pollution – Southern Fried Science

Orca protection and vanishing Arctic lakes: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, December 20th, 2018

December 20, 2018December 20, 2018 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow YouTube science communicator Kurtis Baute on twitter! Ottawa designates two new areas as critical habitat for killer whales in B.C. waters. CHEK news. Spoils (long reads and deep dives): Arctic lakes are vanishing by the hundreds. By Chelsea Harvey, for Scientific American. Even fish get the bends. By Anna Saleh, … Read More “Orca protection and vanishing Arctic lakes: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, December 20th, 2018” »

Pirates, conch, and surfing scientists: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, July 19th, 2018

July 19, 2018 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow Erin Meyer, the director of conservation programs for the Seattle Aquarium, on twitter! Piracy Incident Reported in First Half of 2018 at Lowest Level in 10 Years. From GCaptain news alerts. She said she didn’t know it was illegal to take conchs. She’s heading to jail anyway. By Gwen Filosa, for … Read More “Pirates, conch, and surfing scientists: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, July 19th, 2018” »

Plastic Free Fish, Chainsaw Lobsters, and Artificial Horseshoe Crab Blood: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, May 17th 2018

May 17, 2018May 17, 2018 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow the Pacific salmon network on twitter! Looking for plastic free fish? Here’s one to put on the menu! By Maggie Gillis, for CBC news Scientists find new deep sea species off Java. BBC slideshow. Unexpected walruses crowd Alaska beach. By the Associated Press. The bigger the mother fish, the more babies … Read More “Plastic Free Fish, Chainsaw Lobsters, and Artificial Horseshoe Crab Blood: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, May 17th 2018” »

Snot Bots for whale health, critical dolphins, lobster considerations, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: January 15, 2018.

January 15, 2018January 19, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Uncategorized, Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

2018 is almost certainly going to be a record year for FOIA requests. Learn how to do them right and get results thanks to Pro Publica: I’ve Sent Out 1,018 Open Records Requests, and This Is What I’ve Learned.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Dr. Michelle LaRue is off to Antarctica and you can follow along through the magic of Twitter. #AccioAntarctica!

The Cinematic Legacy of Jacques Cousteau: The man, the myth, the legend, and his persistent influence on screen.
Lake Michigan’s Latest Ice Ball Outbreak Was Incredible. Earther has the best GIF game in town.

Ice balls and slush waves. — Paul May via Storyful.

Mermaids do not exist, and five other important things people should, but do not, know about the ocean

June 5, 2012September 2, 2013 David Shiffman 12 Comments

Science

MermenLubok — Mermaids depicted by a Russian folk artist. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons via New York Public Library

Last week, Animal Planet aired a fictional mockumentary about mermaids. From an educational perspective, it was a disaster that was rightfully described as “the rotting carcass of science television” by Brian Switek. As Dr. M on Deep Sea News pointed out, one of the troubling results of this TV special was the discovery that some people believe that mermaids are real.

When I pointed out on Facebook and twitter that mermaids do not exist and that I hoped none of my friends believe otherwise, it inspired a long and interesting discussion. Someone asked why it matters if people believe in mermaids, as they felt that a sense of whimsy among the public is a good thing. Someone pointed out that scientists are discovering amazing new species all the time. More than a few people said “anything is possible.”

Sure, scientists discover new species all the time, but while finding a new species of monkey, orchid, or jellyfish can be interesting, it is not proof that “anything is possible” and it is not the same thing as finding a species of talking, thinking humanoids with fish tails on the lower half of their bodies. There’s a big and important difference between enjoying fantasy novels and wishing that certain fantastical creatures exist (i.e. having a sense of whimsy) and genuinely believing that those creatures really do exist.

These people don’t believe that in the vast and unexplored ocean, there may be some bizarre undiscovered species still out there. They believe that talking, thinking humanoids with fish tails on the lower half of their bodies exist and are acknowledged as existing by the scientific community. This displays a troubling lack of awareness of reality that likely is not limited to a belief in mermaids. For the benefit of those who have paid so little attention to what’s going on in the real world that they believe mermaids exist, here are five other things that you should, but likely do not, know about the oceans.

Chemistry of the Great Big Blue: Sedimentation

September 21, 2010September 21, 2010 Bluegrass Blue Crab

Science

MISR_Mid_Atlantic — Sedimentation in the Chesapeake - look at the brown toward the headwaters. Found at nasa.gov

Rocks erode, travel down rivers and eventually in the form of small particles, settle in river deltas and estuaries. Even smaller pieces can be carried hundreds of miles into the ocean. It’s all part of the natural process of sedimentation, but like many other natural cycles, this one has been hijacked by human activities. Development, agriculture, channelization of streams, damming and many other practices change the natural course of sediment in the coastal oceans more than the ecosystem can handle.

These changes can either be a drastic increase in sediment runoff from upstream sources or a complete deprivation of naturally occurring deltas. In addition, many pollutants cling to these sediment particles so that changing the location of the sediment also shifts the location of pollution.