Sea Squirts Put Squeeze On 40 Square Miles ; the Georges Bank Colony Reaches an Unprecedented Size and May Be Pushing Out Worms and Shellfish.

Summary

---

Sea squirts, an invasive animal found on the Georges Bank seabed a year ago, now cover at least 40 square miles, a sixfold increase, say researchers who inspected the offshore area earlier this month.

Scientists say colonies of the sea squirts have created dense, slimy mats over gravel and sand on the northern edge of Georges Bank, historically one of the most productive fishing grounds in the world.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Sea Squirts Put Squeeze On 40 Square Miles ; the Georges Bank Colony Reaches an Unprecedented Size and May Be Pushing Out Worms and Shellfish.

The small animals, which are not native and may have dropped off a passing ship, could spread over a far larger area and may already be pushing out native species such as worms and shellfish that live in the ocean floor.

The di...

See the full content of this document

---