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Tag: deep-sea mining

HAGFISH! Also deep-sea mining, climate change, The Ocean Cleanup, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 17, 2017

Posted on July 17, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

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.

Read More “HAGFISH! Also deep-sea mining, climate change, The Ocean Cleanup, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 17, 2017” »

#JacquesWeek, Lionfish tax, coral that glows, accelerating climate change, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 10, 2017

Posted on July 10, 2017July 12, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

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)

  • #JacquesWeek! It’s coming! Only two weeks to go!

  • Tangier Island. I’m still thinking a lot about the Island out of Time.

Read More “#JacquesWeek, Lionfish tax, coral that glows, accelerating climate change, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 10, 2017” »

Nerds of trust, deep-sea mining, ocean art, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 3, 2017

Posted on July 3, 2017July 2, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

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 by the end of the week.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Deep-sea mining. It’s closer to happening now than ever before, and scientists, conservationists, and ocean stakeholders are very concerned.
Image: James St. John/Flickr Creative Commons
  • Can deep-sea mining avoid the environmental mistakes of mining on land? As an industry, probably not.
  • Experts Warn that Seabed Mining Will Lead to ‘Unavoidable’ Loss of Biodiversity. And check below for the primary source, co-authored by several leaders in deep ocean science.

Read More “Nerds of trust, deep-sea mining, ocean art, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 3, 2017” »

Half-safe, climate change, deep-sea mining’s last frontier, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: Junes 12, 2017.

Posted on June 12, 2017June 12, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • 27 National Monuments are under review by the Department of the Interior. Our Nation Monuments are our National Treasures. Don’t let them be sold to the highest bidder! Submit formal public comments on the DOI Monument Review and make your voice heard.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Sand. Over the weekend I asked Twitter if they were into sand, and Twitter said yes. So now I’m trapped in an endless cycle of ‘likes’ and facts about sand. it’s a sandstorm!

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

  • Tangier Island. It’s disappearing, due to a combination of erosion and sea level rise, and when it goes,Virginia’s last offshore fishing community vanishes, too. We’re visiting Tangier next week, so now is a great time to read up on the challenges facing the island.
The view from Long Bridge Road on Tangier Island. Credit Andrew Moore for The New York Times
  • Autonomous Cargo Ships Extend Miner’s Technology Drive to Seas.
  • Beasts from the sea dominated the monster flick of the 60s and 70s. Hakai is on the hunt for these leading monsters.
  • I’m sure this is fine. Trump Said to Mull Combining Agencies Separated After Gulf Oil Spill.
  • Donald Trump vs. the Tide of History on Climate Change. A great piece by my old college roommate. Hi Victor!
  • In 1950, an Australian adventurer set out to sail and drive around the world in an old amphibious jeep. It did not go entirely to plan.
  • The world’s smallest porpoise has caused a big battle in Baja California.
  • Paleoshorelines: Time capsules of the ocean’s ancient shorelines from our friends at oceanbites.
  • This week in deep-sea mining: Huge rare metal reserve found on seabed 350 km off Japan.
  • The protests against deep-sea mining are also ramping up. This video, which is perhaps the best I’ve seen capturing local concerns about near-shore hydrothermal vent mines, was featured at the UN Ocean Summit.
  • Japan’s famous fish market, where the world’s most expensive tuna are sold, is closing down to relocate from it’s historic home: Visit Tsukiji, a ‘Great Wonder of the World,’ While You Still Can.

Read More “Half-safe, climate change, deep-sea mining’s last frontier, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: Junes 12, 2017.” »

Seasteading, ivory diving, seabed mining, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: June 5, 2017

Posted on June 5, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • We Should All Care About Sea Grant. Despite being one of the most bipartisan research programs in the United States, with a huge return on investment for coastal communities and businesses, Sea Grant is under attack from the current administration. Read the latest at Deep Sea News: Pam DiBona: #IAmSeaGrant. 
  • 27 National Monuments are under review by the Department of the Interior. Our Nation Monuments are our National Treasures. Don’t let them be sold to the highest bidder! Submit formal public comments on the DOI Monument Review and make your voice heard.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Seasteading. Ok, we’re not actually obsessed with Seasteading. What we are obsessed with are the increasingly convoluted proposals to create floating nations at sea (heck, I even wrote a novel or two about that). Fresh from the New Republic: Libertarians Seek a Home on the High Seas.
Courtesy of Seasteading Institute
  • Ocean/Policy superstar Miriam Goldstein reminded me that China Mieville wrote an absolutely brutal takedown of the degraded imagination of the libertarian seasteaders several years back.

Read More “Seasteading, ivory diving, seabed mining, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: June 5, 2017” »

#IAmSeaGrant, Octopus Beats Dolphins, Deep-sea Mining, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 29, 2017

Posted on May 29, 2017May 29, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • #IAmSeaGrant. Despite being one of the most bipartisan research programs in the United States, with a huge return on investment for coastal communities and businesses, Sea Grant is under attack from the current administration. Deep Sea News has been collecting stories from marine researchers who’ve benefited from Sea Grant programs: Ben Wetherill, Nyssa Silbiger, and Christy Bowles.
  • 27 National Monuments are under review by the Department of the Interior. Our Nation Monuments are our National Treasures. Don’t let them be sold to the highest bidder! Submit formal public comments on the DOI Monument Review and make your voice heard.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Zach Weinersmith has perfectly capture the essence of what it is to be a marine biologist in the United States right now. Pure. Abyssal. Horror.

  • The Deep Sea News crew is at sea, and Dr. Craig and his team did a hilarious, fascinating, informative Ask Me Anything over at Reddit. Worth reading the whole thread, even though it’s done for now.

Read More “#IAmSeaGrant, Octopus Beats Dolphins, Deep-sea Mining, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 29, 2017” »

Parasitic barnacles, a code of conduct for marine conservation, #BillMeetScienceTwitter, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 22, 2017.

Posted on May 22, 2017May 22, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • 27 National Monuments are under review by the Department of the Interior. Our Nation Monuments are our National Treasures. Don’t let them be sold to the highest bidder! Submit formal public comments on the DOI Monument Review and make your voice heard.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • This parasitic barnacle, Sacculina carcini, replacing the reproductive organs of a crab.
  • Hat tip to Tommy Leung, who’s twitter feed is a gold mine of fantastic parasites and where to find them.
  • #BillMeetScienceTwitter. What started as an inquiry into whether science celebrities really engage with practicing scientists on a regular basic morphed into the best way to find new scientists to follow on Twitter. I’m curating a massive list of all the self-identified Ocean Scientists that participated.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

  • Deep-sea mining is gearing up on the high seas, and international regulations is still lagging far behind technology: The Wild West of Deep-Sea Mining.
  • oceanbites rolls out an excellent overview of the different kinds of robots used in conducting deep-sea research.
  • Beyond drug lords and conservationists: Who is missing in the coverage of the vaquita’s demise? from the legendary team at Deep Sea News.
  • Henderson Island is isolated and uninhabited, so why are all its beaches so completely covered in garbage? Spoilers: It’s because the planet is an interconnected global system with impacts felt far beyond the source of insult.
  • Bone-eating snot flower worm will never not be my favorite common name. Tiny Zombie Worms Are the Beavers of the Deep.
  • The history of the entire world, in one entertaining YouTube video (via Vox):
  • Are Ships The Careless Giants Of The Sea? Yes, but they don’t have to be.
  • Trump’s EPA Greenlights a Nasty Chemical. A Month Later, It Poisons a Bunch of Farmworkers.
  • Trump country is flooding, and climate ideas are shifting.
  • The Ocean as the New Frontier of Climate Action.
  • The Antarctic Peninsula is 3 degrees warming than is used to be, and that means plants are growing and Antarctica is getting greener.
  • The long history of ocean drilling and scientific discovery.
  • A tiny anchovy could be a silver bullet for malnutrition in Peru—if only we would let it: The Fish that Smells like Money.
  • I talk alot about e-waste and disposable electronics, which is why I’m excited to see modular, open-source smartphone projects finally start to mature. The ZeroPhone looks like on of the most promising additions to this space.
  • Skeptic Magazine has a pseudoscience problems. Unfortunately, this time it’s the skeptics promoting some pretty eyebrow-raising junk science. I went a little deeper into this on Twitter.

Read More “Parasitic barnacles, a code of conduct for marine conservation, #BillMeetScienceTwitter, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 22, 2017.” »

Terraforming Mars on Earth, giant larvaceans, conservation jobs, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 8, 2017

Posted on May 8, 2017May 8, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • The time to save the EPA is now! The EPA is seeking public input on the new administrations approach to environmental regulations. They are required to seek public input. They are required to respond to public input. Go tell them how you feel. Public comments close May 15. Here’s the docket with instructions on how to comment: Evaluation of Existing Regulations. We’ve even prepared a script for you.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  •  On a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic, a terraforming project a century-and-a-half in the making is underway. A 150-year-old experiment on the remote Ascension Island may help us green Mars. Can it also help us save Earth?
Seabirds on Ascension Island. Photo by Clare Fieseler.
  • It also happens to be longtime friend of Southern Fried Science Clare Fieseler’s first major story for National Geographic, so go follow her on twitter.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

  • Women have a crucial—yet often overlooked—role in fisheries. The Invisible Fishing Fleet by Ilima Loomis at Hakai Magazine.
  • “What do you do when you’re a graduate student and you’ve been sexually assaulted by the PI of a very exciting paleoanthropological site?” An incredibly powerful piece by Holly Dunsworth: In case this helps you: This happened to me while I was trying to become a paleoanthropologist.
  • The general theme of this site appears to be ‘humans are terrible, robots are awesome’. Staying on brand: In a first, deep sea robots get a close look at giant larvaceans, a key player in the biological carbon pump.
  • Deep-sea mining is really heating up. Locals threaten armed campaign against PNG seabed mine.
  • In the Pacific Northwest, the diligence of citizen scientists is shedding light on the lives, and deaths, of seabirds. Drawing Meaning from Death, One Seabird at a Time by Larry Pynn at Hakai.
  • This is a pretty great demonstration of how statistics can be used to mislead: Generating Datasets with Varied Appearance and Identical Statistics through Simulated Annealing.

Read More “Terraforming Mars on Earth, giant larvaceans, conservation jobs, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 8, 2017” »

Climate change denial, open-science hardware, some missing pink dolphins, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 1, 2017

Posted on May 1, 2017April 30, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • Are you represented by a climate change denier? Motherboard has put together this amazing guide to every climate change denier in congress. Check your state and give your congressperson a piece of your mind. Congressman Andy Harris may be sick of hearing from me, but I guarantee he’ll be gone from my district long before I am.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Read More “Climate change denial, open-science hardware, some missing pink dolphins, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: May 1, 2017” »

Deep-sea Disco, Giant Icebergs, Pokémon Go, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: April 24, 2017

Posted on April 24, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • Still time! The EPA is seeking public input on the new administrations approach to environmental regulations. They are required to seek public input. They are required to respond to public input. Go tell them how you feel. Public comments close May 15. Here’s the docket with instructions on how to comment: Evaluation of Existing Regulations.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • This deep-sea mining Disco video is something.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

Read More “Deep-sea Disco, Giant Icebergs, Pokémon Go, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: April 24, 2017” »

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