Published at August 31, 2007
in Ocean.
Cynthia Vanderlip, manager of the State of Hawaii’s Kure Atoll Wildlife Sanctuary, cut open the dead body of a fledgling Laysan albatross (nicknamed “Shed Bird”) to find more than half a pound of plastic in its stomach.
Concentrated on the right are all the items retrieved from inside the bird: Plastic lighters, bottle caps, and other plastics that are carelessly tossed often wind up floating on the ocean surface, where they are occasionally consumed by foraging seabirds and other marine creatures.
[via BoingBoing]
Dark Roasted Blend as a terrific two-part article with pics galore of ships battling stormy seas. Very scary!
Links open in separate windows
One of many waterspout pics to be found on Flickr.
Published at August 26, 2007
in Ocean.
Searavens (and guest) charter a Catalina 320 for an overnight cruise from Santa Cruz to Monterey. Flat seas, but 20 - 25 kt winds in middle of the bay…
Annika on helm
Your Correspondent
Continue reading ‘Mission to Monterey’
Published at August 26, 2007
in Ocean.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Picture a beautiful beach spanning miles of coastline, gently lapped by aqua-colored water — and sprinkled with glass.
Ouch? Think again. It feels just like sand, but with granules that sparkle in the sunlight.
Faced with the constant erosion of Florida’s beaches, Broward County officials are exploring using recycled glass — crushed into tiny grains and mixed with regular sand — to help fill gaps.
It’s only natural, backers of the idea say, since sand is the main ingredient in glass.
“Basically, what we’re doing is taking the material and returning it back to its natural state,” said Phil Bresee, Broward’s recycling manager.
[full story YahooNews/AP]
And you thought getting sand up your swimsuit was bad…
Published at August 22, 2007
in Ocean.
(Click for big pic) A team of university scientists using a mini research submarine on a NOAA-funded research cruise has discovered, photographed, and sampled what appears to be a new species of centipede-like worms living on and within mounds of methane ice on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, about 150 miles south of New Orleans.
Although scientists had hypothesized that bacteria might colonize methane ice mounds, called gas hydrates, this is the first time animals have been found living in the mounds.
The discovery of dense colonies of these one-to-two-inch-long, flat, pinkish worms burrowing into a mushroom-shaped mound of methane seeping up from the sea floor raises speculation that the worms may be a new species with a pervasive and as yet unknown influence on these energy-rich gas deposits.
[full story]
For the past six years, Shark Defense has been developing and patenting various shark repellents. Some are secret-agent cool, dispensed from hand-held rocket launchers. Others send sharks packing thanks to powerful magnets composed of rare-earth metals. Still others are injected into squid-shaped baits that could someday be deployed on fishers’ long lines, to warn sharks away.
It’s the cutting edge of a rather troubled quest to engineer the perfect shark repellent. The effort began in earnest in World War II, when FDR demanded that the military protect Navy boys from being gobbled up at sea. Knowing only that sharks seemed to steadfastly avoid their dead brethren, government teams were gathered, sharks were dropped in vats of water, Julia Child helped stir them, and compounds were produced that seemed, in controlled environments, to work like a charm. In the open seas, unfortunately, it worked more like chum, turning sailors into deliciously seasoned, artificially colored snacks.
Quint would have loved it.
[LINK, via Neatorama]
Published at August 18, 2007
in Ocean.
Glaciers Create Waves As High As 25 Feet
NEW CORDOVA, Alaska — There’s a new extreme sport you may not have heard of: glacier surfing. A surfing team from Hawaii flew to Child’s Glacier in south-central Alaska recently to give it a try. When pieces of the glacier break off and fall into the Copper River, it produces tsunamis that reach as high as 25 feet and travel about 300 yards. Surfers can ride these waves for up to a minute.However, the surfers said the real trick is waiting in the icy water for hours for a hunk of glacier to fall.
[LINK to full story, plus video]
Poke the jelly? That’s a stingin’.
Nothing can ruin a day at the beach like a jellyfish sting. And while such attacks are common, the methods for treating them vary, and many remedies can do more harm than good.
One exception is the application of vinegar, which according to several studies can deactivate the venomous nematocysts that jellyfish release. A study published in The Medical Journal of Australia showed that removing any tentacles left by a jellyfish, then dousing an injured body part with commercial vinegar or its crucial ingredient, acetic acid, could alleviate pain and “rapidly and completely” prevent the release of more venom.
Many of the methods that do not work are also some of the best known: rubbing alcohol, ammonia, meat tenderizer and even urine — which, contrary to conventional wisdom, is not usually very acidic. Even rinsing a sting with fresh water can be a bad idea, because the change in pH between saltwater and fresh water can prompt the release of more venom.
Published at August 13, 2007
in Ocean.
This big bad beauty comes from a blog I’ve just discovered — Freaque Waves. What a cool niche!
This strange cartilaginous fish uses its long snout to scan over the sea floor for the electrical impulses of its prey that bury in the muddy sea floor, just like a metal detector. Like other chimaeras (such as ghost and elephant sharks), these animals lay horny egg cases in which their young are left to develop, potentially for up to one year.
Very good article and pics at whosucks.
Published at August 8, 2007
in Ocean.
Coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian oceans are disappearing faster than had previously been thought, a scientific study has shown.
Nearly 1,554 sq km (600 sq miles) of reef have disappeared each year since the 1960s - twice the speed at which rainforest is being lost.
The corals are vanishing at a rate of 1% per year, a decline that has begun decades earlier than expected.
Historically, coral cover, a measure of reef health hovered around 50%. Today, only about 2% of reefs in the region looked at by the study have coral cover close to this historical level.
Full story at the BBC
Published at August 8, 2007
in Ocean.
Another day, another extinction: after a comprehensive six-week study scientists fear that the rare Chinese Yangtze river dolphins, known as “baijis”, may be extinct. Having failed to find any of the baiji, which were already classified as “critically endangered” by the World Conservation Union’s Red List of Treatened Species, the research team blamed unregulated fishing for the disappearance.
Dr Sam Turvey of the Zoological Society of London described this as a “shocking tragedy”: “This extinction represents the disappearance of a complete branch of the evolutionary tree of life and emphasises that we have yet to take full responsibility in our role as guardians of the planet.”
Baiji were not actively hunted, unlike the Brazilian dolphins [link]. The team’s report highlighted that the extinction differs from most historical extinctions of large bodied animals because it was not “an active persecution but an incidental mortality resulting from massive-scale human environmental impacts”.
We can only hope it’s not the first of many animals to be wiped out in this way.
[source: Environmental Graffiti]
Published at August 7, 2007
in Ocean.
Houston woman dies during Alcatraz swim
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 6 (UPI) — A 51-year-old woman from Houston, Texas, was pulled out of the water near San Francisco after apparently drowning during the Alcatraz Challenge Aquathlon.
The Alcatraz Challenge Aquathalon & Swim is a 1.5 mile race that starts at Alcatraz Island and goes to the East Beach of Crissy Field, Calif., the Houston Chronicle reported.
Sara “Sally” Lowes of Houston was found floating in San Francisco Bay Sunday morning near Crissy Field beach and her body was recovered by a Marin County Sheriff’s patrol boat.
Race director Gary Emich said that although the race’s motto is “Swim or Die,” Lowes’ is the first death to be recorded in the Aquathalon’s 27 years.
“It’s been a tongue-in-cheek motto for years because the Alcatraz races are exceptionally safe. Thousands and thousands have participated safely since 1981,” he said.
Link: 27th Alcatraz Challenge Aquathlon & Swim
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