Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Beware!!! ~ Rock Snot

I went fishing the other day and ran into a sign warning of infestation of an "invasive species" of diatom called rock snot or Didymosphenia geminata and how it was ruining my favorite recreational activity.  We have this crucial election coming up which will determine the fate of the nation and now we have to worry about rock snot.  Oh joy!

Anyway, my curiosity (as with all things) led me to the internet to find out as much as I can about this "new" menace.  Apparently, there is much concern around the world with nearly all the "experts" placing the blame squarely on human recreational activity as the "primary" transport mechanism. 

Why indict human activity?  It's claimed that it only takes a single cell to start an infestation.  Only a single cell, so what about waterfowl?  To date, I've only found a single one that even mentions waterfowl as a possible means of spreading the organism and nothing in any of the damnations of human recreation to even suggest those cute ducks and geese of committing such an atrocity.

The funny thing is that there's another invasive species called the water chestnut and it's well known to be transported by waterfowl, but not even considered for rock snot by most folks?  Hmmm.