Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online
Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow the official account of the US Sawfish Recovery Team on twitter! The harmful algal blooms in Florida, explained. From the Ocean Conservancy blog. This environmental news story has resulted in not only heartbreak, but confusion. This explainer post by Ocean Conservancy experts answers many of the questions that folks have … Read More “Red tide, whale poop, and vanishing puffins: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, August 30th, 2018” »
Foghorn (A Call to Action!)
Out of the Blue Box is a global search for new ideas to strengthen the recovery of our iconic Great Barrier Reef. We are calling for solutions to the challenges facing the Great Barrier Reef, and reefs all over the world, to fast-track projects that will have an immediate and lasting impact.
Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)
Foghorn (A Call to Action!)
Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)
I recently unveiled a new tier of Patreon rewards: 3D printed shark and ray models!For $17 per month, you will get a monthly 3D printed educational model of different shark or ray parts in the mail, and you’ll be supporting my efforts to provide these models to schools for free.
August’s reward is a row from the tooth plate of a spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus narinari! The original specimen is housed at the University of Tennessee fossil collection, and the 3D scan was shared online as part of the FOSSIL project.
I asked University of Florida/Florida Museum Ph.D. student Jeanette Pirlo about the FOSSIL project:
” The FOSSIL Project is an NSF funded project, based out of the University of Florida and the Florida Museum, devoted to cultivating a networked community of practice in which fossil club members and professional paleontologists collaborate in learning the practice of science and outreach. The myFOSSIL.org website is the platform from which our members can collaborate by sharing their fossil finds, curate their personal collections, and participate in ongoing paleontological research” – Jeanette Pirlo
Learn more about the spotted eagle ray and it’s teeth below!
Read More “5 things to know about spotted eagle ray tooth plates, August’s 3D printed reward!” »
Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow underwater engineer Amy Kukulya, as seen on Shark Week, on twitter! (And have you seen my review of Shark Week 2018?) Marine worms are eating plastic now. By Michael Allen, for Hakai Magazine. Predatory coral bring down jellyfish by working together. From MongaBay news updates. Spoils (long reads and deep dives): … Read More “Plastic Eating Worms and Scientists Running for Office: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, August 16th, 2018” »
The 30th anniversary of Shark Week was the biggest ever, with 22 episodes. It was, as usual, a bit of a mixed bag, though nothing was anywhere near as bad as the bad old days of Megalodon, and there was some pretty good stuff. As has become tradition here at Southern Fried Science, here are some overall thoughts on this year’s Shark Week, as well as reviews for each episode (not counting the clip shows, which I didn’t watch- even I have limits).
Overall thoughts:
Rather than organizing episode reviews in chronological order or air date, this year I’m going to organize them by theme.
Read More “Shark Week 2018 overall thoughts and episode reviews” »
Foghorn (A Call to Action!)
Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)
Hagfish (just Hagfish)
As a provider of advice on how to do effective conservation, Southern Fried Science has previously looked to such as The Game of Thrones for inspiration. Today we look at another famous source of conservation tips: Alien (and Aliens)…
A single charismatic animal can be a great motivator for action.
Scientists sometimes have self interests that can derail a project.
Just when you think everything is going ok a crisis hits…
Read More “Everything you need to know about conservation you can learn from Alien(s)” »
Ghosting – the practice of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication.
Have you ever seen a ghost at a conference? That’s when a presentation is in the program, and the audience is assembled expectantly, and the presenter never turns up. Ghosting is becoming increasingly common at conferences, and as a meeting organizer it’s incredibly frustrating. Conferences only have a limited number of presentation slots. So, if someone says they are going to attend, and then don’t, that’s a slot that could have been taken by someone else. For a student, or someone early in their career, having a conference presentation slot could make a huge difference. So for someone to ‘waste’ a presentation slot by simply not turning up, you are being unthinking towards colleagues as well as the meeting organizers.
Read More “Beware the ghost! The problem of conference ‘ghosting’” »
Life has unbelievably complex and diverse strategies to ensure survival. Organisms are able to go dormant during unfavorable conditions, and resuscitate once the environment becomes ideal again. This can play out over relatively short time periods such as when animals hibernate, or over longer periods where organisms can go into stasis, e.g. reviving bacteria from 250 million year old salt crystals.
Researchers in Russia recently thawed out permafrost sediment frozen for the past 42,000 years, and revealed once frozen and now living nematodes. Yes you heard that correctly, worms birthed and subsequently frozen during the Pleistocene (42,000 years earlier) were just resurrected in the 21st century. Frankenstein, eat your heart out.
