Hagfish nom-nommers, Trample-gramming, boring clams, I’m still in love with these giant isopods, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: April 8, 2019.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

A wood-boring clam inside a piece of wood
Photo: Jenna Judge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54YezX7HeSI

Read More “Hagfish nom-nommers, Trample-gramming, boring clams, I’m still in love with these giant isopods, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: April 8, 2019.” »

Research expedition: what ever happened to the world’s first certified sustainable shark fishery?

Posted on By David Shiffman 2 Comments on Research expedition: what ever happened to the world’s first certified sustainable shark fishery?
Conservation, Science

My Postdoctoral research has focused on understanding the causes and consequences of public misunderstanding about shark fisheries management. While scientists overwhelmingly support sustainable fisheries management as a solution to shark overfishing, many concerned citizens and conservation activists prefer total bans on all shark fishing and trade. Some go so far as to (wrongly) claim that sustainable shark fisheries cannot exist even in theory and do not exist in practice anywhere in the world, and that bans are the only possible solution.

There’s an important piece of data that very rarely makes it into these discussions. Amidst the ongoing discussions about whether or not sustainable shark fisheries are even possible, one right in my backyard became the first shark fishery anywhere in the world to be certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.

However, a few years after BC’s spiny dogfish fishery got certified, the certification was quietly withdrawn. I couldn’t find any information in the MSC reports, or in associated scientific literature or government reports, that explained what happened to this fishery, which was thriving until recently. No scientists, managers, or conservation advocates who I asked about this knew exactly what happened to BC’s spiny dogfish fishery.

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At last, a $200 3D Printer that might actually hold up to a field season. The Creality Ender-3 (review).

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Reviews and Interviews

[NOTE: Please see our update regarding this printer: Finding the best dirt-cheap, field-tough 3D printer for science and conservation work: six months later.]

Somewhere between the Prusa printers with their paired z-axis motors and the cantilever systems with a gantry arm spanning the x- or y-axis with only a single point of support, lies printers like the Creality Ender-3. Where a more conventional 3D printer uses rails and linear bearings to drive the axes, these printers forgo the standard model.

You won’t find a single linear bearing on the Creality Ender-3 or it’s clones. Instead, rubber rollers pass through v-slot grooves in extruded aluminum, removing the need for complex gantry systems.

This is an incredibly robust method for cutting costs, but it is not a compromise. Roller and v-slot printers can be just as precise as their rail and bearing counterparts, and the mandated all aluminum construction makes them strong and durable.

Creality Ender-3. Photo by Author.

For a general-use field-ready 3D printer, you could not do much better than the Creality Ender-3.

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Deep-sea gator bait, a mining company’s continued decline, why are there so many Garfield phones on French beaches, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: April 1, 2019.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Each giant isopod is around the size of a football. LOUISIANA UNIVERSITIES MARINE CONSORTIUM

Read More “Deep-sea gator bait, a mining company’s continued decline, why are there so many Garfield phones on French beaches, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: April 1, 2019.” »

New paper: feeding ecology of South Florida sharks

Posted on By David Shiffman
Uncategorized

We have a new paper out today in the journal Aquatic Ecology! Read it here, open access copy here. This is the last paper from my Ph.D. dissertation, and coauthors include my Ph.D. advisor Dr. Neil Hammerschlag, Ph.D. committee member Dr. Mike Heithaus, and colleague Dr. Les Kaufman. It’s called “Intraspecific Differences in Relative Isotopic Niche Area and Overlap of Co-occurring Sharks,” which I think rolls right off the tongue and would make a pretty sweet band name. This research was crowdfunded by the SciFund challenge a few years ago, so thanks again for your support! I want to tell you a little bit about what we did and what we found!

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All the times gender bias has reared its ugly head

Posted on By Amy Freitag 2 Comments on All the times gender bias has reared its ugly head
Uncategorized

Maybe it’s because I’m actually intimidating, but I for the most part consider myself fairly lucky as a woman in science. I’ve been fortunate enough to escape the horror stories of exploitation and sexual harassment that fill many of my colleagues’ journals. Yet, the recent story about the lack of medium-sized spacesuits – and the social media chatter about lack of women’s field gear – hit a nerve. It made me question my perceived luck.

I also remembered reading other women’s long list of times gender bias reared its ugly head in a career perfectly devoid of major sexual misconduct. I bet I could write that, I thought to myself. I wonder how long the list would be. So here goes, starting with the most egregious:

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30 Earth Month Heroes

Posted on By Angelo Villagomez 2 Comments on 30 Earth Month Heroes
Uncategorized

Earth Day is April 22, which makes next month Earth Month. I’d like to invite you to participate in a Twitter hashtag campaign for the entire month.  The purpose of this campaign is to bring some attention and praise to the people who are doing great conservation work.  I’m calling the campaign #30EarthMonthHeroes. Participation is … Read More “30 Earth Month Heroes” »

With no Blue Book for program guidance, Congress will hold its first hearing on Defunding NOAA, today.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Uncategorized

At 10:15 AM, the House Appropriations Committee will meet to discuss The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2020, an aggressively uninspired document that fundamentally dismantles America’s premier ocean and climate research agency and will cause immeasurable destruction to out coastal communities and economies. You can watch the hearing live, here: … Read More “With no Blue Book for program guidance, Congress will hold its first hearing on Defunding NOAA, today.” »

Commerce Unveils a Budget to Decimate NOAA

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Uncategorized

Late yesterday afternoon, the Department of Commerce unveiled its long awaited budget proposal. Designed in large part to free up funding for President Trump’s ill-conceived, wasteful, and wildly unpopular wall on the Southern Border, it includes cuts to NOAA programs so deep that America’s coastal communities and coastal economies will take generations to recover. Read … Read More “Commerce Unveils a Budget to Decimate NOAA” »

Blending smartphones for science, understanding the environmental hazards of 3D printing, flooding the midwest, and ocean news, too! Monday Morning Salvage: March 25, 2019

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

The oldest mariner’s astrolabe ever found, decorated with the Portuguese coat of arms. COURTESY DAVID MEARNS

Read More “Blending smartphones for science, understanding the environmental hazards of 3D printing, flooding the midwest, and ocean news, too! Monday Morning Salvage: March 25, 2019” »