Carnival Of The Blue V

Ever since Mark over at blogfish had the great idea of a monthly round-up of ocean blogging, Carnival of the Blue has been a one-stop, all you can eat read buffet of terrific ocean writing. And with each new monthly host, the carnival takes on a slightly different flavor. This month, Jennifer at Shifting Baselines brings her unique perspectives to Carnival of the Blue V.

Head over. And bon appétit!

Oops, Our Bad! We Nuked Your Coral Atoll

On July 25, 1946 at 8:34 a.m. local time, Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands was rocked by the underwater detonation of a 23 kiloton atomic bomb. This was the second test explosion of Operation Crossroads, a test conducted by the United States Navy to study the affects of nuclear weapons on ships, equipment, and material. The first detonation (Test ABLE) had taken place on July 1, with an aerial detonation of nuclear device at an altitude of 520 feet. The July 25 underwater detonation (Test BAKER) used a device anchored 90 feet underwater, sealed in a watertight steel caisson. For the test, a target fleet of 90 vessels was assembled, including old and surplus U.S. warships as well as three captured German and Japanese ships. The U.S. Navy unconditionally moved the people of Bikini off their atoll to facilitate the nuclear testing program.

Sixty-one years later, Marshall Islands residents continue to call on the US Congress to provide adequate nuclear test compensation. In fact, Congress has been sitting on nuclear compensation legislation since its introduction in 2000. Does it come as a surprise to anyone that this administration reacts with arrogant defiance to calls for compensation? As reported in Pacific Magazine, U.S. Department of Interior official Tom Bussanich told the Senate panel that the Bush Administration does not support any part of the proposed legislation including funding for health care because the U.S. government has satisfied all of its obligations for compensation and health care to islanders affected by the weapons testing.

How do you put a price on fair compensation after nuking the bejesus out of someones island home?

Requested compensation would fund a health program for Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap and Utrik--the four atolls heavily impacted by the 67 American nuclear tests conducted. Additionally, funding would provide for ongoing radiological monitoring. Currently, the bill--S. 1756: Republic of the Marshall Islands Supplemental Nuclear Compensation Act of 2007--is in the first stage of the legislative process where the bill is considered in committee and may undergo significant changes in markup sessions. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman [D-NM] has been referred to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee.

King Of The Unflattering Photo

Oy! What a horrible picture. Here's a sidebar piece from The Bonaire Reporter describing (badly) my presentation at the Tourism Corporation Bonaire annual meeting last week. Aside from the scowl and the misspelled last name, I stand by the adage that "there's no such thing as bad press."

Climate Change, Public Perceptions, And The F-Word

According to a new survey on global warming released by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Breakthrough Institute people are more concerned about the price of gas and electricity than they are about global warming. However, it also found support for climate-change solutions that are centered on achieving energy independence, reducing the cost of clean energy, and creating new jobs.

To summarize, The Nathan Cummings Foundation Global Warming Survey found that global warming continues to rank low as a priority for Americans, who continue to be extremely anxious about energy costs. Moreover, messages about the potential catastrophic effects of global warming do not increase support for government action. The survey divided the sample to observe the effects of various "psychological primes" on global warming public opinion, including using specific consequences of global warming expressed by the environmental community, such as the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Telling voters about these consequences did not increase their desire to take action on global warming.

Which really should not come as much of a surprise to readers. Decades of social marketing have demonstrated that information alone is insufficient to change behavior. Indulge me in an anecdotal aside. I consider myself to be a moderately intelligent individual. I know about heart disease, cholesterol, diabetes, and that regular exercise should be a part of my life. Yet I'm probably 40 pounds overweight. I lost a father and mother to heart-related issues complicated by high blood pressure, yet that awareness didn't stop me from eating that stack of Oreos while watching Family Guy last night. Information alone is insufficient.

While voters polled in both surveys expressed initial support for a variety of potential government actions--with support for an "Apollo-type" investment strategy scoring the highest, referring to the 1960s program that placed a man on the moon--when told of the potential of such programs, support dropped precipitiously. Only the Apollo-type investment proposal retained support from a majority of voters.

"This poll demonstrates that getting the policy right means getting the politics right," said Lance Lindblom, president of the Cummings Foundation. "Elegant policy prescriptions that cannot generate the political support necessary won't do anything to effectively address the challenges of global climate change."

Which brings us to the F-word: Framing. Emperor Palpatine and his young Sith Lord Matt Nisbet and Chris Mooney have been recently heating things up in the scientific community over this issue,

Issues at the intersection of science and politics, such as climate change, evolution, and embryonic stem cell research, receive considerable public attention, which is likely to grow, especially in the United States as the 2008 presidential election heats up. ... scientists must learn to actively "frame" information to make it relevant to different audiences. Some in the scientific community have been receptive to this message. However, many scientists retain the well-intentioned belief that, if laypeople better understood technical complexities from news coverage, their viewpoints would be more like scientists', and controversy would subside.

In reality, citizens do not use the news media as scientists assume. Research shows that people are rarely well enough informed or motivated to weigh competing ideas and arguments. Faced with a daily torrent of news, citizens use their value predispositions (such as political or religious beliefs) as perceptual screens, selecting news outlets and Web sites whose outlooks match their own. Such screening reduces the choices of what to pay attention to and accept as valid.

The recent Cummings and Breakthrough reports in part support this position. But the current dilemma does not appear to be focused on convincing people that climate change is a reality. Polls seem to indicate that we may be over that hump. What remains a challenge is framing the issue in such a way as to move climate change higher on the public (and policy maker's) perception of priority issues requiring immediate attention. And here it may be less of a framing issue than it is one of demonstrating vision.

Not to get all Phil Plait here, but the Apollo-type investment strategy that so resonates with voters is a telling example. The Apollo space program was many things: a spectacular marriage of science and engineering, a Cold War space race, a demonstration of human determination, and some may say a tremendous waste of resources. I could go on. But the vision it demonstrated and the potential applications and investments in the future, from computer technology to Tang, captured the public attention, interest, and buy-in. As a result, it commanded the attention of policy makers as well.

It's true that the lions share of resources have been dedicated by conservation and environmental groups to demonstrate to the public that the scientific community is in agreement around the reality of climate change. But have we inadvertently created a vacuum for taking meaningful action? Where is the "Apollo Mission" as an answer to climate change or an exit strategy from a warming future? Vision certainly requires visionaries. But it also requires effective messaging (or framing?) to inspire action.

I hope it doesn't take a heart attack to get me to pay more attention to my health. Likewise, do we need a catastrophe to wake us up to take action on an ailing planet?

Test Anxiety, Anyone?

Worldwatch Institute has an online Oceans in Peril quiz, and it's tougher than you might think. Head over and match wits with the quiz to find out your ocean threat IQ. Not one to brag, but my test results indicated I should have gills. How did you score?

Golden Ignoranus Award: A Special Repeat Tribute

It takes a particularly head-up-your-ass sense of blind allegiance and stupidity to publicly demonstrate your zenophobic tendencies and impugn a segment of society, move on, then repeat the process all over again. Why, one would have to be high military brass to possess those qualities and beef it that badly.

To wit.

Congrats, Gen. Pace! Two Golden Ignoranus Awards in a single year!

Cruise Control

Fresh back from my trip to the southern and eastern Caribbean, I've been mulling over the hot button issue of cruise ship sustainability. On Bonaire, local concerns were at a fever pitch over the imminent arrival of cruise tourism which will almost double the islands tourism arrivals over the next year. I've written here before about cruise tourism and coral reefs, and after visiting Bonaire and listening to different stakeholder views I'm not sure I have any greater clarity on the topic. In many project sites I manage (Mexico, Belize, Hawaii, Fiji), cruise ship tourism is one of the top perceived reef threats identified by stakeholders. But it's important to emphasize that these are perceived threats. Unfortunately, scant site-based empirical data exists that directly ties cruise tourism to reef health decline.

Those linkages we suspect to be at play are what you might call the usual suspects of cruise tourism objections: overcrowding of reef resources and poor supervision of cruise passengers, anchor damage or ship groundings on coral, and increased nutrient loading (eutrophication) from ship or land-based sewage discharge. And while not a direct reef impact, concomitant effects on coral reef destinations might include overcrowding of port resources (restaurants, shops, roads, etc.), inequities in revenue distribution to cities/towns/villages not visited by passengers, and overall decline in visitor perceptions and experience as a result of mass tourism.

The combination of all these issues makes for a constantly moving target in any effort to build and promote sustainable tourism in coral reef destinations. You might imagine then that before working to build sustainability, it's important to have some sort of idea of what sustainable tourism looks like. But sustainability means different things to different stakeholders. There's a certain Clinton-esque quality to defining sustainability (I often hear colleagues using phrases such as "Well that all depends on what sustainable means.")

One definition of sustainable tourism I've found by the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States resonates for me because of its inclusion of some very significant components:

The optimal use of natural and cultural resources for national development on an equitable and self sustaining basis to provide a unique visitor experience and an improved quality of life through partnership among government, the private sector and communities.

So what really stands out in this definition of sustainable tourism? What I like is that this definition includes the need for tourism to be equitable and self sustaining, provide a unique visitor experience, and ensure an improved quality of life for destination residents. Sustainable tourism isn't just about safeguarding natural resources such as coral reefs. The principles behind sustainable tourism speaks also to ensuring equity and cultural sustainability as well. If local residents do not receive support or fair benefits from tourism, they are unlikely to support conservation activities to protect those natural resources that are often the primary draw for tourism visitation in the first place.

Opponents to cruise tourism are often quick to claim that by it's very nature, cruise tourism is antithetical to sustainable tourism. And in many examples one might point out, this is unfortunately true. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, second largest barrier reef system on the planet--extending from the the tip of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to the Honduras Bay Islands--has been a cruise ship destination for decades. If you query most environmentalists along the Yucatan, they would probably not point to current cruise tourism practices or volume as sustainable. Not surpirsingly, you'll get a different story from cruise line executives.

In Mexico and Belize, marine protected areas (MPAs) are often associated with cruise ship ports of call. Whereas non-cruise ship visitors are required to pay user fees to snorkel or dive within the MPAs, cruise passengers pay no such user fee and therefore do not support reef management activities.

Cruise ships are not asked to pay a concession fee (essentially a fee to conduct business) for operating in or around MPAs. While many larger cruise ships have their own on-board sewage treatment facilities, some cruise ships still off-load their sewage and gray water to port sewage facilities that adds greater processing burden on destination systems. In many ports of call, cruise passengers looking to spend cash on souvenirs are often offered "duty free shops" or similar contrived shopping areas convenient to boats that ferry passengers to and from the ship. As a result, passengers are not offered an authentic experience with locals and revenue generated may not necessarily stay within the destination. And finally, cruise ships often negotiate lowest-bid contracts with local marine tourism operators (snorkel-dive-fishing) who typically have no group size limits, and provide minimal visitor supervision in sensitive coral reef areas.

In my opinion, the question of whether mass tourism can be sustainable tourism hinges on yet another definition: How massive is the mass tourism? The answer to this question needs to be tailored to the particulars of the destination in question. It's honestly not a tube sock, one-size-fits-all answer. This site-specific tourism volume at which ecological and cultural health and authenticity can be sustained is often called the carrying capacity, borrowing its use from the ecological principle of the same name. Ecological carrying capacity represents the total life a system can support--based on available habitat and resources. Similarly, tourism carrying capacity provides a benchmark for sustainable visitor limits to a destination. It's important to remember that determining the limit of visitors does not constitute a goal in itself, but a way (and not the only one) to protect the natural resources of an area.

Okay, so let's figure out the carrying capacity of destinations around the world and once and for all determine sustainable limits. Easier said than done. As it turns out, carrying capacity studies are more art than science. The August 2004 issue of MPA News described the challenges,

Assessing the carrying capacity of an MPA involves a number of factors, though some scientists suggest there may be general capacity limits for particular habitat types, like coral reefs. However, actual implementation of these hard limits on numbers of tourists can be politically difficult. For this reason, some experts suggest an alternative way to manage tourism impacts: estimating the "limits of acceptable change" for protected sites instead.

The concept of limits of acceptable change, or LAC, was first suggested by Stephen McCool (best last name, ever!), a professor at the School of Forestry at the University of Montana, Missoula. His framework for estimating the LAC for an ecosystem involves four major components:

• Specification of acceptable and achievable resource and social conditions, defined by a series of measurable parameters;
• Analysis of the relationship between existing conditions and those judged to be acceptable;
• Identification of actions necessary to achieve these conditions; and
• A program of monitoring and evaluation of management effectiveness.

Importantly, the process involves combining the technical expertise of planners and scientists with personal knowledge contributed by local public stakeholders. None of this LAC characterization is accomplished without a lot of work. Nor does it come cheap. Engaging stakeholders and experts to this degree requires significant funding. And in contrast to a carrying capacity--which, once established, entails little monitoring apart from counting visitors--a LAC system requires regular measurements of changes in resource and social conditions to ensure that the values assigned to an ecosystem reflect current realities.

So back to cruise tourism. Do we have exemplars of cruise destinations that reflect a serious consideration of the tenets of sustainable tourism, and have undergone a robust analysis of either carrying capacity or limits of acceptable change? If anyone knows of such a destination in the Caribbean, I'm eager to hear about it. As mentioned before, the Mesoamerican reef system currently receives the bulk of Caribbean cruise traffic. Anyone who has been "fortunate" enough to be in Cozumel or Playa del Carmen when multiple ships are in port can testify that the destinations hardly provide a unique visitor experience or optimal use of natural and cultural resources. More recent cruise markets to coral reef destinations in the Pacific (Hawaii, Philippines, Australia, Fiji, etc.) have less traffic volume than their Caribbean counterparts. And being a younger market with less competition, some cruise lines have been very receptive to work with conservation groups to maximize sustainable practice.

And hope is not lost in the Caribbean either. The Coral Reef Alliance is currently one year into a multi-year collaboration with Conservation International's Center for Environmental Leadership in Business (CELB) to get the cruise industry to come to the table and agree to modifications to current operations that will measurably reduce their footprint on the Mesoamerican reef and associated coastal and cultural resources.

Growth is inevitable. Tourism remains (and will continue to be) the world's largest industry and employer. It's true also that any tourism will always be a drain on the resources of a destination--I've heard a colleague once refer to tourism as a "parasite." Some hosts can survive and live full lives with their parasites. Other parasites kill their hosts quickly. The challenge will be to provide the education, tools, political will, and support that ensure that mass tourism's growth does not out-pace or obliterate the character and resources of its target destination.

That's A Moray Monday

After leaving Bonaire, it was a night in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and then another night in Los Angeles before finally getting home. I'm pooped. And my weary brain isn't coherent enough to whip-up a quality Moray Monday. So, it's time for a little improvisation.

Flotsam and Jetsum
Littlemermaidia baddus

Though typically solitary creatures, this species of moray is always seen in pairs. They have been described from only two known individuals, identical in every respect with the exception of opposite eye coloration. This moray species inhabits depths in excess of 30 meters, finding shelter within slowly decaying sea monster carcasses. Quite atypical for the moray family, the species appears to prefer the company of chubby, aging, diva-esque, sociopathic sea witches. It would appear that this moray species is particularly susceptible to coercion by such nefarious personalities and are resultantly prone to do their bidding as willing minion.

These moray are particularly dangerous to merfolk and have been known to lead multitudes of mermaids and mermen to miserable lives, trapped under the spells of a sea witch. While incidents with humans are unreported, extreme caution is warranted.

Since initial taxonomic description in 1989, no further verified sightings have been documented. Apocryphal sightings have been recorded in Orlando, Florida, and Anaheim, California, but these have been from young children and their accuracy is in question.

Mr. Buns Had Fun In Bonaire

He had a room with a stunning view (above).

Here's Mr Buns relaxing in a lounge chair at the bar. What's that Mr Buns? Another Piña Colada?


And Mr Buns will miss his new friends.

Heading Home... Sort Of

Well, my week has blown by at jet speed. I know I haven't had much time to post about Bonaire, but there's been precious little time to open-up my lap top. And in the time I had free, I tended to just fall asleep. All I know is I've been incredibly impressed with the level of conservation, both marine and terrestrial here on this tiny island. People love and protect their natural resources here and it's a model for the rest of the world. I'm looking forward to returning to Bonaire as soon as I can, and next time perhaps for a real holiday.

I leave this afternoon, but don't get to come home immediately. I have to overnight in Montego Bay, Jamaica. On Sunday, I fly to Los Angeles for yet another overnight before returning home to San Francisco. Yeesh! But before I finish packing, here are just a few final pics of my land tour of the southern part of Bonaire. We started at the salt works. Salt is Bonaire's only export. There are massive dehydration fields that use windmills to pump increasingly saline seawater from one field to the next. Solar energy does the rest.

Before automation, someone had to shovel the salt into piles and then onto transport ships. And the slave trade touched even this remote island. Slavery was abolished on Bonaire in 1863, but these slave huts remain along the southern coast as evidence. Men slept three or more to each hut. On Fridays, men could walk back the 15 or so miles to the town of Rincon to be with their families.

Bonaire is a true desert island. Check out the colorful desert skink in the image at the top of the post. Cactus line the roads throughout the south and locals have figured out ingenious uses of cactus as fences. Just try and jump this fence! Apparently locals learned this trick from the Arawak indians, the original inhabitants of Bonaire. By the way, those cute goats are stand-ins for the terrific lunch of goat stew with rice and fried plantain I enjoyed just moments before taking this pic. Maybe they smelled a relative on my breath.

At Lac Bay, we found mounds and mounds of conch shells. Conchs are protected here on Bonaire, you can't collect living specimens or even remove shells. They are, however, harvested seasonally for food and these piles are evidence of the fishery efforts.

Another view of Lac Bay. Being the windy, east side of the island, lot of wind surfing takes place here.

Finally, I was honored yesterday to be a guest at the graduation ceremony of three new STINAPA national park rangers. They will be responsible for education, monitoring, and enforcement of all regulations for the land and marine parks. The governor of Bonaire presented each new graduate with their official ranger badge and certificate. It was awesome to be there and see the pride in the faces of these young men. Congrats!

Dispatches From Bonaire

Goedendag, Hoe gaat het met u? That's Good day, how do you do? in freeky-deeky Dutch. I should be proficient in saying hello in Dutch by the time I leave. That, as well as how to order Bitterballen, the Dutch fried mystery meat delicacy.

Apologies that you haven't had much to read here this week, but my schedule since arriving on Bonaire has been incredibly full. It's meetings, diving, more meetings, public presentations, interviews, island tours, yet more meetings, and--if you ask me--way too little rum drinking (as was promised).

Bonaire is incredible, both above and below the water. I don't have an underwater camera, so you'll just have to trust me or come see for yourselves. Bonaire touts itself as a Divers Paradise and they are not lying. Great coral cover for the Caribbean (close to 50%), blizzards of fish, amazing diversity of invertebrates, and lots of dive spots with the freedom to dive as often as you like. However, there's been much talk and concern here about how paradise may be threatened by the imminent growth of cruise tourism. More on that later when I have time to write.

Till then, here's a sampler of the week thus far:

These things are everywhere on the island. And if you ever wondered how Galapagos marine iguanas evolved, well you begin with this sort of situation:


Here's the dock and our dive boat loading-up at Captain Don's Dive Resort, my base of operations this week. How crazy is that water color?:


This is a famous dive spot on the island called 1000 Steps. I have no intention of hauling my gear up this:


Half of my crew from today's one-tank dive. We visited a spot called Kalli's Reef, named after my conservation colleague Kalli De Meyer, Executive Director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, and former Bonaire MPA Manager. The woman smiling in front is Lyn Ciocca, CORAL Board of Director's Chair:


There's a cruise ship that comes into port weekly that's run by the crazy Scientologists. If there is a hell, it is being stuck on a ship with Scientologists. Hmmm, Scientology cruise ship? Tom Cruise? Coincidence?:


We did a night tour of the island, and I spotted something on the side of the road. It was tough to ID but I think it was a feral pig. It didn't look particularly piggy to me:


If you visit, you must eat at Warung Louise, the Indonesian restaurant in downtown Kralendijk. Louise is the grandma whose Surabaya recipes are the foundation for every dish. And I sampled a lot of dishes! I met Louise' daughter and granddaughter who both cook and serve meals. Everyone at Louise' was incredibly friendly and made me feel at home. Oh, and the food is terrific. Why Indonesian in Bonaire? It's that Dutch colonial influence again. Not strictly traditional Javanese eats, but all the better for the Caribbean influences. I got the entire crew to pose for a pic. Thanks gang!:


And finally, what would a field post on Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets be without at least one sunset. This was taken last night while nursing a well deserved rum punch and reclining in a lounge chair on the dock. Don't hate me:

That's A Moray Monday: Bonaire Style

Greetings from the island of Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles. I've been crazy busy since the moment I landed, but have also found time to get into the water in the spectacular Bonaire Marine Park. So since it's all about Bonaire this week, I thought I'd bring you a native moray found in the park.

Chain moray
Echidna catenata
The Chain moray can be found throughout the Western Atlantic, from Bermuda, Florida, and the Bahamas to the Antilles and Brazil. In the Eastern Atlantic, it has been documented in Cape Verde and Ascension Island. I wouldn't say they are common in Bonaire, but if you are observant you can just see their snouts protruding from holes in dark, shaded areas of the reef.

This moray species is identified by a short blunt snout, yellow chain-like markings along the length of its body, and bluntly pointed or molar-like teeth, even on the roof of its mouth. A benthic and solitary species, the Chain moray is found on reefs and rocky shore areas. They feed on small fishes and crustaceans. Off NE Brazil, the Chain moray forages for shore crabs on exposed reefs at ebb tide and in tide-pools during the day. Amazingly, this species is able to withstand up to 30 minutes out of water while foraging.

Check Me Out In Science

Okay, it's just a letter. But I'm still proud. A previous contributor to Science made a claim that finger pointing or education and awareness efforts targeting divers is unnecessary since this community is already savvy when it comes to coral reef conservation. I respond that this goes against most of what I have personally observed, as well as what the research indicates.

While there are certainly pockets of dive operators out there doing the right thing, there's still a lot of work to do to achieve overall sustainable business practice. And every effort to reduce the reef threats that are in our power to control means greater ecosystem resilience to other threats.

I'm Sitting In Another... Wait For It... Airport!

Yep, I'm becoming predictable. I'm on my way to LA to change planes and then endure 10 glorious, economy seat hours of air travel to the island of Bonaire, in the Netherlands Antilles. That's right, it's time to get my Dutch on. Can you say, "Smoke and a pancake?" (Sorry, insider Austin Powers joke.)

While this is technically work, it shouldn't feel like it. I get to be one of the guest hosts of Love Our Planet Week, a special ecology and sustainability focused week dedicated to education about coral reefs, marine protected areas, and everyday actions people can take to preserve coral reef systems globally. I get to dive in the amazing Bonaire Marine Park with visitors, talk about coral and reef ecology and conservation, and hob nob with other conservation and ocean science fans. Does it get any better? Oh yeah... there's gonna be a lot of rum drinking.

While I channel my inner pirate over the next week, try not to hate me too much. And internet access willing, I'll try to share some of the highlights from Bonaire with you all.

An Ape, A Coral Polyp, A Vulture, And A Dolphin Walk Into A Bar...

But the bar is called the Red List, and it's not a place you wanna be seen in. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN or more commonly known as the World Conservation Union) is the world’s largest conservation network and creators of the Red List. The Union is comprised of 83 States, 110 government agencies, more than 800 NGOs, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a worldwide partnership.

The Union’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. The IUCN maintains a Red List of species whose status is designated as Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable. Today, the IUCN redlisted apes, vultures, and dolphins as threatened with extinction. For the first time, corals have joined the Red List. Check out Ove Hoegh-Guldberg over at Climate Shifts for an excellent summary.

For context, there are now 41,415 species on the IUCN Red List and 16,306 of them are threatened with extinction, up from 16,118 last year.

Chance Occurrence Or Shifting Baseline?

For the second time in two weeks, a Leopard seal has been found stranded on the beaches of Australia near Sydney. This is an incredibly rare event since Leopard seals are Antarctic ice dwellers which seldom wander further north than Macquarie Island. Both the male seal found last week and the female discovered yesterday showed signs of attack by Cookie-cutter sharks. This pair of Leopard seals joins five other sub-Antarctic fur seals that have also been found washed up on Australia's New South Wales coast this year

Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) are large and muscular true seals, with dark grey backs and light grey on their stomachs. Their throats are whitish with the black spots that give the seals their common name. Leopard seals are the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after Southern Elephant Seals), and are keystone predators. Young Leopard seals likely feed on krill swarms in the Antarctic seas, but adults have been observed preying upon fish, King, Emperor, and Chin-strap penguins and, less frequently, other seals such as Crabeater Seals. They have unusually loose jaws that can open more than 160 degrees allowing them to bite larger prey.

Asked to speculate on the appearance of these Antarctic species in Australian waters, Geoff Ross, a wildlife management officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service suggested that Southern Ocean storms may have driven the pair north.

However, another possibility suggested is a disruption in the seal's normal Southern Ocean food supply, forcing them to hunt further afield. Mr Ross suggests the culprit may be that climate change had reduced the Antarctic food chain. "It's still a bit of a mystery," he said. "We can hypothesize about why the seals are here, but we really don't have good solid answers."

Remembering 9/11

Six years, 2,974 lives, and the enduring legacy. Impeach Bush and Cheney.

California Gray Whale Recovery Not As Robust As Originally Thought?

A study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that scientists may have underestimated the historical number of gray whales from Mexico to Alaska. If accurate, then one of the great success stories of rebound from the brink of extinction in the ocean may not be as successful as originally thought.

Which would make this even more sad and troubling.

Religion and Science: Framing, Accommodation, Appeasement, Or None Of The Above

Mark over at blogfish set off a firestorm of posts and comments this morning with his commentary on Carl Safina's arctic cruise with evangelical christians. Most of the resultant commentary wasn't specifically on account of Mark's post, but rather his closing challenge,

So you stone-throwers determined to "defeat" religion and expunge "superstition" from our culture. Go ahead and shout about why nobody cares about science in the US if you want, but if you really want to change things (instead of just hearing yourselves rant), then go learn from Carl Safina about changing the world.

I'm not gonna jump into the fray here given that I have nothing to say on the subject that hasn't already been contributed via the comments on either blogfish, Pharyngula, or other blogs.

I must however admit some agreement with Greg Laden's analysis over on Evolution. There's a certain undertone of bitterness to Mark's challenge. I'm probably overly nuancing the few words he uses in the challenge, but there's a pronounced sting I detect. Ladin characterizes it as "the sort of rhetoric we hear from, say, homeschoolers that feel threatened by people like me (and others) who ask questions about home schooling. He sounds like Randy Weaver symps decrying the oppression of people who just want to be left alone by Jack Booted Thugs flying in on Black Helicopters issued by the UN."

I'm not going to go that far.

But maybe the sting is just borne of frustration? On the rare occasions Mark has jumped into the religion issue (most recently under the topic of framing) he's called for an accomodationist--what Dawkins would call the Neville Chamberlain--position. He seems genuinely perturbed by Dawkins, Hitchens, PZ, and other (as he calls) "stone throwers" for attempting to shatter the cathedral windows. Mark, instead, seems to see the grandeur of the architecture and the value of "community" that edifice appears to create. If I'm reading him right, he doesn't want to disband the existing religious communities or even dust the superstitious cobwebs from their heads. I think he'd rather just co-opt their fervor for conservation (and political?) gains.

Having now read Safina and Mark's posts, I'm not convinced that Safina is necessarily a master "framer". I see evidence of a patient man committed to maintaining open communication to achieve conservation. I suppose that if that's what Safina and Mark are talking about by framing, then more power to them. Though there is potential danger here as well, and I think PZ sums it up succinctly (albeit while getting in one more dig),

While getting the imams … I mean, evangelical priests to support you now is a shortcut to achieving a specific goal, it's going to bite you in the ass in the long run when you discover you've vested your scientific authority, as well as moral authority, in a group of unqualified leaders who make decisions on the basis of poetry in an old book.

Where I certainly agree with Mark and Safina is that we should always be open to discuss ideas, even when we disagree. I'm proud to say that the conservation world has been taking active steps as of late to do just that. I've recently joined the newly formed (and still forming) Religion and Conservation Working Group of the Society for Conservation Biology. Open to any member of the SCB with an interest and focus in the topic, the group has some ambitious goals and calls for growing cooperation between science and religion in addressing environmental issues.

As a conservationist familiar with the lack of capacity to achieve our goals, I'm open to new recruits. Provided scientific authority doesn't need to take a backseat to religious authority, perhaps the working group is a first step to building trust and dialogue. I hope that the goal of a healthy planet is not solely the domain of the theist or the secularist. It should be a human goal.

That's A Moray Monday: It's Not Easy Being Green

Another Monday, another moray. I've been spending a lot of time on some of the more exotic morays over the past few weeks, but I think it's time to get vulgar. And I'm preferring to use the more neutral definition of vulgar here to mean "common". And what's more common than the Green moray?

Green Moray
Gymnothorax funebris
Also known as the black moray, green conger, green congo, green eel, and olive-green moray eel, the Green moray is one of the most common and one of the largest of the moray eels, averaging 1.8 m in length, but can grow up to 2.5 m (8.2 ft.) long and weigh up to 29 kg. (about 64 pounds!).

Why so much variation in color for this moray species? In part, it's normal genetic variation in the skin pigmentation. The Green moray in fact has blueish skin. The overall dark green to brown appearance is the result of a yellowish mucus produced by the eel that covers its blueish skin. The mucus provides protection from parasites and infectious bacteria, but the resultant overall greenish coloration provides cryptic coloration and assists the eel in hiding in the reef from unsuspecting prey. Most of the bright green colors in the images you see here are the result of flash photography. But check out the eels appearance in the image below without a flash.


Camouflage coloration often extend into the mouth of the green moray, which continually opens and closes slowly to move water over the gills for respiration. The large mouth features strong, pointed sharp teeth. The body is muscular with a long dorsal fin that extends down the length of the body starting from the head and ending in a short tail fin.

Green morays have an enormous range as well as tolerance to wide environmental parameters. The Green moray has been observed in the Western Atlantic: New Jersey (USA), Bermuda and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil. A specimen was recorded once from Nova Scotia, Canada. It can be found in the eastern Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans as well.

Like most morays, the Green is a benthic and solitary species found along rocky shorelines, reefs, and in mangrove habitats. Depth ranges from 1-30 m. The Green moray is a nocturnal predator with poor eyesight that uses its sense of smell to hunt for fish, squid, octopuses, crabs and occasionally even other eels. I found out first hand how poorly sighted Green morays can be during a night snorkel in Roatan, Honduras. I was snorkeling around the turtle grass beds just offshore behind the reef when I felt something against my belly, under my loose-fitting t-shirt. I focused my light beneath me to see a meter-long Green moray exiting my shirt. Charming.

These eels can be territorial and have been known to occupy a specific reef for many years. Due to its large size, the bites of this moray can be particularly dangerous, however unless provoked, this eel is not a threat to humans. This somewhat docile nature has resulted in some Green morays becoming habituated to human activity. When this is coupled with feeding from divers, it can make for dangerously aggressive fish. While close diver encounters with big Green morays are no doubt thrilling (and make for big tips to dive guides), accidental bites from such "tame" individuals have been all too common. Unfortunately, photo evidence from Google image search shows that diver awareness-building is still needed.



Within their native range they are eaten by some indigenous peoples but the risk of contracting ciguatera poisoning from this species is considered great.

If You Need To Ask How Much, You Probably Can't Afford The Cost Of Conservation

Introducing Googleicthes ambulatus. Doesn't work for you? How about Comcasticus spottus. Or maybe Microsoftia aquatica? And if you still don't like any of these options, you can cough-up the hefty opening bid on this "walking shark" from Raja Ampat, Indonesia, and name this critter anything you damn well please.

Such is the latest conservation and marketing brainchild from US-based mega-NGO Conversation Conservation International. Jason over at Cephalopodcast has commented on this already, but thought I'd throw in my two cents. The right to name the shark and nine other newly discovered creatures is being opened up to businesses at auction this month by famed auction house Christie’s. It is the first big sell-off of the right to create a name for creatures new to science, and will be hosted by Prince Albert II of Monaco. Businesses and individuals will be allowed to name the creatures after anyone or anything, even a product.

The ten species at the auction were discovered by Conservation International during a survey of Indonesian wildlife in the Bird's Head region of Papua, Indonesia. Among them are the Epaulette shark (above)—-which has uniquely arranged pectoral fins for moving on coral reefs-—a pipefish, and a lionfish. If the suggested starting bids are achieved, the sale will raise more than $1.85 million.

Peter Seligmann, chairman of Conservation International, said: “Protecting the Bird’s Head Seascape and its amazing marine life is a top priority. This is the first time naming rights to multiple species have been auctioned to raise urgently needed marine conservation funding.”

Charity Navigator lists the fiscal year 2005-2006 annual salary for Seligmann at $370,000. Russell Mittermeier, CI President brings in a close $350,000 a year. And most of CI's senior directors are commanding six-figure salaries as well. At compensation packages like this, you can sort of understand the drive behind auctioning-off the ecological tenants in their work sites. My work in coral reef conservation in Raja Ampat comes in part from Conservation International, so I don't wish to bite the hand that partially feeds me. But it's truly amazing how much money can be spent for conservation to happen. The question that perhaps needs to be asked is does that much money need to be spent? Or at least spent in this manner?

CI's work in the Bird's Head Seascape of Indonesia has been principally funded by a grant from The Walton Family Foundation. The Walton Family is arguably the richest family in the world, their wealth inherited from Bud and Sam Walton, founders of the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart. Between 2003-2005, The Walton Family Foundation funded CI's conservation in the Bird's Head for a total of $4,904,778. Raja Ampat's network of marine protected areas alone is a total expanse of 5 million hectares. This doesn't include the rest (mostly Papuan mainland portion) of the Bird's Head Seascape.

Attempting to adequately characterize the ecological landscape and manage that much area takes a considerable investment, and the combined resources of the big international NGOs (BINGOs). So in addition to CI, World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy are also dedicating significant dollars and assets to this biodiverse region. All said, conservation investments might easily surpass $12 million to the region thus far. With that much spending, big NGOs must also be thinking about ongoing success. And that means thinking about profit.

A recent report by Rodríguez et al. in the August 10 issue of Science explored the necessary competition and high-stakes marketing at play among the BINGOs,

These INGOs [International NGOs] have developed a range of tools, e.g., Biodiversity Hot Spots, Global 200 Ecoregions, and others to set priorities and to compete with each other. They often use a corporate "branding" strategy to help raise funds and to define and communicate their niches in a crowded and competitive market. This corporate model has been very successful for fundraising: Conservation International's "Hot Spots" strategy accompanied an increase in overall annual expenditures from U.S.$27.8 million in 1998 to U.S.$89.3 million by 2004, and World Wildlife Fund U.S.A.'s "Ecoregions" program accompanied a rise in expenditures from U.S.$80 million to U.S.$121.7 million between 1997 and 2005.

Certainly, the auctioning of scientific names for new species is a brilliant idea and affords CI a very visible edge over competitors.

But the authors of the Science report also point to the fact that investments of foreign conservationists can be seen as a threat to sovereignty and an imposition on local peoples. Despite best intentions, foreign organizations can be seen by some as usurping control of national territory and as disempowering grassroots efforts. Finally, if BINGOs focus on importing conservationists and scientists into work sites, their conservation efforts can fail if local conservationists have not been trained, or local institutions have not been developed with their own programs and funding. Once the NGOs leave, the conservation activity can rapidly unravel.

But all is not necessarily red in tooth and claw when it comes to funding conservation and investing in local infrastructure building. As I mentioned, there but for CI goes my work in Raja Ampat. I am grateful to the largess of this BINGO, and I would be dishonest to say I don't enjoy and benefit (professionally and personally) from friendships with terrific colleagues such as Conservation International Indonesian Seascape Director Mark Erdmann. Indeed, Rodríguez et al. recognize that conservation alliances hold significant value, even for the conservation giants,

Some INGOs have fostered collaboration by setting up egalitarian networks of local conservation organizations that are mutually supporting, around the world. In these cases, developed country NGOs help raise funds for agendas set by local partners. We recognize that INGOs have efficiencies of scale and operation, as well as an important role in influencing global policy. However, we argue that leadership in conservation has to be decentralized and better integrated into local conditions. Locally produced strategies and agendas, implemented by strong local institutions and individuals are key to success.

Here I couldn't agree more. Mega-funded organizations will certainly play a critical role in raising global attention and driving much of the science. But small, locally focused, community-based conservation organizations and projects are often the most effective. Rodríguez et al. draw conclusions that don't seem all that difficult to fathom,

...biodiversity will only be conserved if local people and interests want to save it for ethical and broadly utilitarian purposes. This level of support has to be large enough to resist a minority that may seek alternative land uses for narrowly selfish utilitarian reasons.

Merde! It May Be Time To Break Out My Beret

The New York Times Magazine has an interesting article on how, in his old age, Sigmund Freud, a committed atheist, began to see what’s so great about God. It reads a lot like similar tales of folks nearing the edges of their mortality and grasping for some psychological pillow. You can decide for yourselves.

But there was an interesting infographic on percentages of what people believe compared by nation. Looks like I may need to build-up my gag tolerance for cigarettes and Jerry Lewis movies.

Tribal Fishermen Held After Whale Killed With Machine Gun

I'm open to any and all ludicrous claims and special pleading for how this incident in any way speaks to preserving important indigenous traditions.

The Great Tragedy Of Science - The Slaying Of A Beautiful Hypothesis By An Ugly Fact

Remember this image above? I thought it was bone from a fish and suspected it was a jaw part or other mouth related structure--in large part because the tooth-like projections on the left look like, well... like teeth. Nope! Not even close.

Check out this image. Can you locate the object from above?


How about now?


Turns out the object is a bone from a spadefish.


It certainly is a very unusual looking structure. Many thanks to Wendy Allen, Manager of the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Georgetown, South Carolina. She is now the first to enter the raffle for a FREE copy of the new DK book Reef. There's still a bony object yet to be identified, so take a chance. You've got nothing to lose and a beautiful book to gain. And if mystery bones are not your cup of tea, I'll throw in one last mysterious ocean object below to sweeten the contest.

The above object measures approximately 12 inches in diameter and was found washed ashore on a beach in North Queensland, Australia. Same rules apply: guesses must be accompanied by some form of verifiable evidence. Correct guesses go into the hat for the book raffle. Good luck!

What The Heck Is That? (A Continuing Series)

These images are of objects found on North Carolina beaches south of Cape Hatteras. They were posted on one of the ocean science education listserves by the Curator of Education for the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort. Any ideas of what we are looking at here? The above image measures approx. 5 3/4" in length. I figure it's bony structures of some sort of fish, probably associated with jaws, but does anyone have any specific info on species--and what part of the animal we are looking at?

Here's the other image (approx. 7" in length):


To make this more fun, I've decided to hold a contest. All guesses sent to me will be forwarded to the curator in North Carolina. Anyone who can provide positive ID of both objects with evidence that can be cross-verified will be entered into a raffle for a FREE copy of the fabulous new DK book, Reef (below). This coffee table book and DVD of amazing coral reef life was produced by DK Publishing and Scubazoo in collaboration with the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL). A portion of every sale of Reef supports CORAL's conservation projects world-wide.

So game on! Come on, you know you wanna play!

Bite Me... Twice

I know it's not Moray Monday, but this moray news is too good to sit on. In the Sept. 6 issue of the journal Nature, researchers at UC Davis Section of Evolution and Ecology describe the novel method that one species of moray uses to feed. The Reticulate moray (Muraena retifera) has an extremely mobile set of jaws in their throat--called pharyngeal jaws--that project forward into the mouth and grasp their prey, a feat made possible by elongation of the muscles controlling the jaws, coupled with the reduction of adjacent gill-arch structures. These second jaws then take the prey back into the throat. Check out the below video to see the pharyngeal jaws become visible as they grasp food.


The postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Rita Mehta, used a high-speed digital camera to film eels feeding in the laboratory, and was able to capture the rapid movement of these secondary pharyngeal jaws. She also used X-ray and other imaging equipment at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine to work out how the jaws could move.

The existence of pharyngeal teeth is not a surprise to the scientific community. But most other instances of pharyngeal teeth are associated with the actions of grinding or crushing. This raptorial action is an exciting new discovery. In general, predatory fish in coral reef communities use ambush associated with inhalation to capture prey--literally, they inhale prey items into their mouths by enlarging their mouths and causing a rush of water (and prey items) inwards. At rest, the morays pharyngeal jaws sit behind the eel's skull. When they reach forward, they move almost the length of the animal's skull, but do not protrude beyond the powerful outer jaws. The Reticulate moray's pharyngeal jaws summon up visions of the creature from the Aliens movies. Life imitates Hollywood special effects.


The morays pharyngeal jaws have officially dethroned my all time favorite weirdo aquatic animal mouthparts, that of the dragonfly nymph. Dragonfly nymphs are mostly aquatic and inhabit ponds, slow-flowing rivers or riparian vegetation. They are predatory, mostly feeding on other aquatic insects (including other dragonfly nymphs), although some larger species have been known to feed on small fish and tadpoles.
Dragonfly nymphs capture their prey using their extendable labium, positioned underneath the head. At rest, the labium is folded away, but when prey approaches the nymph, the labium is thrust out faster than the prey can react, resulting in its capture. The labium is equipped with gripping jaws and sharp bristles which ensure that once captured, prey is retained securely in the grip of the nymph.

When you have bizarro stuff like this in real life, who needs science fiction?

I Get Links

What's almost as good as Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets? Malaria, Bedbugs, Seeläuse und Sonnenuntergänge... the latest link to my blog from Travel Community.

I use the word link very loosely, as what I'm seeing appears to be just a verbatim rip-off of a recent post. Where I come from, this word-for-word lifting of content in its entirety is called plagiarism (even if you name the source). I suspect the site is employing some sort of fetch and post automation that uses key words to rip posts from other sites, loosely translate them into German, then post them on its own site along with many ads for erectile dysfunction drugs and bargain basement Valium. So someone is making money from ads by populating their blog with stolen posts. I suppose I should be incensed, but to be honest I'm not. Besides, desperate web users with erectile dysfunction should be exposed to ocean conservation too. But I suppose this explains how some bloggers get such high Technorati rankings.

Something To Keep You All Amused While I Sleep

A little satire given to me by one of my Mexican colleagues. Enjoy. Our Commander in Chief commands such international regard!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-Jig

Oy, what a day! I woke to sunny skies in Belize City this morning and the sound of hammering as the hotel began removing its plywood hurricane shields from the windows. As everyone has already heard, Felix ended up following a more westerly path across Nicaragua and Honduras. I have yet to hear word from our project site on the Bay Island of Roatan. I'm not looking forward to that report. Although the day looked calm and clear in Belize, on stepping outside and facing south the sky was looking bruised and menacing. While Belize was spared a beating, some serious rain was on the way. I headed back to my room to finish packing.

So after cheating disaster in Belize, I boarded my Continental flight on Tuesday morning for a non-stop trip to Houston. Except Gaia wasn't finished with her mischief. On initial decent to Houston, we found ourselves circling Houston for about 20 minutes since a thunderstorm cell had settled directly over the Bush International Airport. The captain announced that since we were low on fuel and Houston had closed runways on all arrivals and departures, we would have to land and refuel at the alternate airport in Lafayette. Now I still don't know (nor care) if it was Lafayette, Texas or Lafayette, Louisiana... but that's where we sat for an hour, unable to deplane as this was an international flight and the ambiguous Lafayette airport had no immigration facilities.

We finally made it to Houston and I sweated through a crazy immigration and customs clusterfuck with just a few minutes remaining before my San Francisco flight home. Ah, home. I've been logging a lot of miles lately and I can't recall the last weekend I didn't work. And there's still one major trip looming in a week to Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, to work with the marine park there. But for right now, it's great to be home with Manuel, and my pillow, and able to cook for myself again and not rely on take-out or room service. Time to recharge the batteries.

How You Spending Your Labor Day?

Welcome to the beautiful Belize Biltmore Best Western. There would be a view, if the pesky plywood wasn't in the way. Well imagine how I feel here in Belize, having traveled thousands of miles for many scheduled meetings, to suddenly feel like persona non grata, all because of a jerk named Felix. Okay, a little slack should be cut since people here are preparing for the worst and coral reef conservation is the last thing on their minds. And a big thanks to Imani and Melanie who, in the midst of scrambling for bottled water, candles, and batteries, took time to meet with me. Sorry for the evacuation interruptus ladies.

No chance of getting out to Placencia or San Pedro as they are both being evacuated. Last advisory indicated that Felix is headed for the Honduras-Nicaragua elbow, and could cut across land a bit before threatening Guatemala and Belize. Any land crossing will weaken the hurricane. If this scenario holds true, storm surge and winds should be more like a tropical storm here in Belize City. But since the path can change, Belize has issued a national emergency until Wednesday night.

Everywhere around town, things seem very quiet for the nation's capital. Most of the streets are empty, and only the stores with any water, food, or other provisions are hubs of activity. Many stores have just decided to close. The Biltmore Hotel (where I'm staying) has suspended housekeeping, boarded-up the windows, and packed away all the gifts from the gift shop. Kudos to the Biltmore for putting their local employees needs in front of business during this time. Meal availability should continue, though a sign in the lobby says this might change at any time.

Man, I'm sure missing the relaxing Labor Day hot dog roast back home.

That's A Moray Monday: Belize Style

I can pretty much throw a rock and hit the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef from where I am right now in Belize City, Belize. So I thought I'd show a little favoritism with a Western Caribbean moray native.

Caribbean Spotted Moray
Gymnothorax moringa
This medium sized (about a meter in length) eel has a long snake-like body, and is white or pale yellow in color with small overlapping dark-brown to purplish-black spots. A benthic and solitary species, the Caribbean Spotted Moray is abundant on coral reefs. It is less common in turbid bays or harbors. It prefers shallow water (up to 200 m in depth) with a rocky or grassy bottom. Like most morays, Spotted morays are solitary animals and are usually seen in holes or crevices with only the head protruding. Somewhat atypical of morays, they are active during the day, feeding at the sea bottom on crustaceans and other fish.

The spotted moray is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean basin. It is also found around Mid- and Eastern Atlantic islands as far south as St Helena.

There is a minor fishery for Spotted moray eels, apparently primarily in Brazil. This is surprising since ciguatoxins are often present in morays. The species has also gained attention as an aquarium fish, though they grow too large for this to be practical in most circumstances.

Interestingly, quite a few web references make note that the bite from this species can be dangerous to humans. I have to wonder what in particular the writers of these remarks are referring to specifically, since I would probably say this is true of all morays. Most morays I know of have sharp, back-curved teeth that are well adapted for holding on to slippery, moving prey. Moray bites hurt, and the bite tends to heal slowly or be prone to nasty infections from the copious amounts of bacteria and other contaminants present in the eel's mouth. If the Spotted moray has some other unique factor involved in its bite, I could not find further info with my limited web resources. If anyone knows more, feel free to chime in.

Carnival Of The Blue IV: Micronesian Style

No man is an island, but Saipan is. And Saipan is this month's home for Carnival of the Blue IV, the best collection of ocean blog writing from the month of August. Angelo over at The Saipan Blog does an amazing roundup of both local and international posts. Drop by and check it out and let Angelo know what a great job he did. And keep your eyes open for Carnival of the Blue V, next month at Shifting Baselines.

Smut: The Answer To Hurricane Anxiety

No... the other smut. Tonight I tasted smut for the first time. Specifically, I had cuitlacoche stuffed chicken. Come on, even though it's hurricane central here right now, a man's gotta eat!

Cuitlacoche (pronounced qweet-la-COAT-shay), also called corn smut, maize mushroom and huitlacoche , is produced when the fungus Ustilago mydis comes in contact with an ear of corn. The fungus grows inside the kernels, causing them to swell and turn black and silvery gray.

Although most U.S. farmers consider it a plague and destroy infected ears, the Aztecs and Mayans prized cuitlacoche--which translates to mean raven's poop (in Nahuatl cuitlatl means "excrement," cochi means "black"). Enthusiasts say that cuitlacoche has a smoky-sweet flavor that's a cross between that of corn and mushroom. I didn't so much pick up on any sweet corn taste, but it definitely had that earthy, creamy mushroom flavor going on. It was delicious.

Cuitlacoche is currently being cultivated in limited quantities in California, Florida, Georgia and Virginia. It's sold canned and frozen in some gourmet markets. It can occasionally be found in specialty produce and farmer's markets (during corn season) and can also be purchased by mail order. Cuitlacoche is used in a variety of dishes including sautés, soups, casseroles — in general, any preparation where cooked mushrooms would be appropriate.

Felix Reaches Category 5 and Winds Pick Up In Belize

Hurricane Felix may be a record breaker. It strengthened from Category 1 to Category 5 over the course of 19 hours with maximum sustained winds of 165 MPH (270 KM/HR). Over the afternoon, I noticed that wind was beginning to pick up with noticeable gusts. This was not just typical tradewinds pattern. A brief stroll around the hotel neighborhood tonight saw lines of cars at the gas stations. One station had cars 8 deep waiting for the pumps. People here are unfortunately well rehearsed for this sort of thing and the local radio is telling the public to be prepared and in place and ready by late Tuesday afternoon.

I can tell you my anxiety level has spiked throughout the day. You can see the worry in the eyes of all the hotel staff here. I've noticed the plywood sheets next to the hotel ready to be placed over windows. I'm told they didn't get a chance to put them away since they were last used with Hurricane Dean just two weeks ago.

On Hurricane Watch In Belize

With Felix jumping from a Category 1 to Category 4 hurricane in less than 24 hours, the overall mood here in Belize City has noticeably shifted from awareness to worry. A conversation this afternoon with a local woman at the grocery store informed me that this part of Belize City is actually below sea level. The latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center reports a storm surge of 15 feet as of 5PM EDT Sunday. In the words of this local, "That much of a storm surge would not be pleasant here."

Compounding concerns in Belize City is that just last week the area experienced the heaviest rainfall in a single day during the current rainy season. On the drive through Belize City from the airport, the river beside the Northern Highway was very swollen. It wouldn't take a hurricane to spill the water over the banks and effectively shut down the primary transit system for this part of Belize.

I'm scheduled to fly out of Belize City on Tuesday morning. The 3-day predicted path cone estimates a potential landfall for Felix in northern Belize sometime Wednesday afternoon. I'm debating whether to move my departure time up considering the circumstances. All my meetings are scheduled for tomorrow morning and early afternoon, but I'm not sure yet whether we should focus on more pressing matters. I'll most definitely be following Felix' progress over the next 24 hours.

Who Invited Felix?

This is most definitely NOT what Belize needs right now. After arriving in Belize City this afternoon, the local buzz in town is a jerk named Felix who is currently causing trouble near Aruba and Bonaire. When Hurricane Dean made landfall near the Belize-Mexico border near Majahual, Mexico a few weeks ago, it was a Category 5 storm. Check-out the clippings from a local paper of some of the coastal impacts along the Costa Maya. Wind gusts of 200 mph (320 km/h) were reported. The storm wreaked havoc in state capital Chetumal, some 65 km south of landfall, causing significant flooding.
While Southern Mexico took the brunt of Dean's Force, the Northern Corozal district of Belize sustained considerable damage as well. Following an on site inspection on August 22nd, Belize Prime Minister Said Musa declared the Corozal District a disaster area. I'll be meeting on Monday with project partners who are up in Corozol this weekend working on recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Certainly, Belize could use a reprieve from a second Hurricane in less than two weeks. And I have no interest in experiencing a hurricane first hand at sea level.

Blogging About Mexico While Sitting In Houston On My Way To Belize

Another weekend... another airport. This morning was a rude 3:30 AM awakening in Cancun, Mexico to taxi to the airport so I could fly 800 miles north just so I could take off my shoes, answer a few curt questions from an immigrations officer, walk six city blocks to my next departure gate, board a new plane, and fly 961 miles south again to arrive in Belize City, Belize. Yes I know... it's crazy.

While I have access to the interwebs, I thought I'd share a bit of the local color from Cancun. There were a lot of still boarded-up or taped over windows in stores and homes around the downtown area. Hurricane Dean made landfall south along the border with Belize, so Cancun only experienced tropical storm-level winds and rain. But after last year, I suspect no one was taking any chances with Dean's projected path.

I was in Mexico to meet with our field rep and check-up on progress. I also met with Alfredo Arellano, the Director of Mexico's marine protected areas (MPAs). He works for Comision Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas (CONAP) which is responsible for all natural areas in Mexico, aquatic and terrestrial. Alfredo is a great guy and strong partner in our MPA support and coral reef conservation work, so it's always great to meet-up with him and strategize. Since Hurricane Wilma tore through the Yucatan last year, Alfredo's offices have been occupying a temporary space in a residential area of Cancun (his personal office looks like a bedroom). The backyard is littered with the tools of his trade (mooring buoys, boat engines, signage). I'm sure he's a big hit with the neighbors.


I was staying at the El Rey del Caribe, a small hotel in the Centro district of downtown Cancun. This is such a great hotel worth checking-out if you visit Cancun and want to avoid the unsustainable monster hotels so common along the waterfront. It's an eco-hotel (a rarity in Mexico) and is constructed from sustainable woods, uses composting toilets instead of traditional flush types, and even has a solar clothes dryer (don't ask me how that works). The owner is a die-hard environmentalist with a passion for activism for animal rights. For all these reasons and more, I like supporting this small, locally owned and run hotel. Here are a few pics:

The entrance...

The courtyard...

The composting toilet...

The "flush" pedal...

The tiny amount of "flush" water...

The enormous cockroach that crawled across my face while sleeping, waking me up with a scream, and drove me scrambling out of bed doing my version of "The Roach" from the movie Hairspray...


Two other highlights worth mentioning during the Cancun leg of this trip include this streetside taqueria that served-up the best tacos al pastor in the world! I always hit this place on every trip to Cancun. I dunno if it's hygienic, but it's delicious. The pineapples in the background will eventually be peeled, skewered atop the pile of rotating meat, and as it roasts the juices will marinate and flavor the pork.


Then there was the tiny hole-in-the-wall bizzaro snake-oil shop (there's at least one per block in Mexico) that sold various and sundry patent medicines for all that ails you. Got warts? No problem. Got cancer? They can cure it. It was this poster of feet hooked up to an electrical current and soaking in what looks like excrement that first caught my eye. The sales person beckoned me in. I kept walking. Who knows what ailments I could have shuffled off? Or contracted?