jjacquet | February 25, 2008I spend a lot of time complaining about the ineptitude of the science world when it comes to mass communication and function in mainstream society. But all of a sudden here is this Science Debate 2008 effort that is being run with shockingly good style and savvy. Who in the world is behind such a non-science-like effort? It all tracks back to Matthew Chapman, science writer, screenwriter, descendent of Charles Darwin, and member of the general public who was disappointed at the lack of discussion of science and technology by the presidential candidates. I contacted him and asked 5 simple…
jjacquet | February 25, 2008It's not suprising that the only place you'll find a title like Endless Ocean is in the virtual realm. Endless Ocean was released last year for Nintendo Wii. In the game, players go diving to all sorts of nooks and crannies seeking wildlife and treasure (the game-makers made everything benign--you won't run out of air, get entangled in a cave dive, and even the sharks don't bite). I never thought I'd find any video game inspiring, but this one just might provoke support for the oceans among a very unlikely demographic...
jjacquet | February 22, 2008This week, the New York TImes ran the Op-Ed How to Handle an Invasive Species? Eat It by Taras Grescoe, who is author of a new book about ethically eating seafood. "One of the great unsung epics of the modern era is the worldwide diaspora of marine invasive species," explains the author. Jellyfish, Asian carp, cholera bacteria, seaweed, diatoms, clams, water fleas, shrimps, and others are invading waters around the world. Many of them find their new homes via ship ballast water. But to think the problems associated with marine invasive species are something new would be a shifting baseline…
jjacquet | February 22, 2008This week, the L.A. Times ran an interesting profile of a sea urchin/sea cucumber fisherman from California. Though the author pushes us to feel sympathy for the aging diver and a declining fishery, any fisherman who was able to send his two sons to "13 years of prep school in Palos Verdes, and then sent them to two of the top liberal arts schools in the nation" cannot have been doing too badly. No, he doesn't have a 401(k) and he might continue to work his whole life, but isn't this simply the modern manifestation of the American Dream?
jjacquet | February 21, 2008Randy Olson (co-founder of Shifting Baselines Ocean Media Project) has been hard at work for the past two months on a collaboration with the new Puget Sound Partnership on a 5 minute Flash slide show, "Shifting Baselines in the Sound." Pearl Jam has officially lent their song, "Oceans," to the piece and the enviro web design firm, Tree Media, producers of "The 11th Hour" (with Leonardo Dicaprio) are doing the graphics and Flash programming. The finished project will fit right in with the two previous and very popular Shifting Baselines Flash pieces, Pristine? (2003) and Shifting Baselines…
jjacquet | February 20, 2008Holy Mackerel, an article I wrote about how religion could help relieve overfishing, was published today in Science & Spirit.
Despite numerous scientific studies demonstrating overfishing and its negative impacts on marine biodiversity, global demand for seafood continues to grow. Conservationists advocate 'raising awareness' as one solution to the fisheries crisis. But I work with scientists who are among the world's most informed about overfishing and nearly all of them eats seafood without much discretion.
Curbing demand for seafood needs a miracle. Or maybe, in the U.S. where four…
jjacquet | February 20, 2008Daniel Pauly just lent me the book Your Inner Fish, a book that divulges that we can thank fish for so much of our physiology, including bony skulls and backaches. The New York Times yesterday had a great, short review of the book and I'll add my own thoughts soon enough...
jjacquet | February 20, 2008Ocean dead zones are "the new normal," according to Jane Lubchenco, marine biologist at Oregon State University in this article in the L.A. Times. The low oxygen zones off the west coast appear to be spreading--exacerbated by global warming and overfishing. Grrlscientist has a good review of the dead zone paper published in Science last week. While she was discussing her work at AAAS, Lubchenco also voiced support for ScienceDebate2008.
jjacquet | February 19, 2008If you've ever seen this TED talk with "jaw-dropping footage" of a cuttlefish, octopus, and other sea creatures, then you should definitely check out fellow ScienceBlogger Carl Zimmer's article on cuttlefish camouflage in today's New York Times. Zimmer visits scientists at Woods Hole, MA and reveals the secrets behind being a true wallflower.
Octopus colored like a rock. Photo by Roger T. Hanlon
jjacquet | February 18, 2008This week at triple-A S, there was a triplet of fish discussed: cod, tuna, and sharks. The news is bleak.
Today at AAAS, a panel of scientists compares the fate of tuna to that of cod, which helped shape the economies of whole nations in the early 20th century. Leading the discussion were UBC's Rashid Sumaila and Daniel Pauly, Barbara Block from Stanford University, Andy Rosenberg from the University of New Hampshire, Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod and other scientists from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Their talks all converge on the point that warning signs are clear that tuna stocks are…
jjacquet | February 15, 2008According to Science Daily, the small-island state of Kiribati just established the world's largest marine protected area (MPA). The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is the size of California, though the article does not provide a map nor does it mention what portion of the MPA will actually be closed to fishing (most MPAs allow some sort of activity inside). The article does mention that commercial fishing will be 'restricted'. Currently, around 0.6% of the seas were dedicated as MPAs (as compared to the 12% terrestrially). Furthermore, only 0.01% of the oceans are closed to fishing…
jjacquet | February 14, 2008Thanks Kate Wing and Suzie G. for pointing Shifting Baselines toward these science Valentines:
jjacquet | February 13, 2008A plastic garbage patch two times the size of Texas is floating in our oceans and that's just the beginning. This article Plastic Oceans in Best Life magazine is really horrifying. Plastics cover our beaches and make their way up the food chain. One animal dissected by Dutch researchers contained 1,603 pieces of plastic. This poor deformed turtle (photo by Gregg Segal) is a victim of one piece of plastic (and gives a gruesome new meaning to phenotypic plasticity).
And, of course, plastics interact with our own bodies (perhaps even causing obesity and infertility) in equally horrific ways…
jjacquet | February 13, 2008I was interviewed at Bora's Blog around the Clock today as part of a series on science bloggers...
jjacquet | February 13, 2008My sister sent me a blogpost from Details asking Are You Raising a Douchebag? about parents "who think hink it's cute when 4-year-olds opine about Damien Hirst and demand heirloom tomatoes." The post comes comes complete with a photo of an "entitled hipster brat" giving the finger (twice).
My sister writes, "the photo from that article, complete with the title and sub-title, were shown at my church a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure which baseline has shifted further--the goals and responsibilities of parenting, or the topics that are being discussed in churches today!"
It's a great…
jjacquet | February 12, 2008Posted by David Wilmot, dave@oceanchampions.org
2008 is not shaping up to be a good year for conventional wisdom. The New York football Giants beat the record-perfect New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in an upset that can best be measured by the surreal fact that Las Vegas Casinos lost money on betting. One can only hope the Casinos and Vegas find a way to recover.
On a somewhat less viewed but arguably more important stage, the race for the Presidency of the United States is thwarting conventional wisdom. I'm not exactly sure where conventional wisdom can be found or how it is…
jjacquet | February 11, 2008In honor of Darwin Day, I'd like to give a little shout out to some of Charles Darwin's contributions to marine science.
Theory of Coral Reef Formation: Onboard the Beagle, Darwin composed the theory of coral reef formation. He described three types of reefs: fringe, barrier, and atoll. His illustrations of reef formation and global reef locations are beautifully detailed. Most impressive is that Darwin came up with the theory without ever having seen a coral reef (though he would eventually see one during the Beagle's voyage through the Pacific). And remember, back then there were no…
jjacquet | February 11, 2008It's official. Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Barack Obama have been invited to ScienceDebate2008.
The location? Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, named after one of our nation's greatest scientists (and greatest patriots). The date? April 18, just before the Pennsylvania Primary. Read more on the event at The Intersection.