cmcclain | April 11, 2007 Musings from Kevin... So you are out on the ocean and need some inspiration for the long nights by the dredge? Well, have I got the CD for you! Here are a few of my favorites that bring me back a mile or two below the surface (metaphorically, as I spend my time usually in front of a computer):
"What Does the Deep-Sea Say?"
Done by Bill Monroe & Doc Watson, Woody Guthrie and Dave Alvin, this song is a harrowing tale of a sailor boy that is now sleeping at the bottom of the deep sea through the wrath and fury of the ocean. It doesn't say anything, but "It moans, it groans, it flashes…
cmcclain | April 11, 2007
Vulcanoctopus hydrothermalis (Mollusca: Cephalopoda: Octipodidae)
Octopus are one the most fascinating and intelligent of the invertebrates. Yet, little is known about their role in the deep sea, even less is known from methane seeps of hydrothermal vents! In fact, only one species has been described from a hydrothermal vent to date, the "hot water volcano octopus".
Description Vulcanoctopus hydrothermalis (1) is a benthic octopus that so far measures up to only 52mm in mantle length (7). Its eyes are greatly reduced in function (i.e. no visible iris) and body lacks pigment and…
petnoyer | April 10, 2007
Eddies are an important nexus between physical oceanography and marine biology because these giant swirling tornadoes of seawater are pervasive in the world's oceans. Passing eddies can accelerate local currents, retain and transport plankton and nutrients, enhance open water productivity, and stimulate fast, deep sinking. Quasi-permanent eddies can retain larvae in the lee of an island, for example. Eddies are easily detectible by satellites. Important charismatic megavertebrates like sea turtles, elephant seals, blue whales, and sperm whales seem to track these pelagic features,…
cmcclain | April 8, 2007
Hope over at Benefits of Seawater suggests my original debunking of Original Quinton Marine Plasma was not "logical". First, who is 'Hope'? She is a freelance writer who is paid by Quinton to generate an internet buzz.
Just started up two blogs for a new client on the benefits of seawater. They're meant to promote the client's product by spreading internet awareness as it were. If you want to check up on the blogs and see how they are doing. You can visit the Benefits of Seawater and All About Seawater Therapy. If this works out it will also be a regular gig, Yay!, which can…
petnoyer | April 8, 2007The ongoing story of our letter to the Pope made ink Friday at the Daytona Beach News Journal. This was my first Op-Ed letter. It was pretty easy to do through email. Try it sometime when you have a message for the masses.
Unfortunately, the key link to contact the Vatican at ProPeninsula is broken at the bottom of the editorial. To send your letter to the Pope go here: http://www.propeninsula.org/advocacy/1/5.html
The playbook and the assist for the Op-Ed goes to, J. Nichols at the Ocean Conservancy. He's been working as a scientist and advocate on the issue of sea turtle consumption for…
cmcclain | April 6, 2007Sue Falconberg over at the American Chronicle lambastes scientists in her writeup Anderson Cooper.
...the reporters back home showed footage, at the tail end of the night, of a giant squid recently yanked out of its home and killed for 'scientific reasons' and then the reporters joked about it being 'calamari,' etc. This squid had a life that was taken from it by the arrogance and stupidity and cruelty of these sadists we call 'scientists.' To 'study' it. They killed it to study it. Not much animal sensitivity and awareness there. Or in the show's coverage of this incident, as if the life of…
cmcclain | April 5, 2007
Scanning electron microscope image (x 25000) of the coccosphere (Acanthoica acanthifera) collected in the North Atlantic. From the British Natural History Museum
cmcclain | April 5, 2007 Cortunix tagged me with a meme. To digress I am not a fan of the word meme or blog. Both make me sound like an internet geek which I am but don't want to necessarily convey to others. Why do I blog?
Communication is essential to science. Most scientists interpret this as communication with other scientists, thus meetings, workshops, and the currency of science...publications. I interpret this to mean, and on equal footing with the later, communication of science to the public. As each day advances, the deep sea becomes less remote. Our knowledge moves ahead so quickly and I think its…
cmcclain | April 4, 2007
Kevin's wonderful post on the Giant Isopod inspired me to post on a topic I have long pondered. Frequent readers of DSN know that I am fond of Sylvia Earle and the topic of body size. Honestly, it is not just body size is all matter of size related issues. A roadside trip can be quickly diverted by the world's largest ball of yarn or North America's largest biscuit. Mmm...biscuits, but I digress. What I want to discuss, and I use this word specifically as after 10 years contemplation I seem no closer to an answer, is why the Giant Isopod is, well, giant?
Mosely noted in 1880…
cmcclain | April 4, 2007
Greenpeace map suggesting that areas proposed for clousre by the NZ Seafood Industry are unfishable and thus not under threat.
Back in over a year ago the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council proposed the establishment of 30 Benthic Protection Areas (BPAs). The combined area of these would be 1.2 million sq km (4x the size of New Zealand) and 30% of NZ Exclusive Economic Zone. What does a BPA mean? These areas would be off limits to trawling by fishing companies.
Marine biologist Dr Steve O'Shea [of giant squid fame] said he was blown away by the proposal, the likes of which he…
cmcclain | April 4, 2007
Bathynomus giganteus (Arthropoda: Crustacea: Isopoda: Cirolanidae)
You know those cute little roly-poly bugs you found under rocks as a kid? You poke at them and they curl up into a little ball? Well, magnify that times 1000, take away the functional role of the eyes, head to the deep-sea and you've got the Giant Isopod, Bathynomus giganteus!
Description Bathynomus giganteus was first discovered in fishermen's nets in the Gulf of Mexico and was described as the type species of the genus by Alphonse Milne Edwards in 1879 (12). It is the largest known isopod, reaching lengths up to 50cm…
cmcclain | April 4, 2007Ransom Myers' sister, Susan Myers, has started a blog Fans of Ram that has great information about his life and work.
cmcclain | April 3, 2007
At the high end of invertebrate intelligence is the almighty Cephalopods, but maybe an additional 512mb of free memory would help. Makes me want to learn Japanese over the weekend so I can decipher this page and order one.
cmcclain | April 3, 2007
Coming off an unbeaten road trip and with one of their star players frozen, it would have been easy for the Invertebrates to have a letdown against the lowly Photosynthesis. Instead, Invertebrates continued its strong play and rallied to win in the final moments its third straight game - 260th of the season - with a 105-103 victory over the Photosynthesis in the S3.
"To talk about 260 is pretty impressive, especially with the loss of players before the game," coach Seth O'Dowd said. Indeed, several Invertebrate players were expelled from the league not a week ago for grazing on…
cmcclain | March 31, 2007
Several news agencies are reporting today about an interesting phenomenon occurring in the Mississippi River.
The Memphis Flyer reports...
In the last two years hurricanes have ravaged the Gulf coast causing millions of dollars of damage to property and the loss of numerous lives. More powerful hurricanes also destroyed millions of acres of marshes. "The significant loss of marshes on the southern Louisiana coast has allowed for Gulf of Mexico water to migrate up the Mississippi River," stated Dr. April Montgomery of the National Hurricane Center. This increases the saltiness of the…
cmcclain | March 30, 2007
[The Theme from Chariots of Fire playing]
Craig: From 64 to 32 and now to the Sweet 16. In today's post, we follow the journeys of two strong teams, Invertebrates and Photosynthesis as they navigated the ranks of the Octopus Bracket to face off in the 3rd round of the Spring Science Showdown (S3). We turn to Peter Etnoyer, our man in the field, to discuss the rise of Team Photosynthesis.
Peter: Indeed tree huggers everywhere were angered when photosynthesis was the only team from Division Plantae 1A to be selected for the tournament.
Craig: As I understand it, Photosynthesis…
cmcclain | March 29, 2007
"My son loves hammerheads..I'd like to make sure they are around when he grows up." -R.A. Myers
Ransom A. Myers passed away this previous Tuesday. Coincidently, a reader recently asked how we know that shark populations are declining and what the affect this decline is on other marine populations? Largely, I can answer these questions because of the research that Myers both originated, inspired, and participated in.
In 2003 a study lead by Baum, and coauthored with Myers and others, demonstrated that prompt and considerable declines in large-sized shark populations occurred in the…