The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers against eating certain frozen cooked mussel products made by Bantry Bay Seafoods, imported from Ireland.

The mussel products may be contaminated with azaspiracid toxins, a group of naturally occurring marine toxins known to cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps.

Reports of AZA intoxications and/or contaminated shellfish have been documented from several countries, including Ireland, UK, Norway, Netherlands, France, Spain, and Italy. - NOAA

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

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Lee Frederick, of Murrell’s Inlet, caught a 100 lb. 8 oz. amberjack off South Carolina’s coast to claim the new state record.

The 34-foot-Crusader, “Killin’ Time”, captained by Troy Strickland, left from Murrells Inlet headed northwest of the Georgetown Hole and anchored in 160′ of water.

The previous marine game fish state record for an amberjack was from back in ‘98; it took Lee 15 minutes to beat it.

Congrats Lee!

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Even after starting his final run in 4th place, Alexander Grimm paddled through the gates finishing first in the men’s singles slalom for his ‘08 Olympics run.

Grimm’s gold medal was Germany’s first medal for the Beijing Olympics, undoubtedly making his country proud.

Congratulations Alexander!

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The Center For Birds of Prey is dedicated to the study and welfare of birds and their habitats and to engaging the public.

Besides being a place for visitors to stop by and checkout the wildlife, The Center For Birds of Prey will serve a substantial portion of the East Coast in the event of an oil spill too.

Some resident birds

• Ural Owl
• Black Vultures
• Saker Falcon
• Red-tailed hawk

Allow at least two hours for a visit to learn about raptors, from eagles and falcons to hawks and owls. The center offers a 50-minute guided tour of the aviaries and a 40-minute flight demonstration. Visitors can wander the grounds after the tour and visit the Owl Wood with its collection of owls from around the world. Demonstrations and tours are canceled or delayed if there is inclement weather.

View Larger Map

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One dedicated individual, Skip is kayaking 1700 miles for prostate cancer. His trip is illustrated here - from Chicago to NY!

Some prostate statistics he wants to bring to everyone’s attention:

• * 1 in 6 men are at a lifetime risk of prostate cancer
• * In the U.S., 1 new case of prostate cancer is diagnosed every 2.5 minutes.
• * Prostate cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.

This chart of Google searches for ‘kayaking’ shows the sport has been on a decline over the last 4 years; maybe Skip’s mission will help out two causes!

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Seafood lovers are jumping up and down all over the coast on news from a Neurology.org study stating that fatty fish may help prevent memory loss - including dementia.

“Previous findings have shown that fish and fish oil can help prevent stroke, but this is one of the only studies that looks at fish’s effect on silent brain (lesions) in healthy, older people. While eating tuna and other types of fish seems to help protect against memory loss and stroke, these results were not found in people who regularly ate fried fish.” - Jyrki Virtanen, study leader.

Fish with omega-3 fatty acids are the most helpful, including: herring, mackerel, salmon, and sardines. The study showed that people who ate these fish 3x or more per week had nearly a 26% lower risk of having health conditions such as silent brain lesions, or mini-strokes.

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With so many people here to read last week’s Monkey Island, SC post, it seems poignant to show off a listing of primates around the world that are endangered right now. I felt it was important enough to include here, so take a second to enjoy the faces of all these primates, because who knows, they may not be here tomorrow.

Rondo Dwarf Galago Galagoides rondoensis	Ceylon Mtn. Slender Loris Loris tardigradus nycticeboides	Greater Bamboo Lemur Prolemur simus	Brown Spider Monkey Ateles hybridus
Pennant’s Red Colobus Procolobus p. pennantii	Simakobu Simias concolor	White-Collared Lemur Eulemur albocollaris	Brown-headed Spider M. Ateles f. fusciceps
Tana River Red Colobus Procolobus rufomitratus	Siau Island Tarsier Tarsius sp. nov.	Silky Sifaka Propithecus candidus	Yellow-tailed Woolly M. Oreonax flavicauda
Roloway Guenon Cercocebus diana roloway	Delacour’s Langur Trachypithecus delacouri	Sahamalaza Sportive L. Lepilemur sahamalazensis
Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus Procolobus badius waldroni	Cat Ba Langur Trachypithecus p. poliocephalus
Kipunji Rungwecebus kipunji	Western Purple-faced Langur Semnopithecus vetulus nestor
Cross River Gorilla Gorilla gorilla diehli	Grey-Shanked Douc Pygathrix cinerea
	Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey Rhinopithecus avunculus
	Hainan Gibbon Nomascus hainanus
	W. Hoolock Gibbon Hoolock hoolock
	Sumatran Orangutan Pongo abelii

As you can see, most are from Asia - which makes sense since it’s the world’s largest continent - and then from Africa, with Madagascar and the neo-tropics of South America coming in 4th.

For more information, please read the IUCN’s article ‘Primates in Peril:
The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates.

Images courtesy of the IUCN.

Ironically, there have been more than 100,000 rare gorillas found in Congo

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Retiring chairman and president of Michelin N.A., Jim Micali, says the new Jasper County port is very important to the future of business throughout SC, giving us “a great competitive advantage”.

Companies throughout the state, and indeed the Southeast and beyond, depend on the future success of our coastal ports. With the raw materials they ship in, and the finished products they ship out, that competitive advantage will insure jobs for LowCountry dock workers and truckers far into the future - indeed as long as ships are able to pull up to our docks.

While international conglomerates BMW & Michelin benefit from our coastline while upstate, it’s a harder struggle for the shrimping industry and their boats here. They are gone long before dawn, combating higher fuel costs that increase their cost of business and take away from the success of their bottom-line. We need to help out local businesses too.

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Ryan Riggs of Wando, SC has caught the largest dolphin fish in the state. His 65″ catch came in at 77.5 lbs., setting a new saltwater game fish record for South Carolina.

Amy Dukes, the Saltwater Game Fish State Record Program Coordinator and S.C. Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series Tournament Coordinator, verified the new state record when the fish was weighed-in at the marina.

Congrats Ryan!

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*Update: Environmental group admits errors in beach report, moving SC from 6th down 10 spots to the 16th state with the most contaminated beaches, still nothing for us to be proud of.

The latest findings from the Natural Resources Defense Council are not a welcome sight for us here in SC. DHEC has even accused the NRDC of using incomplete data in their findings, especially poignant now that SC’s Tourism Dept. has been catching a lot of flack over their recent overseas ad campaign.

Charleston Beach Water Rankings

[src]

• 16 - South Carolina’s ranking
• 6% - Exceeded Percentage
• 2,991 - Total Samples
• 63 - All Reported Beaches
• 7 - Tier 1 Beaches
• 0 - % More Than Once/Wk
• Sometimes - Resample or Other info needed before action

[src]

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