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Category: Science

Biodiversity Wednesday – Plants are badass

Posted on June 16, 2010June 16, 2010 By Andrew Thaler 3 Comments on Biodiversity Wednesday – Plants are badass
Popular Culture, Science

Why mercury and PCBs?

Posted on June 16, 2010June 16, 2010 By Bluegrass Blue Crab
Science

A while back I reviewed the many seafood guides and the various ways they rank seafood choices.  They do share one thing in common, however, and that’s the special denotation of certain species as hazardous to human health because of toxin load. Specifically, high levels of mercury and PCBs as found by an Environmental Defense study.

First, kudos to EDF for making their data have immediate impact. Other studies of toxins in fish have sat around for literally decades before becoming part of the mainstream discourse about fisheries. But it does beg the question, what makes mercury and PCBs so important among the myriad toxins  in our oceans and our seafood?

Read More “Why mercury and PCBs?” »

Expedition Great White: A response from Dr. Michael Domeier

Posted on June 14, 2010November 16, 2011 By David Shiffman 9 Comments on Expedition Great White: A response from Dr. Michael Domeier
Conservation, Popular Culture, Science

Last week, I wrote about National Geographic’s Expedition Great White. In that post, I mentioned that the practice of removing great white sharks from the water for research was controversial, and that I would ask the lead scientist in the show about it. Here are answers to my questions from Dr. Michael Domeier and his colleague Nicole Lucas. They also wanted me to point out that their website has an FAQ page about this technique, which can be found here.

Read More “Expedition Great White: A response from Dr. Michael Domeier” »

Sharks International: Day 3 and 4

Posted on June 10, 2010June 21, 2010 By David Shiffman
Science

The last talk of Sharks International just concluded.  Day 3 focused on genetic and molecular techniques, which have been used to answer all sorts of interesting questions about sharks.  I presented my research for the first time, and it was very well received (which is part of the reason why I haven’t posted in a couple of days- I’ve been very busy answering questions and celebrating being done with my talk).

Read More “Sharks International: Day 3 and 4” »

Biodiversity Wednesday: The Solar Powered Clam

Posted on June 9, 2010April 25, 2010 By Andrew Thaler
Science

Sharks International: Day 2 Summary

Posted on June 8, 2010 By David Shiffman 3 Comments on Sharks International: Day 2 Summary
Science

The second day of Sharks International just concluded. This morning’s keynote address focused on how shark behavior research has changed in the last few decades, and how improved technology has made that possible. Scientists used to have to build their own acoustic tags and follow the tagged sharks around in a boat. Nowadays, tags can … Read More “Sharks International: Day 2 Summary” »

Is Sea Shepherd really saving whales?

Posted on June 7, 2010December 28, 2010 By Andrew Thaler 51 Comments on Is Sea Shepherd really saving whales?
Conservation, Popular Culture, Science

Sea Shepherd claims that their actions in the Southern Ocean opposing Japanese whaling fleets has effectively reduced the number of whales killed. What always rubbed me the wrong way about these claims is that they always compare their success against the Institute for Cetacean Research (the Japanese organization that oversees ‘scientific whaling’) Quotas. So at some point you have to ask the question, in absolute numbers, has Sea Shepherd really reduced the number of whales killed?

To answer that we need three pieces of information:

  1. When did Sea Shepherd begin it’s campaign against Japanese ‘scientific whaling’?
  2. What are the ICR quotas for that time frame?
  3. What are the absolute catches for that time frame?

Sea Shepherd provides a comprehensive timeline for their whaling campaigns that indicates serious opposition in the Southern Ocean began in December 2002. For the two other questions, we turn to Whale and Dolphin Conservation International, who have produced a truly exceptional interactive graph of the history of whaling since the inception of the International Whaling Convention by the numbers. The relevant figure is reproduced below:

Read More “Is Sea Shepherd really saving whales?” »

Sharks International: Day 1 Summary

Posted on June 7, 2010 By David Shiffman
Science

The first day of talks is over here at Sharks International.  In this morning’s keynote, we were treated to a summary of the last 20 years of great white shark research in Australia. Talks so far have mostly focused on tracking studies, and people have made some fascinating discoveries.

Read More “Sharks International: Day 1 Summary” »

Check out “Expedition Great White” on the National Geographic Channel!

Posted on June 4, 2010November 16, 2011 By David Shiffman 6 Comments on Check out “Expedition Great White” on the National Geographic Channel!
Conservation, Popular Culture, Science

“How do you study one of the world’s fiercest predators in the wild?” the cover of the “Expedition Great White” DVD screener that National Geographic sent me asked. I was delighted to discover that my sarcastic answer of “very carefully” is exactly what the back cover of the DVD case read! I knew I was going to like this show from that point on, and I was right.

Read More “Check out “Expedition Great White” on the National Geographic Channel!” »

Biodiversity Wednesday: An Intricate Web of Life: Kelp Forests

Posted on June 2, 2010June 2, 2010 By Andrew Thaler
Conservation, Science

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