This article is in follow-up to Serena’s earlier post about NOAA’s emerging guidelines in marine mammal acoustic protection. As Serena noted, marine mammals, including cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), are constantly communicating underwater using sound waves. Humans have also begun to use sound waves underwater to make processes of mapping the ocean floor easier and … Continue reading
A study was published on Jan 21, 2014, the 50th anniversary of the IUCN Red List, that found a quarter of shark and ray species are threatened with extinction (more information here). Only 23% of these species are considered “safe” with the IUCN listing of “Least Concern.” You may think of sharks as threats to … Continue reading
Everyone’s familiar with the ‘shading effect’ that occurs on solar energy schemes. If a tree or high rise building casts a shadow on your photovoltaic cell’s glass face, that means your system isn’t generating as much energy as it could, because it’s not catching as much sunlight as it could. But did you know that … Continue reading
Twitter and world media have been abuzz this week about the Taiji Cove dolphin drive. A practice in a small Japanese town that leads to the death or capture of hundreds of dolphins each year. You may have heard of this before if you are a fan of documentaries. “The Cove” is a documentary by … Continue reading
The following is a guest post from Aubrey Germ, an undergraduate student from John Bruno’s Fall 2013 Marine Ecology class at UNC-CH. By Aubrey Germ, senior undergraduate Environmental Health Science Major, Marine Sciences Minor Contributing information from Tracy Allen, Dive Master with ReefCI I watched helplessly as a giant wave crashed over the bow of … Continue reading
A few years ago, if I saw a cat with glowing green fur wandering around my yard, I’d assume that the poor animal had experienced radiation exposure that had left it eerily lit from within. After checking it for other superpowers and taking a few pictures (first things first, you know), I’d probably head online … Continue reading
Second smartest only to our trans-dimensional mouse overlords, that is. If you don’t know what I am talking about please catch up on your classic sci-fi literature here. It has long been a popular opinion that dolphins are some of the smartest creatures on the planet. They have brains larger than those of humans, they … Continue reading
Recently, there have been some big changes being discussed regarding the protection regulations for two of my favorite marine animals: dolphins and grouper. Many of my peers may laugh at this, but I am the quintessential marine biologist that has always loved dolphins and would have chosen to be a dolphin when I grew up if that … Continue reading
3 days ago I was in Boston. It was roughly 0 degrees Fahrenheit and 2 feet of snow had just fallen while I was asleep. Today it is above 50 degrees in Boston and it is raining. Conversely, in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio the high today is -5 and Ohio State is shut down … Continue reading
A Nobel Prize winning biologist has announced a boycott of high impact journals such as Nature, Science, and Cell. When a Nobel Prize winner says something like that, people listen. The question is really whether or not that stance is well founded. Randy Shekman, the Nobel winner in question, is the editor of an open access … Continue reading
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