Fog Horn (A Call to Action)
- It’s Native American History Month. Southern Fried Science recognizes that our servers are housed on the occupied land of the Timpanogos people while the majority of our writers live on unceded Powhatan territory. This November, Try Something New: Decolonize Your Mind.
Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)
- Boaters stumble on massive Caribbean “gyre” of plastic garbage. “Gyre is in quotes because I’m almost certain that this is debris from the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season, rather than an accumulation of decades of plastic is a circulating ocean current. It’s still shocking to see.
- The ARA San Juan, one or Argentina’s two diesel-electric submarines, is missing. Search and rescue is mobilizing and there’s hints that the sailors tried to send out a signal Saturday.
- Without a Treaty to Share the Arctic, Greedy Countries Will Destroy It. Cosign.
Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)
- Are flatulent shellfish really contributing to climate change? We’re going to need to consult with biology’s pre-eminent animal fart expert.
- Here’s an article that got a lot of conservation biologists talk: It’s Time to Let Certain Animals Go Extinct.
- On a related note: No Happy Ending for the Vaquita.
The first vaquita caught by VaquitaCPR—a juvenile—had to be released. The international group was aiming to establish a captive breeding program for the highly endangered porpoise. Photo by Mexico’s Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources/Reuters
- The Fukushima Cleanup Is Progressing, But at a Painstaking Pace.
- Oh you naught fish, you: Scientists found an entire herpes genome hiding in fish DNA.
- The cruise ship industry is booming in the Middle East. gCaptain explores why.
- California Fishermen Are Throwing Explosives at Sea Lions and it is, surprisingly, legal.
- oceanbites asks what happens to CO2 levels during El Niño?
Figure 1. Regional effects of El Niño. Source: NOAA via Wikimedia Commons.
- Sea Shepherd’s Captain Paul Watson Defends Decision to End Southern Ocean Anti-Whaling Campaign. I have thoughts, though few are fit for public consumption. This is one of those rare “you’ll have to buy me a beer to find out” moments.
- Floating Cities, No Longer Science Fiction, Begin to Take Shape. Guess who’s skeptical. It’s me. I’m skeptical.
- More mining robots are coming online, though still only the Japanese robot has mined anything. SMD helps major international underwater mining project move a step closer to reality.
The VAMOS vehicle at SMD’s Head Office Turbinia Works Photo: SMD
- Also related to deep-sea mining and its potential environmental impacts: Just breathe…OR NOT: Mercury from hydrothermal vents in bubbles and the air. And see the full paper in Lagan, below.
- Not ocean related, but useful for everyone: The Motherboard Guide to Not Getting Hacked.
Lagan (what we’re reading from the peer-reviewed literature)
- Scott (2017) What lessons does the Antarctic Treaty System offer for the future of peaceful relations in the South China Sea? DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2017.10.004.
- Bullock and friends (2017) All dispersal functions are wrong, but many are useful: A response to Cousens et al. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.12890.
- Denda and friends (2017) From the epipelagic zone to the abyss: Trophic positions at two seamounts in the subtropical and tropical Eastern Atlantic – Part I Zooplankton and micronekton. DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr.2017.10.010.
- Teague and Scott (2017) Underwater Photogrammetry and 3D Reconstruction of Submerged Objects in Shallow Environments by ROV and Underwater GPS. DOI: Pending.
- Harada and Burton (2017) Standing out from the crowd: Spotting your targets in a mixed plankton sample. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.12730.
- Baganato and friends (2017) Hydrochemical mercury distribution and air-sea exchange over the submarine hydrothermal vents off-shore Panarea Island (Aeolian arc, Tyrrhenian Sea). DOI: 10.1016/j.marchem.2017.04.003.
Shipping News (academic and ocean policy wonkery)
- 65 out of the top 100 most-cited scientific papers are behind a paywall, with a weighted average cost of $32.33/each.
- On Academic Precarity.
- The Reluctant Scientist: When Meeting Presenters Get Cold Feet.
Driftwood (what we’re reading on dead trees)
- It’s been a rough month. Why not relax with something fun for a change: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe by Ryan North and Erica Henderson.
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 my Patreon campaign to help us keep the servers humming and support other innovative ocean science and conservation initiatives.