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New ‘marine life encyclopedia’ launched

September 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I think there might be another great bookmark to add to your ocean facts files! Please spend some time reviewing this great new resource, a marine life encyclopedia, compiled by Oceana. Over 500 creatures, places, and concepts can be explored. The pictures are bright and colorful and the information is up-to-date and easy to digest. It seems fantastic if you want a quick answer to a question.

Even if you think you know all the answers, test yourself with this Ocean IQ quiz!

The content on the marine life encyclopedia site has been licensed to Dorling Kindersley, one of the world’s leading educational publishers.

Filed Under: Algae (Seaweeds), Animal Homes, Arthropods, Atlantic Horseshoe Crab, Beach, Biodiversity, Birds, Bivalves, Bony Fishes, Cephalopods, Cnidaria, Coral Reef Ecosystems, Crustaceans, Echinoderms, Egg Cases, Fish, Jellyfish or Jellies, Marine Mammals, Mollusks, Ocean, Penguins, People, Places, Plants, Random Fun!, Reptiles, Sea Turtles, Seashells, Sharks, Skates and Rays, Test Your Knowledge, Univalves, Weather, Wrack Line Tagged With: , ,

Where is the coral triangle?

August 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

After some research I scored a wonderful description of where the world’s most ecologically diverse  marine ecosystem lies. Spanning over six countries this 6 million kilometers squared coral triangle is significant because it is home to six of the seven species of sea turtles. This infographic, produced by World Wildlife Fund, gives a rundown of the protection status of each the sea turtle species as well as a wealth of other great information. For instance, did you know …

… 3000 leatherback sea turtles nested along the coast of Terengganu, Malaysia in 1960? In 2000, according to data from Dr. Chen Eng Heng with the Department of Fisheries in Malaysia, there were none.

… 90% of sea turtle hatchlings never make it to their first birthday.

Take a closer look at the infographic to learn more. Lastly, don’t forget May 23rd is International Turtle Day!

Filed Under: Animal Homes, Sea Turtles Tagged With: , , , , ,

FLASH: Florida Aquatic Science Heros

June 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

While I was in graduate school in Florida I spent a lot of time in and around the Indian River Lagoon. It is one of the most diverse estuarine ecosystems in North America mainly due in part that it’s expansive length stretches across two geographic zone, the temperate and the tropic zone. This seamless mixing creates some of the most beautiful landscape you’d ever set your eyes on. It is also one of the most fragile environments since it sits on the edge of one of the largest man-made disasters in our country, the Everglades restoration project. Dr. Edie Widder is a deep-sea biologist who founded the Ocean Research and Conservation Association and is featured this video produced by COSEE. Get to know some of her exciting work helping to restore the balance of aquatic ecosystems in south Florida by Making Water Pollution Visible.

Filed Under: Animal Homes, People

What is the mystery of the chambered nautilus?

October 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

“Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still, as the spiral grew,
He left the past year’s dwelling for the new,
Stole with soft step its shining archway through,
Built up its idle door,
Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1804-1894)

The above is only an excerpt from the poem, “The Chambered Nautilus” by Holmes published in 1858. It only begins to hint at the marvel of this magnificent cephalopod. The chambered nautilus has become breathtaking subject matter for generations of artists and has become a commodity on the commercial trade industry.

The chambered nautilus is a squid that lives inside a shell marked with a brown and white zebra pattern. As the squid grows, the shell grows with it and creates compartments which are used as gas chambers and help the cephalopod rise or sink in the water column. The inside of the shell is lined with an iridescent pearl. In the last chamber of the shell are almost 90 tentacles and large eye peering out. Predators of the chambered nautilus include sharks, turtles, and octopus.

What makes the chambered nautilus so mysterious and sought after? Is it the mother of pearl that lines the inside of the animal’s shell? Is it that the animal represents a far off species only found tropical Indo-Pacific? Or is it that the inside compartments of the chambered nautilus each mirror its smaller and larger part exactly and therefore the animal is an example of the golden rectangle found in nature.

This harmonic progression is an illustration of Fibonacci’s sequence. This is a sequence where the first two numbers in the series are added to create the third number for a series of number that begins 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 and so on forever. This proportional pattern can be seen all over in nature: flower petals, pine cones, and even galaxies. Below is an illustration of the proportion as it relates to the chambered nautilus.

Image (c) top – seasky.org, bottom – http://2muchfun.info

Do you have another interesting question? E-mail info@beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!

Filed Under: Animal Homes, Cephalopods, Random Fun! Tagged With: , ,

What is a Marine Protected Area (MPA)?

January 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment

“A marine protected area (MPA) in the ocean is similar in concept to what a national park is on the terrestrial environment.” Shifting Baselines

There are many terms that mean ‘MPA’, including: sanctuaries, parks, preserves, or natural areas. All of these areas have some boundary in the oceans and are protected by either the Department of the Interior (National Park Service) or the Department of Commerce (National Ocean Atmospheric Administration).

Not all MPAs are completely closed off for human use. Each MPA has various characteristics delineated to it based upon the best circumstances for various stakeholders.

The characteristics are 1) conservation (natural, cultural and/or sustainable), 2) protection level (zoned, zoned with no-take areas, uniformed, no take, no impact, or no access), 3) permanence of protection (permanent, conditional, or temporary), 4) constancy of protection (year-round, seasonal, or rotating), 5) ecological scale of protection (ecosystem or focal resource).

Cape Hatteras, N.C. was the first marine protected area established in 1975.

MPAs are not new management tools but are gaining new momentum as a conservation tool. Watch this PSA with folks from Scrubs, January Jones, and Pierce Brosnan about supporting MPAs off California.

If you have another great question go ahead and e-mail info@beachchairscientist.com or just enter it at http://www.beachchairscientist.com.

Filed Under: Animal Homes, Biodiversity, Coral Reef Ecosystems, Ocean, People

Where do fish sleep?

March 6, 2009 by 2 Comments

Well, most fish are just like us and simply want to find a place away from all the chaos of the day to day rat race to take a nap and rest – slowing down their busy lives – gaining energy for the next day.

These places could be under logs, coral crevices, or other sorts of reefs spots – basically out of the way of predators.

Here is an interesting adaptation – the parrotfish uses its spit to create a translucent “sleeping bag bubble” around its body while it sleeps. The bubble helps to hide the parrotfish’s scent so other fish will not find it. If another animal bumps into it – the parrotfish will be warned of the other animal nearby and make a quick get away. Parrotfish are found on the coral reef.

But we’ve only scratched the surface here. Check back often at http://www.beachchairscientist.com for more insight about your favorite beach discoveries.

Filed Under: Animal Homes, Coral Reef Ecosystems, Fish

What lives in the spooky burrows on the beach?

October 19, 2008 by Leave a Comment

The answer is appropriate for this time of year … those quarter-sized holes are the home the ghost crabs or fiddler crabs. Ghost crabs emerge to scavenger upon anything they can get including crabs or clams, bugs or insects, plants or dead stuff (detritus). The burrows are personal territories (i.e., not colonies like on Meerkat Manor). If one male tries to challenge another for his home what occurs is an interesting ritualistic “dance.” There is rarely actual contact and the better “dancer” wins. If you’re tanning on a beach blanket and hear tapping or bubbling noises under the sand, that’s the ghost crab either using their claws for digging or sounds from their gills as they breath. The burrows can be up to three feet deep.

ghostCrab

F1.mediumTop – Ghost crab burrow image (c) aquaessence.com, bottom – fiddler crab burrow image (c) jeb.biologists.org

Filed Under: Animal Homes, Crustaceans Tagged With: ,