Andrew Thaler

Deep-sea Researchers Support Nomination of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

December 28, 2016 Andrew Thaler

Conservation

Early this December, the National Park Service announced that the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument made the short list for UNESCO World Heritage designation. Though hidden beneath the water’s surface, the Mariana Trench, a unique geologic and ecologic landmark and a natural treasure, dwarfs the Grand Canyon in scale and scope.

The Mariana Trench is more than a mile deeper than Mt. Everest is high and hosts Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth. It is also home to numerous sites of exceptional scientific value, including submerged volcanoes that host deep-sea hydrothermal vents, the largest documented mud volcanoes, coral atolls and fringing reef ecosystems that support apex predators like sharks and whales, as well as habitat-forming stony corals.

Monday Morning Salvage: December 26, 2016

December 26, 2016December 25, 2016 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Welcome back! We missed a week while I was traveling across the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands and Guam, so dig in and enjoy!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

The Mariana Trench!

The Mariana Trench Monument

It’s the deepest place on the planet and we’ve been all hands on deck sharing the latest science from the bottom of the ocean with our friends in Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Guam. Check out our expedition on OpenExplorer for a blow by blow of the 12-day adventure. Visit the Friends of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument Facebook page for more exciting stories from the field. We even got some nice coverage in the local press: Marine scientists talks about Marianas Trench at Rotary and Marianas Trench Marine National Monument to be discussed on ‘Your Humanities Half-Hour’.
The Guam Daily Post has my favorite coverage of this adventure: With the help of a tiny robot, scientists deepen support for a Mariana Trench sanctuary.

Monday Morning Salvage: December 12, 2016

December 12, 2016December 11, 2016 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Mr. Trashwheel, who has the best social media game in town. How can anyone compete with a garbage-eating floating waterwheel who’s Reddit AMA is this on point?

You can read more about Mr. Trashwheel and the awesome, new, Prof. Trashwheel here: ‘Professor Trash Wheel’ makes its debut in Canton.

The Organism is Always Right.

December 6, 2016December 6, 2016 Andrew Thaler

Science

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Monday Morning Salvage: December 5, 2016

December 5, 2016December 4, 2016 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Bobbit Worms (terrible name, amazing polychaete). This video of a fisherman catching bobbit worms for bait is just a little bit unnerving.
Chris Mah did some deep digging to determine how the Bobbit Worm got its name (spoilers: It’s exactly what you expect).

Do you see the deep sea?

November 29, 2016November 27, 2016 Andrew Thaler

Science

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Monday Morning Salvage: November 28, 2016

November 28, 2016November 28, 2016 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

This GIF of a swimming crinoid:
The original video by Els Van Den Eijnden can be found here: Dive in Bali by Els Van Den Eijnden

Now, More Than Ever, America Needs an Ambassador for the Deep Sea.

November 25, 2016 Andrew Thaler

Conservation, Education

That ambassador is Bathynomus giganteus, the giant, deep-sea isopod.

A giant deep sea isopod on the sea floor. Photo via NOAA Photobank.

Conservation has long had the concept of Flagship Species—popular, charismatic species that serve as rallying points for conservation awareness and action. Formalized within the framework of conservation marketing, flagship species are focused around particular goals and audiences. Think of the WWF’s Giant Panda, Polar Bears and a thousand different arctic or climate change campaigns, or even the American Bald Eagle, whose decline galvanized the country into action. These animals are iconic. They connect people to species and ecosystems in crisis. They are Flagship Species.

The Giant Deep-sea Isopod is not a flagship species. The Giant Deep-sea Isopod addresses a much more fundamental issue: despite being the largest, most diverse ecosystem on the planet, most people have no direct connection, no frame of reference, for the deep sea.

Secrets of the Deep Sea

November 22, 2016 Andrew Thaler

Science

Diversity is Resilience

November 14, 2016November 16, 2016 Andrew Thaler 3 Comments

Blogging

We stand at a crossroads.

Southern Fried Science has occupied a unique niche in the online ocean community. We have defended commercial and recreational fishers as often as we have opposed them. We have at times stood behind ocean conservation policy and at times pushed back against excessive legislation. We have criticised those within our community and those without. We have been radically libertarian and radically socialist and every label in between.

We are comfortable joining the long call, the great song that booms from the belly of a blue whale, and circles the world as it echoes through the community.

We are comfortable being the lone cry of dissent, pushing back against the onslaught of righteous exuberance.

We have never sought consensus, only common ground.

For almost a year now a phrase has been rattling around inside my head. At first it was just catchy cadence, something to use on the next article. But the more I thought about it, the more I came to understand what it really means; how deeply it permeates almost every aspect of life on this planet.

Diversity is resilience.

Read More “Diversity is Resilience” »