Skip to content

Southern Fried Science

Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online

  • Home
  • About SFS
  • Authors
  • Support SFS

Category: Weekly Salvage

Parasitic barnacles, a code of conduct for marine conservation, #BillMeetScienceTwitter, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 22, 2017.

Posted on May 22, 2017May 22, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • 27 National Monuments are under review by the Department of the Interior. Our Nation Monuments are our National Treasures. Don’t let them be sold to the highest bidder! Submit formal public comments on the DOI Monument Review and make your voice heard.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • This parasitic barnacle, Sacculina carcini, replacing the reproductive organs of a crab.
  • Hat tip to Tommy Leung, who’s twitter feed is a gold mine of fantastic parasites and where to find them.
  • #BillMeetScienceTwitter. What started as an inquiry into whether science celebrities really engage with practicing scientists on a regular basic morphed into the best way to find new scientists to follow on Twitter. I’m curating a massive list of all the self-identified Ocean Scientists that participated.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

  • Deep-sea mining is gearing up on the high seas, and international regulations is still lagging far behind technology: The Wild West of Deep-Sea Mining.
  • oceanbites rolls out an excellent overview of the different kinds of robots used in conducting deep-sea research.
  • Beyond drug lords and conservationists: Who is missing in the coverage of the vaquita’s demise? from the legendary team at Deep Sea News.
  • Henderson Island is isolated and uninhabited, so why are all its beaches so completely covered in garbage? Spoilers: It’s because the planet is an interconnected global system with impacts felt far beyond the source of insult.
  • Bone-eating snot flower worm will never not be my favorite common name. Tiny Zombie Worms Are the Beavers of the Deep.
  • The history of the entire world, in one entertaining YouTube video (via Vox):
  • Are Ships The Careless Giants Of The Sea? Yes, but they don’t have to be.
  • Trump’s EPA Greenlights a Nasty Chemical. A Month Later, It Poisons a Bunch of Farmworkers.
  • Trump country is flooding, and climate ideas are shifting.
  • The Ocean as the New Frontier of Climate Action.
  • The Antarctic Peninsula is 3 degrees warming than is used to be, and that means plants are growing and Antarctica is getting greener.
  • The long history of ocean drilling and scientific discovery.
  • A tiny anchovy could be a silver bullet for malnutrition in Peru—if only we would let it: The Fish that Smells like Money.
  • I talk alot about e-waste and disposable electronics, which is why I’m excited to see modular, open-source smartphone projects finally start to mature. The ZeroPhone looks like on of the most promising additions to this space.
  • Skeptic Magazine has a pseudoscience problems. Unfortunately, this time it’s the skeptics promoting some pretty eyebrow-raising junk science. I went a little deeper into this on Twitter.

Read More “Parasitic barnacles, a code of conduct for marine conservation, #BillMeetScienceTwitter, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 22, 2017.” »

Bony-eared assfish, shark swarms, ocean plastics, and more! The Monday Morning Salvage: May 15, 2017

Posted on May 15, 2017May 14, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • This is you last day to submit public comments in defense of the Environmental Protection Agency! The time to save the EPA is now!  If you don’t know quite what to say, I’ve  prepared a script for you.
  • 27 National Monuments are under review by the Department of the Interior. Our Nation Monuments are our National Treasures. Don’t let them be sold to the highest bidder! Submit formal public comments on the DOI Monument Review and make your voice heard.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • This bony-eared assfish, courtesy of Sheldon Comics. Go show the some love on Twitter and Patreon.

  • “You are paddleboarding next to approximately 15 great white sharks… exit the water in a calm manner.” When paddleboarding, this is not what you want to hear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5SPMrmRMjE

  • But, of course: The Viral Video of 15 Sharks Circling Near Surfers in California Shows a Much Bigger Problem.

Read More “Bony-eared assfish, shark swarms, ocean plastics, and more! The Monday Morning Salvage: May 15, 2017” »

Terraforming Mars on Earth, giant larvaceans, conservation jobs, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 8, 2017

Posted on May 8, 2017May 8, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • The time to save the EPA is now! The EPA is seeking public input on the new administrations approach to environmental regulations. They are required to seek public input. They are required to respond to public input. Go tell them how you feel. Public comments close May 15. Here’s the docket with instructions on how to comment: Evaluation of Existing Regulations. We’ve even prepared a script for you.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  •  On a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic, a terraforming project a century-and-a-half in the making is underway. A 150-year-old experiment on the remote Ascension Island may help us green Mars. Can it also help us save Earth?
Seabirds on Ascension Island. Photo by Clare Fieseler.
  • It also happens to be longtime friend of Southern Fried Science Clare Fieseler’s first major story for National Geographic, so go follow her on twitter.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

  • Women have a crucial—yet often overlooked—role in fisheries. The Invisible Fishing Fleet by Ilima Loomis at Hakai Magazine.
  • “What do you do when you’re a graduate student and you’ve been sexually assaulted by the PI of a very exciting paleoanthropological site?” An incredibly powerful piece by Holly Dunsworth: In case this helps you: This happened to me while I was trying to become a paleoanthropologist.
  • The general theme of this site appears to be ‘humans are terrible, robots are awesome’. Staying on brand: In a first, deep sea robots get a close look at giant larvaceans, a key player in the biological carbon pump.
  • Deep-sea mining is really heating up. Locals threaten armed campaign against PNG seabed mine.
  • In the Pacific Northwest, the diligence of citizen scientists is shedding light on the lives, and deaths, of seabirds. Drawing Meaning from Death, One Seabird at a Time by Larry Pynn at Hakai.
  • This is a pretty great demonstration of how statistics can be used to mislead: Generating Datasets with Varied Appearance and Identical Statistics through Simulated Annealing.

Read More “Terraforming Mars on Earth, giant larvaceans, conservation jobs, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 8, 2017” »

Climate change denial, open-science hardware, some missing pink dolphins, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 1, 2017

Posted on May 1, 2017April 30, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • Are you represented by a climate change denier? Motherboard has put together this amazing guide to every climate change denier in congress. Check your state and give your congressperson a piece of your mind. Congressman Andy Harris may be sick of hearing from me, but I guarantee he’ll be gone from my district long before I am.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Read More “Climate change denial, open-science hardware, some missing pink dolphins, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 1, 2017” »

Deep-sea Disco, Giant Icebergs, Pokémon Go, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: April 24, 2017

Posted on April 24, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • Still time! The EPA is seeking public input on the new administrations approach to environmental regulations. They are required to seek public input. They are required to respond to public input. Go tell them how you feel. Public comments close May 15. Here’s the docket with instructions on how to comment: Evaluation of Existing Regulations.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • This deep-sea mining Disco video is something.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

Read More “Deep-sea Disco, Giant Icebergs, Pokémon Go, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: April 24, 2017” »

Titanic tourists, nodule mining, right whales, and more! The Monday Morning Salvage: April 17, 2017

Posted on April 17, 2017April 16, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • The EPA is seeking public input on the new administrations approach to environmental regulations. They are required to seek public input. They are required to respond to public input. Go tell them how you feel. Public comments close May 15. Here’s the docket with instructions on how to comment: Evaluation of Existing Regulations.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Titanic Tourism. Like this article: To Visit Titanic Firsthand, New York Banker Dives Deep Into Wallet. I have thoughts. Oh so many thoughts.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

  • Deep-sea mining meets alternative energy: Renewables’ deep-sea mining conundrum. I once calculated that all the copper in Solwara 1 could make 800 1-megawatt wind turbines [note: I am not good at math].
  • Two really cool expeditions coming out of Louisiana this year: Exploring Changes on the Gulf Coast and Ecology of Shallow Wood Falls.  Neat!
  • Begun, the crab wars have. Svalbard’s Snow Crabs: a Pincered Proxy for Arctic Oil.
  • A wonderful piece on field notes and what they mean to past a future fisheries biologists from our friends at the Fisheries Blog.
  • A tiny Iowa paper just won a Pulitzer Prize for tackling farm pollution. This mouse roars.
  • Farm-raised superbugs find their way into kids’ noses somehow. This is fine. Every thing is fine.

Read More “Titanic tourists, nodule mining, right whales, and more! The Monday Morning Salvage: April 17, 2017” »

Octopus Genes, Decolonization, and a mega-dose of Citizen Science! Monday Morning Salvage: April 10, 2017

Posted on April 10, 2017April 10, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Octopuses are weird. Really, really weird. Ed Yong covers yet another weird octopus thing in the Atlantic: Octopuses Do Something Really Strange to Their Genes. And check out the original paper, below.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

  • This interview with Shay Akil McLean is one of the best introductions to the concept of decolonizing science: Hood Biologist Explains How to Decolonize All The Science. See also: We Need Decolonial Scientists.
  • Free Radicals is one of the best new(ish) science blogs on the net: Zapatistas Reimagine Science as Tool of Resistance.
  • Incidentally, the March for Science does not have a diversity problem.

Instead, I believe that this march needs to be completely apolitical and nonpartisan. I think that we should protest the current administration, which wants to repeal laws guaranteeing clean air and water, claim that climate change is a hoax, and remove scientists’ access to quality healthcare, but in a way that doesn’t alienate members of the current administration. We should demand change, but vaguely, and from no one in particular.

Source.

  • If you love geophysical fluid dynamics, then you will love these foamy streaks in a lagoon. Deep Sea News, natch.
  • With the legendary Erika Bergman at the helm, the Aquatica Submarine crew put eyes on a new glass sponge bioherm off the coast of Vancouver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6stLjJ5lAo

  • Another article about the GOSH meeting where I rep-ed OpenROV and Oceanography for Everyone: Santiago de Chile, capital of the Global network for Open Science Hardware.
  • As a card-carrying population geneticist, I second this piece: Getting your genetic disease risks from 23andme is probably a terrible idea.

Read More “Octopus Genes, Decolonization, and a mega-dose of Citizen Science! Monday Morning Salvage: April 10, 2017” »

Meteor hunters, deep divers, and ocean action! Monday Morning Salvage: April 3, 2017

Posted on April 3, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Have you ever wanted to hunt for meteorites in the Great Lakes using underwater robots? Yes? Well, guess what? Now you can! Join along with the ROV Meteorite Hunt on OpenExplorer!
  • If the Great Lakes are a little too chilly for you, maybe consider joining SFS Super Fan Joey Meier and his students at Polk State on their journey to Guadalupe!

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

Read More “Meteor hunters, deep divers, and ocean action! Monday Morning Salvage: April 3, 2017” »

Building the future with open hardware. Monday Morning Salvage: March 27, 2017

Posted on March 26, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

I spent the last week at the annual Gathering for Open Science Hardware in Santiago, Chile exploring the future of science and the open-source movement with one of the most impressive hardware developers, hackers, makers, and artists in the world. It’s my travel day, so this will necessarily be a short one.

  • Among the many things still blowing my mind? 3D printing in steel using a MIG welder. So simple, so clever, so brilliantly implemented. See the paper below.

Read More “Building the future with open hardware. Monday Morning Salvage: March 27, 2017” »

“When we left the beach…” Monday Morning Salvage: March 20, 2017

Posted on March 20, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage


Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • The poetry of Derek Walcott.
Walcott, from the Trinidad Guardian.
  • Nobel laureate, poet, and perhaps the finest English-language writer of any generation, died this weekend. His poetry, particularly the epic poem Omeros, which draws upon the themes of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey to tell the story of colonization, imperialism, slavery, and humanity’;s relationship to the sea over more than 8000 lines.
  • If you’re new to the poetry of Derek Walcott, The Sea is History is a great place to start and the New York Times published a short selection of his poetry: The Pages of the Sea.

Read More ““When we left the beach…” Monday Morning Salvage: March 20, 2017″ »

Posts pagination

Previous 1 … 11 12 13 14 Next

Popular Posts

How close did the world's first deep-sea mining come to the dredging the world's largest cold-water coral reef?How close did the world's first deep-sea mining come to the dredging the world's largest cold-water coral reef?March 17, 2026Andrew Thaler
What Ocean Ramsey does is not shark science or conservation: some brief thoughts on "the Shark Whisperer" documentaryWhat Ocean Ramsey does is not shark science or conservation: some brief thoughts on "the Shark Whisperer" documentaryJuly 2, 2025David Shiffman
That's not a blobfish: Deep Sea Social Media is Flooded by AI SlopThat's not a blobfish: Deep Sea Social Media is Flooded by AI SlopDecember 19, 2025Andrew Thaler
Urea and Shark OsmoregulationUrea and Shark OsmoregulationNovember 15, 2010David Shiffman
Here's what I teach my students about finding jobs in marine biology and conservationHere's what I teach my students about finding jobs in marine biology and conservationApril 10, 2024David Shiffman
At least 74 practicing shark researchers: How a silly thing I said online raised thousands for conservationAt least 74 practicing shark researchers: How a silly thing I said online raised thousands for conservationFebruary 26, 2025David Shiffman
I turned my woodshop into a personal solar farm.I turned my woodshop into a personal solar farm.June 21, 2021Andrew Thaler
Here are some ocean conservation technologies that I'm excited aboutHere are some ocean conservation technologies that I'm excited aboutFebruary 19, 2026David Shiffman
Alberta, Canada is the proud owner of the largest man-made pyramid on the planetAlberta, Canada is the proud owner of the largest man-made pyramid on the planetOctober 16, 2012Andrew Thaler
The story of the pride flag made from NASA imagery: Bluesky's most-liked imageThe story of the pride flag made from NASA imagery: Bluesky's most-liked imageSeptember 27, 2024David Shiffman
Subscribe to our RSS Feed for updates whenever new articles are published.

We recommend Feedly for RSS management. It's like Google Reader, except it still exists.

Southern Fried Science

  • Home
  • About SFS
  • Authors
  • Support SFS


If you enjoy Southern Fried Science, consider contributing to our Patreon campaign.

Copyright © 2026 Southern Fried Science.

Theme: Oceanly Premium by ScriptsTown