Conservation, Popular Culture
Check out Oceana’s new ad!
Uncategorized
Chapter 23 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale. The Lee Shore Bulkington, this book is his epitaph. A man so driven that he spent no more … Read More “Finding Melville’s Whale: The Lee Shore (Chapter 23)” »
Conservation
Dependence on natural resources is often relegated to a characteristic of the rural poor, a reason for development aid to swoop in and provide other economic opportunities. However, a recent article by Guo, Zhang, and Li in PLoS ONE has demonstrated that more developed countries actually have a higher dependence on ecosystem services. Basically, we may fire up our stoves with gas from eons ago rather than wood, but we’re even more dependent on that tree in the yard. We all laughed at the “primitive”, romanticized blue natives in Avatar, but their culture really wasn’t that different than ours.
Uncategorized
Charlie is sad that you haven’t given to the Gam’s Donors’ Chose Ocean Science in the Classroom Initiative
Popular Culture
In the language of television reviews, the phrase “jump the shark” refers to a show that has been on the air too long and is out of good ideas. The original use refers to an episode of Happy Days where Fonzi literally jumped over a shark while waterskiing. A recent episode of CSI made me question if they are guilty of this same phenomenon. In episode 2 of season 11 (yes, the show has been on the air for 11 years), a woman is attacked by a shark. CSI watchers know that the show takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada, an unusual place for a shark attack. As it turns out, the shark attack took place in a Vegas hotel swimming pool. I’m not joking. Check out the preview:
Science
Today is Hagfish Day! Who knew?
What is a hagfish?
Hagfish are primitive eel-like chordates make famous for their relative unattractiveness*, profuse production of slime, and charismatic ability to tie themselves in knots. They are perhaps the only ‘fish’ that possesses a skull, but no vertebral column. But the question “What is a hagfish?” goes much deeper than that and it’s answer is fundamental to the evolution of vertebrates and, ultimately, us.
Read More “Grampa Hagfish: say hello to your greatest uncle” »
Uncategorized
Can you tell I’m getting a little bored?
We are now a little more than a week into the Donors Choose science blogger challenge. Ocean and geology bloggers have united to raise money for worthy science-related projects in public schools throughout the country.
Every few days, we’ll be highlighting a specific project from The Gam Classroom Initiative, though you can donate to any of our favorites from our Donors Choose Page.
Read More “Support science in the classroom: expose students to sharks!” »
Conservation
Two of the strongest environmental laws in the world are the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Among many other statutes, these laws make it a Federal crime for anyone to harass endangered marine mammal species such as the West Indian manatee. By the accepted definitions of the word “harass”, this means that people cannot swim with and certainly cannot touch a manatee. However, at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, visitors can do both of these things- and it’s totally legal!
Read More “Ethical debate: Can an endangered species be a business partner?” »