Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

• The time to save the EPA is now! The EPA is seeking public input on the new administrations approach to environmental regulations. They are required to seek public input. They are required to respond to public input. Go tell them how you feel. Public comments close May 15. Here’s the docket with instructions on how to comment: Evaluation of Existing Regulations. We’ve even prepared a script for you.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

•  On a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic, a terraforming project a century-and-a-half in the making is underway. A 150-year-old experiment on the remote Ascension Island may help us green Mars. Can it also help us save Earth?

• It also happens to be longtime friend of Southern Fried Science Clare Fieseler’s first major story for National Geographic, so go follow her on twitter.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

• Women have a crucial—yet often overlooked—role in fisheries. The Invisible Fishing Fleet by Ilima Loomis at Hakai Magazine.
• “What do you do when you’re a graduate student and you’ve been sexually assaulted by the PI of a very exciting paleoanthropological site?” An incredibly powerful piece by Holly Dunsworth: In case this helps you: This happened to me while I was trying to become a paleoanthropologist.
• The general theme of this site appears to be ‘humans are terrible, robots are awesome’. Staying on brand: In a first, deep sea robots get a close look at giant larvaceans, a key player in the biological carbon pump.
• Deep-sea mining is really heating up. Locals threaten armed campaign against PNG seabed mine.
• In the Pacific Northwest, the diligence of citizen scientists is shedding light on the lives, and deaths, of seabirds. Drawing Meaning from Death, One Seabird at a Time by Larry Pynn at Hakai.
• This is a pretty great demonstration of how statistics can be used to mislead: Generating Datasets with Varied Appearance and Identical Statistics through Simulated Annealing.

• Global sea level is rising faster now than it was in the 1990s: Sea level rise is on the rise.
• Ocean explorers find “Forests” of coral near Cook Islands.
• There’s Probably Plastic in Your Sea Salt. Side note: there’s probably plastic in everything else, too.
• Motherboard’s series on nuclear power is impressive: The Plan to Build a Million-Year Nuclear Waste Dump on the Great Lakes. It doesn’t hurt that this series also have the best implementation of VR/360 reporting that I’ve ever encountered.

• Seven Chinese Vessels Detained Off West Africa for Illegal Fishing.
• Juvenile fish exposed to a common environmental toxicant show signs of anxiety. Damn, that’s a lot of Hakai Magazine pieces this week. Those folks are on a hot streak with no sign of ending anytime soon.

Lagan (what we’re reading from the peer-reviewed literature)

• Harper and friends (2017) Contributions by Women to Fisheries Economies: Insights from Five Maritime Countries. DOI: 10.1080/08920753.2017.1278143.
• Lucas and friends (2017) A view of the global conservation job market and how to succeed in it. DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12949.
• Gill and friends (2017) Capacity shortfalls hinder the performance of marine protected areas globally. DOI: 10.1038/nature21708.
• Allen and friends (2017) Dramatic Fighting by Male Cuttlefish for a Female Mate. DOI: 10.1086/692009.
• Engel and friends (2017) Mussel beds are biological power stations on intertidal flats. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2017.04.003

Driftwood (what we’re reading on dead trees)

• Aquaman turns 75 this year! Celebrate by reliving some of his finest moments from the Gold, Silver, and Modern Age of comics. Aquaman: A Celebration of 75 Years by a whole bunch of great people.

Derelicts (favorites from the deep archive)

• The Trouble with Teacup Pigs.
• Angler gives up world record to release massive shark alive.
• Here’s how you can tell that the “shark” photobombing kids is actually a dolphin.
• Did monster hunters find a 120 meter long giant squid on google maps?

Feel free to share your own Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan, Driftwood, and Derelicts in the comments below. And, of as always, if you enjoy Southern Fried Science, consider contributing to my Patreon campaign to help us keep the servers humming.