The image above is of the Asian Carp, an invasive species. The Asian Carp is originally from China, they were brought over to the U.S. to filter pond water in fish farms in Arkansas. They quickly spread across the U.S. They have no real natural predators and female Asian Carp lay about half a million eggs each time they spawn. These fish pose as a huge threat to boaters as the fish can leap out of the water if startled by boat engines often colliding with people and causing injuries.

This is a picture of the canal that runs parallel to the Delaware River.  Construction for this canal began in 1829, and was used for many years. Mules would pull coal barges down the river. When we went on our float trip down the river, we were able to see the canal. I find it interesting that not that long ago, this was an effective form of transportation.

As though the introduction of the spotted lanternfly wasn’t enough, Pennsylvania may be facing another invasive species epidemic.  The northern snakehead, a fish more common in Asian countries, has recently been found in the Monongahela River.  Only one has been found so far, and the hope is that there aren’t any more.  The northern snakehead serves as a predator to many fish native to Pennsylvania.

I spotted this cool creature in my common room a few nights ago, and although I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, after a bit of research I concluded it was probably a Katydid. It’s hard to see the bug clearly in the picture I took , but I included a more clear picture of what these bugs look like. Katydids are mostly nocturnal, and in the daytime, they have a unique defense mechanism to protect them while they rest. In the 2nd picture you may have noticed that the bug kind of looks like a leaf. When Katydids rest in trees they unfold their wings to lay flat, and in doing so they look almost identical to a leaf, so they are left alone by most predators.

Over the past month, every time I have been walking on the quad, I have noticed in some ways the pathways act like rivers. Students of the college walk both ways along these paths in order to reach a certain destination, much like shad do on the Delaware. These pathways also run both ways like the Nile River and the Hudson River. It is also not uncommon for these pathways to diverge and split off into two paths, and sometimes three. It’s always interesting to see on certain days how the weather affects the activity of these “rivers” on campus much like the weather may affect the activity of actual rivers elsewhere.

https://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/iowa-communities-near-missouri-river-prepare-more-possible-flooding#stream/0

https://www.kq2.com/content/news/Missouri-River-to-crest-near-major-flood-stage-in-St-Joseph-this-weekend-561801511.html

Because Becca and I are researching the Mississippi River for our story map project, I’ve been keeping a little bit of an eye out for stories and news related to the Mississippi River – specifically in terms of flooding. While I was looking around on the internet a couple days ago, I found several stories about the Missouri River – which flows into the Mississippi River – reporting on how the river has been flooding and devastating communities up and down – as far west as Iowa to as far east as St. Joseph, Missouri. Because this is more of a home river for me, I am concerned and interested in the developing situation. I haven’t experienced or seen flooding on this scale when I lived in Missouri, so its frankly terrifying to see the scale of devastation and destruction that these rivers are bringing.