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Escaped Aquarium Plant Plaguing Mediterranean Sea
The first segment of tonight's "Scientific American Frontiers" was about how
the Mediterranean Sea is being taken over by an algae, Caulerpa taxifolia,
that came from the Caribbean via (apparently) the Monaco aquarium tanks.
http://www.pbs.org/saf/ has a few details, and schedules and a station
finder. If you missed it, lots of PBS stations re-air shows at later
times. -- Sherman Lovell
"In the first segment, Alda investigates what scientists believe is one of
the greatest threats to the environmental health of the Mediterranean Sea:
an invasive species of algae named Caulerpa taxifolia. This beautiful leafy
green Caribbean native has somehow adapted to the cold waters of the
Mediterranean and since its escape 15 years ago from the Monaco Aquarium,
the algae has spread rapidly. With no natural predators, the algae are
crowding out native species. One of the most promising, and controversial,
ideas being considered to control the spread is a particular kind of sea
slug that dines only on Caulerpa taxifolia. Alda visits the lab of scientist
Alex Meinesz in Nice, France, to see how his latest experiments -- employing
a cold hardy slug from Florida to devour the algae -- are faring. "