cmcclain
Posts by this author
November 27, 2007
Coryphaenoides armatus arrive to feed on bait (mackerel) set by ROBIO. Photo from here
A recent study by Barry and Drazen (open access)notes that some deep-sea fishes avoid the odor of dead conspecifics. Coryphaenoides armatus, the Pacific grenadier, is a prominent scavenger and typically one of…
November 25, 2007
Perhaps as no shock, oceanography is going to need some more money, about $2-3 billion to be exact. A group of international scientist called the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) says "warming seas, over-fishing and pollution are among profound concerns that must be better…
November 25, 2007
I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
till the landslide brought me down
The largest known arthropod is now followed by the largest known landslide. 60,000 years ago a submarine landslide off the coast of north-west…
November 21, 2007
Caption below under next figure: Image from "Giant claw reveals the largest ever arthropod" (2007), Biology Letters
The arthropods we are familiar with today tend toward the small side compared to the some of the giants found in the fossil record. From the Late Palaeozoic, 2m long millipedes and…
November 20, 2007
&Here's the list beginning with my thoughts. Hopefully the readers can suggest other ideas and revisions with the goal of this being a central archive for active ways to conserve our oceans.
Start by eating the right fish or not eating fish at all. This is probably the easiest. You yield the…
November 20, 2007
Speaking of deep-sea posters, Dr. Charles Messing (Nova Southeastern University), who ordinarily works on crinoids and deep-sea corals and just generally a renaissance man, has left the benthos to offer this 25x36-inch wall poster that includes 109 of his pen-and-ink illustrations of pelagic…
November 17, 2007
Before this marine-based life I worked in a hospital. One thing that scared the @#$% out of me was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. When I left the hopsital for graduate school I was glad to leave that behind. I never thought that MRSA and my new life would meet. A group of…
November 17, 2007
One of my visions for the future is my wife and I enjoying full-bodied French and Italian wines in our villa overlooking the Mediterranean. In contrast, if you are shark or ray the Mediterranean is more like hell. Globally, many elasmobranch species are endangered due to anthropogenic effects.…
November 15, 2007
We at DSN try to report on the research as it happens. Now we report on research before it happens! DSN's old whipping boy Kevin Zelnio is currently running several posts of his dissertation proposal for International Dissertation Writing Month. Head on over and wish him luck as he preps for his…
November 14, 2007
Over at the World's Fair...Anyway, this meme asks that you come up with your own scientific eponym. What's that exactly? Well, first read this excellent primer by Samuel Arbesman, which basically provides a step by step description of how to do this effectively. Then have a go at your own blog. If…
November 14, 2007
Bora over at A Blog Around the Clock publishes, edits, and composes (just about everything else) the Science Blogging Anthology, "Open Laboratory 2007". Last year's was a great piece of work. Bloggers and readers are asked to submit their favorite posts. Peter and I submitted our Half Glass Empty…
November 13, 2007
So once again, things are slow and I ask you to suggest some questions/topics. Just put them in the comments and Peter and I will do are best to answer them. You may want to keep the questions deep sea related or you will be forced to read our ramblings on matters we have no idea about!
November 13, 2007
Lyrics below the fold. More of Flight of the Conchords at YouTube.
J: Ah Ah...
B: Ah Ah...
J: Ah Ah...
B: Ah Ah...
B+J: Ah Ah...
B: Mermaid
J: Mermaid
B: Mermaid
J: Mermaid
B: Mermaid
J: Mermaid
B: Mermaid
J: Mermaid
B+J: Mermaid Mermaid
J: Mermaid
B: Mermaid
B: Mermaid murmured
Into my ear
The…
November 13, 2007
The much loved Texas Clipper will be sunk on this Thursday as part of the ships to reef program. Those from Texas A&M Galveston will remember the 473ft ship as a classroom from 65-94. Those older might remember the ship as the USS Queens, a troop and wounded carrier during WWII. Will try to…
November 9, 2007
An upcoming episode (Nov. 14) of History Channel's Monsterquest will supposedly show the largest squid ever caught on video. A squid researcher with film crew in tow filmed a squid estimated to be between 50-100 feet long at 1,000 feet in the Sea of Cortez. How did they get the video? They…
November 9, 2007
This just on the wire from ETC...
In a shot across the bows of geoengineering companies, the London Convention (the International Maritime Organization body that oversees dumping of wastes at sea) today unanimously endorsed a scientific statement of concern on ocean fertilisation and declared its…
November 8, 2007
Following on this post...here is another nameless beauty!
November 8, 2007
It's the muppet show!
It's time to play the music.
Its time to light the lights.
It's time to meet the muppets
On the Muppet Show tonight!
November 8, 2007
Kevin was one of the winners of the three prizes in the DSN Fundapoolaza Challenge. Might I say he looks damn fine in that t-shirt! I'm not saying I have a man crush on Kevin just that octopus shirt from the Monterey Bay Aquarium is nice.
November 7, 2007
New cool research from Wagner et al. that despite the lack of "day" and "night", deep-sea fish experience daily cycles. What is the trigger? Diurnal changes in bottom currents corresponding to tidal fluctuations. The below graphs shows current direction and velocity on deep-sea floor in the NE…
November 6, 2007
So my current research focuses on the influence of canyon topography on the biodiversity and body size of deep-sea invertebrates. To address this requires lots of cores, sorting, and identification. My current favorite species is this tube-building polychaete (50-70mm). Another great example of…
November 5, 2007
Ocean Nourishment Corporation of Sydney, Australia just got the green light to dump several hundred tons of industrially-produced urea in to the Sulu Sea between the Philippines and Borneo. Assuming you urinate about 1.5 liters a day (range is 800ml to 2000ml) that is about the same amount of 500…
November 5, 2007
I was just thinking the other day how I wish I had crab claws so I could crush academic opposition. Grab the children and run to the hills, it is attack of Crab Claw Craig!
October 31, 2007
Slow news week but stumbled upon this over my morning cup of joe. Illex argentinus which is the biggest in terms of volume, value and also size of the squid. Typical annual catches are around 150,000 tonnes with much of the catch destined for the Far East although significant amounts also go to…
October 29, 2007
In the words of Rick at MBSL&SSo let's just say you have a couple hundred thousand metric tons of iron filings laying around the house. While in the tub one day, you conceive of a terrific idea of dumping all that iron into the ocean, thus seeding phytoplankton growth (iron is a limiting…
October 29, 2007
Many of you have probably seen this already. No doubt, you have said something likeThis thing has teeth where a beak should be -- disquietingly human teeth, at that.
The picture is disturbing to say the least and will haunt my dreams. So is the picture real? Yes.
The species is Promachoteuthis…
October 26, 2007
Rick at MBSL&S tagged me to produce "my favorite ocean-themed scary movies." My favorite has to be Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961). Edward Wain is inept Government Agent XK342. He is on the trail of mobster Renzo Capeto, a Bogart wanna-be who is transporting Colonel Tostada, a group of…
October 25, 2007
You can find anything on the internet...
And another
And finally a trailer from the Aquaman series than never made it on the air.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvmB8uCSRMQ