Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online
12 years ago, Craig McClain wrote what is probably now the most widely read and discussed blog post in the entire ocean blogging community: How presidential elections are impacted by a 100 million year old coastline. A decade later, people are still talking about it. Watch Dr. McClain discuss this 100-million-year-old coastline on PBS Human … Read More “Dr. Craig McClain on How An Ancient Ocean Shaped US History” »
Twelve years ago, Discovery Channel aired a documentary so egregiously bad, so wildly dishonest, and so utterly contemptuous of its audience, that it set the entire Science Blogging Community alight. And then, a year later, they followed it up with another. This was a clarifying moment for science, and especially ocean science, blogging. We weren’t … Read More “We Were Wrong About Megalodon: lessons learned from 10 years combating fake science in popular media” »
It’s hard to overstate just how huge February was for us here at Southern Fried Science. When we did our soft relaunch this January, we expected visitor numbers to be flat for quite a while. No one wants to read blogs anymore, right? Short form videos and the infinite feed are king. I am very … Read More “The people hunger for blogs: what you read on Southern Fried Science in February” »
Centuries of exclusion have resulted in a tangible human diversity deficit, where the diversity of oceanographers does not represent the global diversity of people impacted by ocean processes. Let’s explore the history of ocean science to understand how it ties into and influences the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in modern day oceanography. … Read More “Oceanography’s Diversity Deficit” »
This Southern Fried Classic was first published July 13, 2017 and is one of Andrew’s all-time favorite articles. Wait, what? In 2017, Oregon State Police reported that a truck carrying a shipment of live hagfish overturned, spilling its slimy cargo all over the highway and damaging at least one vehicle. What’s a hagfish? Hagfish are … Read More “Your car has just been crushed by hagfish: Frequently Asked Questions” »
2023 marked the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, one of the earliest, strongest, and most important conservation laws on Earth. The environmental non-profit Defenders of Wildlife wrote a report tracking successes (so far) and proposing improvements for the future. I interviewed Dr. Lindsay Rosa, the Vice President of Conservation Research and Innovation at … Read More “After 50 years of conservation, what’s next for the Endangered Species Act?” »
A new study breaks down the biomechanics of one of the marine world’s most unusual hunting behaviors. Thresher sharks have one of the strangest body plans of any fish, with almost half their body comprised of a scythe-like tail. It had long been suspected that that they use this tail is a whip to stun … Read More “Here’s how thresher sharks whip their tails back and forth” »
In the past, we’ve done a little write up whenever some exaggerated of fabricated piece of ocean news crosses our desk. This year, we’re going to try something new. A one-stop, periodically updated clearinghouse for all the things that did not happen in the ocean this year. A shark did not impregnate a stingray Some … Read More “Of all the things that haven’t happened, these are the things that haven’t happened in the Ocean so far this year” »
A North Carolina aquarium has reported that a round stingray named Charlotte, the only member of her species living in her tank, is pregnant. An animal becoming pregnant without a mate (and in this case, at an inland aquarium hundreds of miles from the ocean, and thousands of miles from any wild round stingrays) is … Read More “No, a shark did not get a stingray pregnant. But what really happened is pretty cool!” »
North Atlantic Right whales are on the brink of extinction. There are approximately 360 individuals left, of which only about 70 are reproductively active females. In 2017, an unusual mortality even resulted in the death of 37 individuals. Ship strikes and entanglements remain the leading cause of death for this population. On August 20, 2022, … Read More “NOAA confirms North Atlantic Right Whale killed by commercial lobster gear” »
