shark week – Southern Fried Science

An extremely active hurricane season, collapsing ice sheets, massive oil spills, and sexual harassment in shark science – What’s up with the Ocean this week?

August 12, 2020August 11, 2020 Andrew Thaler

News

August 12, 2020 Buckle up and bunker down. NOAA has upgraded its predictions for the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season to Extremely Active. We enter peak hurricane months without the buffer of a protection dust cloud swirling out of the Sahara, a reminder that climate systems on this planet are profoundly interconnected. We may see up … Read More “An extremely active hurricane season, collapsing ice sheets, massive oil spills, and sexual harassment in shark science – What’s up with the Ocean this week?” »

Shark Week 2019 reviews and thoughts

December 24, 2019December 24, 2019 David Shiffman

Popular Culture, Reviews and Interviews, Science

I wasn’t able to watch live this year, but I DVR-ed all 18 specials and watched them eventually! Here are my reviews, ratings, and thoughts. I did not watch the feature-length movie, which they claim is the first fictional entertainment content they’ve ever produced… causing me to stare in megalodon. Overall, this was not a strong year for science, facts, or diversity (of either sharks or shark researchers).

As a reminder, I grade on the following aspects of a show: is there actual science or natural history educational content / is there made up nonsense, are actual credentialed experts with relevant expertise featured or are they self-proclaimed “shark experts” who say wrong nonsense all the time, what species are featured (with bonus points for species we rarely or never see), and do they feature diverse experts or just the same white men (reminder: my field is more than 50% women)? It’s not a perfect rubric, but it’s better than this actual system for ranking shark news introduced this year in “sharks gone wild 2:”

Rankings appear in no particular order, if you care about the order the shows actually aired in please see this Discovery press release.

Shark Week 2018 overall thoughts and episode reviews

August 15, 2018 David Shiffman

Popular Culture, Science

The 30th anniversary of Shark Week was the biggest ever, with 22 episodes. It was, as usual, a bit of a mixed bag, though nothing was anywhere near as bad as the bad old days of Megalodon, and there was some pretty good stuff. As has become tradition here at Southern Fried Science, here are some overall thoughts on this year’s Shark Week, as well as reviews for each episode (not counting the clip shows, which I didn’t watch- even I have limits).

Overall thoughts:

I heard more references to shark conservation this year, though almost exclusively offhand references to how the Bahamas is a Shark Sanctuary (there was one mention of shark fin trade bans in the Shark Tank show).
There were more women scientists and non-white scientists than I can remember, but still some major issues with diversity of scientists. (The white male scientists were still treated differently, including being given their full titles, and in one case a white male with a Masters was called Dr. while a woman with a Ph.D. was not called Dr.).
22 shows is too many shows. I may be the only one in the world who actually tried to watch them all and I had to skip the clip shows because even I have limits.

Rather than organizing episode reviews in chronological order or air date, this year I’m going to organize them by theme.

Gregarious gars, surprising crocs, mustachioed monkeys, ocean wilderness, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 30, 2018

July 30, 2018July 29, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Logo for Monday Morning Salvage.

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Completely shameless Patreon Plug! Today marks the 1-year anniversary of our Jaunty Ocean Critter Stickers campaign. We’re going to continue making new red-capped sticker until the end of the year, then the theme will change! Sign up now if you want to support Southern Fried Science and get a very Gregarious Gar!

A gar wearing a red cap.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Did you see marine biologist Melissa Cristina Márquez on Shark Week this week? Read more about her experience here: Marine Biologist Melissa Cristina Márquez Was Bitten and Dragged by a Crocodile…and Lived to Tell Her Story. And, of course, follow her on Twitter.

marine biologist Melissa Cristina Márquez — Marine biologist Melissa Cristina Márquez

The Gam (conversations from the ocean-podcasting world)

I swung by the Speak Up for the Blue Podcast to celebrate their 500th episode with a reflection on 10 years of online ocean outreach.

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!

Science as graphic novel, baby eels, anglerfish emoji, drone ocean rescue, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: January 22, 2018.

January 22, 2018January 21, 2018 Andrew Thaler 1 Comment

Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

The US Government is shut down. This is not great news for science (at the moment, my project to train ROV technicians and deliver 5 – 10 observation-class underwater robots to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is on hold pending resolution). Call you congressperson and give them an earful. Call you senator and give them an earful.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Women Writing About the Wild: 25 Essential Authors: A primer on who to start reading and who you’ve been overlooking for too long.

This paper: Managing marine socio-ecological systems: picturing the future, which, holy mola, is written in graphic novel format!

Managing marine socio-ecological systems: picturing the future.

Save our Marine Monuments, replace confederates with ocean animals, worlds of plastic, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: July 31, 2017

July 31, 2017July 30, 2017 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

The deadline for comments on Marine National Monuments and National Marine Sanctuaries has been extended due to overwhelming responses. You now have until August 14, 2017 to leave a comment.
Scientists, researchers, explorers, and conservationists with particular ties to the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument can sign on the this letter co-authored by me, James Cameron, and numerous researchers who’s worked has benefited from the Mariana Trench.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

A new generation of robots is set to explore marine mysteries around the world. 5 Ways Underwater Drones Are Helping Citizens Save the Ocean. And check out this very short Wired piece on OpenROV Trident!
Earlier this week, Snooty, the world’s oldest living captive manatee died tragically. Now residents of Manatee County want to replace a Confederate statue with a statue of their beloved manatee. How can you say no to this face?

Personally, I am 100% behind replacing all Confederate statues with beloved ocean animals. H/T Aaron Mannes.

How to spot a scam shark documentary producer

July 24, 2017 Michelle Jewell

Popular Culture

Many aspects of science-ing are not explicitly taught, and scientists become accustomed to mastering the deep end. While this tactic can make you stronger, there are situations where the deep end is a vulnerable place where nasty critters are very happy to take advantage.

One such area? How to handle being contacted by “producers.” In my experience, for every 1 exceptional producer you speak with, you will be contacted by at least 4 scammers. Scam producers will particularly target naïve early-career scientists, just like white sharks and seal pups. In light of this week, I’ve put together a guide to aid YOY scientists rising in the ranks of popularity and make the deep end a little safer. Here are 13 ways to spot scam shark documentary producers, with a few 🚩🚩:

It’s #JacquesWeek! Also, lots of other ocean things happened last week. Monday Morning Salvage: July 24, 2017

July 24, 2017 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

#JacquesWeek! It’s Jacques Week! Join us all week long as we watch and discuss classic Cousteau documentaries.

This incredible interactive map of deep-sea mining sites, associated ecosystems, and the threats they face, from the Royal Society. And, while we’re on the topic of Deep-sea Mining, I am Wilderness just launched the DSM Observer to track all the latest developments in deep-sea mining.
A whale making a rainbow. Share the love.

Ocean Outreach in an Evolving Online Ecosystem: Transforming the Narrative

August 10, 2016August 11, 2016 Andrew Thaler

Blogging, Conservation

This is the transcript of the keynote I delivered at the Fourth International Marine Conservation Congress in St. John’s, Newfoundland. It has been lightly modified for flow.

Read Act I: Science is Storytelling.

In Act I I discussed the underlying structure that frames narrative storytelling, but now I want to talk about how we can use the tools available to us on the internet to transform that narrative into something even more potent.

But before we can do that I have to tilt at some windmills.

When we talk about good outreach, we often look to people like Neil deGrasse Tyson, like Bill Nye, like David Attenborough, and like Carl Sagan. These are the paragons of scientific outreach, the icons that we often hold up as examples for what constitutes good outreach. We talk about things like Cosmos, both Sagan’s and deGrasse Tyson’s, Bill Nye the Science Guy and his more recent work combating climate change, or David Attenborough and his astounding Nature Documentaries.