marine conservation – Southern Fried Science

We’re making a new marine conservation science and policy textbook. What do you want to be in it?

February 5, 2025 David Shiffman

The leading textbook in Marine Conservation Biology (Norse and Crowder) is 20 years old. It’s great and it shaped the field for a generation, but a lot has happened since it came out. There are new conservation threats, new policy tools, and new research methods to study them. And in that time, we’ve radically changed … Read More “We’re making a new marine conservation science and policy textbook. What do you want to be in it?” »

We Leased the Kraken! Catch up with the ongoing adventures of the Cephalosquad on Dugongs and Seadragons.

April 22, 2024April 23, 2024 Andrew Thaler

Blogging, Featured

Dugongs and Seadragons is the only Dungeons and Dragons Podcast featuring actual marine science professionals playing D&D 5e while talking about marine science, conservation, and all things ocean. It’s been going for a long time, and jumping into the mid-point of an actual play podcast can feel like a daunting task. But we’ve got you … Read More “We Leased the Kraken! Catch up with the ongoing adventures of the Cephalosquad on Dugongs and Seadragons.” »

Desert island discs – the marine conservation edition

August 4, 2017August 4, 2017 Chris Parsons

Conservation, Open Science, Popular Culture

In the UK, there is a famous and long-running radio show called Desert Island Discs. On this show celebrities are asked to imagine that they are marooned on a desert island, but they have rescued 10 discs (mp3s I suppose these days…) of songs that they have rescued from their sinking ship to keep them company on the desert island.

clipart credit: istock.com

My chum – marine mammal scientist and general ocean hero – Asha De Vos recently asked for a list of key papers in marine conservation that she could pass onto students working on marine conservation issues in Sri Lanka. So I decided to write up my top ten “desert island” marine conservation papers that I think have been influential, and that all marine conservation students should read.

So after much pondering, this is my list:

Time to release the Kraken ! Addressing controversial questions in marine conservation

September 30, 2016October 2, 2016 Chris Parsons

Conservation, Uncategorized

A few years ago, we organized a group of marine conservation scientists to meet to discuss, and list, the most urgent issues that need to be studied. The resulting paper came up with 71 questions which urgently needed to be addressed, because a lack of an answer was severely impeding marine conservation. However, during this exercise we also came up with a list of other questions – these were issues that were controversial, that everyone knew were important, but were unwilling to raise as being an issue. These were the Voldemorts of marine conservation questions (they that shall not be named), the elephant (or elephant seal) in the room questions …. or as we more aquatically termed them: “the kraken in the aquarium” questions.

Huge win for orca advocates as #SeaWorld announces an end to circus-style shows, orca breeding and pledges more conservation

March 17, 2016March 17, 2016 Chris Parsons

Conservation

SeaWorld Orca-Shutterstock

Earlier today SeaWorld announced to the media that it was making major changes in its practices when it comes to marine wildlife. The announcement comes after years of bad publicity and failing stock prices as the result of the documentary Blackfish, criticism from marine mammal and marine conservation scientists and an unrelenting social media campaign by online activists. The changes announced are a major paradigm shift for the company and include:

Got grants? New small grants for marine conservation launched by SCB Marine

September 17, 2015 Chris Parsons

Conservation

The Society for Conservation Biology Marine Section (SCB Marine) has just initiated their Conservation Small Grants Program (CSGP) to fund worthy conservation projects around the globe. The grants will vary from $500-$700 and priority is being given to individuals from developing countries and those working in developing countries, where projects a small amount of money could make a big difference. … Read More “Got grants? New small grants for marine conservation launched by SCB Marine” »

So what might Scottish independence mean for marine conservation ?

September 17, 2014September 17, 2014 Chris Parsons 3 Comments

Conservation

A Scottish otter (which lives in the marine environment)

As the referendum for Scotland leaving the United Kingdom (which besides Scotland current includes Northern Ireland and Wales in addition to England, although you would be forgiven from all the media coverage to think that it only included the former and latter) approaches, I’ve been asked what would independence for Scotland mean for marine conservation? Well in some ways, not a lot. Nature Conservation in Scotland is largely a devolved issue anyway, dealt with by Scottish Natural Heritage, and numerous laws related to the marine environment have been passed by the Scottish parliament over the past decade or so.

Marine issues have had a slightly higher political profile in Scotland compared to south of the border, probably because of the large fishing industry, extensive marine natural resources and a large large marine tourism industry. From public surveys, it appears that the Scottish public actually has a reasonably good knowledge about the marine environment and many species within, and is greatly concerned about its conservation (1). With greater budgetary freedom, it’s possible that a fully independent Scottish government may allocate more financial resources to oceans.

Marine Conservation, Inspiration and a Great Big Geek

September 3, 2014September 3, 2014 Chris Parsons 1 Comment

Conservation

From 14-18th August 2014, the 3rd International Marine Conservation Congress was held in Glasgow, Scotland. The IMCC meetings are the largest international academic conferences on marine conservation. IMCC3 had over 700 presentations ranging from fisheries science to how marine scientists could better interact with the media, from Marine Protected Area effectiveness to the ethical treatment … Read More “Marine Conservation, Inspiration and a Great Big Geek” »

Tweets from the Society for Conservation Biology: Marine conservation sessions

July 29, 2013 David Shiffman

Conservation

davesquare

The Society for Conservation Biology’s International Congress for Conservation Biology took place from July 21-25th in Baltimore, MD. Over 1,500 scientists and conservationists from more than 60 countries participated. Below are selected tweets from marine conservation (and related) sessions. Talks are in no particular chronological order.

World Oceans Day #OceanFacts

June 26, 2012 David Shiffman

Science

On World Oceans Day, I asked the online marine science and conservation community to tweet their favorite facts about the ocean using the hashtag #OceanFacts . Dozens of people joined the discussion, and more than 300 #OceanFacts were contributed. These tweets cover a variety of topics, from marine invertebrates, fish, sharks, and marine mammals to facts about the ocean itself and conservation policy. The discussion also inspired a great deal of humorous posts, including an entire spinoff #OceanFibs hashtag. Some of my favorite #OceanFacts tweets are saved in the Storify below.