Sharks "on the brink"

Sharks are on the brink of extinction, the alarm is sounded, as nine more species of sharks are added to the IUCN's Red List of endangered species. According to the article, contributing factors are the long times that sharks take to reach maturity, and the common perception that since sharks are widely-ranging, fishing intensively in one spot should not affect the whole population. However, fisheries around the world are intensive enough to affect worldwide populations. Scientists are also only just beginning to figure out the patterns of shark migrations for most of the species that we know of. The article also relates how decimation of shark populations in the Northern Atlantic released a species of ray, the cownose ray, from predation, which in turn fed on and reduced the numbers of bay scallops around North Carolina.

Birds not bird-brained

How do starlings flock? Instead of just focusing their attention on the bird immediately in front, they actually pay attention to up to seven other individuals in the flock and respond to their movements.