photo credit: Reef.org

At the risk of back-patting and preaching to the converted, it’s heartening to connect with others in the world community calling attention to and making efforts toward education and action against invasive species.

We thank the contributors of Conserve Fewell for introducing themselves to us!

As many of you who follow this blog know, invasive species can have devastating impacts on local economies and wipe out endemic wildlife populations.  Scott Cameron a frequent blogger here at ConserveFewell has established a new coalition devoted to reducing the risks and economic costs from invasive species, RRISC.

The lionfish is one of those perfectkillers, introduced by aquarium enthusiasts into places it doesn’t belong and wreaking havoc on native fish populations and decimating reefs.  As a former aquarium enthusiast myself, this beautiful creature sent me scrambling to the hospital as a teen after accidentally impaling myself on one of its poisonous dorsal fins while cleaning a tank – where writhing in pain I waited for the Doctor to flip through his medical books looking for treatment to a lionfish sting.   The good news is that I survived to tell this story.  The public is starting to wake to this threat and find innovative ways to extinguish it.

Read the whole post (along with a fantastic video by Reef.org) here.