NOAA – Page 2 – Southern Fried Science

Tear gassing fish, new NOAA chief, and Facebook’s flop – What’s Up With the Oceans this Week?

September 23, 2020September 23, 2020 Andrew Thaler

News

Tear gas is bad for fish. Surprising no one, if you unlawfully unload tons of tear gas into a peaceful crowd of protestors in order to create chaos as a precedent for state violence, that tear gas will eventually find its way into drains and all drains lead to the ocean. And that is bad … Read More “Tear gassing fish, new NOAA chief, and Facebook’s flop – What’s Up With the Oceans this Week?” »

Walrus Attacks, Windships, Wild Oysters, and More! Weekly Salvage: September 30, 2019

September 30, 2019October 13, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

#Sharpiegate, mining the deep sea, electric eels, oil, and more! Weekly Salvage: September 16, 2019

September 16, 2019September 16, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Transcript provided below.

Hagfish nom-nommers, Trample-gramming, boring clams, I’m still in love with these giant isopods, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: April 8, 2019.

April 8, 2019April 8, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Good job, everyone! NOAA Budget Proposal Hits Rough Waters in Congress.
Tool Foundry expands access to science by promoting tools for discovery: Luminary Labs initiative launches four-month accelerator to help inventors bring better scientific tools to more communities

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Cambodia’s endangered river dolphins at highest population in 20 years.

Dick-Shaped, Wood-Munching Clams Are More Diverse Than We Thought, Study Finds.

A wood-boring clam inside a piece of wood
Photo: Jenna Judge

How Miami’s realtors lie to themselves, each other, and you about climate change in America’s largest sinking city: Heaven or High Water: Selling Miami’s last 50 years.
The Video of Giant Isopods Eating an Alligator in the Deep Sea You Must Watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54YezX7HeSI

Commerce Unveils a Budget to Decimate NOAA

March 26, 2019March 26, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Uncategorized

Late yesterday afternoon, the Department of Commerce unveiled its long awaited budget proposal. Designed in large part to free up funding for President Trump’s ill-conceived, wasteful, and wildly unpopular wall on the Southern Border, it includes cuts to NOAA programs so deep that America’s coastal communities and coastal economies will take generations to recover. Read … Read More “Commerce Unveils a Budget to Decimate NOAA” »

Blending smartphones for science, understanding the environmental hazards of 3D printing, flooding the midwest, and ocean news, too! Monday Morning Salvage: March 25, 2019

March 25, 2019March 25, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Your regular reminder that the currently proposed 2020 US budget is a crime against the American People. Call your representatives, especially if you live in MD, LA, or NC.
- U.S. Interior Official Suggests Trump’s Drilling Proposal Will Include Parts of Atlantic.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

The destruction of Beira is a catastrophe on a nearly unimaginable scale. ‘Almost Everything Is Destroyed’: Cyclone Idai Leaves Mozambique’s Fourth-Largest City in Ruins.
It’s Official, This Is the Oldest Known Mariner’s Astrolabe in the World.

The oldest mariner’s astrolabe ever found, decorated with the Portuguese coat of arms. COURTESY DAVID MEARNS

After Two Decades, a Fishy Genetic Mystery Has Been Solved.
A scientist faced down the ultimate cold case: How did two groups of fish separately evolve genes for making antifreeze?

Trump’s 2020 Budget will be a Disaster for America’s Coastal Economies

March 19, 2019March 20, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Uncategorized

Yesterday the Trump Administration unveiled its proposed budget for fiscal year 2020. This budget contains steep cuts research, education, and social services in order to fund the construction of the border wall. Chief among the cuts is an unprecedented reduction in funding for NOAA, which functionally disbands several core research programs within Ocean Services. From A Budget for a Better America:

“The Budget also proposes to eliminate funding for several lower priority NOAA grant and education programs, including Sea Grant, Coastal Zone Management Grants, and the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.”
A Budget for a Better America, page 21

Rumblings on the hill suggest that Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross plans to unveil his own plan to drastically reduce the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and permanently hamstring NOAA in furtherance of the Administration’s goal to find funding to construct a wall on the US southern border.

These cuts include zeroing out the budget for the following agencies and programs:

NOAA SeaGrant
NOAA Coastal Zone Management Program
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
Pacific Salmon Restoration Program
Potentially at least one fisheries laboratory

These cuts would be catastrophic America’s Coastal Communities and Economies, especially in places like North Carolina, Maryland, and Louisiana.

Eat hagfish, work at LUMCON, clone Vaquita, question floating trash collectors, and more! Monday Morning Mega-Salvage: August 13, 2018

August 13, 2018August 12, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

It’s time for Africosh! The annual Africa Open Science and Hardware Summit Heads is in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania this year!
LUMCON is hiring! They’re looking for two exceptional coastal and marine science faculty hires in any discipline. And they have the best “come work for us” video!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Hakai Magazine is my jam this month.
- How an Epidemic Exposed the Ecological Importance of Sea Stars: The near eradication of British Columbia’s sea stars demonstrated the dynamic role they play in regulating kelp forests.
- How to Dismantle a Blue Whale: In Chile, a team of volunteers confronts stench and gore to ensure a new life for a dead whale. [Warning: Link contains graphic pictures of whale evisceration]
I’ve been following this project for almost 2 years. Awesome to see how far they’ve come. NinjaPCR is a WiFi enabled, Opensource DNA Amplifier and Thermocycler for Polymerase Chain Reaction developed by 2 hackers in Tokyo.
Plastic wrap made from shellfish and plants is completely compostable.

Hagfish (just Hagfish)

Yes, people do eat hagfish. Yum! Snake-like creature writhes, squirms on grill.

Hagfish are the emissaries of love, not war. Stop it. Synthetic ‘Slime’ To Help US Navy Trap Enemy Ships.

Gently jelly-nabbing bots, deep-coral under threat, albino stingrays, #JacquesWeek, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 23, 2018

July 23, 2018July 22, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

All Hands on Deck! You’re got one week left to apply to join the MIT Media Lab and NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research for this year’s National Ocean Exploration Forum as an Ocean Discovery Fellow!
Jacques Week 2018 is here!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

What just happened? Everyone is going wild for the deep-sea fish attack video.

A gentle jellyfish-grabbing claw for collecting squishies without squishing them!

The Levee (A featured project that emerged from Oceandotcomm)

Stitching Hope for the Coast – communicating coastal optimism for Louisiana. Deadline for submissions has been extended to October!

Hacking Extinction, fishing for hagfish, itchy crabs, clam cavalcades, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: June 4, 2018

June 4, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Hacking extinction. Conservation X Labs is looking for bold ideas for technological solutions to conservation challenges. Up to $90,000 in grant awards to bring your prototype to life! Applications open until June 30.
NOAA is looking for Science Communication specialists! Job call is open until June 7.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

These clams.

Project Azorian: The story of the Hughes Glomar Explorer. Straight from the CIA to you, some details redacted. Still one of the wildest and weirdest ocean stories in the history of the United States.
The Alongside Wildlife Foundation has awarded its first set of grants! What a great group of people and projects.
This crab has an itch that it just can’t scratch.