Killer Shrimps!

I was reading today about a sailing event (that I wasn't attending anyway) which was cancelled because of the discovery of the presence of 'killer shrimps' in the water. I kid you not, dear reader (for would I lie to you?). No - the gammarid shrimp, Dikerogammarus villosus, common name ‘killer shrimp’, has been found at Grafham Water, an Anglian Water reservoir in Cambridgeshire. This is the first time the shrimp, which is classified as an invasive species, has been found in this country.

Before you start assuming that the sailing community is made up by a load of wusses who would be frightened off by the prospect of capsizing into a shoal of marauding shellfish, I will tell you that it is Anglian Water who imposed the cancellation of the sailing contest. Apparently, nobody is quite sure how these shrimps have managed to invade what is basically an inland water, so the precaution has been put in place to prevent further dispersal of this dangerous animal (although they don't look too harmful in the picture, do they?). One suggestion is that they can be carried into and out of the water by boat, and so the Authority has decided to ban any boats doing just that. The shrimp has already colonised parts of Western Europe, affecting a range of native species such as freshwater invertebrates, particularly native shrimps and even very young fish, altering the ecology of the habitats it invades. Insects such as damsel-flies and water boatmen, common sights on British lakes and rivers, could be at risk, with knock-on effects on the species which feed on them. Serious stuff indeed.

What I find so puzzling about such accounts though, is this: If such an aggressive species as this is so virulent and so invasive, how come it exists anywhere in small pockets only, and hasn't already taken over the world? Dikerogammarus villosus is a non-native shrimp that has spread from the Ponto-Caspian region of Eastern Europe, and is believed to have invaded Western Europe via the Danube. It has spread across most of Western Europe over the last 10 years, and tends to dominate the habitats it invades, sometimes causing the extinction of native species. I am therefore surprised that there is any other kind of aquatic wildlife left - surely, everything else should have been eaten by now? It's a strange world indeed. Prawn sandwich, anyone?

I have a full programme of events coming up this week. It's a good job that I'm temporarily excused from the salt mines, because otherwise there wouldn't be time to fit it all in. I have a meeting with Nottingham Contemporary about the arrangements for a writing event that we're holding there (by 'we' I mean the Nottingham Writers' Studio); a private pre-release screening of Billy Ivory's new film 'Made in Dagenham' (with Billy Ivory); a meeting of the ScreenLit Festival Committee at the Broadway; and then a launch party for 'First Story' as it begins its first foray into Nottingham. I can see that there will be little time for the usual festivities, which is a good job really because unrestrained, I can't be trusted to behave with any amount of decorum these days (or so it would seem). I've just had the most excessive weekend for a long time - well, for about a week in truth - and I could do with focusing a little more closely on the more serious sides of life.

Now, I notice that my terrace has become slightly flooded in the rain. I was thinking of going out there to un-block the drain but I suddenly noticed a prevalence of small pink heads bobbing about in the water. Hmm, better put on my steel-capped boots.....