Southern Fried Science

We Robot, a horrible hagfish massacre, deep, delicious sandwiches, fish slime harvests, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 10, 2018.

September 10, 2018September 9, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Foghorn (a call to action)

The pending U.S. destruction of Pagan and Tinian islands.

The U.S. is turning a significant portion of Micronesia into live fire and bombing ranges to train Marines. It has plans to completely take over one island for this purpose and has control of two-thirds of another island.

If people in the U.S. mainland understood the military’s plan for Micronesia they might be alarmed. But this is really happening to U.S. citizens living in America’s territories.

(source)

We Robot 2019: sign up for one of the best conferences I’ve ever participated in!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

‘Slime eel’ massacre caused by Washington man’s boat accident, lawsuit says.

The Levee (news from LUMCON)

Floodwaters are plaguing a lab where scientists study … coastal flooding.

LUMCON’s DeFelice Marine Center, flooded, as seen from a dormitory balcony. (Photo: Courtesy of LUMCON)

Scallops, barnacles, and oysters- oh my! Thursday Afternoon Dredging, September 6th, 2018

September 6, 2018 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow COSEWIC, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, on twitter. ‘Scallop wars’: UK offers olive branch as French navy threatens to act. By Pippa Crerar, for the Guardian. Brexit is complicating some existing relationships between the UK and European nations, including some fishing rights issues. Don’t worry, … Read More “Scallops, barnacles, and oysters- oh my! Thursday Afternoon Dredging, September 6th, 2018” »

The real deep reefs of South Carolina, dolphin chatter, autonomous starfish killing robots, an exciting submarine discovery, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 3, 2018

September 3, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Robots versus Aliens is my favorite genre of conservation technology. Sea-Star Murdering Robots Are Deployed in the Great Barrier Reef.

Fish Bombardment is my other. Video: Utah Officials Restock Remote Lakes by Plane.

The Gam (conversations from the ocean-podcasting world)

Speak Up for the Blue with two great recent episodes.

Red tide, whale poop, and vanishing puffins: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, August 30th, 2018

August 30, 2018 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

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” »

Saving the Great Barrier Reef, bolt cutters, bulk cutters, beak scars, and more! Monday Morning Salvage, August 27, 2018.

August 27, 2018August 26, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Do you have a novel idea that could help save the world’s reefs? Sign up for the Out of the Blue Box Reef Innovation Challenge!

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.

source

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

oceanbites has great three part series on undergraduate research.
Conservation and climate change needs fewer aisle-crossing compromisers and more Haydukes. Courage and Bolt Cutters: Meet the next generation of climate activists.

I’ve been excited about these observations for years. Really ecited to finally see them in the peer-reviewed literature: Beaked whales may frequent a seabed spot marked for mining.

L. MARSH, V. HUVENNE AND D. JONES/ROY. SOC. OPEN SCIENCE 2018

Lost shipwrecks, weaponized hagfish, plastivorous worms, deep-sea mining, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: August 20, 2018.

August 20, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Did you know that oceanbites also published in Spanish? Go check it out!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Marine Worms Are Eating Plastic Now. I’m sure this will be fine [Ed: I’m not sure. It won’t be fine.]
Are you following Diva Amon’s latest expedition: My Deep Sea, My Backyard in Trinidad and Tobago? Join the adventure!

Dr. Amon shows off a deep-sea dropcam. Courtesy OpenExplorer.

Researchers just found a WWII shipwreck that was lost for over 75 years off the coast of an Alaskan island.

Members of the expedition take time to examine a Japanese mini submarine that remains in the historic sub pens on Kiska Island. Image courtesy of Kiska: Alaska's Underwater Battlefield expedition. — Members of the expedition take time to examine a Japanese mini submarine that remains in the historic sub pens on Kiska Island. Image courtesy of Kiska: Alaska’s Underwater Battlefield expedition.

5 things to know about spotted eagle ray tooth plates, August’s 3D printed reward!

August 17, 2018August 17, 2018 David Shiffman

Education

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

A full set of Spotted Eagle Ray Jaws showing multiple tooth rows fused into a plate, photo by Cathleen Bester courtesy Jeanette Pirlo at the Florida Museum. The specific individual tooth row that was scanned here, photo by Maggie Limbeck, University of Tennessee Masters Candidate. And the 3D printed version

Learn more about the spotted eagle ray and it’s teeth below!

Plastic Eating Worms and Scientists Running for Office: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, August 16th, 2018

August 16, 2018 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

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” »

Shark Week 2018 overall thoughts and episode reviews

August 15, 2018 David Shiffman

Popular Culture, Science

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:

I heard more references to shark conservation this year, though almost exclusively offhand references to how the Bahamas is a Shark Sanctuary (there was one mention of shark fin trade bans in the Shark Tank show).
There were more women scientists and non-white scientists than I can remember, but still some major issues with diversity of scientists. (The white male scientists were still treated differently, including being given their full titles, and in one case a white male with a Masters was called Dr. while a woman with a Ph.D. was not called Dr.).
22 shows is too many shows. I may be the only one in the world who actually tried to watch them all and I had to skip the clip shows because even I have limits.

Rather than organizing episode reviews in chronological order or air date, this year I’m going to organize them by theme.

Eat hagfish, work at LUMCON, clone Vaquita, question floating trash collectors, and more! Monday Morning Mega-Salvage: August 13, 2018

August 13, 2018August 12, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

It’s time for Africosh! The annual Africa Open Science and Hardware Summit Heads is in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania this year!
LUMCON is hiring! They’re looking for two exceptional coastal and marine science faculty hires in any discipline. And they have the best “come work for us” video!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Hakai Magazine is my jam this month.
- How an Epidemic Exposed the Ecological Importance of Sea Stars: The near eradication of British Columbia’s sea stars demonstrated the dynamic role they play in regulating kelp forests.
- How to Dismantle a Blue Whale: In Chile, a team of volunteers confronts stench and gore to ensure a new life for a dead whale. [Warning: Link contains graphic pictures of whale evisceration]
I’ve been following this project for almost 2 years. Awesome to see how far they’ve come. NinjaPCR is a WiFi enabled, Opensource DNA Amplifier and Thermocycler for Polymerase Chain Reaction developed by 2 hackers in Tokyo.
Plastic wrap made from shellfish and plants is completely compostable.

Hagfish (just Hagfish)

Yes, people do eat hagfish. Yum! Snake-like creature writhes, squirms on grill.

Hagfish are the emissaries of love, not war. Stop it. Synthetic ‘Slime’ To Help US Navy Trap Enemy Ships.