Skip to content

Southern Fried Science

Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online

  • Home
  • About SFS
  • Authors
  • Support SFS

Tag: extinction

Unprecedented destruction in the deep Gulf of Mexico, The Ocean Cleanup’s River Pivot, and More! Weekly Salvage: October 28, 2019.

Posted on October 28, 2019October 28, 2019 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Transcript below.

Read More “Unprecedented destruction in the deep Gulf of Mexico, The Ocean Cleanup’s River Pivot, and More! Weekly Salvage: October 28, 2019.” »

Space whales. Space. Whales. SPAAAAACE WHAAAAALES! Weekly Salvage: October 21, 2019

Posted on October 21, 2019October 20, 2019 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Transcript below.

Read More “Space whales. Space. Whales. SPAAAAACE WHAAAAALES! Weekly Salvage: October 21, 2019” »

Angry Canadian Crabs and Extinct Australian Sea Stars: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, September 27(8)th 2018

Posted on September 28, 2018 By David Shiffman
Uncategorized

  It’s a special Friday morning edition of Thursday Afternoon Dredging because I was traveling! Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow Nova the White Shark, a great white shark tagged in Canada by OCEARCH, on twitter! The day after Nova was tagged, I spent a day with the OCEARCH team- check out this Facebook live interview. … Read More “Angry Canadian Crabs and Extinct Australian Sea Stars: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, September 27(8)th 2018” »

Bone-eating zombie worms, octopus overlords, old wooden ships and new woes for deep-sea mining. It’s the Monday Morning Salvage! January 1, 2018.

Posted on January 1, 2018January 6, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • Stop. Breathe. Take a step back. This can all be incredibly overwhelming. Pick the fight that matters most to you and take a few days deciding what success looks like, what strategies will work, and what tactics are available to you. And then hoist your flag and get to work.

  • And when you meet someone fighting a different fight, remember to support them. There are already enough fronts to advance without taking friendly fire from our flanks.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Maybe it’s time to seriously consider just giving control of the world to the cephalopods. A New Species of Giant Octopus Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight.

The frilled giant Pacific octopus. Photo Courtesy D. Scheel

  • The most depressing annual run-down on the environmental science web: The Animals That Went Extinct in 2017.

Read More “Bone-eating zombie worms, octopus overlords, old wooden ships and new woes for deep-sea mining. It’s the Monday Morning Salvage! January 1, 2018.” »

Farting oysters, bombing sea lions, and a new trash island? It must be the Monday Morning Salvage! November 20, 2017

Posted on November 20, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • It’s Native American History Month. Southern Fried Science recognizes that our servers are housed on the occupied land of the Timpanogos people while the majority of our writers live on unceded Powhatan territory. This November, Try Something New: Decolonize Your Mind.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Boaters stumble on massive Caribbean “gyre” of plastic garbage. “Gyre is in quotes because I’m almost certain that this is debris from the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season, rather than an accumulation of decades of plastic is a circulating ocean current. It’s still shocking to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSMGKwZBaWM

  • The ARA San Juan, one or Argentina’s two diesel-electric submarines, is missing. Search and rescue is mobilizing and there’s hints that the sailors tried to send out a signal Saturday.
  • Without a Treaty to Share the Arctic, Greedy Countries Will Destroy It. Cosign.

Read More “Farting oysters, bombing sea lions, and a new trash island? It must be the Monday Morning Salvage! November 20, 2017” »

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” »

15 important shark conservation and management terms explained with memes

Posted on April 1, 2013April 2, 2013 By David Shiffman 9 Comments on 15 important shark conservation and management terms explained with memes
Conservation, Popular Culture, Science

davesquare

inigo-montoya-you-keep-using-that-word-i-dont-think-it-means-what-you-th-3b4b2920-sz625x625-animateIf interested citizens want to get involved in conservation and management policy, it’s absolutely vital to use proper terminology. The policy world can be full of confusing jargon, but there are few ways to discredit yourself in the eyes of decision makers as quickly as using a critical term incorrectly. In fact, it isn’t uncommon for a decision maker’s response to a petition or public comment to consist entirely of correcting  inaccurate terminology, if a response is issued at all. There are well over 100 acronyms and terms that I’ve seen regularly used, but in the interest of brevity, I’ve selected what I believe to be the 15 most important terms that I’ve seen people repeatedly use incorrectly.

For each term, I’ve provided a definition from a scientific paper or technical report whenever possible.  I have also  provided some additional explanation in my own words, and some assistance from familiar memes. Whenever possible, I’ve linked to blog posts, articles, or websites that provide even more information. Most of these terms are broadly applicable to fisheries management policy, but some are specific to shark fisheries. It is not my intention with this post to strongly advocate for or against any specific policy (I do plenty of that with other posts), but to make sure everyone is speaking the same language.

Read More “15 important shark conservation and management terms explained with memes” »

The Global Extinction Crisis – species area relationships, habitat loss, and population dynamics

Posted on May 23, 2011June 3, 2011 By Andrew Thaler 4 Comments on The Global Extinction Crisis – species area relationships, habitat loss, and population dynamics
Conservation, Science

We are in the midst of a global extinction crisis. Biodiversity is in decline as species after species disappear. Some estimates predict that up to 50% of species will be committed to extinction by 2050. Other estimates claim the current rate of extinction may be 10,000 times the background rate. Many ecologists and conservationists have declared the current species decline the sixth great mass extinction.

A recent paper published in the journal Nature argues that our current estimates of species loss are based on a flawed model and tend to overestimate the magnitude of species decline. The paper has received plenty of attention, and has been heavily criticized by ecologists and conservation biologists. The paper is wrong, but it is wrong for the right reasons, and the criticisms it has garnered point to a gaping hole in our  understanding of population dynamics.

Read More “The Global Extinction Crisis – species area relationships, habitat loss, and population dynamics” »

Recent Popular Posts

The story of the pride flag made from NASA imagery: Bluesky's most-liked imageThe story of the pride flag made from NASA imagery: Bluesky's most-liked imageSeptember 27, 2024David Shiffman
Marine Biology Career AdviceMarine Biology Career AdviceMay 30, 2025David Shiffman
UN Ocean Conference Manu ChampionshipUN Ocean Conference Manu ChampionshipJune 5, 2025Angelo Villagomez
Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine is a fake documentaryShark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine is a fake documentaryAugust 10, 2014Michelle Jewell
I turned my woodshop into a personal solar farm.I turned my woodshop into a personal solar farm.June 21, 2021Andrew Thaler
Our favorite sea monsters – Ningen (#4)Our favorite sea monsters – Ningen (#4)September 7, 2010Andrew Thaler
What can the funniest shark memes on the internetz teach us about ocean science and conservation?What can the funniest shark memes on the internetz teach us about ocean science and conservation?November 8, 2013David Shiffman
What is a Sand Shark?What is a Sand Shark?November 12, 2017Chuck Bangley
A quick and dirty guide to making custom feeds on BlueskyA quick and dirty guide to making custom feeds on BlueskyFebruary 7, 2024Andrew Thaler
Megalodon: the New Evidence is a fake documentaryMegalodon: the New Evidence is a fake documentaryAugust 7, 2014David Shiffman
Subscribe to our RSS Feed for updates whenever new articles are published.

We recommend Feedly for RSS management. It's like Google Reader, except it still exists.

Southern Fried Science

  • Home
  • About SFS
  • Authors
  • Support SFS


If you enjoy Southern Fried Science, consider contributing to our Patreon campaign.

Copyright © 2025 Southern Fried Science.

Theme: Oceanly Premium by ScriptsTown