Fred Thompson: Torture Good... Committed Gay Relationships Bad

I don't do this often, but indulge me while I set aside ocean issues to vent my spleen on politics. Here in San Francisco today, soon-to-be GOP presidential also-ran Fred Thompson took the opportunity of being in queer mecca to remind anyone bothering to listen that he not only doesn't support gay marriage, he's against civil unions too. "I do not think that they're a good idea," the GOP candidate said of civil unions and domestic partnerships.

This is not the first time Thompson has sought to distinguish himself from the GOP presidential herd as more conservative than thou. The Washington Blade covered his attempts to propose a constitutional amendment that would allow states to ignore marriages performed elsewhere, a choice already allowed by federal law. Clearly, Thompson's visit to San Francisco was meant to play to the GOP conservative base and provide a few soundbites for Meet the Press.

When did a stop in San Francisco for some casual gay bashing become the requisite strategic step for conservative presidential hopefuls? Have we become the cultural values equivalent of a stop in Iowa to deliver pledges of corn subsidies for the agricultural lobby?

But Thompson didn't stop there. During his first public visit to the Bay Area, he also spoke on the volatile issue of whether the use of waterboarding to gain information from terrorists amounted to torture. The former Tennessee senator didn't support the practice outright, instead, he said he would "do what I think is in the best interest of my country" regarding approving waterboarding as commander in chief.

I think the candidate has made clear his position on human rights. What more is left to say?

Drop dead, Fred.

Happy HalloMeme: The Final Chapter

Yay! It's Halloween and mercifully the last day of my self-imposed HalloMeme frenzy. I soon get to go back to regularly scheduled ocean blogging.

So I know it's an obvious choice and a no-brainer, but Jaws remains my all-time favorite scary ocean movie. I've written here before about how this film made such a singular mark on my young ocean-geek life. And to this day, despite hundreds of viewings, I can't seem to change the channel when I find it on some late-night rerun (much to my boyfriends dismay).

But rather than give you standard Jaws fare, thanks to the magic of YouTube I can bring you a very different take on a modern classic.

Happy Halloween!

Happy HalloMeme: Part V

Thank goodness this HalloMeme idea is winding down. I'm running out of campy, scary ocean classics. But I still have a couple more stinkers up my sleeve.

Witness the awesome badness that is Blood Beach, starring John Saxon, my favorite B-Movie (maybe he's actually D-List?) regular. The plot, if you could call it that, surrounds the mysterious disappearances of teenagers along a Southern California beach. We get treated to plenty of bad acting as buxom babes are sucked under the sand by some hungry, faceless horror. Turns out the monster is some mutant sand worm (I think). Maybe a variant on the polychaete Nereis virens. It's hard to know, since we get to see just a few seconds of the beast in the final minutes of the film.

I'm sure Blood Beach paved the way for the whole Tremors movie series in the early 90's that reignited Kevin Bacon's career. Wow, there really are only six degrees of separation between Kevin Bacon and something like a clam worm!

My last bit of viral mimetic transfer goes out to Doug at Gossamer Tapestry to dig up his favorite spooky science or ocean-themed flick.

That's A Moray Monday: The HalloMeme Edition

Before Nick Nolte looked like this:


He looked like this:


And while still in his prime, he appeared in this movie:

The Deep, based on Peter Benchley's follow-up novel to Jaws, was quintessential box office potboiler fare: big name leads, T&A, exotic (for the 70's) location, and a classic conflict theme of Man vs. Nature. In this case, it's a collection of good and bad characters attempting to salvage and profit from a stash of narcotics from a sunken freighter. Unbeknownst to everyone at the start, the sunken freighter sits atop an even older wreck loaded with Spanish treasure.

So why is this a Moray Monday feature? Because the most memorable scene from this flick was that of the Louis Gossett Jr. character having his head munched by a huge Green moray. Sadly, despite much searching on YouTube, I couldn't find even a snippet of The Deep, let alone the moray scene. Alas.

So, while completely unrelated to moray's, I'm throwing in this extra HalloMeme treat of a flesh-eating zombie battling a Tiger shark from the Lucio Fulci classic, Zombie.

Happy Hallomeme: Part III

HalloMeme is the gift that keeps on giving!

Japan had Godzilla (Gojira by original appellation), but in 1957 America produced the Roger Corman cinematic stinker of Attack of the Crab Monsters as our atomic cautionary tale. In this crab-tastic "big bug" flick, a crew of scientists investigates a nuclear fallout-stricken atoll in the Pacific. There isn’t a sign of life on the island, but the researchers soon discover gigantic mutant flesh-eating crabs that can absorb the intelligence of their victims and can speak in their voices. (I'm not making this up!) Russell Johnson (the Professor from Gilligan's Island) even makes an appearance. We learn that the mutant crabs were originally land crabs, but they sure look like jumbo Dungeness crabs to me (pass the butter). Attention to detail was somewhat lacking in post-production so keep an eye open for scenes where so you can actually see the legs of the men operating the crabs.

Oh baby, I vividly recall first seeing these mutated, bug-eyed crabs on New York Channel 11 (WPIX) late night Chiller Theatre (for which the opening credits of Chiller have haunted my brother Rob and I for years.)


Now let's see if we can get Greg and Phil to join the fun:

Evolution
Bad Astronomy

Happy HalloMeme: Part II

It warms my small, icy heart that the HalloMeme was picked-up enthusiastically by so many colleagues in the blogosphere. I've already added a few new ocean horror treats to my must-see list. And since I squandered spent much of my youthful saturday mornings watching reruns of 50's horror flicks, I've still got a few more scary ocean-themed gems to pass along.

To wit, how would childhood dreams ever be the same again after watching The Monster of Piedras Blancas? Replete with a hokey plot involving an old lighthouse, spooky shoreline caves, a convoluted love story, and a "half-human crustacean" sea monster with a penchant for decapitations, this cheapo 50's horror flick had me hiding behind the safety of pillows and checking the closet before heading for bed for years. In fact I still hide behind pillows and check the closets, but that's material for another blog.

If you look closely at the monster, he/she is sporting Metalunan monster feet (from This Island Earth) and Moleman hands from The Mole People. The body suit looks an awful lot like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Okay, so here's a new cast of victims to receive the Happy HalloMeme:

The Oyster Garter
from Archaea to Zeaxanthol
The Meming of Life

Happy HalloMeme!

In the run-up to Halloween, my all time favorite holiday, I thought I'd run a daily feature of my favorite ocean-themed scary movies. There's some schlock, some gore, some laughs, and even some genuine scares from these marine fright flicks over the years. So take a walk with me down spooky memory lane and see if you remember these screen gems.

First up: The 1980 classic Humanoids From the Deep. PG13 warning for some brief nudity in the above clip. How can you go wrong with a film featuring horny, mutated fish?! Stunningly bad acting, cardboard dialogue, but entertaining special effects.

And this wouldn't be HalloMeme if I didn't drop a little somethin' somethin' into your goody bag. So as we approach the big fright night, I'm inviting a few fellow bloggers to recall some of their favorite spooky ocean or scary science-themed films. Here's a first round of victims:

The Radula
The Other 95%
Deep Sea News
The Saipan Blog
Pharyngula
A Blog Around The Clock

And don't forget to pass along the pain fun!

Those Amazing Holothuridea

Okay, so I too want to jump on the recent sea cucumber mania "sweeping" the science blogs. It all started over on The Intersection with a post on some cool recent research that points to the hitherto lowly sea cuke as up-and-coming rock star marine organism for its ability to regenerate lost tissue and organs. Turns out that this nifty trick has plenty of implications for human benefit.

I also love sea cucumbers as cool exemplars of symbiosis. Some sea cucumbers have a commensal fish known as the Pearl fish (Carpus sp.) which lives inside their anus during the day and emerges at night to feed. When morning comes, it simply waits for the anus to open as the sea cucumber breathes (yes, sea cukes breathe through their vascularized butts), and swims back inside. Pearl fish are highly modified eel-like fishes which lack scales and pelvic fins. They live in the body cavities of sea cucumbers, giant clams and pearl oysters during the day, leaving at night to feed on small fishes and shrimp. Juvenile Pearl fish are parasitic, feeding upon the gonads of sea cucumbers.

I can't think of any terrestrial analogs for such a commensal relationship. Well, maybe just one.

That's A Moray Monday: When Good Eels Attack Stupid People

I'm really wracked with work today, so in lieu of our typical Moray Monday feature, I thought I'd pull some of the more egregious examples of stupid human behavior with moray eels off of YouTube. It wasn't hard to find candidate videos. Why is it that when humans torment otherwise oblivious wildlife to strike out, it's the wildlife that's tagged as aggressive? Beats me.

Anyway, click on the above video for a mild (yet well-deserved) attack on a annoying diver at Molokini off of Maui. Way to show restraint, eel!

Here's a video from Florida of divers and a territorial Green moray. Looks like the divers got too cozy on the eels turf, though they should know better not to be stirring-up sediment or resting on the bottom anyway.


And finally, here's a video that's definitely NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH! You have been warned. Follow this link for this all-time, stupid diver, almost Darwin Award recipient. It's a diver who, not content to just feed hotdogs to a hungry moray, decides to put his thumb on the menu. I'm sorry, but this ignoramus had it coming. While the attack is pretty tame, it's the images of post-operative surgery and reattachment of a thumb from the victims toe that really churned my stomach.

The Nature Gap Widens For US Youth

I read a particularly depressing story in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning that reinforced a disturbing statistic I've been following for some time now. Apparently, kids today are increasingly eschewing the outdoors for the urban wilderness and virtual reality.

National polls indicate that US children and teenagers play outdoors less than young people did in the past. Between 1997 and 2003, the proportion of children ages 9 to 12 who spent time hiking, walking, fishing, playing on the beach or gardening declined 50 percent, according to a University of Maryland study. Here in spectacular California, home of Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, mountains, deserts, amazing geothermal wonders, four National Marine Sanctuaries, and more state and national parks than anywhere else in the country, things aren't much better. A recent poll of 333 parents by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 30 percent of teenagers did not participate in any outdoor nature activity at all this past summer. Another 17 percent engaged only once in an outdoor activity like camping, hiking or backpacking.

The lack of outdoor activity is more pronounced in California's minority and lower-income communities. Latino parents, for example, were twice as likely as white parents to say their child never participated in an outdoor nature activity and three times more likely to say their child did not go to a park, playground or beach this past summer, according to the Public Policy Institute poll.

Unstructured outdoor play was standard for me as a hyperactive child growing up in rural Pennsylvania. Though far from the ocean (my primary love even as a child) I found plenty of opportunities to explore forests, streams, ponds, and fields in the foothills of the Pocono's. During the summer, it was SOP for me to wave "buh-bye" to Mom sometime in the morning and spend all day collecting bugs, leaves, fossils, rocks, frogs, and salamanders in nearby Eurana Park. I'd typically get home before dinner. All day. Alone. In nature. As a child. This wasn't absent parenting. It was life as a kid in the 70's. No concern for kidnappers or West Nile virus.

According to newspaper columnist and child advocate Richard Louv, such carefree days are gone for America’s youth. Boys and girls now live a "denatured childhood," Louv writes in Last Child in the Woods. He cites multiple causes for why children spend less time outdoors and why they have less access to nature: our growing addiction to electronic media, the relinquishment of green spaces to development, parents’ (and kids) exaggerated fears of natural and human predators, and the threat of lawsuits and vandalism that has prompted community officials to forbid access to their land.

Louv’s idea of the importance of nature to human development is not new. Theodore Roosevelt saw a prophylactic dose of nature as a counter to mounting urban malaise in the early 20th century (albeit many of Teddy's jaunts into the wild were with firearms and a desire to bag a trophy), and others since have expanded on the theme (happily, sans guns). I don't think I'd be alone to posit that nature has restorative qualities not only for adults, but for children as well. Nature has profound implications for the mental, physical, and perhaps even spiritual health of future generations. Emmett Duffy over at The Natural Patriot wrote about the need to ensure that our children have access and motivation to explore the natural world,

Most of us of a certain age have fond memories of coming home from school and spending hours playing outside, hunting for frogs or lightning bugs or whatever, holding down the secret fort in the bushes, inventing games out of thin air, blowing up model cars with firecrackers (wait, maybe forget about that last bit). But in most areas of this country, you see precious few kids doing those things anymore. What do kids, and all of us as a society, lose when they have no experience of the outdoors? We all stand to lose a lot.

Emmett urged a call to action, and one possible direction your action could take is support for the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007. Introduced by Congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland and Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the legislation strengthens and expands environmental education in America's classrooms and reconnects children with nature.

Wilderness is in the eye of the beholder, and it doesn't necessarily take a visit to a Yosemite to launch an appreciation of nature. I've had the pleasure of learning this while working with urban youth over the years, most recently in San Francisco's Mission District. Many of the District's children live only 15 minutes from the Pacific Ocean, yet have never seen it. A particularly memorable example of this occurred on an outing where I was able to find funds to get a few Mission elementary classes to Ocean Beach for a science field trip. After unloading the kids from the N Judah MUNI ride (my apologies to all the passengers who endured that loud commute), one of the students grabbed my arm, pointed at the Pacific Ocean and excitedly exclaimed, "Teacher! What's that lake called?!"

Richard Louv is convinced American youth can once again learn the glory of mucking around in the natural world as opposed to the virtual one. "[Nature] can be the clump of trees at the end of the cul-de-sac or the ravine by the house. Those places may in terms of biodiversity not be that important, but to a child they can be a whole universe, where they can discover a sense of wonder. That is essential to our humanity, and we can't deny that to future generations."

Once In A Blue Moon

Every year during months with the warmest average sea temperatures, numerous coral species synchronize their spawning events with the light of a full moon . In a report published today in Science, marine biologist Oren Levy of the University of Queensland in St. Lucia, Australia, and his colleagues discovered that cryptochromes--proteins that enable other organisms to respond to blue light and maintain an internal biological clock--play a critical role in the process.

On the night of spawning, soon after sundown, the individual polyps which make up the living coral colony begin to expand as sperm packets are moved up from a space within the underlying coral skeleton. Soon after, bright orange or red eggs are similarly produced and "glued" to the individual sperm bundles, until the sperm is completely surrounded. This is an important component to the spawning process, as these clusters of 9 - 190 eggs around a central sperm core float to the surface due to the high fat content of the eggs. In this way, eggs and sperm from different colonies have a chance to intermingle at the ocean's surface. If the combination is right, fertilization will take place.

Research has shown coral eggs can distinguish among the different kinds of sperm present during the mass-spawning. Eggs reject sperm which originate from their own parent colony but readily accept sperm from a different individual of the same species. In controlled experiments, researchers have also observed sperm from one species fertilize eggs of related but different species. This process is called hybridization, and such crosses may be one reason for the astounding diversity of coral species.

I'm Huggable, Right?!

Jason over at Cephalopodcast gave himself a virtual facelift using some fun online "build it" software on the Wildlife Conservation Society website. Not content with altering his own features, he then issued a challenge for some of his fellow natural history bloggers (yours truly included) to follow suit. The somewhat disturbing results are above the post.

While I'm really pleased with the venomous lionfish dorsal fin, does the sea lion bottom make my ass look fat?

The Dreaded Pharyngula Mutating Genre Meme

Jim over at from Archaea to Zeaxanthol recently tagged me with the damnable Pharyngula Mutating Genre Meme. The rules (and there are many) weren't exactly straight-forward to a cro-magnon like myself, so it took me a while to figure the whole thing out. Yeesh, I dislike blog memes! I know, party pooper. Anyway, here goes:

THE RULES
There is a set of questions below, all of the form , “The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is…”.

Copy the questions. Before answering them, you may modify them in a limited way, carrying out no more than two of these operations:

> You can leave them exactly as is.

> You can delete any one question.

> You can mutate either the genre, medium or subgenre of any one question. For instance, you could change “The best timetravel novel in SF/ Fantasy is…” to “The best timetravel novel in Westerns is…” , or ”the best timetravel movie in SF/Fantasy is…, or ”The best Romance novel in SF/Fantasy is…”

> You can add a completely new question of your choice to the end of the list, as long as it is still in the form “The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is…”.

> You must have at least one question in your set, or you’ve gone extinct, and you must be able to answer it yourself, or you’re not viable.

Then answer your possibly mutant set of questions.

Please do include a link back to the ‘parent’ blog you got them from to simplify tracing the ancestry and include these instructions.

Finally, pass it along to any number of your fellow bloggers.

Remember though: your success as a Darwinian replicator is going to be measured by the propagation of your variants, which is going to be a function of both the interest your well-honed questions generate, and the number of successful attempts at reproducing them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MY LINEAGE
Great- great-great-grandfather is Pharyngula.
Great great-grandfather is The Flying Trilobite.
Great Grandma is Leslie’s Blog.
Granpa is The Meming of Life.
My Papa is from Archaea to Zeaxanthol.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from Archaea to Zeaxanthol's memetic code:

*The best romantic movie in comedy is: The Princess Bride

*The best sexy song in 80's hard rock is: "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard

*The best satirical movie in comedy is: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Mutated Code:

*The best cult movie in comedy is: Pink Flamingos

*The best sexy song in 80's new wave is: "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin

*The best satirical movie in comedy is: Brain Candy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Passing on the meme (don't hate me):
The Radula
blogfish
Natural Patriot
Evolution

To The Dump, To The Dump, To The Dump, Dump, Dump...

So let's just say you have a couple hundred thousand metric tons of iron filings laying around the house. While in the tub one day, you conceive of a terrific idea of dumping all that iron into the ocean, thus seeding phytoplankton growth (iron is a limiting nutrient for phytoplankton) and sequestering atmospheric carbon for centuries deep underwater. Voila! Hello carbon sink... goodbye global warming. And even better, you can sell shares of your iron filing dumping as carbon offsets to individuals and business who are looking to feel more carbon neutral. It's a win-win deal!

But hold on. What about other greenhouse gases in addition to CO2 that could be produced as a side effect? Or what might a rain of iron filings mean for benthic ocean communities? Where does the iron filing supply come from and what contaminants might it have? And since not all phytoplankton are alike, what happens if you spur on harmful algal blooms. Finally, couldn't the lure of massive profit potentially taint your research into the efficacy (or threats) from your iron dumping scheme?

Enter San Francisco-based climate startup Climos, which has proposed a code of conduct to address contentious aspects of how such experiments are conducted.

The 2-page document calls on anyone doing experiments to protect the marine environment by obtaining permits from relevant authorities, do full environmental assessments, and avoid sensitive ecosystems. It calls for openness through release of data, third party verification of carbon uptake, and collaboration with the broader scientific community.

The San Francisco Bay Area has become something of a birthing-ground for climate engineering businesses. Climos, and it's Silicon Valley neighbor Planktos, both engage in iron replenishment (sounds a lot nicer than iron dumping, huh?) to allegedly restore declining plankton growth in the open seas. They are not without their critics. Friends of the Earth, WWF, ETC Group, Greenpeace, and several Galapagos-based conservation groups (among others) have raised numerous concerns in addition to those mentioned above to the concept of iron dumping. Planktos seems to regard these points of contention as misperceptions of crucial details about their work and the scientific and political context in which it is based. In response, they have posted a laundry-list of dismissals of such concerns on their website.

Certainly a code of conduct for business practice is an important step. I hope Climos, Planktos, and others will be truly committed to full collaboration with, and openness to, conservation concerns. My fear, however is that establishing a code of conduct is putting the cart before the horse. Climos and Planktos may be jumping to a forgone conclusion that their process and methods are safe for overall ocean health. A code of conduct, lacking demonstrable and well-supported evidence, becomes just another example of greenwashing and spin.

That's a Moray Monday

No songs or mustached ladies this week! Back to regularly scheduled Moray Monday. And this week's feature is a favorite of moray-fans worldwide.

Zebra Moray
Gymnomuraena zebra

Shy and retiring, zebra morays hole up in crevices and under ledges on the wave-swept outer edges of coral reefs. At night they come out to hunt, prowling the reefs in search of crabs, clams and other hard-shelled prey. Their teeth tell the tale of their diet. While some morays have sharp, pointed teeth for grabbing and holding on to fishes and other slippery prey, zebra morays have flat, platelike teeth, perfect for crunching hard shells. Stomach contents of captured Zebra morays have included crabs and other reef crustaceans, clams and other mollusks, as well as sea urchins.

The Zebra moray has a tremendous range: In the Indo-Pacific, it can be found from the Red Sea and East Africa to the Society Islands, north to the Ryukyu and Hawaiian islands, and south to the Great Barrier Reef. In the Eastern Central Pacific, it occurs from southern Baja, Mexico and from Guatemala to northern Columbia, including the Galapagos.

This moray generally exhibits a rusty-brown to blackish overall body coloration with its most distinctive feature being close-set narrow white bands running vertically along the length of its body. This coloration is reminiscent of the banding commonly seen on zebras, hence the common name. Such disruptive patterns, frequently a part of camouflage coloration, helps break up an animal's outline. Theoretically, this makes it difficult for other animals to spot it. You'd think that the black and white stripes of the Zebra moray would make it easy for prey (or predators) to see it. However in its dark and shaded reef habitat, the black and white stripes of the Zebra moray help it blend into the dark and irregularly shaped coral nooks and crannies.

Collected specimens of Zebra moray have been measured at lengths of up to 150 cm (4.9 feet).

Priceless Or Lifeless?

I've had these images sitting in a file since they were sent to me several months ago. They depict some recent retail efforts by two different stores on Maui of their substantial inventory of formerly living coral reef life. The shops are Banana Wind at the Lahaina Cannery Mall in downtown Lahaina, and Cool Maui Stuff in Kahana. I received a bunch of photos, but here's a small sample so you can get the idea:





And just to assuage any concerns shop visitors might have to the killing fields on display, there's this:

Color me skeptical, but I have trouble picturing the proprietors as genuinely caring. One of the images above shows a collection of fungiid (or mushroom) corals. These corals are not a food source for humans. And in my 43 years, I've never encountered a beach strewn with dead, bleached fungiid coral remains just waiting for an alert entrepreneur. So I presume they fall into the proprietors definition of "non-endangered" species.

First of all, even if I believed the sign's assertion that the animals on display are non-endangered, harvested for food, or found already dead on some "South Pacific Beach" (wherever that might be), creating a demand for these items is likely to lead to their quickly becoming a non-sustainable commodity. As a Maui resident recently commented about these images on a Hawaii message board, as they are just sold for trinkets... they are meeting a false need spurred by consumerism. No one "Needs" these things.

And again, even if these organisms are not currently endangered, what about the status of other life that was displaced or destroyed in the harvest? Pygmy seahorses, a spectacular though low biomass species, require sea fans and other gorgonian habitats for their survival. Being about the size of a grain of rice, I can imagine Pygmy seahorses as being unintended bycatch and collateral fatalities of sea fan collection.

The international shell and ocean curio trade places a tremendous pressure upon tropical coastal resources. Much of the shells, sea stars, and other ocean life that appear in markets (from specialty shell shops to megastores like Walmarts) are sourced from the Philippines. If you sport an ever-popular Puka shell necklace, the shell bits that comprise that inexpensive piece of jewelry were likely gleaned from back-reef systems from throughout the vast Philippine Archipelago and then sold (for pennies) to shell wholesalers for export internationally.

A 2003 study on the sustainability of the Philippine shell trade by the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resource and USAID concluded that while current shell and ocean curio harvests are robust, lack of enforcement, monitoring, and collection limits could rapidly change this situation. One warning seemed particularly worrisome,

Fishery stocks in the Philippines have on the whole been harvested beyond their sustainable yield (Pauly 2000, Green et al. 2003) and mollusk resources are most likely in a similar state. There is however a growing concern as to the sustainability of the trade considering the lack of information about the species and the exact volumes of shell and shellcraft exported from the country. Export records of shells and shellcrafts from concerned government agencies are highly variable and fragmented.

I happen to think that shells, coral, and sea fans look best on and around reefs. Not on a bookshelf, office desk, or curio cabinet. Unfortunately, I recognize that many consumers don't share my opinion. Next time you visit one of the big US mega-store chains (Target, Walmart, K-Mart, etc), keep your eyes open for the truly astounding volume of dead ocean life in everything from candles, placemats, and plant hangers to jewelry, picture frames, and Kleenex-box covers. Then there are the vast killing fields in specialty, nautical gift shops in beach destinations like Maine, Cape Cod, Florida, Maryland, the Carolinas, the Gulf Coast, Santa Cruz, CA, Seattle, and Hawaii. Honestly, if I were to think where I've seen the most sea stars in my life, the answer would probably be in miscellaneous friends and families bathrooms.

There's no denying the lure and attraction of shells and other "decorative" ocean life. And it's that attraction that drives demand and steady supply in the marketplace. But perhaps another Maui commenter got it right when he suggested an alternate sign he'd like to substitute in Maui gift shops, Why not just say "This animal was removed from its environment to sit on a shelf and gather dust for your pleasure".

Worst Example Of Framing... EVER

This has NOTHING to do with oceans, but is too good to keep to myself. A lesson on how NOT to interact effectively with the media.

Thanks to Liz Foote for sharing.

Papua New Guinea's Environmental Refugees

The Carteret Islands are almost invisible on a map of the South Pacific, but the horseshoe scattering of atolls in easternmost Papua New Guinea is on the front-line of climate change, as rising sea levels and storm surges eat away at their existence.

For 20 years, the 2,000 islanders living there have fought a losing battle against the ocean, building sea walls and trying to plant mangroves. Each year, the waves surge in higher, destroying vegetable gardens, washing away homes and contaminating freshwater supplies.

Today, PNG Prime Minister Somare appropriated 4.1 million Kina (US$1,315,280) to resettle Papua New Guinea villagers affected by global warming. The funding was part of a K1.6 billion (US$ 513,280,000) supplementary budget handed down early this week by Treasury and Finance Minister Patrick Pruaitch. Out of the K4.1 million funding, K2 million (US$641,600) will go to the Bougainville Autonomous Region’s Carteret Islanders.

The local Bougainville government has an ongoing resettlement program which it hopes to complete by the end of the year. Rising sea levels will not only displace human populations. Coral reefs are expected to be impacted by changes in ocean levels and sea surface temperatures. As a result, the communities that depend upon these marine resources will be affected as well. Papua New Guinea's Carteret islanders are destined to become some of the world's first climate change refugees. Their islands are becoming uninhabitable, and may soon disappear below the waves.

A decision has been made to move the islanders to the larger nearby Bougainville Island, a four hour boat ride to the southwest. Ten families at a time will be moved once funds are released for the resettlement program.

A IPCC has predicted that average sea levels are likely to rise between 9 and 88 cm (3.5 to 35 inches) by 2100.

That's a Moray Monday: The Musical Edition

No that is NOT a moray at the top of this post! It's Michelle Mulholland, CORAL's Admin specialist and general miracle-maker extraordinaire sporting the ever popular fake mustache that makes its rounds throughout our offices. Why is she gracing Moray Monday? Because in addition to possessing amazing organizational support skills, she's also a songbird. Though considering our ocean focus, perhaps she's more of a siren (but a good kind).

Michelle is the star of this Moray Monday since she whipped together an amazingly appropriate ditty. So sit back and enjoy the lyrics to That's a Moray, sung to the tune of Dean Martin's major hit That's Amore:

When the sun’s in the sky and you’re riding the tide,
“That’s a moray!”
Like a snake that can swim, with sharp jaws on a hinge
That’s a moray!
Feed on fish (for a tasty dish, have a tasty fish)
or an unlucky crustacean
From their teeth (needle pointed teeth, jagged, pointed teeth)
There is no escaping

Whether black, blue or green, orange, yellow or red
That’s a moray!
When you see strange snout, from a hole, sticking out
That’s a moray!
If you’re surfing the net, reading Rick’s newest blog
on a Monday
Scuzza me, but you see, there’s no doubt, it must be
That’s a moray!

Dry It, You'll Like It

Having a Filipino boyfriend means (almost) always having cephalopods around the house. Though not necessarily how I might prefer. In honor of unofficial International Cephalopod Awareness Day, I thought I'd show my true Bay Area foodie colors and reflect on the many wonders of dried squid and octopus.

Manuel (the BF) loves dried squid and octopus snacks. So much so that we usually have a few bags in the larder at any given time. While not my cup of tea, I must admit to being a big fan of octopus jerky ever since I chowed-down on my first few tentacles while on a teaching stint in Coos Bay, Oregon at the fabulous Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. My colleague and pal Trish Mace first introduced me to this local delicacy and I've been jonesing to get back to Coos Bay ever since. Damn you, Trish!

Drying has been a favorite means of preserving what at first glance might seem unpreservable. How else do you keep a slimy, boneless, and quick to stink mass of protein from "going off"? I suppose pickling is an option (and probably a tasty snack somewhere), though I must confess I'm not up to the challenge of pickled cephalopod. But if you have a lot of squid on hand and would like to stash some away for leaner times, drying as a preservative is a great way to go.

In addition to providing a longer shelf life, drying also intensifies flavor--which is either a good thing or bad thing depending on how you feel about cephalopod flavor. For me, a nice piece of octopus sushi is a perfect balance of chewiness and brine. But dried octopus crosses a line. It becomes unpleasantly chewy and way too strong in flavor. But not for Manuel. He can sit there and eat a whole bag of dried squid while enjoying Desperate Housewives.

Living next to one of the great US Chinatowns here in San Francisco and just north of the squid fisheries of Monterey Bay, we're lucky to have easy access to a rich history of cephalopod cuisine right here in our back yards. By 1853, some 500 to 600 Chinese fishermen worked the deep waters of Monterey Bay, California. The Chinese community had become well enough established that Cabrillo Point, the site of today's Hopkins Marine Station at the north of Cannery Row, became known as China Point.

The Chinese Fishermen in the Monterey Bay were particularly successful at harvesting squid. The fishermen discovered that squid were attracted to light. They would traditionally fish squid using three boats. One boat would light a lantern and place it above the surface of the water. The light would cause the squid to swim to the surface of the water. Two other boats would use a net to scoop up the squid.

Fishermen would split, salt, and spread the squid out on drying racks or rooftops. Octopus were often hung on clotheslines to drip dry. Once they were sufficiently dry, they would be packed into 130-pound bundles and shipped by steamer to San Francisco. Records in Monterey note that in the 1888 squid season, the Chinese shipped 230,000 pounds of dried squid from Monterey, a harvest valued at $12,500. Monterey was the only place in California where the squid season was large enough to support extensive squid fishing, and each year Monterey provided over 90% of California’s production of dried squid.

The popularity of dried cephalopods as primary protein sources has now shifted to capitalize on the growing snack markets. A visit to Singapore last year underscored this popularity. I decided to take in a movie at the Changi Cinema. As I ambled over to the snack bar for my standard popcorn and soda, I scanned the candy section. Right there between the chewing gum and Gummy Bears was the dried, sweetened Hello Kitty squid chunks. Bet you can't eat just one!

So with all this cephalopod eating going on, what about sustainability? A search on the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program website returned some good news yet some cause for caution. Squid and octopus are not considered vulnerable to overfishing since they grow fast and reproduce at a young age. Fishing methods—traps, diving, hand capture—lead to little bycatch, and while traps can do moderate damage to the habitat, the other methods are relatively harmless.

Although octopus overfishing does not seem likely, some concern remains because octopus populations in the Gulf of California fisheries are unknown, and management of the fishery is minimal. Squid fishery success is dependent on ocean conditions such as temperature and prey availability, and squid abundance varies from year to year and place to place.

Squid fisheries on the high seas are problematic because regulations do not exist or are rarely enforced and squid abundance is largely unknown. In addition, squid play an important role in marine food webs as both predator and prey and are an important source of food for marine mammals such as sperm whales. Increasingly, squid are becoming the target in areas where other species have declined due to overfishing. Without effective management and enforcement measures in place Seafood Watch is concerned that squid fisheries are at risk of collapse.

Supply And Demand

Following this weeks Moray Monday featuring the spectacular Dragon moray, my Hawaii Program Manager Liz Foote forwarded this eBay listing (above). It's for a Hawaiian Dragon moray with a starting bid of $450.

While eBay policy forbids the sale and traffic of live animals, it curiously makes an exception for tropical fish:

eBay generally does not allow the listing of live animals or pets on eBay. In restricted cases, some stuffed birds and the pelts and skins of some animals are permitted. Sellers who wish to list these items should review the specific rules in the “Some Examples” section below to ensure their listings comply with eBay policy. We also encourage members to educate themselves on the laws governing the regulation of the sale of animals found in the additional information section.

Live Animals: Other than the exceptions noted here, eBay does not allow sales of live animals or pets on eBay. eBay allows sales of tropical fish and domestic (i.e. not exotic) aquatic snails, provided the seller has the proper Federal (APHIS PPQ) - see Form 526 info below) and/or State permit(s) that allows for movement across State lines (and/or for importation into the U. S.), and provided that the seller guarantees in the listing that the animals will be packaged safely, and shipped via next day delivery.

In some developing coral reef nations, the well managed harvesting of tropical marine species for aquaria could potentially provide monetary value to healthy reefs. Like well managed tourist industries, these activities are intended to have little or no environmental impacts. And as they represent a renewable source of income, they are likely to be important in the quest for effective management practices that lead to long-term conservation. But where small reef areas occur in close proximity to major centers of population, like in Hawaii, sustainable and well managed collection for the aquarium trade becomes less tenable.

Because aquarium fish collectors are highly selective and often capture large quantities of species of high value, the potential for overexploitation is high. In response to continued strong public outcry over the aquarium collecting issue in Hawaii, the state legislature passed a bill in 1998 to improve the management of fishery resources in west Hawaii. A major thrust of the bill was to improve management of the aquarium industry by protecting a minimum of 30% of the west Hawaii coastline through the establishment of Fish Replenishment Areas (FRAs)--marine reserves where aquarium fish collecting is prohibited. Because the life history of aquarium reef fishes is poorly known, marine reserves have been widely recommended as the best approach for promoting the sustainable harvest of aquarium reef fishes. A 1999 study from the Big Island of Hawaii confirmed that aquarium collectors were still causing significant reductions in abundance in four of six proposed FRAs.

The above Dragon moray on eBay listed a shipping origin of Waimanalo, HI, which is located along the east shore of Oahu. Where it was collected, however, is anyone's guess. No registered eBay seller was listed for this post. After spotting the dubious Dragon moray post, Liz and others contacted eBay and the post was subsequently removed. But a quick survey of eBay can find many other Hawaiian marine aquarium species for sale by a variety of sellers. Yellow tangs, puffers, butterfly fish... the list goes on. And as long as the demand continues, the supply will strain to keep pace.

I'm not calling for the demise of marine aquariums. But if the marine aquarium hobby is to have a future, home aquarists need to think about sustainability. That means a commitment to promote, foster and encourage education and appreciation for the ethical husbandry and propagation of marine life. It means selecting certified sustainable species from certified sellers. And it means having the political will and motivation to call attention to unsustainable behaviors. For instance, if you notice a violation to eBay policy (or just sense something might not be on the up-and-up) you can take action. If we all just wait (or hope) for someone else to take action, the days may quickly become numbered for some spectacular reef species. And features like Moray Monday become reminders of what was instead of celebrations of what is.

Support Classroom Science Or The Manatee Gets It

The fellas over at Deep Sea News are playing host to three classroom science teachers who are in need of your support. Part of the Donors Choose program, several science bloggers have volunteered to help raise the micro-funding to make science education a reality in k-12 classrooms around the country.

The boys at DSN are supporting science projects with a decidedly ocean focus. Craig has been using various ploys to solicit contributions, including the image of a crying child, apparently deprived of an ocean science education.

On the other hand, I'm not above resorting to violence. So head over to Deep Sea News, support some teachers who are not asking for very much to bring science into their classrooms, and go to bed tonight as a champ. Otherwise, I shudder to think what might happen to Manny the Manatee!

You don't want to see me stitch together the exploding manatee heart video on an endless loop, do you? Oy, I can just see the PETA hate mail already.

New Zealand Ready For Pacific Climate Change Exiles

I suppose there are worse places to call home. Stuff New Zealand quotes New Zealand's Prime Minister, Helen Clark, as offering to take migrants from the Pacific, should climate change lead them to flee their home islands. Ms. Clark says policies such as the New Zealand regional seasonal work scheme have built a solid base for assistance, which could be easily adapted to take Pacific refugees if sea levels rise.

While climate change may seem an abstract threat to many parts of the world, low lying Pacific coral reef islands and atolls will be the first locations to face the consequences of a warming world. Speaking on a lecture tour in Europe, Prime Minister Clark made several references to the challenges posed by climate change. She indicated, for example, that Radio Australia recently reported some climate change models predict low lying island states such as Tuvalu, Kiribati and Tokelau could be submerged within 20 years if global temperatures continue to rise.

Personally, I think the major CO2 producing yet slow-to-climate-change-action nations like the US should carry the burden of providing sanctuary to those people whose lives and cultures are disrupted from our lack of vision.

Check Me Out In Sea Technology

I was recently invited to contribute an editorial for the October issue of Sea Technology, a magazine that I must admit I'd never heard of. Sea Technology (that's not the current issue in the above image) claims to be the ocean/marine industry's consistently recognized authority for ocean design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community. Sounds bitchin'. So what's a coral reef conservationist doing in Sea Technology? Why, I use the opportunity to expand a bit on a topic previously touched upon in my blog by making a call for a precautionary principle when it comes to ocean exploration of sensitive ecosystems.

The magazine doesn't have a free online edition, but I uploaded the editorial as a PDF to a free file hosting site. Sorry I don't have a simpler access. Feel free to let me know what you think.

That's a Moray Monday

Since last week's weak (and apparently too faggy) installment of Moray Monday, I've decided to pull out the stops with one of my favorite moray species. So lest I start lisping and breaking out into Broadway tunes, let's get on with the show.

Dragon Moray Eel
Enchelycore pardalis
formerly Muraena pardalis

This is without a doubt the holy grail for true moray fans. It's combination of spectacular coloration, fleshy ornamentation of the head, and overall formidable appearance make it a particularly coveted sighting among divers. Unfortunately, the Dragon moray is also a highly prized species for the salt water aquarium trade. The unfortunate aspect is that the species tends to be somewhat high maintenance and delicate in captivity, resulting in a relatively high mortality rate. However, this only increases fishing demand for a species whose fisheries capacity is not well characterized.

The name Enchelycore is derived from the Greek word enchelys (eel), and kore (pupil). Pupil eel? I think I prefer Dragon. The Dragon moray grows to lengths of approximately 92 cm. (36 inches). This tropical moray can be found in coral and rocky reef systems in the Indo-Pacific (from Hawaii to southern Japan, and southward to central Polynesia).

This eel used to be grouped in the Mureana genus, but was changed in about 1988 to the Enchelycore genus. Other names that appear in books for this eel include Muraena lampra, M. kailuae, and M. kauila, all of which are now obsolete. I suppose that's the great dread for working systematists out there. You go through all the work to describe a new species, get to name it, publish a monograph, then have your baby snatched away. Ah, the march of science.

Perhaps part of the naming confusion stems from the fact that the Dragon moray passes through different color and pattern changes as it grows into maturity. Its most striking features include its bright yellow, orange-red, or black and white colorations, unusual patterns on the body, sharp pointed head and distinctive "horns" above the eyes. It is without a doubt an eel that cannot be mistaken for any other.

Preferred food for this moray includes small fish, crabs, shrimps, and squids. The Dragon Eel is a very aggressive species with a mouth full of large, sharp, needle-like teeth, and a bottom jaw that cannot close because it is curved. Due to this eel's aggressive and predatory nature it is often difficult to keep in tropical aquaria with other marine life, including other eels. It is also something of an escape artist, able to force-open aquarium covers or follow filtration tubes to a short lived freedom. Can you say Finding Nemo? Although aggressive in aquarium settings, in the wild the Dragon moray is rather shy and reclusive.