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Tag: sea turtles

This Rum Protects the Ocean: the world’s first conservation distillery is open for business.

Posted on November 15, 2024November 15, 2024 By Andrew Thaler
This Rum Protects the Ocean: the world’s first conservation distillery is open for business.
Conservation, Featured

Five years ago, a small team of ocean scientists, conservationists, sea turtle patrollers, and distillers came up with a radical idea to create a sustainable, long-term funding model for Dominica’s Sea Turtle Conservation Organization and Ocean’s Forward. From dozens of meetings, market analyses, and viability assessments, the Rosalie Bay Distillery was born. The distillery would … Read More “This Rum Protects the Ocean: the world’s first conservation distillery is open for business.” »

I built a horrifying cyborg sea turtle hatchling so you can learn a little bit about behavioral ecology

Posted on April 22, 2021April 22, 2021 By Andrew Thaler
I built a horrifying cyborg sea turtle hatchling so you can learn a little bit about behavioral ecology
Science

Sea turtles, in case you didn’t know, are pretty great. These giant marine reptiles have been chilling out in the ocean for over 100 million years, largely unchanged. But their evolutionary foray onto land along with the rest of the tetrapods (a move largely regarded as a mistake by most extant species) left them with one one critical vulnerability: they have to return to land to lay their eggs, and their hatchlings must survive a grueling march to the sea within minutes of emerging into the world.

To find their way back to the sea, sea turtle hatchlings emerge from their nests in the darkness and track light cues on the horizon, tracking the glow of starlight on waves. This becomes a huge problem when the beach is littered with the pollution of artificial lights, leading hatchlings away from the sea and towards streets, resorts, and beachfront bars. Light pollution is such a serious problem for sea turtle survival, that many municipalities which host turtle nesting beaches ban the use of superfluous lighting during nesting season. 

Protecting sea turtle nests and nesting sea turtles, particularly the massive, primordial leatherback sea turtle, is a core mission of the Dominica Sea Turtle Conservation Organization (DomSetCO). Leatherbacks are exceptionally sensitive to light. On the top of their heads is a translucent patch of skin directly above the pineal gland. This window to the turtle’s brain serves as a rudimentary third eye which can sense how light changes.

You can help support DomSetCO by donating to our campaign to build the Rosalie Conservation Center, a hybrid rum distillery, fish hatchery, and conservation center in Dominica. Drink rum, save turtles. 

Read More “I built a horrifying cyborg sea turtle hatchling so you can learn a little bit about behavioral ecology” »

“We’re in the midst of a sea change in who has access to the core tools of marine scientific research,” Weekly Salvage: November 11, 2019

Posted on November 11, 2019November 11, 2019 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Transcript available below.

Read More ““We’re in the midst of a sea change in who has access to the core tools of marine scientific research,” Weekly Salvage: November 11, 2019″ »

Chesapeake Requiem, the Black Friday for Climate Change, whale earwax, killing the GRE, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: November 26, 2018

Posted on November 26, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

  • Friend of the blog and submarine legend Erika Bergman is leading an expedition to Belize’s Blue Hole! Follow along as she maps this unique ocean feature: Belize Blue Hole 2018. Some dudes are tagging along, too.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • The Fourth National Climate Assessment is out and it is grim.

Climate change affects the natural, built, and social systems we rely on individually and through their connections to one another. These interconnected systems are increasingly vulnerable to cascading impacts that are often difficult to predict, threatening essential services within and beyond the Nation’s borders.

  • Meanwhile: The Trump Administration’s Attempt to Bury a New Climate Report on Black Friday Totally Backfired.
  • Government Climate Report Lays Out How Screwed We Are If We Don’t Act Now.

The Gam (conversations from the ocean-podcasting world)

  • Speak Up for the Blue on art and the ocean.

Read More “Chesapeake Requiem, the Black Friday for Climate Change, whale earwax, killing the GRE, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: November 26, 2018” »

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” »

2 minutes to midnight, 3D printed turtle eggs, awkward fiddlers, Egyptian welders, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: January 29, 2018.

Posted on January 29, 2018January 29, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • Good morning. The time is now 2 minutes to mid-night. Doomsday Has Never Been Closer. Good luck.

Despite the fact that we live in extremely dangerous times, the scientists in charge of the clock said there is hope. The clock has been wound backwards before, in the wake of the Cold War or during times when nuclear superpowers expressed interest in not mutually assuring destruction.

The scientists argue that civil society should turn the screws on government to reduce carbon emissions and push for even more ambitious climate action than what the Paris Agreement calls for. That sounds like a more fruitful plan than huddling in a bunker.

Source.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Some technology is pretty good, though: Cracking down on poaching with 3D-printed fake turtle eggs

Read More “2 minutes to midnight, 3D printed turtle eggs, awkward fiddlers, Egyptian welders, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: January 29, 2018.” »

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

Posted on January 15, 2018January 19, 2018 By 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!

Screen cap of linked tweet.

  • 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.

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

Jellyfish sleep, shark-sucking bots, mole crab parasites, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 25, 2017

Posted on September 25, 2017September 25, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • The fight for our Marine National Monuments isn’t over. We now know of the contents of Zincke’s monument review memo, and it is not good. The DOI wants to see commercial fishing return to the Pacific Remote Islands and Rose Atoll Marine National Monuments. Longline fishing in these regions has historically been conducted by foreign fishing fleets which have been documented using slave labor. Many ecologists believe that maintaining these protected zones serve as a refuge that boost populations of many important commercial fish and improve the overall health of the fishery. Any change to monuments created under the Antiquities Act must be approved by congress. You’ve got a lot of reason to call you representatives this week, so why not add “I opposed the reintroduction of ecologically and economically destructive commercial fishing to the Pacific Remote Islands and Rose Atoll Marine National Monument.” to your script?

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Jellyfish sleep. Mind. Blown.
  • Our Pacific Monuments are also extremely important scientific sites. Commercial fishing could jeopardize decades of research efforts in the remote Pacific. Scientists pan proposal to open pristine Pacific islands to fishing.

Palmyra Atoll. Erik Oberg/Island Conservation/Flickr

Read More “Jellyfish sleep, shark-sucking bots, mole crab parasites, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 25, 2017” »

Cuttlefish camouflage, climate change, ShellBorgs, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: June 19, 2017.

Posted on June 19, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • This cuttlefish:

  • Thanks to Nik Hubbard for bringing it to our attention.

Read More “Cuttlefish camouflage, climate change, ShellBorgs, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: June 19, 2017.” »

Thursday Afternoon Dredging: February 16th, 2017

Posted on February 16, 2017February 16, 2017 By David Shiffman
Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet):

Logo by Ethan Kocak

  • Watch cownose rays migrate past Destin, Florida, filmed by a parasailer

  • Follow Abby Lawson, a Ph.D. candidate researching alligators, on twitter!
  • Debunking myths about ocean garbage patches. From the NOAA restoration blog
  • What does BREXIT mean for UK fishing rights? By Daniel Boffey, for the Guardian

Read More “Thursday Afternoon Dredging: February 16th, 2017” »

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