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Penguin’s plight progresses

August 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Good news for five of the twelve species of penguins that were petitioned by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The lucky species that get a break for a time being include the Humboldt penguin of Chile and Peru and the yellow-eyed (pictured top), white-flippered, Fiordland crested and erect-crested (pictured bottom) of New Zealand.

Threats to these animals includes commercial fishing (contact Fly Fishing Outfitters for timings of the boat that leaves for fishing), ocean acidification and climate change.

Two other species, the African and southern rockhopper penguins, are awaiting a decision in September 2010 and January 2011. The other five species that the CBD wanted to list on the Endangered Species Act were not deemed in danger enough by the Interior Department. However, the CBD and Turtle Island Restoration Network are planning to file a suit for two of the five denied species to be reconsidered. Read more

Image (c) yellow-eyed magazineenz.com; erect-crested flicker.com.

If you have a question you’d like answered by the Beach Chair Scientist? Ask us at info@beachchairscientist.com!

Filed Under: Ocean, Penguins Tagged With: ,

Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes moves forward

July 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: Ocean, People Tagged With: ,

Just Flip ‘Em

June 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

If you do not already know, the Atlantic horseshoe crab is my favorite animal. It just breaks my heart when I am home and see a few crabs stranded along the wrackline. One thing that can be done for the animals that are still alive is to ‘Just Flip ‘Em’ (JFE).

JFE is a program from the Ecological Research & Development Group, Inc. that promotes to the public the importance of flipping the gentle crustacean over so they can get back into the sea. A lot of folks are hesitant but the horseshoe crab cannot sting or bite you. The most important piece or information to remember is to flip them from the sides of their shells. This simple act can save thousands of crabs.

Image (c) horseshoecrab.org

Filed Under: Atlantic Horseshoe Crab, People, Wrack Line Tagged With:

5 questions to test your ocean knowledge.

June 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment

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.

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

What to eat this summer?

June 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment

From Good (an on-line web magazine dedicated to enabling  individuals, businesses, and non-profits to push the world forward) an infographic of the popular Monterey Seafood Watch Guides.

Filed Under: Fish, People, Random Fun!

Answer to “Take a guess! What do you think this lobsta weighs?”

June 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment

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!

Filed Under: Ocean

Sherman’s Lagoon

June 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment

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:

Filed Under: Ocean

No more fish in the sea

June 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

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).

Filed Under: Bony Fishes, Fish, Ocean Tagged With: , , , ,

Take a guess! What do you think this lobsta weighs?

June 16, 2010 by 1 Comment

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.

Filed Under: Crustaceans, Ocean, Random Fun!

Ocean Leaders Recognized

June 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

On June 8 in Washington D.C. Honorable Lois Capp (CA), Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL) and Julie Packard were recognized for their roles as leaders in the ocean community.

According to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF), the organization that distributes the awards, these women were recognized for the following reasons:

“Rep. Capps received the Award for her dedication to protecting the natural resources of California and its waters and the broader environmental health of the U.S. Among that work, she was involved in legislation to protect coastal and estuarine habitat, reform U.S. fisheries and aquaculture management, and develop an integrated coastal and ocean observation system. Through her leadership, education initiatives such as the California Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) and the Multicultural Education for Resource Issues Threatening Oceans (MERITO) programs will help create new generations of environmental stewards
and ocean champions.”

“Rep. Ros-Lehtinen received the Award for her dedication to protecting the natural resources of Florida and its waters and the broader environmental health of the U.S. Among that work, she was involved in legislation providing funding for national marine sanctuaries, coastal restoration projects, and coral reef protection. Her concern for Florida’s coral reefs led her to champion the Coral Reef Conservation Act.”

“Ms. Packard was presented with a whale tail sculpture created by Santa Barbara artist James “Bud” Bottoms of the Dolphin Family Studio. Her career and dedication was recalled through a video that features the extensive achievements of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and a testimonial by her friend and colleague, Rep. Sam Farr (CA-17). It details how she helped found the popular institution, the nation’s first major public aquarium focused on a single region, and has served as its Executive Director since it opened in 1984. NMSF also recognized her commitment to ocean conservation and her work shaping the nation’s ocean policies through other channels, including her work with the Pew Oceans Commissions and Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.”

Filed Under: People