unhinged thoughts from a bluefin tuna's perspective
Finsta - Finstagram or "Fake Instagram"
Are you 15-23 years old? You probably follow at least one Finsta or even have one of your own! A Finsta reveals your deepest, darkest secrets. A Finsta is for your closest friends only. A Finsta allows you to rant and speak your mind.
bluefin_sta showcases a bluefin tuna's perspective on overfishing, ecological destruction, and the sushi market. bluefin_sta displays a bluefin tuna's rants to their closest fish friends and showcases the emotional toll of overfishing.
Plenty of Fish in the Sea
This Valentine's Day Finsta post pokes fun at couple's Instagram posts while also providing social commentary on overfishing and bluefin tuna population decline. Sometimes, romantic partners refer to each other as a "great catch." When someone goes through a breakup, their friends might comfort them by saying that "There are plenty of fish in the sea." From a bluefin tuna's perspective, humans are overfishing and overexploiting marine resources. So, it is ironic and even frustrating that humans also use fish metaphors to describe human dating life.
The bluefin tuna is especially enraged by "There are plenty of fish in the sea." because human greed has made this phrase untrue. There has actually been a population decline of bluefin tuna due to market demand for its precious, fatty meat. Advanced technology has also increased fishing capacity, so large corporations can fish even more and make more profit at the risk of bluefin tuna extinction.
The Effects of Pollution on Fish Health
This post shines a light on how humans have polluted the oceans and how this pollution has affected fish health (Murawski et al., 2021). The Instagram post shows a bluefin tuna swimming in a dirty, polluted waters. The tuna complains to their followers that the ocean is "filthy" and connects this "filthy" water to their worsening health.
Oil spill studies have revealed that water pollution has led to reduced cardiopulmonary function. Specifically, oil and other pollutants block ion movement through potassium and calcium channels and "[prolong] action potentials in the heart cells of yellowfin and bluefin tunas" (Brette et al., 2014). Prolonged action potentials may lower the heart rate of bluefin tuna. Reduced calcium movement is associated with reduced intracellular calcium binding to myofilaments. This binding leads to heart contractions; if there is less bending, then there are fewer heart contractions and a decreased stroke volume. So, less blood leaves the heart per contraction and less oxygen is delivered through the bluefin tuna's body. Less oxygen is associated with worse health and swimming ability (Johansen and Esbaugh, 2017).
fish in oil and other"filthy" water have a slower heart rate and a lower stroke volume, so they are less efficient at swimming.
Noise Complaint
This post complains about excess noise pollution in the water due to large fishing operations and boats. The bluefin tuna has noticed that the high noise levels have disrupted its mating calls, social communication, and ability to find prey. This rant amplifies how sound plays such a central role in a bluefin tuna's life. So, anything that alters the bioacoustics of the ocean might be detrimental to fish health and survival.
Hearing provides important information to bluefin tuna regardless of distance, time of day, and environment. First, bluefin tuna use sound source localization to find the direction and location of its prey. Anthropogenic sound could distract bluefin tuna and interfere with their ability to hear predators and prey, Second, bluefin tuna listen to mating calls to choose their breeding mate. Interference with bioacoustics might affect the fitness and survival of bluefin tuna by changing their behavior and physiology (Popper and Hawkins, 2019). Noise might come from large fishing boats, which are motorized and produce a low frequency sound across the water (Popper and Hawkins, 2019).
Objecti-fish-cation of Bluefin Tuna
This diagram highlights how humans primarily view tuna as a food product--an object to satisfy human desires. The different cuts of tuna, with descriptions of their fat distribution, are meant to educate human consumers on the right sashimi for their taste palette. The diagram shows how humans prize tuna meat, at the expense of overfishing and ecological destruction. The bluefin tuna is disgusted by this diagram and proclaims that they are "MORE THAN FATTY MEAT."
Human demand has driven the price of bluefin tuna up dramatically. In the 1960s, bluefin tuna was not desired and it was cheaply sold in canned cat food. Then, American sushi bars started to serve bluefin tuna belly (toro) and consumers loved the fatty taste of bluefin tuna meat. From the 1970s onward, bluefin tuna became highly sought out for its delectable, fatty meat (Narula, 2014). Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan has seen an increase in bluefin tuna price due to increased human demand, overfishing and overexploitation, and an increased fishing capacity (Narula, 2014). In 2008, the price of First Fish at the auction was $55,700. By 2010. there was a slight increase to $177,000. In 2012, it was even higher at $736,000. By 2013, the Price of First Fiction at Auction reached its peak at $1,763,000 (Narula, 2014).
Instagram posts and writing curated by Katie Duong.
References
Allen, P. (2014). What is Maguro—Sashimi Tuna Anatomy Explained. (2020, January 2). https://onthegas.org/food/what-is-maguro/
Brette, F., B. Machado, C. Cros, J.P. Incardona, N.L. Scholz, and B.A. Block. 2014. Crude oil impairs cardiac excitation-contraction coupling in fish. Science 343(6172):772–776, https://doi.org/10.1126/ science.1242747.
Johansen, J.L., and A.J. Esbaugh. 2017. Sustained impairment of respiratory function and swim per- formance following acute oil exposure in a coastal marine fish. Aquatic Toxicology 187:82–89, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquatox.2017.04.002.
Murawski, S. A., Grosell, M., Smith, C., Sutton, T., Halanych, K. M., Shaw, R. F. and Wilson C. A. (2021). Impacts of petroleum, petroleum components and dispersants on organisms and populations. The Oceanography Society. 34(1), 136-151. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/27020066
Narula, S. K. (2014, January 7). Sushinomics: How bluefin tuna became a million-dollar fish. The Atlantic. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/01/sushinomics-how-bluefin-tuna-became-a-million-dollar-fish/282826/
[Photograph of a bluefin tuna in a net]. (2020). https://www.inforegion.pe/277113/latinoamerica-con-los-mayores-indicadores-de-perdida-de-biodiversidad/
Popper, A. N. and Hawkins, A. D. (2019). An overview of fish bioacoustics and the impacts of anthropogenic sounds on fishes. Journal of Fish Biology. 94, 692-713. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.13948
Scalan, M. Teens reel in 700-pound bluefin tuna off coast of Maine. ABC4 Utah. [Photograph]. Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://www.abc4.com/news/teens-reel-in-700-pound-bluefin-tuna-off-coast-of-maine/
Skerry, B.J. Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. National Geographic. [Photograph]. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/facts/atlantic-bluefin-tuna
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