SeaMonster blog
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Soul Surfer trailer: the Bethany Hamilton story comes to the big screen
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWeOjBCi3c4[/youtube]
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Who pays for overfishing? Poor people in Africa
The pervasive detrimental impacts of overfishing on marine life and ecosystems have been widely publicized in recent years, ratcheting up calls for stricter regulation and protection. A counter-argument commonly heard in debates on this issue is that fishing (like coal mining, oil drilling, pillaging of old-growth forests, etc.) provides essential jobs, revenue, and food, particularly…
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Loss of Plant Diversity Threatens Earth’s Life-Support Systems
An international team of researchers including SeaMonster’s Emmett Duffy of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has published a comprehensive new analysis showing that loss of plant biodiversity disrupts the fundamental services that ecosystems provide to humanity. Plant communities — threatened by development, invasive species, climate change, and other factors — provide humans with food,…
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Velux 5 oceans sailing race starts 4th leg: Brazil to South Carolina
The five remaining boats in the Velux 5 oceans solo around the world race begin the fourth leg today, leaving Brazil en route to Charleston South Carolina. This is the longest solo race in the world, covering 30,000 miles. Follow the five boats here.
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The secret social lives of shrimp
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z735I4m8F8c[/youtube] No, we’re not making this up. Deep in the crevices of coral reefs, even deeper inside the hollow Swiss-cheese-like bodies of living sponges, are hundreds of little “pistol” shrimp that band together for protection in a cooperative colony headed by a queen, much as ants and honeybees do. These secretive creatures are in fact…
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Ocean Symphony with Jack Black
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC5P7mBu_XY[/youtube] Learn more about shifting baselines here
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Surprisingly few white sharks off California coast
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5poHfnS1kMA&[/youtube] The first rigorous scientific estimate of white shark numbers in the northeast Pacific Ocean suggests there are far fewer white sharks off central California than biologists had expected. The details reported in the journal Biology Letters offer the best estimate among the world’s three known white shark populations (the others are in Australia/New Zealand and…
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Kitesurfing Indo
Rider: Ben Wilson, Photo credit: Will Schouten / Ben Wilson Surf Indo is a surf mecca, but few kiters know how good it can get for kitesurfing. During the Indonesian winter, the wind can be regular and fairly strong. I was in Bali for a month last July and kited 15 out of 30 days. –…
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Siphonophore from the deep!
Introducing Marrus orthocanna a deep sea siphonophore. Siphonophores belong to the Cnidaria, a group of animals that includes the corals, hydroids, and true jellyfish. There are about 175 described species. Some siphonophores are the longest animals in the world, and specimens as long as 40 meters have been found. The majority of siphonophores are long and…
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Nightingale Island Oil Spill
Yet another oil spill is impacting a pristine marine environment. This time along the shore of extremely isolated Nightingale Island in the South Atlantic. Read more about it here and about Andres Evans’ trip there to document the impacts here. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Ujb-_qIeA&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Got any book recommendations?