SeaMonster blog
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Quest for the curly-tailed horses
A little while ago, I made a rather wonderful discovery – I uncovered a forgotten pioneer of underwater filmmaking (and I found some seahorses). It was the title of Noel Monkman’s autobiography that caught my eye: Quest of the curly-tailed horses. And to…
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Tropical islands disappearing as a result of coral mining and sea level rise
Decades of indiscriminate collection of corals — including by researchers — from the Indian Ocean’s Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve may have resulted in two low-lying islands slipping beneath the waves. The loss of islands and associated reefs has been exacerbated by rising sea levels and industrial pollution, and poses threats not only to the…
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Why tiger sharks are cool
Sharks are cool creatures, right? We’re all agreed on that? Good. But tiger sharks are especially cool. Boris Worm from Dalhousie University in Canada picked them as his “Critter of the Month” on the Naked Oceans podcast a while back. Each month – just for…
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The real rapture
6:00 PM Eastern daylight time, 21st day of May, year 2011 of what is now generically referred to as the “Common Era” (C.E.). Breaking news: We’re still here. And it’s still beautiful. But it won’t last if we don’t take care of it. Wake up people. Read the real good news all around you.
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Shrimp farming: a green (blue) future?
I love shrimp. Not just as sources of surprising insights into the evolution of social life. They’re tasty too. Too much so in fact. Despite my attempts to fit into a dainty little ecological footprint, I’ve always found it difficult to pass up shrimp on the menu despite the fact that they’re generally considered by…
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Why Chagos matters
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/12765395[/vimeo] Yesterday I went to a conference in London billed as an opportunity to discuss the future of the Chagos Islands. Sadly, I don’t think we really got a chance to do that properly because the drama and tragedy of the island’s human history took over. I don’t deny it is a truly terrible story…
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Sea level rise – California style
From Salon.com The New York Times this week reported that oceanographers believe “developed low-lying shorelines” such as San Francisco’s Embarcadero face “a possible rise of 14 inches in sea level by 2050” — just under 40 years from now. It’s not uncommon to read scientists’ predictions about rising sea levels and the crises they could cause.…
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Those who can — teach!
Are you a scientist? Have you ever wondered what you personally can do to make a difference? To combat the dark age that seems to be upon us in nearly every aspect of public life, from evolution to climate change? To fire kids up about how cool marine organisms are? Of course — we all…
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Oceans retrospective trailer
OK, the movie has been out for a year, but I love this 2+ minute video. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXLbQrK6cXw[/youtube]
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Assessing the impacts of the Gulf Oil Spill on coastal fish populations
A nice article by Mark Derewicz (excerpted below) about work by my UNC colleague Dr. Joel Fodrie on the impacts of the Gulf Oil Spill on coastal fish populations. [cincopa AUMAbmqKig7H] The fish are all right? Chris Baillie hauled the net onto the boat and dumped its contents in front of Joel Fodrie. They spread out the…
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