Ocean Doctor

Jul 05

China to Ban Shark Fin Soup at Official Banquets

[caption id=”” align=”alignleft” width=”320”] Shark fins drying on a sidewalk. (Image by cloneofsnake via Flickr)[/caption] CNN reports that China is planning to ban shark fin soup from official banquets. Shark fin soup is widely served in restaurants in Chinese communities worldwide and traditionally served at weddings. …the [Chinese] Government Office Administration of the State Council said the ban could take up to three years to implement and would help cut the cost of

Jul 04

Seagrass Protects Coral Reefs from Ocean Acidification

The BBC reports on research pointing to the importance of seagrasses to protecting coral reefs against the impacts of ocean acidification, caused by carbon dioxide from fossil fuel emissions dissolving in seawater, causing unprecedented increases in the ocean’s acidity. Dr. Richard Unsworth of Swansea University, along with a team of scientists from Oxford University and James Cook University in Australia, found several types of seagrass which may reduce the acidity of water around reefs,

Emperor Penguins Disappearing Due to Climate Change

[caption id=”” align=”alignleft” width=”209”] Emperor penguins enter the water in Antarctica (Image by StormPetrel1 via Flickr)[/caption] ScienceDaily reports that a study led by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution published in the June 20th, 2012 edition of the journal, Global Change Biology predicts that as global temperatures continue to rise, penguins in Terre Adélie, in East Antarctica, may eventually disappear. Emperor penguins are perhaps the best-known and most

Sea Level on U.S. East Coast Rising Up to Four Times Global Average

A new study in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that sea level along the U.S. Atlantic coast — one of the world’s most densely-populated coastal regions including New York, Boston and Norfolk, Virginia — is rising up to four times faster than the global average. Sea level along the 620-mile coastline has risen by two to 3.7 millimeters per year since 1990. However, as temperatures continue to rise, sea level could rise well beyond the one-meter rise predicted by scientists, by

Jun 28

Greenland Sharks are Dog Slow — So How Do They Eat?

[caption id=”attachment_3608” align=”alignright” width=”300”] Greenland shark part of a drawing in ‘Male Narwhal or Unicorn. Greenland Shark.” In: “An account of the Arctic regions with a history and description of the northern whale-fishery”, by W. Scoresby. 1820. Source http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/library/libr04[/caption] We’ve barely explored the world’s oceans, but when it comes to marine life living in the harsh conditions at the poles where few scientists and explorers can spend time,

Greenland shark

Infographic: Oceans of Garbage

This infographic from MastersDegree.net lays it out there for all to see: Our oceans are getting more and more polluted, and most of the pollution originates from land, like plastics. These pollutants have a wide range of impacts on marine life, including getting caught up in the food chain, even at a microbial level. Scary stuff. Please

Jun 27

Rockefeller Ocean Fund - An Ocean Investment Fund Announced by Rockefeller Financial and The Ocean Foundation

NEW YORK, NY— Rockefeller Financial—a global investment and wealth management firm serving foundations and endowments, families, trusts and other institutions— has announced a collaboration with The Ocean Foundation that seeks to identify profitable investment opportunities that restore and support the health and sustainability of the world’s oceans. To read more about this ocean investment fund, ocean investing and ocean stocks, visit The Ocean Foundation to read the rest of this

Jun 16

With DEEPEST Gratitude to Jacques Piccard, National Geographic Bestows its Highest Honor

[caption id=”attachment_3573” align=”alignleft” width=”300”] After their successful nine-hour dive in January 1960 to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard emerge from the bathyscaphe Trieste. Walsh and Piccard were the first to reach the trench’s lowest point, Challenger Deep, some 35,800 feet below the ocean surface. Piccard, who died in 2008, was posthumously awarded the Hubbard Medal, the National Geographic highest honor, at a ceremony in

Jan 23

George Jetson, Meet Mother Nature - The Latest in Green Tech from CES 2012, Las Vegas

January 23, 2012: The Ocean Doctor finds himself in an unusual location for a marine biologist: The desert. We visit the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the largest trade show in the world, to bring you highlights of the latest in green technology, including smartphone apps that talk to your appliances and save energy; wind turbines for the home; next-generation LED lighting that beats the pants off of compact fluorescent bulbs; an amazing way to keep your

Dec 09

Parrot Fish: The constant gardeners of the world’s reefs

Australian scientists have urged greater consideration for the brilliantly-hued parrot fishes that tend and renew the world’s imperilled coral reefs. “Parrotfishes are the constant gardeners of the reef. They play a crucial role in keeping it healthy, suppressing weed, removing sediment and helping the corals to regrow after a setback,” explains Professor David Bellwood of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University. In a major new study published