Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online
I’m on my way to the 2nd International Marine Conservation Congress in Victoria, British Columbia. This gathering, organized by the Society for Conservation Biology, brings together leading scientists and conservationists from around the world.
Read More “Off to the International Marine Conservation Congress!” »
Several months ago, still photographs showing an injured great white shark surfaced. The shark in question was previously captured by a shark research team lead by Dr. Michael Domeier on the TV show “Shark Men” – and the capture of this shark didn’t go as planned. These still images were taken from a video, and in response to the ensuing controversy, Dr. Domeier’s team claimed that when the full video is viewed, you can see that the injury comes from another shark and not from capture injury. No clear sharkbite injuries are visible in the original still image.
I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for the full video, which had been in the possession of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries pending an investigation.
Here, for the first time available to the public, is the full video from which the above images were taken.
Read More “Full video of injured shark shows numerous natural injuries” »
Ted Danson (yes, that Ted Danson) isn’t your typical ocean activist. Though he is best known as the bartender on Cheers, he has been actively involved in marine conservation issues for more than 25 years. While living in California to work on Cheers, he took a walk on the beach with his daughters. When they came across a sign that read “water polluted, no swimming”, he didn’t know how to explain to his disappointed children what was wrong with the ocean. He decided to learn more, began to work with local scientists and conservationists, and eventually co-founded the American Oceans Campaign (one of the founding members of Oceana) Danson’s decades of knowledge of and passion for the oceans are clear in his new book, “Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans And What We Can Do to Save Them”.
This 2011 Beneath the Waves Film Festival entry comes from Kathleen Frith of Harvard Medical School. It tells the story of a spell that has been cast on the world to make us forget the ocean, and a little girl who tries to remember.
This 2011 Beneath the Waves Film Festival entry comes from University of Southern California student Jennah Caster. It asks a simple but important question, what’s up with our oceans, and attempts to answer it. If you have a question for the filmmaker, please leave it as a comment and I’ll make sure she gets it. … Read More “Beneath the Waves Film Festival: What’s Up With Our Oceans?” »
This 2011 Beneath the Waves Film Festival entry comes from UK filmmaker Simon Spear of “View From the Blue”. Porbeagles in Peril explains the plight of the porbeagle shark, a relative of the great white, in UK waters.
This 2011 Beneath the Waves Film Festival entry comes from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Shifting Gears tells the story of longlining in the Gulf of Mexico. If you have a question for the filmmakers, please leave it as a comment below and I’ll make sure they get it.
As the second week of Science and Sustainability Month comes to a close, I’d like to congratulate Rebecca Nesbit for writing the latest comment of the week. “It makes it so much harder for consumers when there aren’t simple solutions like ‘local is better’. What I would love to see is better labeling. Just as … Read More “Science and Sustainability Comment of the Week” »
This 2011 Beneath the Waves Film Festival entry comes from Paul Hillman at NOAA. What Do Marine Mammals Eat? is part of the Microworlds series, which focuses on NOAA scientists interacting with public school students.
Successfully switching the global economy from oil and coal based energy to clean energy is one of the major goals of the modern environmental movement. No single idea will accomplish this -to succeed, we’re going to need a combination of technologies.
Many proposed solutions involve a trade-off. Reasonable people can disagree over whether the environmental benefits of wind turbines or nuclear power plants outweigh the risks, for example. Every once in a while, however, a completely ridiculous idea comes along.
Read More “How not to save the environment: sharks as biofuel” »