Dr. Nancy Knowlton: Coral Reefs: Past, Present and Future
Dr. Nancy Knowlton: Coral Reefs: Past, Present and Future avatar

Something for your Friday. A webinar by coral reef scientist Dr Gloom Nancy Knowlton (I kid, Nancy! I’m a kidder!). I particularly love her review of coral reefs through time. If you’ve never heard of a Rudist reef before, you’re in for a treat! Long talk, but worth it. Something for your Friday. A . . . → Read More: Dr. Nancy Knowlton: Coral Reefs: Past, Present and Future

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Awareness Through Scrutiny, Not Negativity: A DSN Core Value
Awareness Through Scrutiny, Not Negativity: A DSN Core Value avatar

Fiat lux Being a total dick on the web is easy.  From the safe (and relatively anonymous) confines of your bedroom, place of work, mother’s basement, or Starbucks, and armed only with Internet access and the 1st Amendment, everyone can be a critic.  Our brave new online world has given anyone with a keyboard a . . . → Read More: Awareness Through Scrutiny, Not Negativity: A DSN Core Value

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For Want Of A Shark…
For Want Of A Shark… avatar

White-tip reef shark, Fiji © 2011 Angelo Villagomez Causal relationships can be fiendishly tricky. Spend an hour watching any of Star Trek Voyager’s time travel episodes and you begin to understand why the show’s writers often resort to lines such as, “It’s better if we don’t talk about this too much.” Consider another example of . . . → Read More: For Want Of A Shark…

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When Far-Sighted Vision Meets Near-Sighted Politics or Zombie Worms For Congress!
When Far-Sighted Vision Meets Near-Sighted Politics or Zombie Worms For Congress! avatar

Some of these things are not like the other. Can you spot the Zombie worms? What’s the difference between a collection of Osedax “Zombie worms” and the 112th United States Congress?  One is a population of spineless, sedentary, opportunistic life forms that thrive in darkness while devouring the bones of the dead.  The other are . . . → Read More: When Far-Sighted Vision Meets Near-Sighted Politics or Zombie Worms For Congress!

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Shark Hope
Shark Hope avatar

“Bula!” (That’s Fijian for “Yo, wassup!“) Following a successful premier this past Monday in the Fiji capital of Suva, I’m proud to bring you the new short documentary, Shark Hope. Produced by the Coral Reef Alliance and The Pew Environment Group’s Global Shark Conservation Campaign, the film is an entirely Fijian effort that details . . . → Read More: Shark Hope

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Face The Truthiness
Face The Truthiness avatar

With apologies to Karen James. (Pretty much goes for Paleontologists, too… Sorry Laelaps.) I kid! I’m a kidder! With apologies to Karen James. (Pretty much goes for Paleontologists, too… Sorry Laelaps.) I kid! I’m a kidder!

SALT FROM SPAAAAACE!
SALT FROM SPAAAAACE! avatar

Composite map of the first two and a half weeks of salinity data since Aquarius satellite became operational on August 25 (click to embiggen). Map reflects ‎~150km resolution and 1 week revisit time. © 2011, NASA Aquarius Project Apologies if I lost any of you post-Gen X readers with that Muppet Show homage title.  But . . . → Read More: SALT FROM SPAAAAACE!

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Your Friday Cuttlefish
Your Friday Cuttlefish avatar

A friend of CORAL, Dr Steve Cohen, passed along this great footage he captured of some randy cuttlefish on the reefs at the Wakatobi Dive Resort in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. No lascivious copulation, sneaker males, or sperm displacement observed, but cool nonetheless. Thanks Steve! A friend of CORAL, Dr Steve Cohen, passed along this . . . → Read More: Your Friday Cuttlefish

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Fijians Hope Lives in “Shark Hope”
Fijians Hope Lives in “Shark Hope” avatar

By now you’ve no doubt noticed that international shark protections (well, at least legislative shark protections) are beginning to pile-up. It can be truly said that the past few months of 2011 will go down as Summer of the Shark. On June 24, Honduras declared their waters as a permanent shark sanctuary. On July . . . → Read More: Fijians Hope Lives in “Shark Hope”

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Invertebrate Wannabe
Invertebrate Wannabe avatar

"La La La La….Nothing to see here!" CREDIT: Brooker, et al., Coral Reefs, Sept. 2011 After reading a recent paper in the journal Coral Reefs on the ability of Harlequin filefish (Oxymonacanthus longirostris) to masquerade as branching stony coral (abstract only), two facts are inescapable: 1) Evolution freakin’ rocks! 2) Vertebrates are just invertebrate wannabe’s. . . . → Read More: Invertebrate Wannabe

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