Species

Diamonds, the perfect accessories for an evening out or a day on the water. Once again, the state Department of Natural Resources will sponsor "The Return of Diamond Jim" fishing tournament. But this year's contest will have what the previous two editions did not: simplicity. Instead of having rules that could only be embraced by an Ikea furniture assembler, Diamond Jim will use a structure already in place and used by thousands of anglers. Catch a fish big enough to earn a state citation, file the paperwork at one of the 90 or so tackle shops that serve as check stations and you're entered in the contest for the grand prize.

The biggest - and least talked about - loser in the immigration "grand bargain" announced last week is the planet. The deal amounts to an environmental double-whammy: If enacted, it would cause damage through those provisions meant to increase the number of immigrants in this country and through those designed to keep immigrants out. The legislation requires the construction of 370 miles of border fencing before any liberalizing of immigration is...

Breathe easily in PhiladelphiaAllergy sufferers and the environmentally concerned now have a hotel all their own in Philadelphia. The Sheraton Rittenhouse Square, which occupies five floors of a renovated building in the downtown area, bills itself as the first "environmentally smart" hotel in the country.Its 193 rooms are equipped with nylon carpeting and mattresses, linens and drapes made of undyed, organic cotton. The air-filtering system throughout the hotel helps to remove mold, pollen and some bacteria from the air, and smoking is banned in the entire building.

To the list of species that don't belong in Chesapeake Bay and probably will harm its delicate balance, add the veined rapa whelk, a snail with an appetite for shellfish that has been feasting on clams and oysters near Hampton Roads, Va.Watermen working around the mouths of the James and York rivers say they've seen these creatures that vaguely resemble the native conch for several years, but only recently did they know what they were and how much damage...

Here is an excerpt of an editorial from the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, which was published Monday.THE BALD eagle's impending exit from the protected species list is surely something to celebrate, not least for the symbolism of the achievement. But let there be no mistaking the rarity of this victory over the forces of extinction, or the enormity of loss to which it makes exception.Contemporary climate change linked to greenhouse gas emissions is already showing dramatic harm to corals and some other coastal plants and birds.

THE OCEAN off our mid-Atlantic coast provides rest, relaxation and seafood for millions of people. But beneath the waters lurks a crisis created by too many boats chasing too few fish.And the response by the people who manage fisheries in our region has been a classic case of too little, too late. Over-fishing is widespread throughout the United States.According to a recently released government study, more than 40 percent of the species whose status has been studied are classified as over-fished.

IN RECENT years, increasing numbers of restaurants in the United States and elsewhere have been offering the savory delights of exotic fish from around the world. Many of these fish are the product of overfishing and poaching practices that put entire species at grave risk. Order one of these as an entree, and you're not the only one who will be paying a steep price.The Patagonian Toothfish, more commonly referred to as Chilean Sea Bass in the United States, is a prime example of how a fish species can suffer when it becomes the latest delicacy.

Janet E. Springer is a farmer who keeps most of her livestock in her suburban Hampstead home, penned in the living and dining rooms.Springer owns Maryland's only known butterfly farm, a 2-year-old business that has tapped into a growing market for butterflies to be released in celebration of weddings, birthdays or graduations, or to symbolize the release of the soul at a funeral or memorial service. Circling above the heads of guests, butterflies splash color against the sky.Springer raises monarchs and painted ladies, species she chose because they are attractive and showy -- monarchs with their distinctive orange and black bands, painted ladies with wings mottled in brown, orange and white.

A LIST OF popular seafood compiled in the latest issue of Audubon magazine contains a surprise for the Chesapeake region. The two edible varieties in least danger of overfishing and decline, according to the nature magazine's report, are rockfish and crabs. Bluefish, another local staple, is close behind them.Since Maryland clamped down on catching rock and crab in the past decade, those species might still be considered under threat. Indeed, enforcement of catch limits on both species continues.

A quick mosquito survival quiz:Q. Do all mosquitoes suck blood?A. No -- only those who become personal injury attorneys.Q. How do mosquito-repelling devices work?A. They play songs by Yanni, John Tesh and the Spice Girls.In this summer of El Nino, the hordes of mosquitoes swarming around us are no laughing matter. But there are a few laughs -- and some useful information about the pests -- in "The Mosquito Book" (Dennoch Press, $6.95), an aptly timed little volume from the author of "The Duct Tape Book" and "The WD-40 Book."

Blue eyes are typically associated with beauty, or perhaps Frank Sinatra. But to University of Wisconsin anthropologist John Hawks, they represent an evolutionary mystery. For nearly all of human history, everyone in the world had brown eyes. Then, between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago, the first blue-eyed baby was born somewhere near the Black Sea. For some reason, that baby's descendants gained a 5 percent evolutionary advantage over their brown-eyed competitors, and today the number of people with blue eyes tops half a billion.

More than 1 million sterile Asian oysters may be heading to the Chesapeake Bay, as Virginia moved closer this week to approving its largest study yet on the foreign species. The Virginia Seafood Council, which has conducted smaller experiments on the Asian oyster since 2000, has asked for state approval to put 1.3 million oysters in Virginia's portion of the bay and its tributaries. The oysters would be contained in mesh bags and secure cages. Researchers want to determine whether the oysters, also known as Crassostrea ariakensis, would be a suitable crop for aquaculture.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- High in the Silvermine nature reserve, proteas here and there unfurl skyward like floral fireworks in soft pink and yellow. Guy Midgley's eye is drawn elsewhere, though, to ugly brown lesions on the otherwise green landscape - dead protea plants. "Nobody's quite sure what's going on," says Midgley, a plant scientist, scanning the bushy vegetation. But he suspects global warming is behind the recent protea "die-back," in which one-third of the plants have shriveled up in some parts of the Western Cape region.

Bird walk -- Howard County Bird Club will walk the paved path around Centennial Lake in Ellicott City to look for migrating waterfowl and other species at 8 a.m. Sunday. The group will meet at the west-end parking lot on Centennial Lane. Beginners are welcome. There is no cost. 410-418-8731, or www.howardbirds.org.

A pair of river otters at the Maryland Zoo are dining like epicures these days. They're feasting on hundreds of soft-shell crabs taken from a Crisfield seafood dealer caught trying to sell the undersize inventory. Soup kitchens might have gotten the haul first, but the crabs' year in the deep-freeze of evidence storage made them more suitable for the fur-bearing set. Officials regard the dealer's actions as an isolated incident, but two factors may have contributed - high prices and a downturn in the Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population in recent years.

FLORIDA CITY, Fla. -- The Everglades can be a surprisingly noisy place. There were the strange, catlike sounds from the small heron sitting in a tree. Earthshaking burps could be heard from unseen Southern bullfrogs or pig frogs. There was an occasional roar that we knew came from, yes, the dark-colored alligators along the Anhinga Trail. Some were sunning themselves, and some were swimming in the freshwater pools. Everglades National Park is a big, flat, swampy and often buggy place.

SLAUGHTER BEACH, DEL. -- This time of year, the horseshoe crabs practically have the place to themselves. With only a sunbather and a smattering of greenhead flies in the distance, the spiderlike creatures mate undisturbed on the sandy shores. But just a few miles away sits what the crab's protectors consider a major threat to a species that is older than dinosaurs - Charlie Auman, a waterman who has spent much of his adult life catching horseshoe crabs and selling them for bait. For the past decade, Delaware officials have been pushing to protect the crabs, which swim into the bay each spring from the ocean and mate by the millions on its shores.

Diamonds, the perfect accessories for an evening out or a day on the water. Once again, the state Department of Natural Resources will sponsor "The Return of Diamond Jim" fishing tournament. But this year's contest will have what the previous two editions did not: simplicity. Instead of having rules that could only be embraced by an Ikea furniture assembler, Diamond Jim will use a structure already in place and used by thousands of anglers. Catch a fish big enough to earn a state citation, file the paperwork at one of the 90 or so tackle shops that serve as check stations and you're entered in the contest for the grand prize.

The biggest - and least talked about - loser in the immigration "grand bargain" announced last week is the planet. The deal amounts to an environmental double-whammy: If enacted, it would cause damage through those provisions meant to increase the number of immigrants in this country and through those designed to keep immigrants out. The legislation requires the construction of 370 miles of border fencing before any liberalizing of immigration is...

There was a pretty good crowd for yesterday's intrasquad game at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, though it's hard to hear anything over the nonstop squawking of the scores of green parakeets that have nested in the overhangs and light standards of the old ballpark. It sounds more like an Alfred Hitchcock movie than a baseball game. No species of parakeet is indigenous to Florida, but parakeet populations are booming here and in the southwestern states. The most common here is the monk parakeet, which builds the kind of large twig nests that are evident in the upper reaches of the Orioles' spring training home.