An Anne Arundel County Woman Now Holds the State Record for Catching the Largest Common Dolphinfish

Ocean City, Maryland,  An Anne Arundel County woman now holds the state record for catching the largest common dolphinfish, also known as mahi mahi.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources said Kristy Frashure of Pasadena reeled in the 74.5-pound fish during a tournament in Ocean City Friday.

Frashure told the DNR it took 20 to 30 minutes to reel in the fish.




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Five Meatballs Found at a Dog Park Embedded with Fish Hooks

Ormond Beach, Florida - A sheriff's office on Florida's east coast was given a heads up Tuesday, Nov. 7, of five pieces of meat found at a dog park. Upon inspecting the meat, it was discovered fish hooks were embedded in small meatballs.

At least one dog was seen eating the meat at the Michael Crotty Bicentennial Park, according to a Facebook post by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office 

Sheriff's Deputy Donna Bowen visited the park and found an additional contaminated meatball. Finding no others, she reviewed them with the person who found the first batch and noticed they were cold and sweating, like they were frozen and sitting in the sun.

The deputy searched the park -- plus an adjacent area -- and found no other meatballs.

The county's animal control called an area veterinary hospital, which did an X-ray on the dog but found no hooks inside the animal. 

Police aren't sure who placed the meat, however, Bowen responded to a similar report at the same park two years ago.

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Alberta Angler Catches Fish Nearly Cut in Half by Plastic Powerade Wrapper

An Alberta fisherman is reminding people to properly dispose of garbage after catching a fish that had been trapped in a drink ring for so long the fish had grown around the piece of plastic.

Adam Turnbull — originally from Sarnia, Ont., but now living in southeastern Alberta — works as a cabinet maker in Medicine Hat to support his real passion: fishing. The avid angler says he fishes almost daily, all around Alberta but mainly close to home.

He’s caught all kinds of fish before, but one he reeled in on Saturday, Oct. 28, from the South Saskatchewan River in Medicine Hat, left him shaking his head.

“I was fishing at Strathcona Park when I hooked the fish,” Turnbull, 28, told Global News. “It fought like every other fish and then I saw the wound.”

To read more on this story, click here: Alberta Angler Catches Fish Nearly Cut in Half by Plastic Powerade Wrapper

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Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Determined That Unlike Other Fish, Opah Generate Heat as They Swim

In a discovery that defies conventional biology, a big fish that lives deep in the Pacific Ocean has been found to be warm blooded, like humans, other mammals and birds.

Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) determined that unlike other fish, opah generate heat as they swim and distribute the warmth throughout their entire disc-shaped bodies by special blood vessels. Special "counter-current heat exchangers" in their gills minimize heat loss, allowing the deepwater predators to keep their bodies several degrees above the water temperature 250 feet down.

"There has never been anything like this seen in a fish's gills before," said biologist Nick Wegner, the lead author.

Though some species of fish can temporarily warm their swim muscles, including tuna and some sharks, "whole-body endothermy" has distinguished mammals and birds from fish and reptiles, which draw heat from their environments.

"The opah appears to produce the majority of its heat by constantly flapping its pectoral fins which are used in continuous swimming," Wegner told Live Science.

His colleague Heidi Dewar told The Washington Post "I think that it's really exciting that we spend so much time studying especially these larger fish to find something that's completely unique and has never been seen before in any fish."

Their team's findings are published in the May 15 issue of Science.

Also known as the moonfish, the opah averages 100 pounds, has a diameter of 3 feet and can grow to up to 6 feet long. While deepwater fish are slow moving because of the cold, the opah's warm-blooded uniqueness results in faster swimming, better vision and quicker responses, giving it an edge in the survival sweepstakes.

"Before this discovery I was under the impression this was a slow-moving fish, like most other fish in cold environments," said Wegner, of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, in La Jolla, Calif. "But because it can warm its body, it turns out to be a very active predator that chases down agile prey like squid and can migrate long distances

Opahs, which don't swim in schools, are regularly caught either by longline fishermen from California to Hawaii to New Zealand seeking tuna or unintentionally in commercial driftnets.

An old fish tale held that opah brought good luck, NOAA says, so fishermen would give the colorful catch away rather than sell it. But times and marketing have changed, and food fetishists are increasing demand for its "rich, tasty meat."

Two years ago, recreational anglers in Southern California caught a 125-pound opah during a rockfish outing. The "mystery fish" put up a 45-minute fight, leading the captain to think it was a shark, GrindTV reported.

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According to Researchers at Australia's Murdoch University, Dumping Your Pet Goldfish in a Local Lake Can Cause Serious Ecological Sabotage

As tragic as it may be to watch Bubbles roam around the tank with nothing but a plastic treasure chest for entertainment, the truth is he wasn't meant to be in a bigger pond.

According to researchers at Australia's Murdoch University, giving in to your temptation to set him free in a local lake won't just leave you without a pet — it'll kick start some serious ecological sabotage. As revealed in a study published by their Freshwater Fish Group & Fish Health Unit, "introduced freshwater fishes are one of the major global threats to aquatic biodiversity."

And this isn't just some fish story. When dumped into a larger environment, those innocent little koi or goldfish grow at an exponential rate, introduce parasites that harm other species, and have the potential to decimate an ecosystem.

"They are eating up the food resources and using up the habitat that our native fish would otherwise be using,"research fellow Jeff Cosgrove told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Even worse? They can be "extremely difficult to eradicate," says Cosgrove. In other words, they're not going belly-up anytime soon.

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