As promised but a little late, here’s a breakdown of current tidal energy technologies! This post is similar to my previous summary of wave energy techniques, so hopefully you’ll find it just as informative. The utilization of tidal, or as it is sometimes termed ‘current,’ energy is a bit different from wave energy in its … Continue reading
Everyone seems to enjoy imagining what it must be like to have starfish’s limb regeneration capabilities: see earlier post here. But a mystery disease that causes a sea star’s arms to crawl away from each other until the star is literally ripped apart has been increasing in prevalence over the last several years: this video … Continue reading
China’s Offshore Wind to Pick Up the Pace China just might beat the US to the punch in offshore wind energy development! Continue reading
As a child, there was one thing that could drag me out of bed a whole hour early before the inevitable race out the front door to school: The Magic School Bus. I’m sure you’re wondering what an animated children’s show has to do with marine science. But in the same vein as the recent … Continue reading
A really informative imagination of what developing a tidal energy farm would look like. The concept in this video is actually a little revolutionary when compared with their cousins, wind turbines. These tidal turbines are capable of harvesting the energy from tidal currents in both directions as they ebb and flood, in a fairly linear … Continue reading
One of the most effective arguments against offshore energy developments (of many types – not just offshore wind) is the negative impact to the local viewshed. In North Carolina in particular, the Outer Banks are dominated by land designated as ‘National Seashore,’ and therefore under much greater effective protection from any sort of development than … Continue reading
Here’s some raw footage of one of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) buoy deployments last week. This buoy (and one other just to its north) is managed by UNC Chapel Hill’s marine science department. That’s us! NOAA and the National Weather Service (NWS) are government agencies that monitor and research weather, climatological, and environmental … Continue reading
Despite the human race perceiving the seas as the ‘first frontier’ since the establishment of our species, NOAA estimates that 95% of the world’s oceans remain unexplored. From what you know of satellite capabilities and many of the resources you’ve seen on this very blog, this statement might be confusing and even unbelievable. But I … Continue reading
As we fish down the food chain, some of our traditional fisheries become less sustainable, while others (particularly the prey of species that we have overfished) seem to overrun certain parts of the ocean. Some fishermen turn to unconventional marine species as sources of sustenance for ever more demanding – and hungry – human populations. … Continue reading
The new Game of Thrones season is right around the corner, and I know one UndertheC blogger who is really excited! It’s me. I’m really excited. One of the driving plot points through the entire series is the season differential that George Martin’s world has to deal with. Unlike the annual cycle that our Earth … Continue reading
UNder the C 