Blog Profile / Shifting Baselines
| URL : | http://scienceblogs.com/shiftingbaselines/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Biology / Marine Biology | |
| Posts on Regator: | 242 | This blog is retired. |
| Archived Since: | February 24, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Guilty Planet Alive and Kicking
Check out my new blog Guilty Planet and please join in with your thoughts on conservation... Read the comments on this post......
The Evolution of Shifting Baselines
Hopefully you are wondering what the heck is going on.
As I mentioned in my last post (days turned to weeks and it is just moments before a whole month has gone by), I am currently a visiting researcher in the Conservation Science Unit at Cambridge University's Department of Zoology. Show More Summary
Ramblings on Darwin, Money, Fish, and Turkey
For the last month, I have been a visiting researcher in the conservation science unit at Cambridge University, which turns 800 (!) this year. Another impressive birthday is today: Charles Darwin's bicentennial--a grand event here in...Show More Summary
January Wrap Up
It is already February! And I cannot believe I let so many January stories get away from me. So I would like a recap a few of shifting baselines repute now:
1) This article, Deep Sea-crets, ran in the San Diego Union Tribune about aShow More Summary
Impressions from an American at the Mall
I believe in Obama. So I wanted to be part of his story. Our story.
So last Saturday, I flew from London to Washington, D.C. to spend four days celebrating and witnessing the inauguration of our 44th President.
I made my way down to the Sunday concert featuring actors and musicians. Show More Summary
An Ode to Obama: Give Up Fish (for Me)
A Guilt Trip for Obama
I sent a million emails
Cheering you on in every line.
I watched Will.I.Am's video
About a thousand times.
I stood strong against my parents
(Both McCain supporters).
I recruited my brother:
A first time and Obama...Show More Summary
A Better Sushi Shirt?
Read the comments on this post......
Sushi Hater
My friend sent me a link to this t-shirt for sale at Forever 21 (the Wal-Mart of high fashion) and her email read simply: "uh oh". Yes, this is what PETA's Save the Sea Kitten campaign is up against...
Read the comments on this post...
Sea Kittens: The Ultimate Renaming?
Hm. I have mixed feelings about this ultimate example of renaming fish. PETA has a new campaign out to get people to relate to fish as animals rather than as commodities, which is a noble goal and one I very much support. There are a...Show More Summary
Eating Like a Pig Was Popular Last Year
The New York Times blogpost The 11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating was one of the most-viewed stories for 2008 and guess what? One of those 11 foods were sardines! One more reason to Eat Like A Pig! Note: I wanted to post a scrummy looking sardine in this post but check out what you get when you Google Image sardines. Show More Summary
Unintended Consequences
We need to pay closer attention to how hunting and fishing regulations are set or we may end up with unintended negative consequences for the species we are trying to protect. This according to new research reported in The New York Times a couple days ago. Show More Summary
Shifting Views of Marine Algae
Yesterday, the New York Times ran a profile of Sylvia Earle and the marine environment, which included some wonderful photographs and a nice introductory anecdote about how, in 1953, when Earle began studying algae, the marine plants and related microbes were often considered weeds or worse. Show More Summary
Dolphin Stampede
Check out this video shot in the Sea of Cortez a friend from the Surfrider Foundation sent along. It is a great reminder of the magnificent life that still exists in the ocean. But can you imagine what it was like 200 years ago? Read the comments on this post...
Shifting Glaciers
Check out this magnificent and convincing collection panoramic photographs of receding glaciers over the decades... Read the comments on this post......
Baby You Can Have What Invert You Like...
When Oppenheimer watched the atomic bomb go off he felt he had played a part in the destruction of humanity. I know the feeling. Last week I got a nice email from a group of graduate students in marine ecology at Northeastern University who apparently are losing their minds as badly as I did in the early 90s. Show More Summary
Jellyfish and Bacteria
...That's what you get when the ocean is infer-e-yah. We sang about it six years ago. In 2002 we made a Flash video in which we said, "A new term for the new millennium: Jellyfish blooms." And now our dire predictions appear to be coming true, around the world. They'll sting your knees, and cause disease. Read the comments on this post...
Half a Million Sharks Finned Each Year in Ecuador
I am the lead author of a new study In Hot Soup: Sharks Captured in Ecuador's Waters out in the journal Environmental Science. We reconstructed the shark landings for Ecuador from 1976 to 2004 and demonstrated that Ecuador captures more...Show More Summary
Are the Moray Eels of Bonaire Really Dying?
This is rather distressing. It doesn't sound like there has been any sort of major, published, peer-reviewed, quantitative documentation of this yet. But that said, something is not right when so many sport divers not only count dozens...Show More Summary
Fish Stocks: All Fall Down?
Everywhere I turn it seems to be bad news for poster fish species. Bluefin tuna are in a bad way. And let's not forget pollock, the world's largest food fishery. This year, conservation groups and scientists feel the catch limits are being set anywhere from two to three times too high. Show More Summary
What Can We Learn from Cockroaches of the Sea?
In my Topics in Marine Science class that I teach at Western Washington University, we spend a week on marine mammals and a portion of that time talking about whaling. We discuss the use of whale oil for illuminants, the 1930s as the...Show More Summary