By Olivia Judson/NY Times

I’ve just come back from the predator capital of Europe: Romania. The forests and mountains there are home to most of Europe’s remaining bears and lynx and wolves, oh my! (I didn’t see any of them, but I did see evidence of bears — scat, and a fresh pawprint.)

In honor of these animals, I thought I’d declare October to be Predator Appreciation Month. For although such beasts are not, these days, a problem for most of us humans, predators remain a powerful force in the lives of many of our fellow creatures.

It’s not just that they kill. They also change what their potential victims get up to. In short, they create a landscape of fear.

See link below for more:

http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/where-tasty-morsels-fear-to-tread/

An 8.3-magnitude quake struck at 17:48 GMT (10:48 PDT), generating 5.1ft waves in Apia and Pago Pago, American Samoa. This has, according to the BBC, resulted in at least 20 deaths there.

The National Weather Service has issued a Tsunami Advisory for all coastal areas of California and Oregon.

According to the NWS warnings, a possible Tsunami could hit the SoCal coast around 9:30 this evening. This wave event is not a surfable event, but instead, should be viewed with caution. Although wave size has not been great, the surge could penetrate inland, so coastal flooding is of concern. Please note also that the Tsunami may only generate a few inches of height for the California coast, but caution is still warranted, and the NWS and Tsunami warning center are continuing their advisories at this time.

For more information, please visit the NOAA Tsunami Warning Centerat wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov.

Source: Wetsand.com

MOOLOOLABA’s  UnderWater World is the focus of marine science scrutiny as staff celebrate the rare birth of a new baby.

He is one metre long, has fins and he is only the fourth of his kind to be born at the aquamarine centre.

Researchers around the world are celebrating the birth because he is a grey nurse shark, one of only five ever born in captivity, a species that may number a mere 500 in the wild.

See here for more: http://www.goldcoastmail.com.au/story/2009/09/27/grey-nurse-so-rare-so-vulnerable/

A number of ancient Roman statues might lie beneath the turquoise waters of the Blue Grotto on the island of Capri in southern Italy, according to an underwater survey of the sea cave.

Dating to the 1st century A.D., the cave was used as a swimming pool by the Emperor Tiberius (42 B.C. – 37 A.D.), and the statues are probably depictions of sea gods.

“A preliminary underwater investigation has revealed several statue bases which might possibly hint to sculptures lying nearby,” Rosalba Giugni, president of the environmentalist association, Marevivo, told Discovery News.

See here for more:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33058777/ns/technology_and_science-science/