cmcclain | February 20, 2007From stuff.co.nz...
Nothing gets National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research scientist Kareen Schnabel's pulse racing quite like deep-sea crustaceans.
Oddly creatures of the deep make my heart skip a beat too!
petnoyer | February 20, 2007
The ocean is a many-layered thing. If you ask a marine biologist to tell you about these ocean layers, they'll talk about the "photic zone" and the "oxygen minimum zone". These gradients in light and oxygen influence the type and variety of animals you will find there. But if ask an oceanographer to tell you about layers in the sea, they'll tell you about "bottom water", "intermediate water", and "upwelled Atlantic water". Precise measurements of temperature and salinity help to discern water mass 'signatures'. Oceanographers use these signatures to track water masses along a three…
cmcclain | February 19, 2007
Via Akeakamai, I found this gem of a video from JAMSTEC's Shinkai 6500. The video shows several typical scavenging organisms, crabs, eels, and GIANT ISOPODS (Bathynomus giganteus), feeding on what appears to be a sizeable fish (maybe tuna). For scale the isopods are about 9-12 inches in length and yes they are the world's largest isopod. The video is originally from the "Planet Earth" series.
petnoyer | February 18, 2007
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) scientists working in the Arctic Ocean unraveled the geological origin of many mysterious mounds, called "pingos", off Canada's north coast. Pingos are small, dome-shaped, ice-cored hills about 40m tall, found along the coast of the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula. "Pingo-like features" are submerged along the continental shelf. Earlier studies claimed these features were formed on land, and then submerged when sea level rose following the end of the last ice age, over 10,000 years ago. Apparently, the reverse may be true. The terrestrial features may…
cmcclain | February 17, 2007 Why no cry? Because the government is picking up our paycheck! To further prove the economic futility of a deep-sea fishery.
Out of AAAS in San Francisco...
Rashid Sumaila and Daniel Pauly of the University of British Columbia in Canada recently studied the subsidies paid to bottom trawl fleets around the world. They found that the fleets receive over $152 million each year and that without these funds, the deep-sea fisheries industry would operate at a $50 million annual loss."From an ecological perspective we cannot afford to destroy the deep-sea," says Sumaila. "From an economic…
cmcclain | February 17, 2007This week's post, There is Plenty of Oil, generated a heated discussion about the finer points of peak oil and oil reserves. In line with oil reserves, I noted that offshore deposits are unlikely to sustain global oil consumption or even delay the oil peak predicted originally by Hubbert. Less than one year ago, the chariman for Global Petroleum was speaking optimistically about a Woodside-Dana-Global Petroleum joint venture, that would begin developing Kenya's offshore oil fields.
Dr. Armstrong said that the Kenya acreage has the potential to become a significant oil region:
Woodside…
petnoyer | February 16, 2007
DSN Valentine Kate Winslet reminds me of mermaids. Were they ever so beautiful...?
She is shown here hunting giant squid.
Photo by Annie Leibovitz, in Vanity Fair
cmcclain | February 15, 2007
Fig. 1. A circular representation of the R. magnifica genome. The innermost circle highlights genes of special interest: cbb (Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle, red), sox (sulfur oxidation, green), dsr (dissimilatory sulfite reductase, blue), and rnf (NADH dehydrogenase). The second and third circles show GC skew and %G+C, respectively. The distribution of genes is depicted on the two outer rings (fourth and fifth, forward and reverse, respectively) colored by role category. [View Larger Version of this Image (273K JPEG file)]
From Newton and colleagues...
The Calyptogena magnifica (Bivalvia:…
cmcclain | February 15, 2007The film captured the squid, Taningia danae, in action: 1 The squid swims towards the bait; 2 It spreads its arms wide; 3 It swims around the bait, twisting its body; 4 It grabs the bait with its eight arms.
The last few days have been hell! My happy Intel Mac is sick and I have been computerless until this afternoon. If that hasn't been enought there are crazy bioluminescent squid lurking in the deep and everyone covers it before me. Our streak of reporting deep-sea news before everyone else died today. With a tear in my eye, I say sorry.
But back to crazy squid! The Japanese do it…
cmcclain | February 15, 2007
Proper preparation for deep-sea research requires a great deal of equipment, which can cost hundreds of thousands of money. Happily, due to government ignorance and the treachery of accountants worldwide, most equipment can be written off at tax time..."
As April approaches and I prep my taxes, I am thankful for this information. Those things deductible? Sombreros, crutches, massages, air tanks, wire cutters, gas to get to the ocean, etc. Those things not deductible? Robes, sunscreen, plastic ficus, bolo tie, etc.
The humor continues is Volume 3 (No. 164 of 307) of Haggis-On-Whey's World…
petnoyer | February 15, 2007"Does the brainpower of the folks who read DSN have what it takes to save the planet and win a cool 25 M at the same time?", asks author and "Best of DSN" judge Clark Thompson. "I figure if anyone can get this [carbon sequestration challenge] to work it's the kind of folks who read DSN. So, get the word out --and if you get the 25M, count me in for a small finders fee ;-}"
The game is afoot to win the new CO2 busting "Earth Challenge" from Virgin (and X-Prize) Founder Richard Branson and former VP Al Gore. Clark Thompson's fertile mind already contrived a workable theory using fertilized…
cmcclain | February 12, 2007So we all know that seamonsters are whale wedding tackle. Joe Nickell over at the Skeptical Inquirer discusses the "Mysterious Enitites of the Pacific Northwest". Included is Cadborosaurus, the sea serpent, which Joe attributes to decaying basking sharks, odd shaped rocks, and otters swimming in formation. That is all well and good but I provide another explanation for mysterious enitites in the Pacific NW. Marijuana usage.
The Pacific NW is a hotspot, along with Northern California, Colorado/New Mexico, and New England. Oddly enough, I think sea serpent sightings are also high in New…
cmcclain | February 12, 2007
From 120m in the North Sea. A frogfish maybe from the genus Antennarius
petnoyer | February 12, 2007
The "panda-people" at World Wildlife Fund are promoting a recent success protecting deep-water habitats in the "coral-rich waters off north-west Scotland". It makes me laugh just to read those words. 20 years ago folks would scoff.
WWF seems to be ahead of the curve in deep-water conservation. They enjoyed a similar victory protecting seamount habitat in the Mediterranean last year. How do they do it? Generally, it's localized autonomy with tender loving support from headquarters in DC. If cold corals count where you live, then that's your agenda.
The press release is here.
cmcclain | February 11, 2007
So if I can manage to save my next three years of salary, and not spend any money on Guinness rent, I will be really close to affording a C-Quester. Of course, it going to be a little more expensive because I am going to want all the options and acessories like:
Dome Protection
Lifting Points
Halogen Lights on the Bow
Aircon
Racing Stripes
Fenders
Extra batteries (a must)
Off Road Package (i.e. Heavy Duty)
Epirb
Sonar/Underwater Communication
Extra high pressure air bottles/Oxygen Refill (a definite must)
To bad I don't know what all these are. Epirb? Doesn't matter, I am sure I NEED it…
cmcclain | February 11, 2007Every once in while, I read something on the internet that boils my blood. Last year it was the utter nonsense coming from the beauty industry about the benefits of deep-sea water (Which won me a Fuzzy). Now it is ramblings from Nick Szabo. Who is Szabo?Nicholas Szabo holds a Juris Doctor degree from The George Washington University and a Bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Washington. He has substantial experience in the areas of Internet security, e-commerce, and software engineering, and is widely read in history, economics, and science.
Apparently, all this…
cmcclain | February 11, 2007When we talk about conserving fish stocks what do we mean? I see conservation as allowing fish to maintain healthy viable populatoons so we can maintain long-term sustainable harvest. Overfishing is the enemy not fishing. Often someone tries to convince the public that you have fisherman on one side and environmentalist on the other. Thanks media! But in reality the priorities are not so different, or should not be. Successful management of a fishery means jobs in the long run.
The days of mom and pop fisherman are long over and replaced by international conglomerates with business models…
cmcclain | February 11, 2007
What does 78.1 million U.S. dollars buy you? Presidential election? A month's supply of prescription medication? Health care? A house in California?
Definitely not enough money for any of those. What it does buy is a shiney new ship from fine Norwegian shipbuilders and a visit from royalty. Who else are you going to have build a ship? NERC (National Environmental Research Council, UK) and the National Oceanography Centre recently welcomed thier new addittion to the family. The RSS James Cook will see her first expedition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
petnoyer | February 11, 2007You can see from yesterday's post and comments that we are tapping into the science of fish baloney. A commenter took offense to my remarks and misspelling of surimi, a processed food product made from pollock. Pollock, hake, and cod are Gadiforms in the families Gadidae and Moridae. Together these fish feed millions of people. I apologize for any misgivings. I actually like surimi and bologna. Baloney and cheese sandwiches are my favorite snack to bring kayaking. Seriously. They stay fresh all day.
The commenter also pointed out that I need to do more research before I write about this stuff…