Duke and Duchess of Cambridge anniversary

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England’s Prince William and Catherine Middleton wed on April 29, 2011. Here are some of our favorite highlights from their first year of wedded bliss

Britain’s Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge arrive for the British Premiere of “African Cats” at the BFI Southbank in London April 25, 2012.   REUTERS/Luke MacGregor   (BRITAIN – Tags: ENTERTAINMENT SOCIETY ROYALS)

Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, kiss as they stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace with other members of the Royal Family, after their wedding in Westminster Abbey, in central London in this April 29, 2011 file photograph. Kissing as a romantic sense of expression is believed to have begun in India, where an epic poem called the Mahabharata – believed to have been written about 1000 BCE – included history’s first recognizable descriptions of romantic kissing.    REUTERS/Darren Staples/Files  (BRITAIN  – Tags: ROYALS ENTERTAINMENT SOCIETY)

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive under an umbrella for the UK Premiere of ‘African Cats’, in aid of ‘Tusk Trust’, at the BFI Southbank in central London, Wednesday, April 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan)

Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at a fundraising gala evening in aid of the Child Bereavement Charity, one of Prince William’s charities at St James’s Palace.

It’s Prince William and Kate Middleton’s first overseas trip as a married couple and everywhere they go, the prince and his bride have been greeted by fanfare. They joined sailors for a prayer service Sunday morning and visited a shelter for troubled youth. Once again, the crowd was infatuated with Kate’s spectacular fashion, as she chose to wear a series of stunning dresses, including those by Canadian-born designer Erdem, which ABC News contributor Katie Nicholl called “very fashion forward.”

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – NOVEMBER 2:  Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge taste a high energy paste used to treat severe malnutrition during a visit to the UNICEF Emergency Supply Centre on November 2, 2011 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge visited the centre to view efforts to distribute emergency food and medical supplies to eastern Africa where severe food shortages are affecting more than 13 million people. (Photo by Phil Noble – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – NOVEMBER 02:  Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit the UNICEF Global Supply Centre on November 2, 2011 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The visit is to help maintain the spotlight on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in East Africa, which has left hundreds of thousands of children severely malnourished and at risk of starving to death unless they receive urgent help. The huge supply centre sources supplies packs and distributes the food, water, vaccines and emergency medical kits for children around the globe.  (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

FILE — Britain’s Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge arrive at a charity event for Absolute Return for Kids, ARK, in London, June, 9, 2011 file photo. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, file)

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – JULY 30:  Prince Harry, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge depart after the Royal wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall at Canongate Kirk on July 30, 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips will marry England rugby player Mike Tindall today at Canongate Kirk. Many royals are expected to attend including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

CULVER CITY, CA – JULY 10:  Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend the Mission Serve: Hiring Our Heroes event on July 10, 2011 in Culver City, California. The newly married Royal Couple are on the final day of their first joint overseas tour to the USA. They arrived on Friday after spending 9 days in Canada. The couple started off their tour of North America by joining millions of Canadians in taking part in Canada Day celebrations which mark Canada’s 144th Birthday. (Photo by Splash News – Pool/Getty Images)

Prince William and Kate Middleton continued their 11-day North American tour in Prince Edward Island, Canada, the fourth day of the tour. Shown here is the royal couple arriving in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on July 3, 2011. Earlier that day, the royal couple was greeted by a fan who wished Kate well in starting a family. Kate, 29, who has not spoken publicly about having children, was overheard saying, “Yes, I hope to.”

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and first lady Michelle Obama (R) talk to Britain’s Prince William (2nd L) and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace, in London May 24, 2011.

Britain’s Prince William dances with Vanessa Boateng (C) as his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (R) looks on during a reception at Centrepoint’s Camberwell Foyer in London December 21, 2011. The national charity, Centrepoint, provides housing and support to improve the lives of homeless young people aged 16 to 25. REUTERS/Ben Stansall/POOL

Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, watch some bull riding while wearing western clothing and cowboy hats in Calgary, Alberta July 7, 2011. The Prince and his wife are on a royal tour of Canada from June 30 to July 8. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, react after the prince took a shot with a hockey stick and missed during a visit to the Somba K’e Civic Plaza in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories July 5, 2011. Prince William and his wife Catherine are on a royal tour of Canada from June 30 to July 8. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge smiles as her husband Britain’s Prince William comments on her artistic skills during a visit to the Inner City Arts campus in Los Angeles July 10, 2011. Prince William and his wife Catherine are on a royal visit to California from July 8 to July 10. REUTERS/John Stillwell/Pool

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Catherine, sported matching cable-knit, school-style sweaters for a walk in Holyrood Park on August 1st, 2011, in Scotland.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – SEPTEMBER 29: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge meets patient Ellis Andrews, during a visit with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge to open the new Oak Centre for Children and Young People at The Royal Marsden Hospital on September 29, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth – WPA Pool /Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 19: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry attend The Sun Military Awards at Imperial War Museum on December 19, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Arthur Edwards – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 08: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend the UK premiere of War Horse at Odeon Leicester Square on January 8, 2012 in London, England.  (Photo by Tim Whitby/Getty Images)

Britain’s Prince William, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge smile as they travel to Buckingham Palace in the 1902 State Landau, along the Procession Route, after their wedding in Westminster Abbey, in central London April 29, 2011. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

US tiger shrimp sightings worry scientists

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By JANET McCONNAUGHEY | Associated Press – Fri, Apr 27, 2012

Federal biologists find an increase in the number of big Asian tiger shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A big increase in reports of Asian tiger shrimp along the U.S. Southeast coast and in the Gulf of Mexico has federal biologists worried the species is encroaching on native species’ territory.

The black-and-white-striped shrimp can grow 13 inches long and weigh a quarter-pound, compared to eight inches and a bit over an ounce for domestic white, brown and pink shrimp. Scientists fear the tigers will bring disease and competition for native shrimp.

Shrimp are all bottom feeders, eating detritus and small animals. Bigger shrimp would eat more and these get so big they also eat small shrimp and fish, marine ecologist James A. Morris said.

Reports of tiger shrimp in U.S. waters rose from a few dozen a year — 21 in 2008, 47 in 2009 and 32 in 2010 — to 331 last year, from North Carolina to Texas.

“That’s a big jump,” said Pam Fuller, who keeps a federal invasive species database at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Southeast Ecological Science Center in Gainesville, Fla.

And those are just the numbers reported to the government.

“I’ve had fishermen tell me they have quit bringing them in. They are seeing large numbers in their catch — multiples per night,” said Morris, who works at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, N.C.

The increase “is the first indication that we may be undergoing a true invasion of Asian tiger shrimp,” he said.

Though tiger shrimp are edible, Fuller said they are not currently farmed in the United States.  The last U.S. tiger shrimp farm closed in Florida in 2004, without ever raising a successful crop, according to a USGS fact sheet about the species.

“Nobody knows what happened to their stock. But they have not been commonly caught in the area where that fish farm was,” she said.

She said hundreds were caught along South Carolina, Georgia and Florida after a storm hit a South Carolina shrimp farm in 1988, but none was reported in U.S. waters for the next 18 years. Six were reported in 2006, and four in 2007.

To find out whether last year’s increase was a one-time spike or the vanguard of an invasion, the agencies are asking people to keep a wide eye for tiger shrimp, to report where and when they find them, and bring back frozen tiger shrimp to help learn where they’re coming from.

Subtle differences in the DNA can indicate whether they have meandered in on ocean currents from the Caribbean or West Africa, where tiger shrimp are farmed, arrived in ballast water of ocean-going ships, or have taken up housekeeping in U.S. waters.

Fuller said she thinks ballast water is the least likely explanation because they’re known to be in the wild in areas where they could drift to the United States and because the threat appears widely spread. A map shows most of the reports are from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, with some in Florida and a few in Texas.

“I think it’s quite possible they’re being swept up from the Caribbean,” she said. “There are large farms there that appear to be connected directly to the ocean. Some of those were destroyed in hurricanes. We don’t know if perhaps a large bunch got loose and swept up here and became established. Nobody knows. That’s one reason we want to do the genetic work.”

It can be hard to get good data on the shrimp, Morris said. For one thing, shrimp boats often are out for weeks at a time. All but the biggest tigers may go unnoticed, and shrimpers may not remember when and where they were caught.

He said it’s also hard to predict their possible effects. Freshwater invasive species have been well studied, but so far lionfish are the only known marine invasive species in U.S. waters, he said