Tumblr (3.0; @oceandoctor)http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/[caption id=&#8221;attachment_4036&#8221; align=&#8221;alignleft&#8221; width=&#8221;300&#8221;] The much-maligned, misunderstood and now treasured &#8220;trash fish,&#8221; the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthius). Photo: © Boris Pamikov[/caption] It was a sadly typical meeting of the Board of Collier County (Florida) Commissioners in the late nineties. As the meeting droned on, I tuned it out and fell into deep concentration, obsessively rewriting now long-forgotten remarks I would deliver to the Commission about conservation in Southwest<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/too-much-love-for-the-fish-everyone-hates/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/30826447714http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/30826447714Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:56:29 -0400[caption id=&#8221;attachment_613&#8221; align=&#8221;alignright&#8221; width=&#8221;300&#8221;] Trawl scar on bottom, DeepWorker 7 in background[/caption] Yesterday (Thursday) morning, Michelle Ridgway and I descended in the twin subs for our expedition&#8217;s penultimate dive on Pribilof Canyon.Michelle&#8217;s lights shone as tiny pinpoints in the distant green as the light from above slowly vanished and the cold darkness of Pribilof Canyon enveloped us.I had a rare moment amid the descent&#8217;s harried series of checks and radio<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/alone-in-the-dark-with-a-pen-light/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/28486785857http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/28486785857Wed, 01 Aug 2012 11:27:29 -0400[caption id=&#8221;&#8221; align=&#8221;alignleft&#8221; width=&#8221;320&#8221;] Image by Nick Humphries via Flickr[/caption] Mercury in fish? Much of it comes from the sky. Coal-fired power plants emit tons of the toxic heavy metal into the atmosphere where it travels hundreds of miles before depositing on the surface of lakes, rivers and the oceans, where it is ingested and gradually works its way up to the top of the food chain where it becomes highly-concentrated in the flesh of the ocean&#8217;s predators, such as sharks,<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/where-mercury-in-fish-comes-from-and-what-regulators-are-doing-about-it/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/27935832906http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/27935832906Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:15:35 -0400I am inside a tiny, 1-person submarine beneath the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles offshore from the Alaskan coast. There are 1,300 feet of water between me and the surface. I’m here as part of a Greenpeace-led expedition to shed new light on the unexplored depths here. It’s freezing cold, completely dark, and forbidding — and it’s utterly beautiful. I’ve seen deep sea corals at nearly 2,000 feet, defiantly wearing their brilliant pink colors across a<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/deep-reflections-alone-in-the-dark-at-1300-feet-below/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/27848338627http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/27848338627Mon, 23 Jul 2012 14:48:58 -0400[caption id=&#8221;attachment_3779&#8221; align=&#8221;alignleft&#8221; width=&#8221;300&#8221;] A C-130 Applies Dispersants During the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (USCG Photo)[/caption] In a study published in PLos ONE, investigators studied a large die-off of dolphins in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. During the first four months of 2011, 186 bottlenose dolphins, 86 of which were very young perinatal calves, washed ashore from Louisiana to western Florida. For perinatal dolphins, this stranding rate was nearly 6 times<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/dolphin-deaths-in-gulf-of-mexico-perfect-storm-of-bp-oil-spill-and-cold-water/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/27844183819http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/27844183819Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:42:27 -0400[caption id=&#8221;&#8221; align=&#8221;alignleft&#8221; width=&#8221;320&#8221;] &#8220;The Eddy and the Plankton&#8221; A massive plankton bloom observed from space. (Image: NASA Earth Observatory via Flickr)[/caption] It&#8217;s a controversial idea that has been around for decades. Stimulate the growth of phytoplankton (plant plankton) in remote reaches of the oceans by fertilizing the oceans with iron. Previous studies concluded that such an approach would not be effective. However, the recent analysis of a 2004 ocean fertilization<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/fertilizing-the-oceans-with-iron-sinks-carbon-but-is-it-a-good-idea/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/27694191947http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/27694191947Sat, 21 Jul 2012 08:59:22 -0400[caption id=&#8221;&#8221; align=&#8221;alignleft&#8221; width=&#8221;320&#8221;] The Everglades (Photo: slack12 via Flickr)[/caption] The Environmental News Network (ENN) reports that a federal judge has approved an $880 million plan to restore the Everglades, a decision that could result in the settlement of numerous lawsuits spanning 25 years. In addition, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Kissimmee, Florida to announce an infusino of an additional $80 million from the federal government to support farmers and<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/judge-approves-880-million-everglades-restoration/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/27346552696http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/27346552696Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:00:36 -0400[caption id=&#8221;&#8221; align=&#8221;alignleft&#8221; width=&#8221;320&#8221;] The speed with which acid levels have risen in the oceans has &#8220;caught scientists off-guard.&#8221; (Image by B Tal via Flickr)[/caption] The Christian Science Monitor reports that the speed with which acid levels have risen in the oceans has &#8220;caught scientists off-guard.&#8221; Ocean acidification was recently described by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Jane Lubchenco as climate change&#8217;s &#8220;equally evil twin,&#8221; <p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/rapid-rise-of-ocean-acidity-surprises-scientists/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26985882098http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26985882098Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:14:24 -0400[caption id=&#8221;&#8221; align=&#8221;alignleft&#8221; width=&#8221;320&#8221;] 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. &#8230;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<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/china-to-ban-shark-fin-soup-at-official-banquets/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26706155642http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26706155642Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:34:07 -0400[caption id=&#8221;&#8221; align=&#8221;alignright&#8221; width=&#8221;320&#8221;] Leatherback Sea Turtle in the U.S. Virgin Islands (Image by USFWS/Southeast via Flickr)[/caption] Already the most critically endangered of all sea turtle species thanks to poaching and fishing impacts, new research led by Dr. Vincent Saba, a research fishery biologist with the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center, suggests that climate change could impede leatherback sea turtles&#8217; ability to recover. The<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/hot-time-at-the-beach-a-threat-to-sea-turtles/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26586140388http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26586140388Thu, 05 Jul 2012 18:37:37 -0400[caption id=&#8221;&#8221; align=&#8221;alignleft&#8221; width=&#8221;320&#8221;] 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. &#8230;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<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/china-to-ban-shark-fin-soup-at-official-banquets/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26586097491http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26586097491Thu, 05 Jul 2012 18:36:59 -0400The 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&#8217;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,<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/seagrass-protects-coral-reefs-from-ocean-acidification/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26494806298http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26494806298Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:40:07 -0400[caption id=&#8221;&#8221; align=&#8221;alignleft&#8221; width=&#8221;209&#8221;] 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<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/emperor-penguins-disappearing-due-to-climate-change/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26494772473http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26494772473Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:39:25 -0400A new study in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that sea level along the U.S. Atlantic coast &#8212; one of the world&#8217;s most densely-populated coastal regions including New York, Boston and Norfolk, Virginia &#8212; 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<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/sea-level-on-u-s-east-coast-rising-up-to-four-times-global-average/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26494655344http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26494655344Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:37:01 -0400[caption id=&#8221;attachment_3608&#8221; align=&#8221;alignright&#8221; width=&#8221;300&#8221;] Greenland shark part of a drawing in &#8216;Male Narwhal or Unicorn. Greenland Shark.&#8221; In: &#8220;An account of the Arctic regions with a history and description of the northern whale-fishery&#8221;, by W. Scoresby. 1820. Source <a href="http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/library/libr04">http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/library/libr04</a>[/caption] We&#8217;ve barely explored the world&#8217;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,<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/greenland-sharks-are-dog-slow-so-how-do-they-eat/">Greenland shark</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26115772143http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26115772143Thu, 28 Jun 2012 22:48:39 -0400This 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<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/infographic-oceans-of-garbage/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26115722452http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26115722452Thu, 28 Jun 2012 22:47:53 -0400NEW 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<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/rockefeller-ocean-fund-an-ocean-investment-fund-announced-by-rockefeller-financial-and-the-ocean-foundationean-foundation-collaborate-on-investment-opportunities-to-support-the-health-and-sustainabi/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26000532647http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/26000532647Wed, 27 Jun 2012 10:34:13 -0400[caption id=&#8221;attachment_3573&#8221; align=&#8221;alignleft&#8221; width=&#8221;300&#8221;] After their successful nine-hour dive in January 1960 to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean&#8217;s Mariana Trench, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard emerge from the bathyscaphe Trieste. Walsh and Piccard were the first to reach the trench&#8217;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<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/deepes-gratitude-jacques-piccard-ocean-explorer-national-geographic/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/25228160814http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/25228160814Sat, 16 Jun 2012 11:23:31 -0400January 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<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/george-jetson-meet-mother-nature-the-latest-in-green-tech-from-ces-2012-las-vegas/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/16372950003http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/16372950003Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:21:15 -0500Australian 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<p><a href="http://oceandoctor.org/parrot-fish-the-constant-gardeners-of-the-worlds-reefs/">Read more &#8230;</a></p>http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/13969688940http://oceandoctor.tumblr.com/post/13969688940Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:31:25 -0500