Portolan refers to navigational charts dating back to the Renaissance. They were focused on coastal outlines and included seaports, river openings, shoals and hazards. The distance from one point to another was always included. Latitude and longitude were not features on the maps, neither was interior land. Portolan comes from the Italian adjective “portolana” meaning “related to ports or harbors”.
Marine & Freshwater Environmental Education
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Wednesday Wisdom: Rachel Carson
Exercise and Teenagers Exercise is an important part of keeping teens healthy. Encouraging healthy lifestyles in children and teens is important for when they grow older. Lifestyles that are learned in childhood are more likely to stay with the child into adulthood. Some changes in lifestyle can be harder to make as a person ages. […]
Sea slug actually anything but a lug
This might sound familiar (since I recently retweeted from @NOAAOceanToday) but there was recently an article discussing the virtues of sea slugs. In particular that they have been used to understand how to maximize the effectiveness of long-term memory in humans. Also, check out these divers (with the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre in Bamfield, BC) […]
Hark! The herald angel (shark) strikes?
Not often. But, the angel shark has been known to strike – if provoked. These strikes are similar to those made by its cartilaginous relatives, rays and skates, coming from the surface of the ocean floor (they’re pretty good with the camouflage as you might notice from the picture on the right). However, unlike rays […]
What is the biggest fish in the sea?
The whale shark is the biggest fish on the planet. The largest whale shark measures about 66 feet long and 74,957 pounds. Not to be confused with the blue whale, a mammal, which is the largest animal on the planet. The largest blue whale measured about 110 feet and up to 400,000 pounds! The whale […]
Are we breaking up with Mother Nature?
Has it gotten to the point that when you do connect with Mother Nature it seems like an awkward hug? It’s been said time and time again that we’re better off taking a step away from technology to reconnect with Mother Nature as a regular part of our daily lives. The benefits of establishing a […]
70 Degrees West project
I’m continuing the theme of “We affect what goes in our watershed” this week (see posts on pharmaceuticals and oil) and introducing you to an adventurous and creative couple, Justin Lewis and Michelle Stauffer, working together on the 70 Degrees West project. They launched this project almost a year ago in April of 2012 and have […]
Do isopods live in the ocean?
Yes. There are 45,000 different types of marine isopods. Isopods are crustaceans and have a body divided into three parts: head, thorax and abdomen. Actually, isopods are the most diverse of all the types of crustaceans and are unique because they are the most widely distrubed crustacean out there! When in doubt, call it an […]
10 brief facts on bioluminescence
We all get excited thinking about bioluminescence in nature. Ironically, that excitement is only one of the reasons animals glow like an elf in Middle Earth. Here are some ‘basics on bioluminescence’ you can share with your friends and family the next time you all ogle a firefly and wonder ‘why?’. Insects (e.g., fireflies, glow […]
A naturalist’s must-see destination: Acadia National Park
I’ve researched some significant reasons why Acadia National Park is a popular place to go. The center of Acadia National Park is the core wintering area for purple sandpipers. Recently, a fungus lethal to bats – but harmless to humans, was found in Acadia National Park. The animals infected are said to come down with […]
Break it down. It’s hammertime … (doooo doo doo dut .. doo dut ..doo dut.)
The hammerhead shark has evolved the interesting looking skull cap to accommodate its extra collection electrosensory organs. All sharks do have these electrosensory organs, but, the hammerhead has a bit more than the average shark species. The electrosensory organ are useful for traveling far distances in the open ocean. It is like a internal GPS […]
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