Author: Helen Scales
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London seahorses venture west
There’s been another seahorse discovery in the River Thames and it seems they are heading west. A couple of years ago seahorses were found in Dagenham, a suburb in east London. It came as something of a shock to find these delicate creatures living…
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Wallace J. Nichols – the loggerhead turtle
Blue Marbles founder and all-round ocean good guy Wallace J. Nichols appears on this month’s Naked Oceans podcast as he faces the question “If you were a marine critter, which would you be, and why?” Here’s what he had to say… [mp3j track=”Critter of the Month on the Naked Oceans podcast@http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_podcasts/11.09.11/Naked_Oceans_11.09.11_8957.mp3″]
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Just because you can’t see it
… doesn’t mean it isn’t there. A Seamonster thumbs up to the striking visuals on this campaign from Advertisers Without Borders.
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Monster waves
I’m back from a surf trip to Cornwall – England’s South Westerly big toe that sticks out into the Atlantic, pointing across at America. And it just so happened that I arrived there at the same time as the tail winds from Huricane Katia, which meant that when I caught my first sight of the…
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California approves fin ban: what next for shark celebrities?
Sharks fin soup is on the way out in America’s Golden State. Today the California State Senate voted 25-9 to pass a bill that will ban the sale, trade, and possession of shark fins. In a few days it’ll be signed by the governor and effectively put an end to one of the largest, legal…
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Play Gravity – Mattias Rotten
Pay no attention to the dumb narration at the start (“If you want to to feel gravity, you have to decide either to go with it or release yourself from it”… really?!), but hang tight for some awesome paragliding and then kite surfing. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cEcysk8ce8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
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Hydrogen-powered hydrothermal vent critters
Scientists have discovered a third source of energy used by animals in the deep sea. Hydrothermal vents aren’t for the feint hearted. It’s very dark and unbelievably hot down there, not to mention the pressure – we’re talking many miles beneath the waves, here – and all those zingy chemicals, gushing out from cracks in…
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All the things in the sea (and on land too)
Number of species alive today = 8.7 million. About a quarter of them live in the sea. That’s the news from a study just out that examines what we don’t know about life on earth. It means that should aliens come down and ask one…
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Coral mass spawning: the hows and whys
One of my favourite shows from the first season of Naked Oceans, was our Valentine’s Day special. We had fun investigating the love lives of various marine critters and top of the list of spectacular mating habits are the mass spawning events of coral reefs. What better way to have sex when you’re stuck firmly…
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Ode to a sea cucumber (Dear Helen)
A friend who knows me well recently sent me this poem. Dear Helen, by Charles Simic There’s a thing in the world Called a sea cucumber. I know nothing about it. It just sounds cold and salty. I think a salad of such cukes Would be fine today. I would have to dive for it,…