You are here: Home / Archives for Environmental Education / Ocean Conservation / Ocean

6 ocean related blogs you should know about.

October 27, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunset “Doing my small part to preserve ocean biodiversity while advancing the vast left wing conspiracy and queer, godless agenda.”

http://coralnotesfromthefield.blogspot.com/2008/08/great-ocean-blogs.html

Sustainable Ocean Project “Changing the way we think about our oceans.”

http://sustainableoceanproject.com/

Blue Planet Divers “A Place for Researchers Divers of All Levels to Connect and Learn.”

http://blueplanetdivers.org

CephalopodCast “Science info + Ocean info.”

http://cephalopodcast.com

The Beacon from Oceana

http://na.oceana.org/en/blog

The Ship’s Blog from the National Geographic Society

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/blog/

If you have any questions please e-mail beachchairscientist@gmail.com or let us know at http://www.beachchairscientist.com.

Filed Under: Ocean, Random Fun!

The story of the hurricane …

September 1, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Bob Dylan explained it once, but I’ll explain the natural phenomenon from another angled. A hurricane develops due to the hot, hot air temperatures of summer moving along the hot, hot ocean. This collision of heat joins forces to form a mass of air and water that starts swirling, blowing, sinking, and rising in a path that you see on the weatherman tracking device.

You probably begin paying attention to the tracking system when a hurricane begins to move close to the shore. A hurricane close to shore will undoubtedly cause massive storm surges. A storm surge is when the ocean may increase its high tides above what it normally may be. It is not uncommon to have a storm surge of 25 feet (about 6 kids standing on top of each others shoulders)!

The wind speed of the hurricane can get up to 150-200 miles per hour! Even once the winds slow down to next-to-nothing, it is important to remember that they are going to start back up again – but, go in the opposite direction. The respite you experienced was the ‘eye’ of the storm. A hurricane is a big doughnut of wind and water constantly cycling around destroying everything in its path. It can be up to 300 miles across.

Image (c) environment.nationalgeographic.com

Do you have another great question? Email info@beachchairscientist.com.

Filed Under: Ocean, Weather

Do sharks really never stop moving?

August 7, 2009 by 1 Comment

In order to breathe sharks have to keep moving. They have to engulf water to extract the oxygen in the water and then the rest of the water filters out of their gills. If the water current is very strong they can stay still.

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and enter let us know or e-mail beachchairscientist@gmail.com!

Filed Under: Ocean

No, sharks do not have a sixth sense

August 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Sharks really do have a sixth sense.

It is the electrosensory organ that we spoke of with the hammerhead sharks. The electrosensory organ is called the ampullae of Lorenzini. Sounds intimidating, however, it’s really just a jelly filled canal that starts near the nose and helps them find food under the sand and figure out what direction they are going.

Do you have another great question? Email info@beachchairscientist.com.

Filed Under: Fish, Ocean, Sharks

Oh, Bermuda Triangle, where art thou?

July 30, 2009 by

bermuda-triangle

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand or e-mail beachchairscientist@gmail.com.

Image (c) behindblondiepark.com

Filed Under: Ocean

How many oceans are there?

July 29, 2009 by 2 Comments

In reality, there is just one ocean.

However, I understand the confusion as of late on the geographic names applied to different sections of this ocean ecosystem. While we lost a planet (Pluto), we gained an ocean! In 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization named this new ocean the Southern Ocean. Basically, it is the southern equivalent of the Arctic Ocean, except a little bit larger in sprawling space. So, there are 5 oceans.

Here they are in a listing of greatest to least in square miles:

Pacific (64,186,000)

Atlantic (33,420,000)

Indian (28,350,000)

Southern (7,848,300)

Arctic (5,106,000)

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand or e-mail beachchairscientist@gmail.com.

Filed Under: Ocean

When did life begin in the ocean?

July 28, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Actually, before there was life on land there was life in the ocean. Life in the ocean began about 3.1 to 3.4 billion years ago. Life on land began only 400 million years ago.

Do you have another great question? Email info@beachchairscientist.com and let me know!

Filed Under: Ocean Tagged With: , , ,

How do you say ocean in … ?

July 28, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Czech … oceánu

Dutch … ocean

Bulgarian … океан

Filipino … karagatan

Finnish … meressä

German … ozean

Hungarian … ocean

Indonesian … samudra

Italian … oceano

Latvian … okeāna

Lithuanian … vandenynas

Maltese … oċean

Polish … oceanu

Portuguese … oceano

Spanish … océano

Turkish … okyanus

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand or e-mail beachchairscientist@gmail.com.

Filed Under: Ocean, Random Fun!, Test Your Knowledge

Why do you hear the ocean echo from a shell?

July 28, 2009 by Leave a Comment

The larger the seashell the louder the sound, right? It is the space inside the shell that creates the sound. Well, the space inside the seashell bouncing against the sounds of your surroundings.

For the most part people are experimenting with this seashell symphony at the beach where there is a lot of  space for sounds to resonate inside the seashell.

It would be the same type of sound when you put a glass up to your ear. It you put a glass up to your ear in the bathroom with the door shut you will hear very little. If you put the glass up to your ear outside, you will hear the “ocean”.

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!

Filed Under: Ocean

What is the difference between a marine biologist and an oceanographer?

July 27, 2009 by 6 Comments

A marine biologist studies the life in the ocean (“bio” = life). An oceanographer studies the physical elements of the oceans.

A marine biologist will study dolphins.

An oceanographer will study tides.

A marine biologist will study jellyfish.

An oceanographer will study the salt content of seawater.

A marine biologist will study algae.

An oceanographer will study the volcanic activity of the sea.

A marine biologist will study horseshoes crabs.

An oceanographer will study the plate tectonic action of the ocean.

Of course, I do not think they are at all exclusive. But, that is the general break down of who studies what.

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!

Filed Under: Ocean