It is summer now in Antarctica, and the giant salmon are running -as you can see. Sandwichgirl recently took a few photographs of the fish, which are curated in a Flickr set. Link -via Laughing Squid

(Image credit: Flickr user sandwichgirl)

There was only about an inch of water, but it was enough for these salmon in Mason County, Washington to participate in amphibious operations training. It’s time to choose sides.

Link -via Blame It on the Voices

On October 26th, explosives opened the Condit Dam in Washington State to allow the free flow of the White Salmon River after 98 years. The reservoir took about two hours to drain, shown here in time-lapse. Read about the dam dismantling project at National Geographic. Link -via the Presurfer

This photograph was taken by Rick Sheremeta, who tells us about the shot.

On a recent photo trip to Alaska’s McNeil River, I spent four days observing and photographing Brown Bears. The bears routine became pretty obvious – they’d fish for a while until their bellies were full, then they’d wander off into the grass for a little nap. This ole gal never quite got that far – after snaring this salmon, she wandered into a shallow pool at the side of the river, cradled the fish under her arm, and promptly nodded off. It was really comical to see her just sitting there sound asleep.

It’s an entry in the 2011 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest, which is still open for entries, but only through July 11th! Find out all about the contest at National Geographic Traveler. Link -Thanks, Marilyn!

Now, I don’t know if all those sushi were consumed after being displayed for some time, but if they were, then I’d wager it also created the longest line for the bathrooms: Link

You’ve probably heard of bacon vodka, but salmon vodka? Would you try this flavor if you had the chance?

So, as the fish sat in the scanner, they showed it “a series of photographs depicting human individuals in social situations.” To maintain the rigor of the protocol (and perhaps because it was hilarious), the salmon, just like a human test subject, “was asked to determine what emotion the individual in the photo must have been experiencing.”

The salmon, as Bennett’s poster on the test dryly notes, “was not alive at the time of scanning.”

Those involved got a laugh out of the situation, until the scans came back and showed that activity was detected in different areas of the brain when the fish was “shown” the pictures. Remember, the fish was dead.

The result is completely nuts — but that’s actually exactly the point. Bennett, who is now a post-doc at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his adviser, George Wolford, wrote up the work as a warning about the dangers of false positives in fMRI data. They wanted to call attention to ways the field could improve its statistical methods.

Which is not to say that scans aren’t a useful research tool, but that they must be carefully monitored to avoid false positive results. Link -via reddit

MacGyver Chef is a new series at the gadget blog Gizmodo about attempts to cook meals without conventional cooking implements. Author Dan Nosowitz has previously poached chicken and couscous in a coffee maker. In his most recent post, he experimented with steaming salmon and cilanto sauce in a dishwasher. You can view read a step-by-step guide and view photos of the process at the link.

Link

MacGyver Chef archive

Once the bane of rural Japanese villagers, a paper in the June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases reports on the spread of the the salmon tapeworm Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense. The parasite, which can reach lengths of 39 feet (12 meters), has been steadily increasing its global distribution and prevalence – mostly among yuppies with a hankering for sashimi and ceviche.

One hospital in Japan reported 14 cases last year, up from 3 cases in 2000. And starting in 2006, the tapeworm has been popping up for the first time in North America and Europe. Meanwhile, farm-raised salmon from South America have been plagued by a closely related tapeworm that normally infects perch and other freshwater fish.

Link

A bear could easily catch a dead salmon in this pool,  but most bears don’t like to get their ears wet.  An underwater camera reveals a clever ursine trick. 

– via bangocibumbumpuluj

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.