This is a whimsical – yet still direct and profound – image I wanted to share from from my Ocean Conservation Inspiration Pinterest board. Do you have a particular phrase or image that drives you?
How to win a game of Survivor if stranded on a beach
May 9, 2011 by 6 Comments
While I am not here to tell you how to form alliances, I can mention some edible seaside plants found along the Atlantic coast. These include: Sea rocket, sea lettuce, prickly pear, bull thistle, dewberry and winged sumac. You can eat the blackberries of the dewberry with milk and honey. For a refreshingly cool drink soak winged sumac in cool water for 15 minutes. Devour the sweet pulp of the prickly pear after you peel away the skin. Add the leaves of sea rocket and sea lettuce to a fresh seaside salad. Lastly, gorge on the stems of the bull thistle (of course, only after you’ve removed the thorns!).
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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.
In what way can a beach be compared to a desert?
September 10, 2008 by Leave a Comment
…It’s Charismatic Microfauna!
Well, yes there’s the sand, but there is also an unrecognized and perhaps even shocking biodiversity that lies not quite below the surface.
Would you believe me if I told you that in a single handful of wet sand you could be holding a community of organisms equaling, if not exceeding, the diversity found in an Amazonian rainforest?
All too often we suffer from a bias of scale, but biodiversity includes all organisms, including the mega-, the micro- and the meiofauna.
So just who are the meiofauna?
They are the smallest animals on earth—some no larger than a grain of sand.
They live in ultra-micro habitats within habitats and make an excellent example of the complexity of ecosystems and the interconnectedness of life.
The meiofauna aren’t a kind of animal, but rather a size-class of animals that live (mostly) in and among aquatic and marine sediments. (Fully 25 animal phyla have representatives in the meiofauna and they boast some of the most unique and strange biological adaptations in the Animal Kingdom.)
Without a microscope and a little curiosity, you’d probably never notice they were there…but you’d certainly notice if they weren’t…
Among the roles meiofaunal animals play in their environment is that of the decomposer. Beaches without a strong meiofaunal component have a distinctive, sulphuric odor of decay.
The meiofauna provide even more proof that there will always be new discoveries to be made in the marine environment—not just for us, but for all of science.
The newest animal groups described have been meiofaunal—three entirely new phyla described in the last 25 years. Exploring the meiofauna opens a whole new world discovery for even the most jaded, know-it-all, marine biologist!
But we’ve only scratched the surface here. Check back often at beachchairscientist.com for more about some of my favorite meiofauna.
By Jim Wharton, Director, Center for School and Public Programs with Mote Marine Laboratory
Photo (c) Rick Hochberg
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