Foghorn (A Call to Action!)
- The Eruption at Kilauea on Hawai’i’s Big Island is truly spectacular, however hundreds of people are displaced from their homes. The mayor has directed those interested in giving donations to contact the Salvation Army at +1 (808) 756-0306.
- Yale study: Newspaper op-eds change minds and The Long-lasting Effects of Newspaper Op-Eds on Public Opinion. Scientists and conservationists, this May, make an effort to publish a Letter to the Editor or OpEd in your local paper. If you’ve done so, please leave a link to it in the comments.
Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)
- Without seasonal workers, the Maryland crab industry is barreling towards a crisis. “Nearly half of the Eastern Shore’s crab houses have no workers to pick the meat sold in restaurants and supermarkets.” Crab crisis: Maryland seafood industry loses 40 percent of work force in visa lottery.
- Trash on the seafloor. Megan McCuller has an eye-opening thread on all the trash they’re finding on the deep seafloor.
- Lionfish Traps! Jake Levenson has been trying something similar in Dominica. New Weapons in the War on Lionfish, a Beautiful but Deadly Invader.
The Levee (A featured project that emerged from Oceandotcomm)
Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)
- Hawaii Legislature Passes First-of-Its-Kind Ban on Sunscreens With Ingredients That Kill Corals.
- In Oceans of DNA, Biologists Discover ‘Hidden’ Shark Diversity. Though, as a rule, I recommend always treating eDNA studies with a healthy dose of skepticism.
- This week in deep-sea mining:
- Anglo American to end investment in deep sea mining company Nautilus.
- As China leads the hunt for deep-sea minerals, environmental and financial concerns come to the surface.
- And now, a ship that can mine 39,000 tons of ore from a mile under water.
- The Nautilus New Era is ~100 feet shorter than the Titanic and is longer than all but the largest aircraft carriers. It does not currently have AIS vessel tracking available.
- Carbon Dioxide Has Never Been Higher in Humanity’s Existence. I’m sure this is fine.
- How Oil Industry Robots Can Help Scientists Explore the Deep Sea.
- This is the Longest Sailable Straight Line Path on Earth.
Lagan (what we’re reading from the peer-reviewed literature)
- Mcleod and friends (2018) Raising the voices of Pacific Island women to inform climate adaptation policies. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2018.03.011.
- Schedler-Meyer and friends (2018) Evolution of Complex Asexual Reproductive Strategies in Jellyfish. DOI: 10.1086/697538.
- Christianson and friends (2018) Translucent soft robots driven by frameless fluid electrode dielectric elastomer actuators. DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aat1893.
- Rosenberg and Zilber-Rosenberg (2018) The hologenome concept of evolution after 10 years. DOI: 10.1186/s40168-018-0457-9.
Shipping News (academic and ocean policy wonkery)
- The Ugly Truth of Being a Black Professor in America.
- Broader impacts that have impact.
- Rethinking the graduate admissions process.
Driftwood (what we’re reading on dead trees)
- Reassembling Rubbish: Worlding Electronic Waste by Josh Lepawsky.
Derelicts (favorites from the deep archive)
- In sexual selection and thermoregulation, bigger is better, at least for fiddler crabs.
- What happens when we punch a hole in the seafloor?
- The disastrous feedback of what happens when fisheries funding dries up.
Feel free to share your own Foghorns, Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan, Shipping News, Driftwood, and Derelicts in the comments below. If you enjoy Southern Fried Science, consider contributing to our Patreon campaign. For just $5 per month, you can support the SFS Writers Fund, which helps compensate your favorite ocean science and conservation bloggers for their efforts.
It’s so sad to see that many trash on the seafloor. it’s crazy what people do, why not just to collect your trash after a picnic on the beach …. so sad. 🙁