Marine & Freshwater Environmental Education
This past January I posted some information about the campaign to Wear Blue for Oceans Day. The purpose of this campaign was to call attention to President Obama and Congress to agree to sign and release a national ocean plan. I am happy to post that on July 19, 2010 the executive order was passed.
Read the nitty gritty details straight from the White House here.
What causes ocean dead zones? a) Fertilizer run-off b) Sewage run-off c) Animal waste from farms d) All of the above
What is the world’s saltiest ocean? a) Atlantic b) Pacific c) Indian d) Artic
What is the world’s shallowest ocean? a) Artic b) Atlantic c) Indian d) Southern
What percentage of the world’s oceans are overfished? a) 50% b) 65% c) 75% d) 80%
How much of the earth is covered in water? a) 68% b) 71% c) 75% d) 79%
Click here to get the answers from Planet Green (Discovery Channel).
Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and enter your request or e-mail info@beachchairscientist.com.
Paul Tasha, a commercial lobster diver, has been fishing for about 40 years had a big surprise. He was diving for lobster off of Race Point in Provincetown, MA, a part of the Outer Cape Cod (OCC) management area when he came across a 31-pound male lobster crawling along the bottom (at a depth of approximately 30 feet). The lobster’s carapace was 231 mm or just over nine inches.
According to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Technical Committee this is one of the largest lobster caught and recorded in recent times. The crusher claw was bigger than the average adult males head. Prior this capture, the largest lobster Tasha had caught was 22 pounds. Mr. Tasha had several offers to buy the lobster for over $150, but he thought it was more important to return this large lobster to the ocean. A female lobster of this size will produce almost five times as many eggs as a 3 1/4” lobster. Since lobsters need mates similar in size, it was important to release this large male. The OCC is the only lobster management area where there is no maximum size so it would have been legal to keep the lobster. Derek Perry of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries tagged, measured, and weighted the lobster before Mr. Tasha released it.
This post was written by Tina Berger and Toni Kerns of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Thank you!
In case you have not had a chance to check it out you may want to investigate Sherman’s Lagoon, a comic strip by Jim Toomey. Jim uses Sherman, a shark, and his band of misfit friends (a shrimp, a sea turtle, among others) to bring to light their view of the anthropogenic impacts on the ocean. Here is a small sample:
From Good (an on-line web magazine dedicated to enabling individuals, businesses, and non-profits to push the world forward) an infographic detailing the decline of popular fish species in the last 50 years. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the Untied Nations calculates how many fish are left in the ocean by counting how many fish are allocated for harvesting (assuming the maximum are caught).
Image (c) Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.
Do you have another good question for the Beach Chair Scientist? Go to http://www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know. Or you can e-mail your question to info@beachchairscientist.com.
It is said that Earth was created about 4.5 billion years ago (bya). Life began about (note “about”) 3.5 bya. And, in fact, it is thought that life began in the oceans!
Follow the evolution of the whale on the National Museum of Natural History’s Sant Oceans Hall on-line ocean portal and see if the whale is evolving backwards. Sounds interesting, eh?
Do you have another good question or suggestion for the Beach Chair Scientist? Go to http://www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know. Or you can e-mail your question to info@beachchairscientist.com.
Since a 2008 resolution by the United Nations, June 8 has been designated as the universal “World Oceans Day”. Each year, non-profit The Ocean Project pulls together a great list of events from around the world celebrating World Oceans Day. The theme for 2010 is “World of Life”.
Image (c) http://theoceanproject.org
“Wear Blue, Tell Two”
In 2009 the Ocean Project began a campaign to get people to wear blue as a way to represent the ocean on World Oceans Day. Another part of this campaign is to tell two people interesting facts about the ocean to inspire them to feel connected in hopes they will also become stewards of our marine environment.
You know where to tell people to go for interesting ocean facts … http://www.beachchairscientist.wordpress.com!
In this video produced by the EPA and The Weather Channel you’ll see what some people believe a watershed to be. It is not a place where people go to the bathroom, but, is more like a drain.
Understanding a watershed is tough. I think it is because the name does not fit the definition. A watershed is an area of land that drains into a shared body of water. It could be a shared stream, lake, river, estuary, aquifer, or ocean. What links the land to these water bodies are wetlands.
Each watershed is connected to another watershed. All watersheds eventually lead to the ocean. In the U.S. there are over 2,200 watersheds (including Puerto Rico). They have no restrictions on counties, state, or even national border lines.
All watersheds are delicate and their strength is dependent upon 1) what we put in them and 2) how we use them. Follow how I am learning to make less on an impact on my watershed.
Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and enter your request or e-mail info@beachchairscientist.com.
“NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2010 as National Oceans Month. I call upon Americans to learn more about what they can do to protect, conserve, sustain, and enjoy our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes.”
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
So, June is National Oceans Month (NOM). What does this mean for Beach Chair Scientist? In the month of June I am challenging myself to write 30 entries. Today is June 3 so I am already two days behind. Throughout the month I will bring simple, insightful and entertaining ways to learn to take President Obama’s advice to “protect, conserve, sustain, and enjoy our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes.” Sounds fun, right?
I am committed to keeping a positive spin on the 30 NOM posts. I will not dwell on the oil spill. But, it would be irresponsible if I did not mention it. The only positive light I can see with this oil spill is that it does hit home and therefore we (the American public) are forced to look for alternative forms of energy.
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