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Charlie chills out with Buddha.
Science
In honor of the world premier of David Shiffman’s first major motion picture, “Four things everyone needs to know about sharks,” we are proud to repost our original response to the article, “Sharks are sub-par, at best.” Enjoy!
For too long have I sat idly by as my co-blogger has waxed poetic on the glories of sharks. How great they are as predators, how perfectly they’ve evolved. They’re ancient, pre-historic, haven’t changed in millions of years. They’re the ultimate predator, and champion in the ocean. Unchallenged, unmatched, awesome. A wonder of evolution.
It’s time to clear up some of those -other- myths about sharks.
1. Sharks are ancient creatures that have lived unchanged for millions of years.
While technically true that sub-class Elasmobranchii has been around for hundreds of millions of years, modern sharks are, well, modern. They’ve been evolving for exactly as much time as just about everything else currently alive. And they are far from unchanged. Modern sharks, though they may resemble some older models (just like modern lemurs resemble Ida), are much different beasts then their Silurian cousins. Ancient sharks occured in a diversity of forms, back when they actually dominated the ocean. These modern sharks are just the scruffy leftovers.
Conservation, Science
It has been an exciting week for shark conservation! We can only hope that this provides some momentum for CITES, which begins tomorrow. And now, for this week’s shark conservation news: The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission declared a ban on commercial landings of all thresher sharks (each of the three thresher shark species is considered … Read More “Shark conservation news: Fisheries closures, fish and chips, and a new shark sanctuary” »
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Charlie has a staring contest with a very tiny NC face jug.
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Charlie awaits fieldwork in Bluegrass’ boots.
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Charlie tries out the djembe
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Charlie in the indoor lettuce patch
Conservation
Pepsi is trying to “refresh the world” by giving away grants to lots of non-profit groups. One of the categories is “the planet”, and the Duke University Lemur Center has been nominated! If they get enough votes, they could win $50,000. The Lemur Center promotes research, education, and conservation of some incredible (and endangered) animals. … Read More “Help Duke’s lemur center win $50,000 with just one click!” »
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Charlie rides Henry, the monster Pug!
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If you haven’t been following my Twitter feed (why aren’t you following my Twitter feed?), you may have missed the picture from FAILboat Bay over the last two weeks. For some reason, the small bay right next to my house has accumulated derelict boats over the winter. Vacationers tend to leave their boats moored over the winter and assume nothing will happen to them during the 9 months they’re abandoned. Of course, anything can happen to a boat over 9 months, and most tend to not be well anchored to begin with. Here is a selection of some of my favorite FAILboats from the last 2 week.
No one can guess which boat will be aground on any given day, but rarely do we get three at once. Can you spot the ultimate FAILboat?