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I found a great whale watcher

September 2, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I miss my time aboard the Atlantic Star where we would head out to sea in the early morning and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins would be at the surface near the bow of the boat as if leading the way for a great trip. Ah, those were the days. As a substitute I did discover Ms. Monica Wieland who has a great blog about her sightings of killer whales, Orca orca. Her photos and blog descriptions are dynamic and captivating and I enjoy what she has to share. Recently she even wrote about her encounter with Mr. Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Sheperd (the boat that is famous from Discovery Channel’s  Whale Wars).

I hope you find as much enjoyment with the images of Ms. Wieland’s  magnificent neighbors as I have these days!

I love how the motion of the tail slap is captured here:

Image (c) Monika Wieland 2010.

Filed Under: Marine Mammals, People, Random Fun! Tagged With: ,

Who was the first person to explore the deep sea?

September 1, 2010 by Leave a Comment

New records are always being broken, but, the first person to make it into a deep abyss and record his findings was William Beebe. William Beebe never set out to become an ocean explorer and did not make his record breaking trip until he was 57 years old. Up until then he was content as the Director of Tropical Research for the New York Zoological Society. It was perhaps that he was egged on by his good pal, Teddy Roosevelt.

On August 15, 1934 off the coast of Bermuda he descended to 3,028 feet. He went down in a bathysphere connected to a steel cable. There was also a rubber hose that was his means of getting oxygen and communicating (there was a telephone wire attached). This bathysphere was designed by Otis Barton.

What Beebe enjoyed most of this excursion and others he took leading up to it was the chance to view creatures that were so unfamiliar to anything anyone had seen at the time. He was an avid life traveler and had traveled to Mexico, Asia, South America and e Galapagos Islands, but, said the trips to the deep sea were one of a kind. He later wrote, “First of all there was the complete and utter loneliness and isolation … . It was loneliness more akin to a first venture upon the moon or Venus.”

Image (c) noaa.gov

Filed Under: Ocean, People Tagged With: ,

Don’t be blue!

August 31, 2010 by 1 Comment

The annual BLUE Film Festival was held from August 24-29 in beautiful Monterrey, CA. The event is sponsored by the Monterrey Bay Aquarium and has recently become more and more mainstream attracting many high profile ocean community celebrities. The winner of the festival last year, The Cove, even won an Oscar for best documentary!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Rick MacPherson’s overview of his time there this year as he recounted how Julie Packard, Executive Director of Monterrey Bay Aquarium, challenged the highly talented and knowledgeable audience on how to engage the public to “care enough to do something about it”. Sometimes it seems as though we try and try and still make no headway.

Of course, in the past thirty years the movement to create a public that cares certainly has taken some giant leaps forward. We’ve been made aware of the bountiful wonders of the ocean and there is a collective knowledge that the ocean is in peril. But, that is only the beginning. Attitudes, skills and participation must be challenged as well. How that happens and where it begins is a perplexing question and unique to each individual.

For instance, not too long ago, I asked some colleagues to see how they got a foothold into the environmental education field and mostly the answers did revolve around wanting to teach others about what we love: woods, mountains or oceans.

With me it has been the sense of place. People have linked a strong sense of place as a child to advocacy efforts in adulthood. For instance, would I be as interested in the ocean and fishing communities if I did not grow up in Cape May County, New Jersey? (In 2009, Cape May County was the fourth largest valuable fishing port in the United States.)

Maybe how we, the ocean advocacy community, begin to think about challenging attitudes, skills and participation levels is to remain optimistic. However, this is more often than not a very difficult task (I am about to have my first child so I am all about remaining optimistic and hopeful for the future).

But, in an effort not to let ourselves get too blue, here is a list of accomplishments that would not have occurred without such a dedicated ocean community:

This is only a fraction of what has been accomplished! Have another success story? Please add it in the comments to keep the momentum going strong. Thanks!

Image (c) http://www.vimooz.com

Filed Under: Ocean, People Tagged With: , , , ,

Where have all the horseshoe crabs gone?

August 31, 2010 by 1 Comment

If you’ve kept on eye on the sandy shores of the Atlantic Ocean or eastern Gulf of Mexico over the past twenty years you’ve noticed a significant decline in the number of horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus, covering the beach. As a marine educator and naturalist in my past life, I always said the decline was due to over harvesting for bait and pharmaceutical needs. This is only half the reason. Recently scientists also noted that climate change, with the sea level rise and temperature fluctuation, may be a cause of the decline.

Tim King, a scientist with the United States Geological  Survey, thinks that what happened during the Ice Age could happen again. With climate change comes a loss of habitat and a loss of diversity. These issues could have severe implications, not only for horseshoe crabs, but also for species that rely on them for sustenance. For instance, along the Delaware Bay the red knot eats the horseshoe crabs eggs at the midpoint of their migration. In the Chesapeake Bay, loggerhead sea turtles are struggling to find one of their favorite food sources, horseshoe crabs, and are retreating elsewhere to find food. Now that the link of a decline in the horseshoe crab population and climate change has been made fisheries managers can take this into consideration.

Images (c) Greg Breese, US Fish and Wildlife Service

Filed Under: Atlantic Horseshoe Crab Tagged With: , ,

Test your knowledge: National Ocean Science Bowl sample question

August 30, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The National Ocean Science Bowl is a high school challenge program run by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership and is dedicated to preparing the next generation of scientists, teachers, policy makers, environmental advocates and concerned citizens to “continue the exploration and develop strategies for managing the oceans’ resources.”

Here is a sample question taken from their resources page to test your knowledge:

This national marine sanctuary, sometimes called The Galapagos of California, is home to kelp forests, sea lions and blue whales. a) Stellwagen Banks b) Channel Islands c) Monterrey Bay d) Olympic Coast

The answer is the Channel Islands, a set of five islands off the coast of California.

Image (c) oceanleadership.org.

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

What is a fish kill?

August 23, 2010 by 1 Comment

Like it or not sometimes fish kills occur. It is a harshly worded phrase used to define a massive localized die off of a fish population. When there is a fish kill it is a serious matter that environmental agencies use an indicator something may have run a muck in the local ecosystem. Although, fish kills can occur due to natural causes or artificial causes.

For instance, recently in New Jersey the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) determined that a menhaden fish kill was attributed to a lack of oxygen (hypoxia). It seems as though over one million of the tiny bait fish were swam right into shallow water, perhaps being chased by a predator such as bluefish. All those fish in the shallow water used up the limited oxygen before the tide could take them back out to sea. The water was tested by the DEP and was said to have a very low oxygen level due to very warm air and water temperatures. Fish kills are very prevalent in the warmer months. Other natural causes of fish kills may include drought or underwater earthquakes.

Meanwhile, in Mississippi there was a similar fate for speckled trout that may have been caused by the tar balls and patties that locals have been seeing wash ashore.  Thermal pollution (heated water let off of a nuclear plant), oil, chemical or hazardous waste spills are some of the major causes of man-made fish kills. The use of oil water separators technology can also help in filtering the oil, chemical or hazardous waste spills.

What can you do to prevent a fish kill? Please do not over fertilize your lawn, overstock fish in your pond at home, feed ducks or sport fish, and always try to prevent garbage from entering your local watershed.

Photo (c) http://ian.umces.edu

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

Filed Under: Fish, People Tagged With: , , , ,

How did the loggerhead sea turtle get its name?

August 16, 2010 by 3 Comments

The loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, was given the common name because it has such a massive head.  On this massive head is an incredibly powerful jaw that aids the turtle in consuming any type of food it can get its mouth on. This can include corals, sponges, crabs, jellies, fish, other sea turtles,  sea urchins, and even octopi. They are true omnivores. This jaw is the most powerful jaw of all the sea turtles. Out of all the turtles in the world it has the second most powerful jaw coming in behind the Alligator snapping turtle.

Image (c) treehugger.com

Filed Under: Sea Turtles Tagged With: , ,

Understand marine debris ASAP

August 13, 2010 by 2 Comments

Oh no! It is that moment when I am finally relaxed and settled into my chair at the edge of the water and I look up from my book to see a plastic wrapper whizzing into the sea. I take a look around and do not see anyone running to grab it so I get up and run for the trash. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that trash falls out of our hands from time to time. That is why I am one of those people that tend to make the extra effort to do the right thing and pick up after someone else, I hope someone would do the same for me. Basically, I have an active imagination. I see the future of this plastic bag as having a relaxing trip to the open sea where it floats on the bright and sunny surface only to be mistaken for a nutritious and delicious jelly by a leatherback sea turtle. Only it gets lodged in the turtle’s throat. It turns out to potentially suffocate the animal and may lead to his eventual death. Yes, that is where my imagination takes me … Unfortunately it is all too much a reality. Watch this clip of an Ecuadorean team of scientists trying to save this green sea turtle who was too weak to survive since his gut was full of plastic.

This plastic bag and other man made trash items that sea creatures commonly mistake for food are collectively known as marine debris. Items may include plastic bags, cigarette butts, fishing gear, bottles, cans, caps, lids, you name it … it is marine debris. The marine debris doesn’t just come from pieces that fly out of our hands while at the beach. The trash that ends up in our ocean can come from drains and sewers on our street. The ocean is the largest body of water and a part of the world wide watershed.

One of the most alarming illustrations of how much marine debris has ended up in our ocean ecosystem is the presence of the Pacific Garbage Patch. In the northern Pacific Ocean (in between Hawaii and San Francisco) there is an island of marine debris larger than the size of Texas that is held together by a centrifugal force of the ocean current known as the North Pacific Gyre. You cannot see this patch from a satellite image because it is simply suspended particles of shoes, toys, plastics bags, wrappers, tooth brushes and many bottles.

Marine debris is everywhere and is quite a nuisance for life in the oceans. In the summer when we are all enjoying a few relaxing days on the beach or on the boat let’s do our part and “leave only footprints and take only pictures”, ok?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Learn more about marine debris from the short video by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.

Also, here is an excellent example of what is being done to acknowledge the issue of marine debris and taking the effort to help eliminate it. Thanks, New Hampshire!

Here is a nice site that outlines what you can do to reduce your plastic footprint.

Image (c) wildeducation.org (leatherback sea turtle) and coffeencrafts.blogspot.com (trash)

Filed Under: Jellyfish or Jellies, Ocean, People, Sea Turtles Tagged With: , , ,

15 facts about sharks

August 4, 2010 by 1 Comment

1.) Sharks are divided into 8 orders.
2.) Sharks are again divided into 34 families.
3.) There are over 360 shark species.
4.) The largest meat eating shark is the great white shark (37 feet).
5.) The largest shark is the whale shark (and largest fish overall), a filter feeder.
6.) The second largest shark (and fish) is also a filter feeder, the basking shark.
7.) Dwarf laternfish (7 1/2 -8 inches), the spined pygmy shark (8 inches) and the pygmy ribbontail catshark (7-7 1/2/ inches) are among the smallest of the sharks.
8.) The fastest swimming fish are the mako and blue sharks which can swim upwards to 60 miles per hour.
9.) The shark with the strongest bite is the dusky shark with a jaw of 132 pounds of force.
10.) The dogfish is the most common shark species.
11.) The deepest diving fish is the Portuguese shark.
12.) The shark with the longest migration has been found to be the blue shark.
13.) Megalodon was an ancient shark that may have been 2 or 3 times as long as a great white shark.
14.) Megalodon means “giant tooth”.
15.) The fossilized teeth of a megalodon are as large as an adult’s hand.

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

A Few Lines from Rehoboth Beach by Fleda Brown

August 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Dear friend, you were right: the smell of fish and foam
and algae makes one green smell together. It clears
my head. It empties me enough to fit down in my own

skin for a while, singleminded as a surfer. The first
day here, there was nobody, from one distance
to the other. Rain rose from the waves like steam,

dark lifted off the dark. All I could think of
were hymns, all I knew the words to: the oldest
motions tuning up in me. There was a horseshoe crab

shell, a translucent egg sack, a log of a tired jetty,
and another, and another. I walked miles, holding
my suffering deeply and courteously, as if I were holding

a package for somebody else who would come back
like sunlight. In the morning, the boardwalk opened
wide and white with sun, gulls on one leg in the slicks.

Cold waves, cold air, and people out in heavy coats,
arm in arm along the sheen of waves. A single boy
in shorts rode his skimboard out thigh-high, making

intricate moves across the March ice-water. I thought
he must be painfully cold, but, I hear you say, he had
all the world emptied, to practice his smooth stand.

Read more about this author here.

Filed Under: Algae (Seaweeds), Atlantic Horseshoe Crab, Beach, Egg Cases, Ocean, Random Fun! Tagged With: , , , ,