cmcclain
Posts by this author
July 25, 2007
I apologize about the temporary lack of entries. My beloved MacBook Pro is sick as in the doctor says "I am sorry there was nothing more we could do"...as in the farmer says "We had to put her down, she was fixin to turn"...as in the priest saying "Demons be gone!" You get the picture. Not…
July 21, 2007
The phylum Porifera (sponges; "pore bearing) is divided into three classes, Hexactinellida, Demospongiae, and Calcarea. Calcarea is the oddball of the group, building skeletal elements out of calcium carbonate (like corals and snails) instead of silica. The Hexactinellids (glass sponges) of which I…
July 21, 2007
I am proud to announce that DSN has its own theme song now via the generosity of Kevin Zelnio. As you may remember, Kevin Zelnio used to blog here and then spun off to create The Other 95%, a wonderful blog on everything invertebrate. Peter equated this to the Frazier/Cheers spin off. I see it…
July 20, 2007
There seems to be some inherent irony in an actress speaking against bottom trawling who stared in three movies killing aliens based on deep-sea isopods*. That stated, I welcome Sigourney Weaver's contribution to the effort to end bottom trawling. Joining forces with the Deep-Sea Conservation…
July 19, 2007
Well this makes my graduation not so special. Graduates of Taiwan's College of Marine Sciences received their waterproof degrees awarded by the university president in a diving suit underwater at an aquarium.
July 19, 2007
...to hold open the wound after I made the incision so I could remove his appendix. And that is the story of how I became the first person to perform major surgery on a submarine.
July 18, 2007
Peter's post on mercury generated some passionate responses. Things have quited down a bit around here so I thought I would throw a bit of gas on the fire.
Oceana released results of hair tests conducted at last year's Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, the oldes and largest saltwater fishing…
July 17, 2007
Problems in no certain order...
Number one problem...crude oil is now at $74 per barrel and may top out at $95 per barrel by fall. This week even the National Petroleum Council (NPC) is expected to release a report suggesting the global demand will exceed supplies in the next 25 years. …
July 16, 2007
With new technology comes new opportunities. So you say your a member of the mile high club...but what about the reverse. Don't worry neither am I or most. Why? First...I only have eyes for my wife who has never been in a submersible with me. Second...well frankly I am a big guy and...well I…
July 12, 2007
Not really deep sea so excuse the digression. From TNC/WWF
As demands on oceans grow, it is important to ensure that their resources are being conserved and carefully managed worldwide. A new study led by The Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund (published in BioScience) -- Marine…
July 12, 2007
Spanish police intercepted a ship belonging to US deep-sea explorer firm Odyssey on Thursday, officials said, in a row over a 370 mln eur treasure haul recovered from a sunken wreck in the Atlantic.
The Ocean Alert, which had been docked in Gibraltar until recently, was picked up in Spanish waters…
July 12, 2007
I guess not. In 1999, a study led by Peter Herring found evidence that noted that shrimp eyes from heavily visited vents were opaque because the light-sensing tissues had been destroyed. The potential culprit? Large megawatt lights on submersibles. A new study, soon to be published in the UK's…
July 11, 2007
*note Global Warming is VERY BAD and title is sarcasm.
Flashback to 1992, it's early in the morning and a decrepit high school teacher stands before a class discussing the finer points of history. In the back row sits a smart ass, me, not listening and telling himself why should a future marine…
July 11, 2007
A potential new record holder for the largest giant squid washed ashore in western Tasmania. The individual came in at 550 lbs (250 kg) and stretched 26 ft (8 m) from head to the end of its severed tentacles. The specimen was extremely damaged and might measure longer. In the standard metric of…
July 10, 2007
Readers probably know by now I am skeptical of Nautilus Mining's commitment to the conservation of the deep ocean. They are currently poised to begin large-scale mining efforts with a bus-sized ROV off extinct hydrothermal vent chimneys off Papua New Guinea. This week 2000 tribe members from…
July 5, 2007
Near my ol' neck of the woods, a boat captain photographed this albino bottleneck in Calcasieu Lake, an estuary off the Gulf in southwestern Louisiana
July 5, 2007
You ask and we deliver. A reader requested video of the Lamalera Sperm Whale Hunt. I immediately dispersed DSN whipping boy and now blogger extraordinare to the remote island. He quickly filmed the fisherman just 30 minutes ago and uploaded this video to at Google.
July 5, 2007
Lamalera fisherman do things the old fashion way. They track down a 75ft-long sperm whale in two small hand-made boats and battle the beast with duri flensing knives and spears. Yeah that's tough.
The whale, called Koteklema by the locals, provides numerous resources for the village.The…
July 5, 2007
From the Honolulu Star Bulletin...
What appears to be a half-squid, half-octopus specimen found off Keahole Point on the Big Island remains unidentified today and could possibly be a new species, said local biologists. The specimen was found caught in a filter in one of Natural Energy…
July 3, 2007
The Mining Journal reports on statements by Nautilus representatives at the Numis Mining Conference with respect to criticism levied in Science. Norgate argued that the high percentage of copper in the seabed surrounding Papua New Guinea would mean that less 'land' would need to be disturbed to…
July 2, 2007
When we picture monsters from the deep, most envision colossal sea beasts ready to drag the unsuspecting sailor to abyss. In actuality the sea beasts are at the other end of the size spectrum. Those viscous, nasty bacteria that line your digestive tract that could send you to your grave…
July 2, 2007
More on the continuing saga that surrounds the Black Swan reported at the New Straits Times. This is going to get pretty confusing so I will provide it as sequential list time series.
Volvo launches a media spectacle that has the public looking for a sunken treasure as tie in to the festering…
July 2, 2007
The French have discovered that UV radiation penetrates up to 100m deep in the waters of the southeast Pacific Ocean. They propose this might explain why surface waters in this region are poor in nutrients and a relative biological desert. As you may recall from your science classes UV degrades…
June 28, 2007
The Setting of the Sun Over the Pacific Ocean and a Towering Thundercloud, July 21, 2003
As Seen From the International Space Station (Expedition 7)
June 28, 2007
In the whirlwind that is my life this summer, I have not been able read or review The Silent Deep. For a general primer on the deep sea, I often reach for and recommend Gage and Tyler's Deep-Sea Biology. Since 1992 it has been a bible for our field. However, in the last 15 years major…
June 28, 2007
In the Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above Average Physique, I justed moved above PZ. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Sure PZ claims to be the unofficial royalty of all Cephalopod. He even claims to be waiting for the molluscan mothership to land. But when it comes…
June 27, 2007
I am gone for little over a week and come back to find out I have one of the Worst Jobs in Science. Popular Science wishes to "salute the men and women who do what no salary can adequately award." Salary...I am supposed to be receiving a salary? Number 2 on PopSci's list it Oceanographer because…
June 25, 2007
Time-lapse movie of the disassembly of Alvin during the 2005 overhaul.
June 24, 2007
Weather, O' Weather...you are my fair and fickle lover. On day 4, we sailed on from
Davidson to Patton Escarpment, but a 25+ knot wind kept the ROV out of the water. We
steamed further south with the intent of diving off the Channel Islands on the sheltered
leeward side. However, naval exercises…
June 24, 2007
The Alvin submersible dives on the New England Seamount chain found plentiful coral colonys of whip coral, parasol coral, and beautiful spiraling Iridogorgia. These coral collections are made up of hundreds of tiny polyps, arranged in precise geometric patterns. Video courtesy of Les Watling,…