Shifting Baselines

Because this is Shifting Baselines, where we recognize the need for a historical perspective to understand the 'baseline' and what is deemed 'pristine', it seems fitting to give a brief history of Carnival of the Blue. The brainchild of Mark Powell at Blogfish, Carnival of the Blue is an ocean version to parallel Carnival of the Green, which travels from blog to blog each Monday as a summary of the best 'green' blogging over the last week. In this spirit, each month a different blog hosts Carnival of the Blue as a synthesis of the best ocean-related blogging over the previous month. Without futher ado, the Carnival for September:

Emmett Duffy at The Natural Patriot relays his shifting baselines story on the small cod he considered for dinner.

Don't miss Carl Zimmer's piece at the Loom (and his lengthier article in the New York Times) about the jaws within the jaws of moray eels.

Mark Powell at Blogfish played MBA student for an intense week, studying Business Strategies for Environmental Sustainability, and blogged the proceedings. Here's the entry from the last day (see Blogfish for the whole series).

Thomas Robey at Hope for Pandora was pleasantly distracted from medical school to blog about Oceana's campaign against harmful fisheries subsidies.

Deep Sea News brings us a deep piece on sinking subs and deep sea robot commandeered by Greenpeace's eco-pirates to explore depths of up to 1000m in the waters of the Bering Sea, Alaska.

Zooillogix shares some surreal photos of a baby albino dolphin.

Kate Wing from NRDC has a piece on poaching with a disheartening graph of the abalone collapse. She also explains how you can better understand the difficulty in managing oceans with a simulation in your kitchen.

Rick MacPherson at Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets presents his speculations about the reason for yet another antarctic leopard seal stranding in Australia.

The Intersection's Sheril Kirshenbaum discusses the recent study modeling global warming's effects on sea turtles.

Kevin Zelnio at The Other 95% posts photos of the hidden wonders of a floating coconut.

Shelley Batts at Retrospectacle gives kudos to the governor of Florida for protecting the friendly sea cow (never a nicer animal).

Ouroboros has more on the advantages and tradeoffs for menopausal whales (and kindly resists references to behemoth hot-flashes, etc.).

For some avian action, check out 10,000 birds report from a pelagic birding trip off New York waters and A D.C. Birding Blog's account of the annual migration of bar-tailed godwits.

Daily KOS picked up on Mark Hall's piece on fish fins, which is a marine life lesson that will teach you how to recognize a fish by its caudal fin.

James Hyrnyshyn at Island of Doubt sets us 'strait' on the Northwest Passage.

Also make sure to stop by Cephalopodcast and listen to the latest podcast about ocean science.

Dr. Carl Safina talks about his recent trip with Christian evangelical leaders to observe the effects of climate change in Alaska in Baked Alaska.

And don't miss Shifting Baseline's favorite from last month about the new imitation caviar made with pig gelatin and other seafood-like delights. Art you can feel in your mouth!

That's a wrap for Carnival of the Blue. Watch for a summary of October's best ocean blogging at Cephalopodcast.