Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Requiem, the Black Friday for Climate Change, whale earwax, killing the GRE, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: November 26, 2018
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)
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.
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.
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)
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.
We Robot, a horrible hagfish massacre, deep, delicious sandwiches, fish slime harvests, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 10, 2018.
Foghorn (a call to action)
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.
Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)
- How a team of amateur explorers and an underwater robot laid to rest the ‘Ghost of Baker Lake’.
- Jane Lubchenco: Science in a Post-Truth World. Hat tip: @EmmaJMcIntosh.
The Levee (news from LUMCON)
LUMCON’s DeFelice Marine Center, flooded, as seen from a dormitory balcony. (Photo: Courtesy of LUMCON)
Giant penguin colonies and tiny squid: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, March 8th, 2018
Cuttings (short and sweet):
- Follow Travis Tai, a graduate student studying climate change and fisheries, on twitter!
- Thumbnail-sized pygmy squid discovered in Australia. By Shreya Dasgupta, for MongaBay.
- This octopus is 40,000 times heavier than its mate. By Liz Langley, for National Geographic.
- Seal poo reveals plastic’s path in the sea. Nature research highlights.
- Grass is back in the Chesapeake, and crabs will follow. By Dan Charles, for NPR.
- Be sure to fill out your Mammal March Madness brackets, now featuring a Cookiecutter Shark! (Don’t know what March Mammal Madness is? Check out my 2017 article about it)
Spoils (long reads and deep dives):
- Mega-colony of 1.5 million penguins discovered. By Damian Carrington, for the Guardian.
- Supplemental nutritional assistance for whales. By John Strang, for Hakai.
- Is ocean acidification a chance for bipartisan cooperation in Congress? By Ian Evans, for Oceans Deeply.
- The fish that makes other fish smarter. By Ed Yong, for the Atlantic.
Please add your own cuttings and spoils in the comments!
If you appreciate my shark research and conservation outreach, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Any amount is appreciated, and supporters get exclusive rewards!
The hunt for Soviet submarines, a 5-foot-long shipworm, the impossibilities of deep-sea mining, and more! Massive Monday Morning Salvage: March 5, 2018.
Foghorn (A Call to Action!)
- Subscribe to the Chesapeake Bay Journal (it’s free)! The venerable grey lady of the Bay survived the EPA’s attempt to defund them. Consider sending a few dollars to the journal, too. If you’re filing MD taxes this year, you can earmark some of you return to Chesapeake Bay programs.
Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)
- The secret on the ocean floor: the wild, weird origin of the modern deep-sea mining industry, complete with spies, Soviet submarines, and Howard Hughes. How much is real? How much is emergent from this first fake venture? If you only read one thing about deep-sea mining, read this.
We really misled a lot of people and it’s surprising that the story held together for so long”
- As biodiversity declines, so does public attention. We need to push back against this trend.
- After Centuries of Searching, Scientists Finally Find the Mysterious Giant Shipworm Alive!
How to help Houston, GameBoy SONAR, buy a lighthouse, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: August 28, 2017
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?
HAGFISH! Also deep-sea mining, climate change, The Ocean Cleanup, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 17, 2017
Fog Horn (A Call to Action)
- Hakai Magazine want to hear from you! Dear Hakai Magazine Reader, Who Are You?
Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)
- Everything Tangier is utterly fascinating right now: Angry messages to the Trump-supporting mayor of Tangier Island illustrate a need to listen, not to shout.
- I’m still just dumbfounded by this: Did a Glowing Sea Creature Help Push the U.S. Into the Vietnam War? In other words, Ocean Literacy could save us all from annihilation.
- I really hope you’re not sick of hagfish yet. Because Hagfish!
- Best headline, ever: Sea Spiders Pump Blood With Their Guts, Not Their Hearts.
#JacquesWeek, Lionfish tax, coral that glows, accelerating climate change, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 10, 2017
Fog Horn (A Call to Action)
- Protect the Outer Continental Shelf! Last week, the president announced a plan to open up significant portions of the outer continental shelf for oil and gas exploration. Call you representative! The public comment period opens today and runs through August 17. We’ll have a template script prepped for your use this week.
- Today is the day to submit public comments to defend America’s National Monuments! More than 1 million comments have been submitted so far, and from my cursory survey, almost all of them are in favor of protecting these gems of American history and nature. Submit formal public comments on the DOI Monument Review and make your voice heard.
Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)
- Tangier Island. I’m still thinking a lot about the Island out of Time.
Cuttlefish camouflage, climate change, ShellBorgs, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: June 19, 2017.
Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)
- This cuttlefish:
- Thanks to Nik Hubbard for bringing it to our attention.