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Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online

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The next OpenCTD is here!
June 22, 2026
humpback whale in Antarctica
The evolution of the International Whaling Commission – from  whaling quotas to whale conservation
June 10, 2026
Isn’t ironic, don’t you think: dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative on World Oceans Day
June 9, 2026
“Why Sustainable Seafood Matters” is now available for preorder! Here’s what it’s about, and why I decided to write it.
June 8, 2026
Here’s how to join my IMCC8 symposium, “Ocean Science Communication: What’s New and What’s Next?”
April 22, 2026
Deep Sea Mining Symposium Announcement
April 21, 2026

Snacking at vents, snorting eels, eating too much plastic, charming snails, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: December 10, 2018

Posted on December 10, 2018December 9, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

  • Trump moves toward offshore oil testing in Atlantic and while almost every elected representative up and down the Atlantic seaboard is opposed to allowing offshore oil exploration in our waters, Andy Harris, who represents the Maryland eastern shore from his home in Cockeysville, far from any fisheries (not a lot of crabs on Loch Raven, FYI), still thinks it would be a grand idea to trash Maryland’s coastal economy. 
  • Residents of MD 1, call your representative and remind him that he actually represents someone.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Start with some optimism: 5 Awe-Inspiring Ocean Discoveries of 2018. 

Read More “Snacking at vents, snorting eels, eating too much plastic, charming snails, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: December 10, 2018” »

Dive bombing birds, octopus intelligence, and a red tide update: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, December 6, 2018

Posted on December 6, 2018 By David Shiffman
Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow Joe Cunningham, a marine engineer who was just elected to Congress, on twitter! The dive bombing birds of Newfoundland. By Craig McClain, for Deep Sea News How much does it cost to save a species? Less than you think! By Erik Vance, for the last word on nothing. Spoils (long … Read More “Dive bombing birds, octopus intelligence, and a red tide update: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, December 6, 2018” »

5000 dives under the sea, plastic nomming fungi, scanning Belize’s Blue Hole, the thawing Northwest Passage, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: December 3, 2018.

Posted on December 3, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

  • With ice melting in Canada’s Northwest Passage, the area will soon be a new route for international shipping. Follow Life Under the Ice on OpenExplorer!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Legendary submarine pilot Erika Bergman is exploring Belize’s Blue Hole using state-of-the-art SONAR scanning tools and ROVs. A couple floppy-haired dudes are going too.
  • DSV Alvin made its 5000th dive. Way to go, little submarine!
  • A boon to ocean conservation? Certain fungi can degrade marine plastics.
  • I missed this over the summer, but Nash was an incredible guide and touring ancient Chamorro caves with him was the highlight of my time in Guam. He will be missed by many: Traditional seafarer Ignacio ‘Nash’ Camacho dies.

Ignacio R. "Nash" Camacho, a Traditions About Seafaring Islands member, and codesigner of the Chamoru Sakman outrigger replica canoe "Tasi," talks about his creation during a ceremony at the Guam Museum on June 29, 2017.
Ignacio R. “Nash” Camacho, a Traditions About Seafaring Islands member, and codesigner of the Chamoru Sakman outrigger replica canoe “Tasi,” talks about his creation during a ceremony at the Guam Museum on June 29, 2017.

Read More “5000 dives under the sea, plastic nomming fungi, scanning Belize’s Blue Hole, the thawing Northwest Passage, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: December 3, 2018.” »

Chesapeake Requiem, the Black Friday for Climate Change, whale earwax, killing the GRE, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: November 26, 2018

Posted on November 26, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

  • Friend of the blog and submarine legend Erika Bergman is leading an expedition to Belize’s Blue Hole! Follow along as she maps this unique ocean feature: Belize Blue Hole 2018. Some dudes are tagging along, too.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • The Fourth National Climate Assessment is out and it is grim.

Climate change affects the natural, built, and social systems we rely on individually and through their connections to one another. These interconnected systems are increasingly vulnerable to cascading impacts that are often difficult to predict, threatening essential services within and beyond the Nation’s borders.

  • Meanwhile: The Trump Administration’s Attempt to Bury a New Climate Report on Black Friday Totally Backfired.
  • Government Climate Report Lays Out How Screwed We Are If We Don’t Act Now.

The Gam (conversations from the ocean-podcasting world)

  • Speak Up for the Blue on art and the ocean.

Read More “Chesapeake Requiem, the Black Friday for Climate Change, whale earwax, killing the GRE, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: November 26, 2018” »

LarvaBots, turning the tide on captive dolphins, horror fish from the deep sea, ARA San Juan found, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: November 19, 2018.

Posted on November 19, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

  • Congratulations to Dr. Hal Holmes of Conservation X Labs for earning a Moore Foundation Inventor Fellowship for his DNA Barcode Project.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Reef RangerBot becomes ‘LarvalBot’ to spread coral babies.

LarvalBot gently squirts the coral larvae onto damaged reef areas. Credit: QUT Media
LarvalBot gently squirts the coral larvae onto damaged reef areas. Credit: QUT Media

  • Turn of the tide: Seeing dolphins differently by National Aquarium Director John Racanelli.

Read More “LarvaBots, turning the tide on captive dolphins, horror fish from the deep sea, ARA San Juan found, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: November 19, 2018.” »

Fun Science FRIEDay – Gut Enzyme Turns Blood Into Type O

Posted on November 16, 2018November 16, 2018 By Kersey Sturdivant
Uncategorized

The process of blood transfusions, started in the late 19th century and perfected in the early 20th century, were a big advancement in modern medicine and the treatment of human health. Part of the improvements in this procedure was the discovery of the various blood types in humans, and how that affects how the immune system responds to and “accepts” blood transfusions. Recently, researchers from the University of British Columbia may have found a reliable way to use a bacterial enzyme from the human gut to convert any type of blood into type O – which is compatible with nearly everyone.

Animation of red blood cells (Photo credit: meghanmecrazy)

Read More “Fun Science FRIEDay – Gut Enzyme Turns Blood Into Type O” »

Apple’s war on repair, mining the deep sea, reflecting on the mid-terms, (not) repelling sharks, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: November 12, 2018.

Posted on November 12, 2018November 11, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

  • Take a moment. Breathe. Then get back to work.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Here Are All the Candidates With Science Backgrounds Who Just Got Elected. Note, my representative, Dr. Andy Harris, MD, also has a science background and he’s an awful, incompetent, ineffectual, and embarrassing representative, so having a “science background” isn’t everything.
  • Mining the deep ocean will soon begin. What will that mean for existing denizens of the abyss? Featuring Drs. Diva Amon and Leigh Marsh!

Read More “Apple’s war on repair, mining the deep sea, reflecting on the mid-terms, (not) repelling sharks, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: November 12, 2018.” »

Coral reefs lose their champion, which laptop is really the greenest, new sea slugs, and an octopuses garden in the sea. Monday Morning Salvage: November 5, 2018.

Posted on November 5, 2018November 4, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

  • Help the Victims of Typhoon Yutu.
  • Ruth Gates dedicated her life to saving the world’s reefs and training the next generation of reef scientists. The Fight for Corals Loses Its Great Champion.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Scientists Have Just Named 17 New Sea Slug Species, and They’re All Fabulous.

The newest members of the nudibranch family. (H. iba comes in 2 color morphs.) Photo: California Academy of Sciences
The newest members of the nudibranch family. (H. iba comes in 2 color morphs.)
Photo: California Academy of Sciences

  • Palau Becomes First Nation to Ban Sunscreens That Harm Corals.
  • The tiny sponge that could help preserve our deep oceans.

A close-up photo of the sponge that is being studied. NHM.
A close-up photo of the sponge that is being studied. NHM.

Read More “Coral reefs lose their champion, which laptop is really the greenest, new sea slugs, and an octopuses garden in the sea. Monday Morning Salvage: November 5, 2018.” »

Help the Victims of Typhoon Yutu

Posted on October 29, 2018November 6, 2018 By Angelo Villagomez
Climate change

Photo credit: Nicole Cabrera

On Thursday, October 25, Super Typhoon Yutu slammed into my home islands of Saipan and Tinian packing sustained winds of 178 miles per hour.  The storm resulted in one fatality and widespread destruction.  Friends and family have lost everything.

Andrew Thaler and I would like to reach out to the Southern Fried Science community of readers to ask your support in helping our friends and family in the the islands with relief efforts (Andrew has conducted OpenROV workshops in the region and has helped with efforts to confer UNESCO World Heritage and National Marine Sanctuary status on the Mariana Trench).

You can help by:

SPREADING THE WORD

The easiest way for you to help, and it doesn’t cost anything, is to share this blog on social media so that more eyes are reading this call for help.  Please use the hashtags #SuperTyphoonYutu and #YutuRelief.  Also, please share other people’s photos and stories on social media (you can find them using the hashtags).  Finally, you can help spread the word by sharing news stories. Here are some from CNN, NPR, USA Today, Washington Post.  Civil Beat also has a post with lots of photos of the destruction.  Again, please use the hashtags.

DONATING

The Pacific Daily News, the newspaper of record on Guam, has a list of ways readers can help the victims.  There is also a website yuturelief.com, that looks like it is run by various members of our diaspora.  I encourage you to read both websites and see what method of donating works best for you.  Here are a few others:

Read More “Help the Victims of Typhoon Yutu” »

Youth v Gov, thinking about oysters, how to talk climate change to radicalized conservatives, delightful dumbo octopuses, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: October 29, 2018.

Posted on October 29, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

  • The kids are alright. I’m suing the U.S. government for causing the climate change crisis #YouthVGov.
  • This fleet of underwater robots will help citizen scientists make the case for ocean conservation. Find out how you can get yours through the SEE Initiative!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • The Deepest Volcanic Eruption Ever Documented Left a Gnarly Sight on the Ocean Floor.

A lava flow detected in the Mariana back-arc that’s evidence for the deepest historic eruption ever detected. Photo: Courtesy Bill Chadwick
A lava flow detected in the Mariana back-arc that’s evidence for the deepest historic eruption ever detected. Photo: Courtesy Bill Chadwick.

  • This comic comes at you like a kick in the teeth. Can Climate Science Be Rendered Conservative-Friendly? How to pitch environmentalism to climate change deniers.

Read More “Youth v Gov, thinking about oysters, how to talk climate change to radicalized conservatives, delightful dumbo octopuses, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: October 29, 2018.” »

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