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Male Bass in Potomac Producing Eggs
Shakrai writes "The Washington Post is carrying a story about how male bass in the Potomac river are actually producing eggs. The source of this interesting phenomena is currently unknown. Scientists are speculating that it may have something to do with chicken estrogen left over in manure or perhaps even human hormones dumped in the river from sewage treatment plants. Scientists aren't sure if the affected fish are still able to reproduce and the long-term repercussions of this find are unknown."
Does this mean male geeks might find a way to perpetuate themselves after all? Well, the article didn't say the eggs could be fertilized, but... what if... your mother and father would be the same fish!
This has got to be one of the strangest things i've ever heard of. lol
I dunno. When I read the part about "human hormones" possibly being to blame I immediately thought of unused birth control pills/patches being to blame. I told my girlfriend not to flush her used patch down the toilet the last time we stayed in WV.... ;)
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
I, for one, welcome our new male egg laying bass overlords.
I'm surprised they could even catch the fish, let alone examine them. All of their equipment should have dissolved instantly upon impact with the Potomac. Why just the other day...[sniff]...poor little ducks...
In other news, /. readers have finally discovered a successful source of reproduction.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has already made a statement: "This is not right, I'm the only male capable of reproduction!" and then he announced his plans to unleash a army of cybernetic robots to eliminate anybody 'treading on [his] turf'...
Best FPS gaming site on the net... ok, well maybe not the best
Scientists are speculating that it may have something to do with chicken estrogen left over in manure or perhaps even human hormones dumped in the river from sewage treatment plants.
Why is it that strange behavior (or what seems strange to us) is always seen as unnatural, and somehow our fault? Even the people looking into this case seem to be jumping to the conclusion that it is a pollutant, but in the same sentance they say that they don't really know what's causing it.
IIRC, there are a few species of amphibians that spontanously change gender when there's not enough of the opposite sex around. Evolutionarily speaking, fish and amphibians aren't that different, so why would you jump to the conclusion that that it's a pollutant? Maybe the people investigating this have some evidence to support that theory, but that wasn't mentioned in the article. Actually, the last two paragraphs go on to explain this this section of river has done "well on most aspects of water-quality testing" and that it is "one of our highest-quality fisheries".
Maybe it's a disease. Maybe it's a mutation. Maybe these particular bass cross bred with some frogs. Nobody can say for sure at this point, but they sure can speculate that it's all our fault. And that's just bad science.
Here is an article showing it happening to other species.
DEAD DEAD DEAD DELETE ME
Not knowing anything about bass in particular, I know many fish change their sexes during their lives for different reasons. Some start as female and then become male as the get older. Others change sex if there are 'too many' of their current sex. I don't doubt that pollution has a hand in this case but perhaps fish (and similar) are more susceptible to sex change.
I caught you a delicious bass.
As long as this does not impact Bass Ale production, I am fine with it.
Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein
"Phenomena" is PLURAL! The singular is phenomenon. Jeez. I can't believe how many people get that mixed up.
Any sufficiently simple magic can be passed off as mere advanced technology.
... would have been mostly of the male bovine variety. All very amusing unless you happen to be a bass. Or drink water.
...are that we'll need a lot more tenors and sopranos to keep things balanced.
Maybe we can do an on-location production of Das Rheingold...
Maybe it's a disease. Maybe it's a mutation. Maybe these particular bass cross bred with some frogs. Nobody can say for sure at this point, but they sure can speculate that it's all our fault. And that's just bad science.
Yeah, the Potomac is famous for its purity. So despite the fact that it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, in all probability it is actually a fish-frog hybrid.
It's not as if we have any scientific evidence that human-created pollutants like chemicals released by common household plastics can produce weird hormonal reactions in humans and animals. By the way, please stop chewing on your pen, Bobby.
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Actually, used birth control pills count here. Oestrogens are sulfo-conjugated, and then eliminated in urine. By the way, premarin is nothing else than equine sulfo-conjugated oestrogens.
Other oestrogenic endocrine disruptors include soy products (esp. after metabolization of genistein and daidzein into equol by the intestinal flora), heavy metals (esp. Cadmium; though I suspect hair metal could have some effect along the same line), many phytosanitary chemicals (DDT was a prime exemple, but atrazine and pyrethrenoids aren't bad either), as well as a whole lot of chemicals containing one or several phenol groups.
Like Homo Sapiens? OK, well, as far as we know these pollutants aren't causing guys to grow ovaries yet. But there is definitely evidence they are affecting us.
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Given that the most appropriate response to a politician is "go and f*&k yourself", I'm not a bit surprised that this phenomena is showing up in the Potomac. I say we set up a PayPal donation fund for the research team to spend a few weeks in the Capitol building.
In this case, it's much worse than that. The fish's testicular tissue is claimed to have produced eggs, but you might notice that the article didn't mention anything about the morphological changes required to become a functioning female. If you began producing ova in your nuts would that make you female in any meaningful sense of the word, or just ill?
This phenomenon needs to be analyzed, the cause identified and stopped. If we don't do this, we're going to lose things starting with the fish, and continuing up to ourselves - and if this doesn't worry you, spend some time looking up the literature on hormone mimics, phthalate and the other disturbing stuff that gets to us in eerie ways like leaching out of baby bottles.
Sustainability and energy independence essay
The Potomac River Daily News unveils new research showing scientists trying to do the work of biologists have difficulty discerning male and female members of certain fish species. They have also been shown to have insufficient skill in differentiating fish eggs from shinola.
Busy aligning my non-linear thoughts.
How many eyes do they have?
Scientists are speculating that it may have something to do with chicken estrogen left over in manure or perhaps even human hormones dumped in the river from sewage treatment plants.
I, for one, welcome our new fishman overlords!
If bad puns were like deli meat, this would be the wurst
though I suspect hair metal could have some effect along the same line
We definitely need a ban on Motley Crue and Poison, then.
This BBC story is the source quoted in the under reported story.
At least the BBC clearly says that a 5 year study concluded what is immediately obvious (it is human waste causing the problem) as opposed to some spin related to chickens.
I'd wager all major urban centers are affected by this.
I recal the local newspaper (Toronto Star) saying estrogen like hormones are detectable in the drinking water, (but the Star is a net black hole w/o a search feature).
Cheers :)
Fish aren't the only things with this problem...
yes... why, just the other day, I began to sobb for no apparent reason what-so-ever. surely I'll be producing eggs any day now.
The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.
The male bass outside the Springfield nuclear plant have been producing eggs for some time now.
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More caviar for everyone!
Weeks of coding saves hours of planning.
All your bass are belong to us.
equine sulfo-conjugated...
you mean like horse urine???
Exactly. PREgnant MAre uRINe.