Norway pushes pause on plans to mine the deep sea.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
News, Policy

Early this year, the Norwegian parliament approved a bill to open up 300,000 square kilometers of it’s exclusive economic zone to companies exploring the potential for deep-sea mining for  lithium, scandium, cobalt, and other critical minerals. It was a bill allowing the issuing of exploration permits, an important first step towards the commercialization of deep-sea … Read More “Norway pushes pause on plans to mine the deep sea.” »

My “Follow ocean science and conservation experts on Bluesky and Instagram” assignment

Posted on By David Shiffman
Conservation, Education, Science

As an informal learning assignment, I have my students use social media to follow ocean science and conservation experts for the semester. Each week, they’re asked to check social media for a few minutes, and report on something interesting they learned about marine science or conservation (and why they thought it was interesting.) I’m sharing … Read More “My “Follow ocean science and conservation experts on Bluesky and Instagram” assignment” »

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

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
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.” »

Project 2025, chicken coops, seabed mining, and the classics: 3 Months of readership stats for Southern Fried Science

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Blogging

It’s been three months since we posted our last traffic update. I’ve been prepping or traveling since August running OpenCTD workshops and the rest of the team is likewise busy with research, outreach, and policy work. We’ve been quiet, only publishing 12 articles in the last quarter and the traffic reflects that. Traffic is down … Read More “Project 2025, chicken coops, seabed mining, and the classics: 3 Months of readership stats for Southern Fried Science” »

Trump’s Project 2025 and a surprising outbreak of whalepox: this month on the podcasts.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Conservation, Policy

Late last month, I joined Andrew Kornblatt and Francis Farabaugh on Ocean Science Radio to talk about Donald Trump’s Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project, how it will effect ocean policy, and why the particular nastiness with which Project 2025 goes after NOAA is proof-positive that, no matter how hard they try and deny it, Project 2025 … Read More “Trump’s Project 2025 and a surprising outbreak of whalepox: this month on the podcasts.” »

Giant tube worms dwell in the deep places beneath the ocean floor.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Featured, Science

Giant deep-sea tube worms. When the RV Knorr arrived above Galapagos Rift in 1977, a team of geologists, geochemists, and geophysicist, including Robert Ballard who would go on to locate the wreck of the Titanic among other ocean-shaping discoveries) was prepared to witness something never before seen: a geyser of superheated, chemical rich water erupting … Read More “Giant tube worms dwell in the deep places beneath the ocean floor.” »

6 Ways to Support the America the Beautiful for All Coalition

Posted on By Angelo Villagomez
Conservation, Featured, Policy

The membership of the America the Beautiful for All coalition stretches from the Marianas to Maine, Alaska to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  We are the largest, most diverse coalition of its kind to ever exist in the United States. Last week, 170+ conservation, climate change, and community leaders from across the United States … Read More “6 Ways to Support the America the Beautiful for All Coalition” »

The story of the pride flag made from NASA imagery: Bluesky’s most-liked image

Posted on By David Shiffman
Science

Last June, a striking image of a pride flag made up of NASA imagery became the most-liked post on the new social media network Bluesky, a post it held for 2 months. I spoke with its creator Rachel Lense about how it was made, and what it’s reception means for inclusion in science. This image … Read More “The story of the pride flag made from NASA imagery: Bluesky’s most-liked image” »