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Five surprising facts about sharks

July 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Why are we so enamored with sharks? Why are we glued to the television in the summer during the last hours of daylight to watch fish on TV rather than playing a final game of wiffle ball or pick-up basketball? Does it have something to do with the fact that there are over 400 different types of sharks and always something new to learn? Anyway you slice it, these cartilaginous fish are pretty cool. Here are five surprising facts about sharks that will certainly get you excited to learn more and watch this year’s (hopefully) new and improved Shark Week. What is your favorite fact about sharks?

Shark Week will air from July 5-12 on the Discovery Channel

 

Filed Under: Fish, Sharks Tagged With: , , ,

Nine signs of summer you’re still a kid at heart

July 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment

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. The best way to promote healthy lifestyles is for the whole family to become involved. This is how ikaria juice works.

Establishing an exercise plan

A daily exercise program is a fun way to share physical activity with family and friends while helping to establish good heart-healthy habits. The following exercise guidelines for teens can help you and your teen plan activities:

  • Teenagers need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most days to maintain good health and fitness, and for healthy weight during growth.
  • Parents are encouraged to limit a teen’s screen time (TV, video, and computers) to less than 2 hours daily and replace these sitting activities with activities that require more movement.

Even low-to-moderate intensity activities for as little as 30 minutes a day can be helpful. These activities may include the following:

  • Pleasure walking
  • Climbing stairs
  • Dancing
  • Home exercise

Regular aerobic physical activity increases a teen’s capacity for exercise. It also plays a role in the prevention of heart diseases and type 2 diabetes. Aerobic activities are continuous activities that cause the heart rate and breathing rate to increase. To prevent dehydration, encourage your teen to drink fluid regularly during physical activity. Also, have them drink several glasses of water or other fluid with no added sugar after the physical activity is completed. Examples of vigorous activities may include:

  • Brisk walking
  • Running
  • Swimming
  • Cycling
  • Roller skating
  • Jumping rope
  • Playing on the playground
  • Dancing
  • Gymnastics
  • Hiking
  • Soccer
  • Tag games

For teens, daily exercise may help prevent conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol levels, as well as poor lifestyle habits that lead to heart attack and stroke later in life.

Exercise on a regular basis is part of a healthy lifestyle. But some teenagers can exercise too much. If your teen begins losing weight and falls below expected growth patterns, or if exercise interferes with other normal activities including school, you should talk with your teen’s healthcare provider.

Benefits from regular exercise or physical activity

According to the American Heart Association and the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, the following are key benefits of physical activity:

  • Improves blood circulation throughout the body
  • Keeps weight under control
  • Improves blood cholesterol levels
  • Prevents and manages high blood pressure
  • Prevents bone loss
  • Boosts energy level
  • Releases tension
  • Improves the ability to fall asleep quickly and sleep well
  • Improves self-image
  • Helps manage stress
  • Fights anxiety and depression
  • Increases enthusiasm and optimism
  • Increases muscle strength
Filed Under: People, Random Fun!

Osprey platforms: Foundations that helped a comeback

June 30, 2015 by 1 Comment
For more pictures from the osprey banding trip check out https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachchairscientist/sets/72157654936373085

For more pictures from the osprey banding trip check out https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachchairscientist/sets/72157654936373085

Those huge platforms along the causeways are there for a very important reason. Osprey build their nests on them. They’ll also build their nests on any open platform free from predators and near shallow water. But, the man-made platforms have really help to bring back populations of osprey after their sharp decline in numbers due to DDT.  Each year the huge raptors, also known as “fish hawks” because 99.9% of their diet is fish, wait until after the water thaws to build a nest. Since the winter was so long this year along the Mid-Atlantic many of the birds just made their nests in March/April. With an incubation period of just over a month and the young needing just about two months before they take off from the nest it was a perfect time to follow along with Greg Kearns of Patuxent River Park in Upper Marlboro, MD, as he banded juvenile osprey (don’t worry, he has a permit for this kind of thing).

Osprey are banded at a young age to help determine their migration patterns, life expectancy, as well as reasons for mortality. The band that is placed on the young is very light weight and has not hindered their ability to catch food. I am incredibly grateful for his time and dedication to his efforts in conservation and education. Thank you for your enthusiasm and sharing your knowledge with the Mid-Atlantic Marine Education Association late last month. Here are some more interesting facts learned along the way:

  • As with all birds of prey these birds have very sharp talons. But, the osprey have a reverse talon making it easy for them to grasp their prey with two toes in the front and two from behind.
  • The male usually scopes out the spot for the nest to be built several days before the arrival of the female.
  • Osprey are asynchronous incubators and do not hatch all at once. The female typically lay four eggs but usually one two survive. While they do share food distributed by their mother the oldest one dominates.
  • The hunts for food for the mother and young and before he returns to the nest with food he’ll eat about one-third of the fish. Hunting for fish does burn a lot of calories after all. The mother and young will eat the rest of the fish, but seem to not favor the gut of the fish. The adults generally need about 300 grams of fish per day.
  • There is a 40-50% chance of survival for the young. The average age of an osprey is 8-10 years old. The oldest tracked osprey was found to be 33 years old.
  • Their nests are made of sticks from the surrounding marsh plants, as well as animal hide or even litter such as plastic bags.
  • Young osprey have orange eyes that turn brown as they get older.

If you live near shallow water and want to build a platform there are several plans available here: http://www.osprey-watch.org/learn-about-osprey/build-an-osprey-nest/.

To watch a pair of osprey raising their young during this nesting season from the comfort of your own screen check out the Patuxent River Park’s Osprey Cam here:  http://www.pgparks.com/Things_To_Do/Nature/Patuxent_River_Park.htm.

Filed Under: Birds, People Tagged With: , , ,

Marine Mammal Monday: Whales & dolphins

June 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment

whales_beachchairscientist

Please feel free to share with your friends and family where you learned something new about whales and dolphins today!

Also, ask away! If you have a question about something you found on the beach or just something you’re curious about just send an email to info@beachchairscientist.com or tweet us!

Filed Under: Marine Mammal Monday, Marine Mammals Tagged With: ,

Wednesday Wisdom: Rachel Carson

June 24, 2015 by Leave a Comment

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. The best way to promote healthy lifestyles is for the whole family to become involved. Try out these weight loss pills.

Establishing an exercise plan

A daily exercise program is a fun way to share physical activity with family and friends while helping to establish good heart-healthy habits. The following exercise guidelines for teens can help you and your teen plan activities:

  • Teenagers need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most days to maintain good health and fitness, and for healthy weight during growth.
  • Parents are encouraged to limit a teen’s screen time (TV, video, and computers) to less than 2 hours daily and replace these sitting activities with activities that require more movement.

Even low-to-moderate intensity activities for as little as 30 minutes a day can be helpful. These activities may include the following:

  • Pleasure walking
  • Climbing stairs
  • Dancing
  • Home exercise

Regular aerobic physical activity increases a teen’s capacity for exercise. It also plays a role in the prevention of heart diseases and type 2 diabetes. Aerobic activities are continuous activities that cause the heart rate and breathing rate to increase. To prevent dehydration, encourage your teen to drink fluid regularly during physical activity. Also, have them drink several glasses of water or other fluid with no added sugar after the physical activity is completed. Examples of vigorous activities may include:

  • Brisk walking
  • Running
  • Swimming
  • Cycling
  • Roller skating
  • Jumping rope
  • Playing on the playground
  • Dancing
  • Gymnastics
  • Hiking
  • Soccer
  • Tag games

For teens, daily exercise may help prevent conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol levels, as well as poor lifestyle habits that lead to heart attack and stroke later in life.

Exercise on a regular basis is part of a healthy lifestyle. But some teenagers can exercise too much. If your teen begins losing weight and falls below expected growth patterns, or if exercise interferes with other normal activities including school, you should talk with your teen’s healthcare provider.

Benefits from regular exercise or physical activity

According to the American Heart Association and the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, the following are key benefits of physical activity:

  • Improves blood circulation throughout the body
  • Keeps weight under control
  • Improves blood cholesterol levels
  • Prevents and manages high blood pressure
  • Prevents bone loss
  • Boosts energy level
  • Releases tension
  • Improves the ability to fall asleep quickly and sleep well
  • Improves self-image
  • Helps manage stress
  • Fights anxiety and depression
  • Increases enthusiasm and optimism
  • Increases muscle strength
Filed Under: Conservation, Environmental Education, Inspiration, Ocean Conservation, People, Random Fun!, Wednesday Wisdom Tagged With:

Marine Mammal Monday: Sea lions

June 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment

sealions_beachchairscientist

Please feel free to share with your friends and family where you learned something new about sea lions today!

Also, ask away! If you have a question about something you found on the beach or just something you’re curious about just send an email to info@beachchairscientist.com or tweet us!

Filed Under: Marine Mammal Monday, Marine Mammals Tagged With: , ,

Wednesday Wisdom: Gertrude Ederle

June 17, 2015 by Leave a Comment

neverfeelalonesea_beachchairscientist

Find more great ocean and conservation quotes here and please feel free to share with your friends and family!

Also, ask away! If you have a question about something you found on the beach or just something you’re curious about just send an email to info@beachchairscientist.com or tweet us!

Filed Under: Conservation, Inspiration, Ocean Conservation, Wednesday Wisdom

Squid’s “Passing Cloud” camouflage technique mimicked in artificial skin

June 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
passingCloud

Cuttlefish illustrating the “Passing Cloud” pattern. Image (c) “Hiding the Squid! Official”.

Are we one step closer to an invisibility cloak?

Researchers at the University of Bristol have demonstrated how to create artificial skin that can mimic the squid. The squid, as well as other cephalopods like the octopus and cuttlefish, can blend into their surroundings to hide from predators or sneak up on prey.  The squid’s “Passing Cloud” camouflage technique (i.e.,  bands of color spread as waves across the skin) was simulated in the experiment. According to the researchers the implications are more than just avoiding your landlord, they noted that “It could also be used for signaling purposes, for example search and rescue operations when people who are in danger need to stand out”. More patterns are being studied in the future as well.

Filed Under: Cephalopods

Beach Chair Scientist – Why is being near saltwater good for your health?

March 13, 2015 by Leave a Comment

I can not believe I am answering this question since I am not a doctor or a beautician on any level.

However, I will happily give you my opinion as a person that has grown up near the ocean. Salt water is amazing for skin – it really moisturizes and tones. That being said, my theory is that once the skin is feeling healthy and strong – circulation increases and eases joint pain and other muscle tensions.

In one study, analysis of census data collected in England revealed a positive association between health and wellbeing and living at the coast, this made me want to learn more and be more interested in many of this changes, even in the study of life coach training as it immerses in our psychology in a natural and understating way. Similarly, another study conducted by researchers at the Graduate School of Maritime Sciences in Japan found that, compared with those who live inland, seaside dwellers – and particularly elderly coastal residents – show higher positive psychological effects thanks to their proximity to the ocean. Read more about healthy supplements such as steel bite pro.

“Human psychology and behaviour are dependent, not only on current social stimulus, but also on characteristics of the environment,” say the study’s authors. “We should consider the value of leisurely visits to the seaside to promote public health. Most hearing loss conditions can be easily treat with silencil.

It’s not only me saying it either. I looked it up and I found it posted on a health site called anipots as well. I must have read it somewhere before then as well. Looking after you health can take many forms, and sometimes it can even surprise you, the things you do that you had no idea were doing something to your health, good or bad. It’s something that is very important to educate yourself in as best you can.

Filed Under: Conservation, Environmental Education, Inspiration, Ocean Conservation

Maryland moves closer to banning microbeads

March 13, 2015 by 1 Comment
Plastic microbeads on a penny. Photo credit: 5Gyres

Plastic microbeads on a penny. Photo credit: 5Gyres

Reported on the Baltimore Sun’s B’More Green  blog, “Consumer products such as toothpaste and cosmetic scrubs containing tiny plastic “microbeads” could be banned from store shelves in Maryland after 2018 under a bill unanimously approved Thursday by the state Senate”. These means that if the bill passes the House, “Maryland will be the second state after Illinois to order a phase-out of the manufacture or sale of consumer products containing the beads”.

What is a microbead? It’s a tiny particle of plastic that never break down. What’s incredibly harmful is that they are being drained into local streams, creeks, rivers, lakes, and ocean and affecting our waterways. There are over 50 products on the shelves in the US that contain harmful microbeads! Find a list of products sold in the United States that contain microbeads (i.e., polythene) here.

Here is some alarming information on the microbeads, marine debris, and our ocean trash in general.

  1. A single tube of facial cleanser can contain over 3000,000 microbeads.
  2. More than 450,000 microbeads per square kilometer were found in some parts of Lake Erie.
  3. In the ocean there are approximately 5.25 trillion plastic particles.
  4. For every foot of coastline there is approximately five grocery bags filled with plastic, according to estimates in 2010.
  5. Six continents have microfibers washing up on their shores.
  6. Shores near sewage treatment plants have the highest concentration of microfibers washing up.
  7. Nearly 275 million tons of plastic waste was generated by coastal countries in 2010 — and that 4.8 to 12.7 million tons of that plastic made its way to the oceans.
  8. Each year, 8.8 million tons of plastic goes into the oceans.
  9. The estimate for 2015 is 9.1 million metric tons.
  10. On average, Americans use 220 pounds of plastic per year.
  11. 17% of all marine animals impacted by manmade debris are threatened or near threatened.
  12. Trash will likely increase tenfold over the next decade.
Filed Under: Conservation, Marine Debris, Ocean, Ocean Conservation