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updated on December 09, 2006
Lionfish in North Carolina
This is the ORIGINAL lionfish timeline: it all started right here, on
the Atlantis IV in August 2000!
Current Update: 12/09/2006
There is evidence of a fish which will eat lionfish. Interesting stuff!!
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/RedLionfish/RLionfish.html
http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2001/aug03-01.html
Where aren't there lionfish now? Even the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll
Shores has a lovely exhibit of lionfish on display. Newly renovated and
re-opened in May 2006.
10/30/04: There are lionfish on both the Proteus and the Caribe Sea.
Water temp on the Caribe Sea was 67.
They are still here, they are reproducing and
spreading far & wide.
NOAA researcher Paula Whitfield's formal field research revealed that they are
everywhere, simply everywhere.
And they eat well.
July 2004
A black-colored lionfish was observed and photographed on the Naeco. It's
body was black and the "feathers" were white.
June 2004
We just got an email last night reporting the sighting
and collection of a lionfish in Shark River Inlet in Avon, NJ last fall.
May 2003:
On the Malchase in 2003, there were multiple lionfish seen
this Spring. One was reported to be 18" long.
There were also some seen on the Lobster Wreck.
June 2003:
First-hand sightings have been made this year on the Proteus, Manuela, Tarpon,
Naeco Stern, Lobster Wreck and rocks near the Cassimir.
Below is a "Lionfish timeline", in chronological
order.
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A Lionfish Exhibit is
on display at the
NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
It is stunning: a cylindrical 1200 gallon tank: try to catch it at
feeding time!
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First seen on August 10, 2000
It all started on the Atlantis IV!
by Darryl and Trish
Boyer, on the D/V Atlantis IV:
based in Atlantic Beach, NC.
That day the lionfish was seen by divers on the Stern section of the wreck of the
Naeco: 40 miles offshore, 130' deep.
The first lionfish was photographed on August 10, 2000 by Darryl and Trish
Boyer.
After they surfaced from their first dive, claiming to have seen a lionfish, we
gave them a camera to bring back proof of their sighting on the second dive. (A
few days after we got back the above photos).
Later the photos were verified by Bob Jones of the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll
Shires to be a lionfish.
Second Sighting: August 11, 2000
A second lionfish was seen the very next day, 2 miles
away from the first one.
This time on the Bridge section of the wreck of the Naeco: also 40
miles offshore, 130' deep.
Many of the divers on the boat that day saw the second lionfish, including crew
member Renate Eichinger, divers Darryl & Trish Boyer, Mark Miller, and Kevin
& Ann Hagerich.
Also in 2000, reports were made by the D/V Olympus of possible
sightings on the wreck of the Papoose.
In 2001,
June 8, 2001: Naeco Stern
Numerous reports of lionfish sightings were made, as early as June 8.
This time on the Bow section of the Naeco wreck (a 3rd section, 4 miles from the
other 2 pieces of the Naeco),
two lionfish were seen and documented on film. That was only the
beginning.
We also heard that in August one was documented 60 miles off the coast of
Georgia.
click here for an
extensive timeline of 2001
sightings
Lionfish
becomes news in the Fayettville, NC newspaper: August 27, 2001 after a group
of photographers, including Jonathan Bird, Cindy Burnham, Rick Allen, Hermann
Ostermayer, Kim Elsinger and TP Barker visited the Atlas Tanker on August 15,
2001.
Originally intending to photograph the numerous Sand Tiger Sharks which reside
on the Atlas Tanker, we were all surprised to find a lionfish on the wreck as
well.
Paula Whitfield, a marine biologist with the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration in Beaufort, and crew member on the Atlantis IV
took extensive video of the lionfish on August 16 & 18, 2001 on the wrecks
of the Atlas Tanker and the Naeco Bow.
As of September 6, 2001, over 14 separate lionfish had
been sighted off of Morehead City,
in numerous locations, ranging from rocks and wrecks South of Beaufort Inlet to the
Atlas Tanker on the East side of Cape Lookout.
As many as 5 lionfish in one
location have been seen and videoed.
While most sightings have been on the D/V
Atlantis IV, reports have been documented on film/video from the D/V Diver Down,
D/V Captain's Lady, D/V Olympus and D/V Midnight Express.
October
8, 2001:
NOAA 's Weekly
Report for October 8, 2001 shows official interest in the story: they will
be "Studying Distribution of
Lionfish"
December 2001
- Lionfish are turning up in Florida, Bermuda, and even off of Long Island, NY.
Adults and Juveniles.
______________________________________________________________________________
January 2002
- The diving Magazine Immersed published an
article about NC lionfish in their Winter 2001 issue.
- NOAA published a press release concerning East Coast lionfish in early January,
2002.
- A Fact
Sheet from NOAA is on the internet, with Paula Whitfield's photo.
- Front
page news in the Raleigh, NC paper: News and Observer, Jan. 12, 2002
- Reports in from Charleston, SC of lionfish sightings on a reef.
- Front page news in the Carteret
County News-Times on Jan. 16, 2002
January 19, 2002
The North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores is planning an exhibit on the
Lionfish, scheduled for Spring, 2002.
January 30, 2002
The New Bern/Kinston/Jacksonville papers printed
an article about the lionfish after a telephone interview with Capt. Bobby
Edwards. We'll upload the article in a few days.
February 2, 2002
Trish Boyer told us that the Wilmington (Delaware) News Journal had a big
article in the local paper about Lionfish spotted in Long Island Sound this
year, and the potential for them to be found in Delaware waters.
February 8, 2002
Larry O'Hanlon, a correspondent from Discovery
Online, called for information on an upcoming news blurb for the news portion of
the Discovery.com website, to be posted sometime next week.
February 12, 2002
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020211/lionfish.html
There it is!
A preliminary list of articles and announcements
concerning the introduction of lionfish to the Atlantic.
News spread fast in early 2002, from FL to GA, SC and Delaware. We'll clean up
this list soon.
And they're still here:
4 lionfish were seen on the Naeco stern on May 26, 2002!
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The latest 2002 News:
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Naeco Stern, May 19: 2 Lionfish
Naeco stern, May 26: 4 were seen
June 4, Lobster Wreck: 2 lionfish were seen
June 10, A reef near the Papoose
June 10, Lobster Wreck: A small Lionfish at sand level and
a larger one on the Boiler
June 11, Lobster Wreck: 2 lionfish
June 12, on both the
Bow & Stern of the Naeco
June 13, Naeco: the group saw 5 lion fish
June 17, Naeco Stern: 5 Lionfish, big and small
June
23: We believe there may be as many as 8 on the Naeco Stern
June 25, Naeco: again 5 lion fish
June 29/30: video was taken of a lionfish on the Keshena, near Hatteras
June 30: 2 were seen on the Lobster Wreck
In
July: seen again and again on the Naeco- they're everywhere!!
But none have been seen on the Atlas yet this year.
July 21, Rocks by the Schurtz: 12-15 Lionfish
July 21, On the Bedfordshire, a juvenile Lion Fish.
August 2002: Divers on the Midnight Express reported a lionfish on the
Hardees.
An e-mail has also come in from Puerto
Rico: a diver spotted a lionfish on a reef there.
August 20, Big 10: Lionfish
Sept 4, U-352 Sub: a 2 to 2 1/2 inch Lionfish was seen
Sept 5, Schurz sighting
Sept 6, Papoose sighting
Sept 6, Hardee's wreck sighting
Sept 15, Papoose: Lionfish in the break
October, 2002: A small lionfish is on the Schurz, and a
large one is on the Papoose-along the Port edge of the ship, just up
from the stern.
November 2002: We received a report of Lionfish having been
sighted in Honduras: 20 years ago!
There was an interesting article about invasive species traveling in
ships ballast water in the
January 2002 National Geographic.
We saw 5 different lionfish on some rocks SE of the
Papoose today (11/9/02). One individual was 18" long!
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The last report we have of lionfish sightings was in Nov 2002. Since
then, not many people have been diving.
However, we do know that offshore water temperatures have been quite chilly. It
will be interesting to see if the Lionfish can stand the winter water
temperatures and survive. We expect in a few weeks dive trips will resume for
the 2003 season, and when we hear of a sighting, it will be posted.
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Why is this so interesting?
Because the natural habitat of the
Lionfish is highlighted in the image below.
That's nowhere near the East Coast of the United States.
So how did they get here?
Good question- all we know for sure is that they are here.
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If you have any more
information about the lionfish,
or know of documented sightings along the US East Coast, please contact
us.
Thank you very much.
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Here's some important information we as divers should know
about the Lionfish.
From the eMedicine Consumer Journal, August 1 2001, Volume
2, Number 8
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DISCUSSION |
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These poisonous fish live in tropical and temperate oceans, especially the Red
Sea, Indian, and Pacific oceans. They have erectile spines on the dorsal, anal,
and pelvic fins. Because these fish are not aggressive, contact and poisoning is
primarily accidental.
Ornate lionfish produce mild poisoning. Camouflaged scorpionfish cause
moderate to severe poisoning. The motionless stonefish causes severe to
life-threatening poisoning.
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SIGNS
AND SYMPTOMS |
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Intense throbbing pain peaks in 1-2 hours and lasts 12 hours.
Redness, bruising, swelling, numbness, tingling, and tissue sloughing at
the wound site may also occur.
Severe reactions include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, tremors,
abnormal heart rhythms, weakness, shortness of breath, seizures, decreased
blood pressure, fainting, and paralysis. Death may occur.
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TREATMENT |
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Remove the victim from the water to prevent drowning.
Immerse the wound in water as hot as the victim can tolerate for 30-90
minutes. Repeat as necessary to control pain.
Use tweezers to remove any spines in the wound.
Scrub the wound with soap and water. Then flush affected area with fresh
water.
Do not apply tape to close the wound.
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SEEK
MEDICAL ASSISTANCE |
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All cases require medical attention to ensure no foreign material is left
in the wound. Antivenom is used, especially for stonefish poisoning.
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8/1/08
