SeaMonster blog
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Demise of reefs in Belize? Coda
[I was happy to receive a lot of comments on our most recent blog post from the field in the New York Times. Since the space available to respond to those comments on the NYT site is limited, I’ve elected to do so here.] Thanks to all for your comments. I have always considered myself…
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Reef Reminiscences: The way coral reefs were
What was the world like back in the day? Are the fantastic stories all just legends? With the notable exception of Jacques Cousteau, few people were taking pictures of the undersea world a few decades ago, not only because the technology was more difficult and expensive and less available, but also because we tend to…
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Belize field log 2012: Witness to a murder
[The fourth installment, and I’ll confess my favorite, in our New York Times “Scientist at Work” field log.] Sunday, July 8 As the sun breaks the horizon, I sit in a wooden chair at the edge of the backreef, an eye on the weather horizon, gratefully sipping the first strong coffee and gauging what the…
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Oceans of Garbage
Great infographic from the folks over at mastersdegree.net. Created by: MastersDegree.net
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Ghost trap and shark feeding frenzy in the Bahamas
There are thousands of “ghost” traps around the Caribbean that are fishing constantly without being checked by fisherman. There were three cubera snappers and one black grouper in this one. Approximately 100 pounds worth of fish. Only one snapper was dead and was the meal for half a dozen of reef sharks that have been…
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Belize field log 3: Journey to the center of the reef
[The third installment in our New York Times “Scientist at Work” field log.] Collecting shrimp is a complicated business. I am not as seasoned as my colleagues, but I quickly learn how tedious it can be. After taking a photograph and estimating the volume of a sponge, we have to locate every shrimp inside. Synalpheus…
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Belize field log 2: Social breakdown on the reef
[The second installment in our New York Times “Scientist at Work” field log.] Wednesday, July 4 Our hunt yesterday produced a good haul of shrimp species, but, alas, none of the social ones we’re searching for. I worked with my former Ph.D. student, Tripp McDonald, long into the night identifying the shrimp. Though little known…
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Belize 2012 field log 1: Snapping Shrimps and Hidden Sponges
[Our team has just returned from a 10-day research trip to the Belize Barrier Reef, searching for social sponge-dwelling shrimp in a long-term study of these curious animals as models for understanding the evolution of altruism and cooperation. The New York Times “Scientist at Work” feature is posting updates from our field log. We reprint…
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Jeremy Jackson & Zombie Ecology
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvdUxcLmNs4&feature=plcp[/youtube] I can’t help but think of Dr. Jeremy Jackson amidst this blogosphere frenzy in response to the The New York Times’ Zombie Ecology op-ed (aka. “A World without Coral Reefs”). In Friday’s paper, Roger Bradbury proclaimed coral reefs as unequivocally doomed. In his words, “there is no hope to saving coral reefs.” The op-ed’s stinging declaration of ‘zombie ecology’ has stoked…
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New book on metabolic ecology
I was lucky enough to be invited to coauthor a chapter in the now available book Metabolic Ecology: A Scaling Approach (available at Amazon in paperback and as an ebook!). “Most of ecology is about metabolism: the ways that organisms use energy and materials. The energy requirements of individuals – their metabolic rates – vary…
Got any book recommendations?