Southern Fried Science

Thursday Afternoon Dredging: September 14th, 2017

September 14, 2017September 13, 2017 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet):

Watch this bat ray at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Follow Marie Auger-Méthé, an Arctic ecologist, on twitter!
How sea creatures change color. From Nature Research Highlights.
Global fingerprints of sea level rise revealed by satellites. By Rachael Lallensack for Nature News.

Gills Club Shark Tales: An online and in-person sharkstravaganza 19-20 September at NEAQ!

September 13, 2017September 20, 2017 Michelle Jewell 2 Comments

Education, Uncategorized

Note: This post has been updated on 18 September 2017.

Friends, Researchers, Countrywomen, lend me your ears!

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and New England Aquarium are hosting a completely free two-day event, 19-20 September, featuring an amazing line-up of shark scientists and enthusiasts, including:

Keynote Speakers:

Susan Goldberg – Editor in Chief of National Geographic Magazine

Wendy Benchley – Renowned global voice for shark protection and co-founder of the prestigious Peter Benchley Ocean Awards.

Gills Club Science Team Speakers:
Dr. Michelle Heupel – Australian Institute of Marine Science
Dr. Alison Kock – South African National Parks

Hurricane Irma, the Manatee Sheriff, climate change, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 11, 2017

September 11, 2017 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

One week left! The OpenCTD and Oceanography for Everyone has been selected as a finalist in National Geographic’s Chasing Genius Challenge! Please help me win the People’s Choice award by voting for the OpenCTD. Visit http://www.natgeochasinggenius.com/video/776, create or sign into your Chasing Genius account, and click the yellow star to vote on my video. You can vote once per day until September 15.
“Everyone is homeless. We can’t help each other because everyone needs help.” Ayana Johnson is working to raise funds (and the Waitt Foundation is matching donations, to help the people of Barbuda, where almost every structure on the island was leveled.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Yes, I would like to pet a giant isopod, thank you.

We have a new expedition planned to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Join us: Marine Ecology and Underwater Robotics in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The Manatee Sheriff sends Manatee officers to rescue stranded manatees in Manatee County.

The 3 best ocean books for toddlers, as selected by a very ocean-savvy toddler

September 7, 2017 Andrew Thaler

Reviews and Interviews

It’s been almost exactly a year since I selected the 5 best baby books to launch your child’s ocean education. Since then, our expert judge has gotten a bit more discerning and a lot more opinionated. As a family of marine scientists, our massive library of ocean-themed children’s books, some amazing, some not-so-amazing, seems to grow exponentially.

After critical review by two PhDs in Marine Science and Conservation and one very perspicacious toddler, for both scientific accuracy and pure delightfulness, here are our top 3 children’s books to get your toddler thinking about the ocean.

Irma’s Caribbean devastation, aquaculture, and Okeanos education: Thursday Afternoon Dredging: September 7th, 2017

September 7, 2017September 7, 2017 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet):

Watch how goblin sharks feed
Follow the Sawfish Conservation Society on twitter!
Sturgeon survives kidnapping, stabbing, and wildfire. By Amelia Templeton, for Oregon Public Broadcasting
UK coast haven for seabirds becomes a marine protected area. From The Guardian.

Protect Our Oceans: from the ground in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

September 5, 2017September 5, 2017 Guest Writer

Conservation

Carlotta Leon Guerrero is a former Member of the 23^rd, 24^th, and 25^th Guam Senate. She was also a two-term president of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures and previously worked as a radio and television journalist in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

In April 2017, President Donald Trump ordered Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke to examine 27 protected areas established by Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama using the 1906 Antiquities Act. Included in the list were four marine monuments in the Pacific Ocean, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii, Mariana Trench Marine National Monument in the Mariana Islands, Rose Atoll Marine National Monument in American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (sometimes referred to as Pacific Remote Island Areas or PRIA), which is made up several isolated islands and atolls under American control. This should have all of us on Guam and in the Pacific concerned, because we are the people who will have to live with the outcome.

Chasing Genius, aquatic brain blobs, hurricanes, bats, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 4, 2017

September 4, 2017September 3, 2017 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

Hurricane Harvey has passed, but its impacts will continue to be felt for years to come. There’s lots of great organizations to donate to, but in the immediate aftermath,it’s often best to donate to local relief programs that already have a ground team in place, rather than national groups that will take weeks to build up their infrastructure. I’m a fan of the Texas Diaper Bank and Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies, both of which serve communities that tend to be particularly vulnerable during natural disasters.
Gratuitous self promotion! The OpenCTD and Oceanography for Everyone has been selected as a finalist in National Geographic’s Chasing Genius Challenge! Please help me win the People’s Choice award by voting for the OpenCTD. Visit http://www.natgeochasinggenius.com/video/776, create or sign into your Chasing Genius account, and click the yellow star to vote on my video. Thank you!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

It will take months, if not years, to fully understand the impacts of Hurricane Harvey, which already looks to be the costliest storm in US history. These drone videos give you some idea of the sheer scale of the damage. The Washington Post has an interactive map to help visualize what the equivalent deluge would look like around the world: What the Harvey deluge would look like where you live.

Oil spill impacts, Great Barrier Reef recovery, and the mystery of the Hunley: Thursday Afternoon Dredging: August 31, 2017

August 31, 2017 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet):

Watch these bull sharks in Beqa Lagoon, Fiji, in this video by Beqa Lagoon Resort.
Bull sharks in Fiji
Follow marine social scientist Amy Diedrich on twitter!
The impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Gulf of Mexico shorelines. An introduction to a special issue of research, from the NOAA Response and Restoration blog.

How to help Houston, GameBoy SONAR, buy a lighthouse, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: August 28, 2017

August 28, 2017August 28, 2017 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

Hurricane Harvey is sitting over the city of Houston, dumping biblical amounts of rain and flooding nearly the entire metropolitan area. There’s lots of great organizations to donate to, but in the immediate aftermath, it’s often best to donate to local relief programs that already have a ground team in place, rather than national groups that will take weeks to build up their infrastructure. I’m a fan of the Texas Diaper Bank and Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies, both of which serve communities that tend to be particularly vulnerable during natural disasters.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe has become one of the most important voices in Climate Change over the last few years. Her latest, I was an Exxon-funded climate scientist, is a sober look at who where the money really goes and who pulls the strings in the climate change denial industry.
Bandai and Nintendo once made a SONAR that runs on a GameBoy Pocket, and I want one. Has anyone ever encountered one of these rare and wondrous techno chimeras?

Shrinking fish, shipstrikes, and tracking Putin by wildlife. Thursday Afternoon Dredging: August 24th, 2017

August 24, 2017August 24, 2017 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet):

Watch this basking shark feed in a video from Basking Shark Scotland
Video by Basking Shark Scotland
Follow Ting-Chun Kuo, a seahorse conservationist who just defended her Ph.D., on twitter!
Climate change is shrinking fish. By Craig Welch, for National Geographic.
More whales are dying from shipstrikes then previously believed, because some sink. By KCBS news.
Scientists attached cameras to penguins. Here’s what they found. By Sarah Gibbens, for National Geographic