Marine & Freshwater Environmental Education
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Is there any fish species closely related to mermaids?
As paleontologically-inclined artist and author Ray Troll likes to say, people—and by extension, all mammals—are just really complicated fish. Since mermaids are widely believed to be the optimistic misapprehension of common manatees by sadly sea-addled sailors, the fish species most closely related to mermaids would be…well…us, mammals. Jim Wharton Vice President, Education Division, Director, Center […]
How do fish know where to find food?
This is amazing! It was just discovered that the nine-spined stickleback fish (found in the UK) uses a technique called “hill climbing” to select the place where to be most successful for finding food. Basically, the fish stands aside and watched other fish and their feeding habits to learn from their successes and challenges! Read […]
10 reasons you’ll want to start to collect bottle caps
I try to reduce-reuse-recycle-refuse-reuse as much as possible but sometimes there is no way around it. Your home collects trash and waste. We seem to accumulate plastic caps. Bottle caps are one of the top five types of litter found on beaches worldwide. Imagine how many are in the sea we can’t see!? First, check […]
Oh, Christmas tree (worm)! Oh, Christmas tree (worm)!
What are Christmas tree worms and where did they get their name? I’m more than happy to let you know that it would not be a good idea to decorate your house with Spirobranchus giganteus. The Christmas tree worm got its name because the spiral plumes that radiate from its main body resemble that of […]
12 good non-fiction books about fish
Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenburg (read a review here.) Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky On the Run: An Angler’s Journey Down the Striper Coast by David Dibendetto Giant Bluefin by Douglas Whynott The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the […]
It’s a SodaStream sweepstakes!
Time for another giveaway … Would you believe me if I told you there was a smallish kitchen appliance you could use daily to enjoy a refreshing beverage that would reduce the amount of plastic bottles that would potentially enter the atmosphere as marine debris and it was free? While you’re contemplating how this miracle […]
How does an oyster make a pearl?
Oysters are another bivalve animal. In the case of all bivalves, the part of the animal that lines the shell is known as the nacre and the part of the animal that make up the outer shell is known as the mantle. A pearl is created rather by accident when something foreign gets stuck inside […]
Design on a dime … Underwater edition
Diet Tips for a Longer, Healthier Life Changing what you eat now could have big benefits later Photo: Getty Images We know that cutting back on red meat is good for heart health, fish is brain food, and calcium-rich foods can help keep our bones strong. But can shaking up what we eat help us […]
It’s as easy as A, B, Sea: L for Limpet
Limpets are small, flattened snails with a conical shell that live on rocks in the intertidal zone. They trap water beneath their shell and use it to survive from high tide to low tide. Image (c) wordsmith.org
30 reasons to be grateful for the ocean
It’s the end of another National Oceans Month. And, on this most lovely of lovely days I’d like to Speak Up For Blue and name 30 reasons to be grateful for the ocean! (OK, and it just so happens to be this Beach Chair Scientist’s birthday) In no particular order, here are some reasons to […]
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- Robert Emahiser on Why you should never walk on dunes
- Lesa on 10 brief facts on bioluminescence
- Lisa on Limulus Love
- Beach Chair Scientist on 17 facts about the wee sea potatoes
- Bernard Rejterada on 17 facts about the wee sea potatoes
- Brian on What is the difference between a summer and winter flounder?
- Inbound marketing on 15 facts about the Portuguese man-of-war that’ll have you saying “Didya know…?”
- Donnie Huckabee on Wordless Wednesday | Shell art
- John on Why you should never walk on dunes
- ItzJaylaD on What I know about whale sharks
Top posts & pages from BCS …
- Hurricane vs. Cyclone vs. Typhoon
- A House for Hermit Crab
- How to handle a horseshoe crab
- Snot's your house
- Wednesday Wisdom: Various quotes (Alaska scenes)
- A naturalist's must-see destination: Fossil Hunting at Bayfront State Park in Chesapeake Beach, MD
- Belly biology creates lasting memories
- Five awful puns about courtship in the sea
- Horseshoe crabs confirmed as members of arachnid family
- Beyond the bag: Other plastics being banned
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