Linkopus hispidus

Beautiful photos, a none other than National Geographic of course, of a new species of fiery sea slug that lays lacy egg cases. Kind of resembles doilies!

Old Salt blog brings up a news article about completely wackaloon idea: using submarines to inject cold water under a hurricane to deplete the storm of its power.

WhySharksMatter at that hooligan blog Southern Fried Science discusses exactly which species of skate are in fact in your dinner? A good discussion on elasmobranch fisheries policy.

NCSE is reporting that Evolution is under attack in marine science textbooks in Florida! Quick, biologists! To the Nautilus!

“For example, it claims that in the Origin of Species “Darwin proposed that life arose from nonliving matter”; it equates microevolution with genetic drift; and it contends that selective breeding demonstrates genetic drift. Moreover, although the sidebar acknowledges that “the vast majority of biologists (probably more than 95%)” accept evolution, it also airs, without attempting to debunk, a variety of creationist claims (which are attributed to unnamed “skeptics”). Among these claims: that the fossil record “does not contain the many transitional species one would expect,” that “evolution doesn’t adequately explain how a complex structure … could come to exist through infrequent random mutations,” that transitional features could not be favored by natural selection, and that “the hypotheses that … chemicals can lead to abiogenesis are highly debatable.”

A cool exhibit of a shipwrecked boat inside an art museum.

Everything you wanted to know about the nuclear merchant ship NS Savannah by Jeffrey Musk at Casco Bay Boaters. A fascinating article that explores a dream wrapped up in idealism and politics.

At a time like today when the US Government could take fiscally responsible steps to assist industry by promoting a domestic merchant marine capable of saving energy, aging infrastructure and the environment, the Savannah stands as a living example of a time when chances were taken to change the way in which business works.

GrrlScientist at her new Guardian Science blog Punctuated Equilibrium dissects the story about a cool new find: a catfish that eats wood. While the media has focused on the obvious, GrrlScientist dives in the details why this is so cool and how the new catfish can do what it does (cool pictures of teeth alert).

US Fish and Wildlife and National Park Service officials bar a reporter from digging on the beach to find oily sands. Apparently it is illegal because they say so. Once the you-can’t-dig-here excuse was used up, they did the ole you-can’t-film-here-without-permits excuse.

Brian Lam at The Scuttlefish assures us that a dead rotting whale does in fact smell horrendous, like “a combination of sushi and caviar with a hint of rotting bum vomit–on us”. Also, it took 3 bulldozers to move it (yes, there is video). As someone who has helped to dissect vertebrae out of a one week old rotting whale carcass, I concur.

The cephalopod one-stop-shop Tonmo has  greatly fascinating article on fossil octopodes!

Lastly, Hannah, the brilliant writer at Culturing Science, has opened up a new shop over on the Southern Fried Science network, joining the dedicated crew of The Gam with her blog Swimming with the Fishes.