starfish | Southern Fried Science

Deep-sea gator falls covered in isopods, more struggles for the Ocean Cleanup, a robot lost in the cold (but not the one you’re thinking of), and more! Monday Morning Salvage: February 18, 2019

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Andrew Thaler

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

What do you do if you find yourself at the helm of a major Louisiana marine science institution? If you’re Dr. Craig McClain, you plant the first experimental Alligator falls in the deep Gulf of Mexico!

Photos courtesy Dr. Craig McClain via Deep Sea News.

On the other hand, if you find yourself at the helm of a US Navy destroyer, you might want to review this incredible and exhaustive accounting of the USS Fitzgerald disaster and how training deficits, exhaustion, and poor decision making compounded to create a deadly situation.

Mud volcanoes, starfish wasting, the stinkiest fruit, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: February 4, 2019.

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Andrew Thaler

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Scientists demand military sonar ban to end mass whale strandings.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Mud volcanoes, the baby cousins for hydrothermal vents and methane seeps, don’t get nearly as much attention as they deserve. There she blows! Mud volcanoes in the Mediterranean.

Underwater mud volcanoes in the Flower Garden National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico. Escaping gas can be seen rising from the mud volcano. PC: Sea Research Foundation (SRF) and the Ocean Exploration Trust (OET).

Starfish wasting disease continues to plague the Pacific: A Starfish-Killing Disease Is Remaking the Oceans.

Two photos of the same rock, 20 days apart (Neil McDaniel)

The real deep reefs of South Carolina, dolphin chatter, autonomous starfish killing robots, an exciting submarine discovery, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 3, 2018

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Andrew Thaler

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Robots versus Aliens is my favorite genre of conservation technology. Sea-Star Murdering Robots Are Deployed in the Great Barrier Reef.

Fish Bombardment is my other. Video: Utah Officials Restock Remote Lakes by Plane.

The Gam (conversations from the ocean-podcasting world)

Speak Up for the Blue with two great recent episodes.

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

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Andrew Thaler

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.

Hurricane Irma, the Manatee Sheriff, climate change, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 11, 2017

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Andrew Thaler

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

One week left! The OpenCTD and Oceanography for Everyone has been selected as a finalist in National Geographic’s Chasing Genius Challenge! Please help me win the People’s Choice award by voting for the OpenCTD. Visit http://www.natgeochasinggenius.com/video/776, create or sign into your Chasing Genius account, and click the yellow star to vote on my video. You can vote once per day until September 15.
“Everyone is homeless. We can’t help each other because everyone needs help.” Ayana Johnson is working to raise funds (and the Waitt Foundation is matching donations, to help the people of Barbuda, where almost every structure on the island was leveled.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Yes, I would like to pet a giant isopod, thank you.

We have a new expedition planned to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Join us: Marine Ecology and Underwater Robotics in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The Manatee Sheriff sends Manatee officers to rescue stranded manatees in Manatee County.

Fun Science FRIEDay – Death Star

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Kersey Sturdivant

Happy Fun Science FRIEDay!

While Ebola wreaks havoc on Homo sapiens in the terrestrial world, there has been an even more virulent disease causing the destruction of a marine animal, the sea star. Today we talk about this deadly condition impacting sea star populations and the recent discovery of just what is causing this affliction.

Royal starfish (Astropecten articulatus) on the beach.
(Photo credit: TheMargue – http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-2884079538)