LDD moths

Most failed business ventures don’t result in an invasive species destroying hundreds of thousands of trees. The same can’t be said for Étienne Léopold Trouvelot’s attempt to start a North American silk industry in the 19th century. Trouvelot, a French entomologist, is the man responsible for the LDD moth caterpillars — commonly known as “gypsy” moths, a problematic name — currently wreaking havoc on trees across Ontario, Quebec and some northern US states. In his effort to create a silk colony in the late 1860s, some of the caterpillars escaped from Trouvelot’s home lab in Medford, Mass., and over time they spread — first to neighbouring states and, by the late 1960s, to Ontario and Quebec. The caterpillars have a voracious appetite and there are millions of them, causing defoliation that leaves trees vulnerable to fire or other insect damage. Large outbreaks, sometimes lasting several years, have damaged over 17,000 square kilometres of trees in Canada since the 1980s. Last year, an area roughly the size of Prince Edward Island was reported damaged.

Sealing the deal

Joint Mexican and Canadian research efforts have uncovered a new resting colony of endangered Guadalupe fur seals (Arctocephalus townsendi) on the Western Mexican coast. Located on El Farallón de San Ignacio Island in the Gulf of California, this “haul-out” colony was host to nearly 800 seals in November 2020, adding a fourth naturally-occurring site for a species whose range extends north to BC. Guadalupe fur seals were hunted to near-extinction in the 1800s, but small populations have been spotted since; today, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), their population is estimated at 41,000. While El Farallón’s small size and aridity make for an unusual haul-out spot, researchers suspect that it’s in a seasonal feeding area with lots of tasty squid!

Shark in the water

Are great white sharks showing up more frequently in Atlantic Canada, or have they always been here? A study led by researchers at Ontario’s University of Windsor and published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences in July 2020 used historical observations dating back to 1872 and satellite tracking data from 2018 to 2019 to establish great white hot spots, many of which are off the coast of Nova Scotia. The biologists hypothesized that the apparent increase might be because the sharks are moving north to cooler water or more abundant seal prey — or because we’re getting better at spotting sharks that have been here all along, lurking beneath the surface. This summer, the sharks are back again, including an individual nicknamed Helena who has been spotted yet again in the waters off Newfoundland. “She really seems to like it there in the summer time,” comments chief scientist Bob Heuter of OCEARCH. The team are now focusing on solving the mystery of where the sharks are mating.

Black-footed ferret kits