Marine & Freshwater Environmental Education
Do yo
u want short (often humorous) ocean science information? Follow the Beach Chair Scientist on twitter @bcsanswers. Often many job posting, fun pictures or just links to relevant information. Thanks.
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photo (c) twitter.
I was watching the October 13, 2009 episode of the Colbert Report on Comedy Central and was pleasantly surprised to when Stephen interviewed Sylvia Earle. Ms. Earle is a very accomplished ocean explorer.
She just put out (yet another – yeah!) book, The World Is Blue: How Our Fate And The Oceans Are One.
So, who is Sylvia Earle? She is just a girl, originally born in New Jersey, and when she was still young moved with her parents to the Gulf of Mexico. There she gravitated to the mystical, open ocean and never looked back. She has more than 125 publication about her ocean explorations, including: Exploring the Deep Frontier, Sea Change (1995), Wild Ocean: America’s Parks Under the Sea (1999) and The Atlas of the Ocean (2001).
Here are some other mighty impressive accomplishments for this 74 year old woman:
And, I think this is a very appropriate mantra for the Beach Chair Scientists out there:
I can still feel that leap of enthusiasm, and real joy, at the prospect of finally getting out to the beach, and running around. But probably the most important thing, to me, aside from just the freedom of it and the power of it, was the kind of creatures that you could see along the beach, that you can’t find anywhere else. —Sylvia Earle
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photo (c) Library of Congress.
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.”
CephalopodCast “Science info + Ocean info.”
The Beacon from Oceana
The Ship’s Blog from the National Geographic Society
http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/blog/
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Sand from islands or tropical sites have sand that is high in Calcium, since seashells are rich in Calcium and are broken down to form sand there.
Inland lake, river, stream and pond sands are high in Silicon, since rocks are composed of various types of silicates which break down to form sand there.
Most of the “black” sands, which are volcanic in origin, are high in Iron and Aluminum, since these elements are found in volcanic produced materials (lava, etc.).
The sand on the coast of Namibia (in southwest Africa) is definitely worth sifting. It contains diamonds!
Certain beaches and sand dunes create mysterious sounds that scientists still don’t completely understand. They sing, whistle, boom, bark, and even sound like a frog!
The rocks, pebbles, and sand on the beach are sorted by the waves. They vary in size from large pebbles down to very small ones, and finally to sand, which is almost pure quartz.
There’s not a source on Bermuda for quartz, yet about ten percent of Bermuda’s beach sand is quartz. Geologist Bruce Rueger has found the answer. It has been dropped out of the tail end of birds flying south. They carry grains in their crops (part of their throat) to help with digestion. (Bermuda lies smack in the middle of a major migratory route)
I was really lazy today and all of this came from http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/curriculum/MISmart/ocean/sandfact.htm .
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Can you guess the common name designated to the animal pictured to the right?
Here are some facts about the critter:
Image (c) of newscience.com
It may not come as a surprise, but a lot of my friends and family consider George Costanza as the most famous marine biologist they know. Long before Seinfeld, Jacques Cousteau, the world’s most well known deep sea explorer, made studying marine science seem fun 
and not as intimidating as people once thought.
So here are some reasons why Jacques Cousteau continues to be an inspiration and a legend in the field:
Cousteau co-developed the aqua lung in 1943.
Cousteau co-created the Cousteau Society, dedicated to protecting ocean life, in 1973.
Cousteau’s television show, “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau,” was narrated by Cousteau himself and Rod Sterling.
Cousteau received the Presidential Medal of Honor from Ronald Regan in 1985.
Cousteau received the United Nations International Environmental Prize, with Peter Scott, in 1975.
Cousteau was honored by John Denver in the 1975 song titled, Calypso. Calypso was his boat’s name.
image (c) yarnela.com
Environmental News Network sent a news release out today about a new report that states how Orca orca may die off if the numbers of king salmon continue to drop.
The research was published in the Royal Society Biology Letters. The leading cause of the death of the killer whales is actually “nutritional stress” from not being able to find the king salmon. So that is potentially what could happen to me when I do not get a happy fixing of peanut butter once in a while.
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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
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Bony fish have a swim bladder, a gas filled sac. The swim bladder originates as part of the belly. The swim bladder aids in creating an equilibrium with what is going on inside the fish and the surrounding water.
Some fish have a bladder that is part of the respiratory system, called an air bladder. It even creates a drumming sound. Croaker, red drum and black drum are part of the group.
Fish that have a skeleton made of cartilage do not have a swim bladder.
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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.
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