Rings in stomach could tell lobsters' ages

Researchers are testing a technique they say could determine the age of lobsters. Lobsters can live to be more than 100 years old. Their ages are typically estimated based on size, as they shed their shells and grow larger as they get older. University of Maine research professor Rick Wahle and graduate student Carl Huntsberger say that method of estimating a lobster's age is inexact. That presents a problem for scientists and fishery managers looking to measure the health of the lobster population. Wahle and Huntsberger are testing a new method based on research by Raouf Kilada, who found tree-ring-like microscopic bands within lobsters' stomachs. Huntsberger says preliminary data show the bands indicate annual growth patterns.

Thorny skate will not make endangered list

The thorny skate's population may have declined, but not by enough to justify listing it under the Endangered Species Act, the federal government has ruled. Environmental groups had argued that the bottom-dwelling fish's population loss in the northwest Atlantic Ocean was considerable enough to afford it protections set aside for endangered animals. But the National Marine Fisheries Service disagrees. The agency agreed with the petitioners that surveys of the skate have declined over time. Recent catch surveys show less than 5 percent of the peak they reached in the 1970s, the report stated. However, the skates "remain numerous throughout the greater portion of their range, numbering in the hundreds of millions," the report stated.

Hawaiian Airlines joins climate study

Hawaiian Airlines has become the first U.S. airline to join an international research project on climate change and air quality. The airline said technicians recently installed equipment on one of its Airbus A330 airplanes that will collect atmospheric air samples from takeoff to landing and record key high-altitude greenhouse gas measurements. Scientists expect Hawaiian to produce valuable metrics thanks to its central Pacific location and nonstop flights around the Pacific and U.S.

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