept of biological sex in nature is more complex than the binary.

A Bit of Fun, Just for the Halibut

by Liz Climo • thelittleworldofliz.com • www.facebook.com/LizClimo

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