I ♥ Australian Megafauna

A few more snaps from my visit to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary outside of Brisbane, Australia. Despite the all-koala-all-the-time name, Lone Pine is also home to a menagerie of usual Australian suspects. Here's a quick collection of my faves.

Theropod Dinosaur Emu
Megapod
Another Sleepy Megapod
Megapoop
Kangaroo (L) and Wallaby (R)
The sign said "Dingo" but I'm not buying it!
The sign I was looking for!
The build-up!
The reality!
Perenti Rock Monitor
Sleepy Wombat

Lost Sailing Tradition in PNG

While in Madang, Papua New Guinea, last week, I was awestruck each morning watching the daily commute of local Madang Lagoon islanders in small canoes transiting back and forth from island to mainland. Most of the traffic, in simple dugouts or traditional outriggers, would happen just after sunrise and before sunset. Amazing though the daily display of canoe prowess over sometimes surging, turbulent waters may have been, it pales in comparison to the seamanship once common in this part of PNG.

Until I saw the model in the image at the top of this post, I had no idea of PNG's nautical traditions. These giant outrigger canoes were once a common sight along the coast of Madang. Albert Masem, a master canoe builder from Riwo Village in Madang, built these models which were on display in the Madang Tourism Authority's small, practically unknown museum. Canoes such as this would sail from Riwo to Karkar and Bagabag Islands (a distance of 60 miles) trading yams, wooden celebration plates for serving roasted pigs, and galip nuts.

The canoes could apparently only sail when the wind blew in the direction the sailors were headed, and a trip would take 4-5 hours.

The entire village would take part in building a big canoe, taking approximately a month to complete. No metal was used, only wood, durable lantana bindings, and pandanus sails were used in the construction. The canoe would carry 20 people or more in the house-like structure.

The last Riwo canoe was seen in 1990. With the growth and development of the Madang area and access to markets and trade opportunities on the mainland, the desire to maintain existing canoes (or build new ships) vanished. While the local knowledge and skills necessary to build these ships still exists in a few Riwo elders, the cultural tradition will likely vanish entirely with their passing.

How incredible would it be to salvage this tradition and bring these amazing ships back to life? I had this conversation with my PNG Field Rep and some Riwo residents, and they think it could be an ideal village-wide project that could revive the traditional practice and bring much needed cultural pride back to this needy community. More than just a project, the end result could attract tourist visitors on their way to and from the nearby Sepik River region and create a small but sustainable revenue stream for a village interested in ecotourism possibilities.

I'll keep you posted on what develops.

Papua New Guinea: Bottom Time

Here's a brief snippet of some of the amazing coral reef life in Madang Lagoon, Papua New Guinea. The live coral cover is spectacular (there are coral colonies growing everywhere). And the coral species diversity is just off the charts. I saw so many plump Lionfish! Apologies for the incessant musical accompaniment in the video.

I wish I could have captured some footage of the reefs from a channel between Tab Island and its neighboring island, but the current was ripping when we visited and I would have been carried out over the reef crest which would be like passing a mozzarella ball through a cheese grater. The Table coral colonies there were massive, perhaps 3 meters or more in diameter, and huge schools of Trevally Jack zoomed in and out of the channel.

I spent the past week in PNG with my field staff working on identifying new community-based conservation opportunities with local Madang villages. Internet access was non-existent but, strangely, my Blackberry was able to send and receive data. Check out my Facebook posts for some of my microblogging from PNG.

Would You Look At This Shana Punim?!

In my 24-hour layover in Brisbane on my way to Papua New Guinea, I decided to explore around the Brisbane suburbs for some nature. Thanks to a friendly referral from a local, I struck gold in finding a very interesting place called the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary that boasted over 130 rehabilitated and captive-bred koala's. Holy marsupial overdose, Batman!

I found myself completely unprepared for the narcotizing effect that live koalas in close proximity would have on me. Oh yeah, there were other cuddly Australian fauna to oogle: wombats, dingos, kangaroos, wallabies, even a few Tasmanian Devils (more on that later). But none could hold a candle to the adorable hordes of koala on display. Perhaps it was their ridiculous noses. It might have been the big fuzzy ears. Then again, it could have been an hallucinogenic effect resulting from the pungent, musky, stale urine smell wafting off these beasties. But hey, what's a little pee in the presence of utter cuteness. (I must remember that line when I'm 80.)

Anyway, enjoy this short Flip video I pasted together from my day at the sanctuary. And don't tell anyone, but this little fellow below is now safely packed away in my luggage.

Crikey, The Cage Of Death!

You just can't make this shit up.

While perusing the agenda for the Australian Coral Reef Society’s 84th Annual Conference in Darwin, Australia, next month, I came across this juicy item on the week's itinerary:

Saturday evening delegates can purchase tickets to Social Hour at Crocosaurus Cove. A great opportunity to network with colleagues in this exciting environment.

Crocosaurus Cove? What the hell is Crocosaurus Cove? The name didn't ring a bell of any familiar (albeit strange sounding) points on an Australian map. Which is really saying something when I can remember Australian place names like Grong Grong, Mount Buggery, Suggan Buggan, or Woolloomooloo.

Clicking on Crocosaurus Cove took me to the self-proclaimed home of the largest crocodiles and the biggest collection of deadly snakes in Australia. Okay, sounds pretty cool. Afterall, when do I get a chance to see big Salt Water crocs and venomous Tiger snakes up close and live to tell about it? But what really caught my eye was the add for the Cage of Death. Here's the 411 on this attraction,

For the ultimate adrenalin rush why not reserve a spot in "The Cage of Death" our new but already famous heart pumping dive within a clear cage inside the home of a full grown Saltwater Croc!!

Booking in advance is highly recommended due to the year round popularity of this experience!!

Guests pay to enter a durable acrylic "cage" that is lowered and partially immersed in a Saltwater crocodile enclosure. The croc can circle you, attack the cage, or likely ignore you. But you get the bragging rights of saying you were "in the water" with a human-eater.

Check out a YouTube clip of a Cage of Death experience:


Now caveat emptor and all that, but WTF? I'm as game as the next guy for some roadside carny-style kitsch. But it's not enough to confine these amazing salties in a small pen, but they need to be subjected to unreachable food under glass? This seems like cruel and unusual.

Perhaps the crocodiles still get the last laugh, however. The bottom of the Cage of Death appears perforated, so in essence guests are potentially bathing in an E coli or Giardia-rich soup of croc feces and urine. The Cage of Death might need a rename.

Crocosaurus Cove, I'm accepting bids on the rights to "Cage of Imminent Explosive Diarrhea".

Drain The Ocean? I'm Game!

Now this is even better than Google Ocean. On Sunday, August 9, at 9PM (PST), National Geographic Channel is rolling-out an exciting new special, Drain the Ocean. The program intends to reveal a world we have never seen before - a world normally hidden under miles of water.

Using CGI animation, Nat Geo will remove the water revealing a landscape, "more dramatic than anything on dry land." You can get a taste of this from the video snippet above, featuring the Monterey Submarine Canyon right in my own backyard. Game on!

For more info, head over to National Geographic.

The Nature Conservancy's Digital Photography Contest

Being a good, team-playing conservationist, I like to help out my colleagues whenever I can. Perhaps you've heard of a small biodiversity conservation NGO called The Nature Conservancy? They are a creative and plucky team of professionals and they've asked me to help spread the word on a photo contest to help inspire the next generation of conservationists.

TNC is looking for photos that illustrate the beauty of our planet and the need for greater conservation of our environment. Images that inspire people to get out into nature.

The winning photo (selected by a public vote on TNC's website this winter) will be seen by millions of nature lovers and will be featured on TNC's 2011 nature calendar.

TNC is looking for your most breathtaking images of nature, including lands, waters, plants, animals, or people (also animals, but I guess worthy of their own category). Photographers keep full ownership of their photographs but grant TNC the right to use their image in support of their mission. The contest runs through September 30th, 2009.

Full contest details and rules are available here.

Carnival Of The Blue 27 At OFTLOS!

That's Oh, For The Love Of Science!, the sensational science blog brought to you by writer, conservationist (and honorary marine biologist) Allie Wilkinson. Allie's gathered last month's best ocean writing in one convenient spot for your shopping convenience. There are vacation postcards from Vancouver Island, ruminations on Wal-mart's environmental leadership from Mark Powell, floating Micronesian hotels, and the never-ending saga of Shark Week's dubious messaging.

But most importantly, there's once again a fabulous piece contributed by yours truly. You'll wanna read that first, then maybe skim through that Mark Powell piece.

Head over and soak in the Blue!

"Broader Impact" Done Right

For as long as I can remember, we ocean science types have had space envy. As in outer space. We lament that the general public seems more engaged by the possibility of life on objects light years away from our blue planet than they are with marine life within arms reach in our own oceans. Our science fiction is filled with creative imaginings of life found in distant sectors of the galaxy. But I've heard my own ocean science colleagues Craig McClain and Kevin Zelnio say, "Show me your strangest science fiction life and I'll show you a real deep sea species or environment that tops it!"

The space envy opines have generally taken the form of, "Why is it that the general public seems more fascinated by, and seem to have a better understanding of, outer space when there is so much that's fascinating and unknown about the "inner space" of our ocean?"

My own particular view on this is that space science (primarily managed through NASA) has been actively engaging the public since the early Apollo missions. NASA has done a stellar (pun intended) job of positioning space missions (even small missions) into the public attention. It seems as though there's evening news or print reporting of practically every launch, from satellites and probes to shuttle launches of human cargo, from the Kennedy Space Center or the Jet Propulsion Lab.

But whither ocean exploration? I'm not talking about historical ocean expeditions like the voyage of the HMS Beagle, the HMS Challenger, or Shackleton's doomed Endurance expedition to Antarctica. What modern ocean science exploration registers on public consciousness? Ask someone on the street to name a single ocean science expedition. Maybe you will hear about Bob Ballard and his rediscovery of the Titanic. Or perhaps a Jason expedition will be recalled. But I suspect you will be hard-pressed to find someone who can identify a single, modern oceanographic expedition.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)--NASA's aquatic counterpart--was formed on October 3, 1970 after Richard Nixon proposed creating a new department to serve a national need "...for better protection of life and property from natural hazards...for a better understanding of the total environment...[and] for exploration and development leading to the intelligent use of our marine resources." NASA, on the other hand, was signed into existence on July 29, 1958, by President Eisenhower through the National Aeronautics and Space Act. Just 12 years separate the two organization's lifespans, yet light years distance the two in effectively communicating to, and engaging with, the public.

About a decade ago, the National Science Foundation (a significant funder of science research) began looking more closely at the growing disconnect between scientific research and public understanding of science. Referred to as "broader impact", the NSF began a not altogether coherent effort at demanding evidence that their funded work should, “... promote the progress of science; advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; secure the national defense; and for other purposes”.

How might this play out in science research? The NSF provided some guidance through its Broader Impacts Criterion:

• How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training and learning?
• How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)?
• To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks and partnerships?
• Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding?
• What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society?

I can speak from experience in saying that NSF's broader impact criteria were met with not just a little resistance from many in the ocean scientific community. I heard scientists argue that they were scientists, not educators (this often coming from researchers who also carried significant teaching responsibilities at their institutions). And I can't begin to explain how many times I saw a long, droning slide lecture or incomprehensible scientific poster offered as "broader outreach".

I can only speak to ocean science since it's the world of which I'm most familiar, but we have seemed to want to have our cake and eat it too with regard to broader impact. We bitch that NASA gets the glitz and coverage, yet we aren't willing to put in the time and effort to raise our profiles and awareness in the public eye. Yes, that means engaging the public, talking to writers, reporters and editors, working with students and teachers, and maybe reaching out to populations historically neglected (or to use the politically correct word "underserved") by ocean science.

NSF itself attempted to bridge the growing divide between ocean science and public engagement and understanding a few years ago in funding the Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE). I myself was involved with one of these, COSEE California, and can say that bridging the gap between ocean scientists and the public was a major thrust of several of our initiatives. While I've heard a fair share of criticism of COSEE's overall impact, it represents a national effort to build more meaningful inroads for communicating ocean science to a broader audience.

The bottom line seems to be that broader impact, while critically important, is an investment. It takes time and resources to do it effectively. But if we ocean scientists are hoping to realize anything close to the public awareness and interest in ocean science/exploration as we see with space exploration, it's an investment we can't shirk.

Which makes me all the more proud when I see my ocean science peers "getting it" and doing broader impact right.

Case in point, the SEAPLEX Expedition. SEAPLEX stands for the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition. Led by my blogging pal Miriam Goldstein, SEAPLEX is Seeking the Science of the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. Miriam has gone full-on aggro with her broader impact efforts on this scientific cruise. She has a website, a SEAPLEX mission blog, is live Tweeting from the ship, has plastered her mug and mission objectives on YouTube, created a SEAPLEX site for teachers, a Flickr set of project photos, and gotten NPR's Science Friday to take notice for an interview.

Give a listen to Miriam's interview. She made the science sound interesting and accessible. She used comparisons and metaphors to get her meaning across ("plastic particles the size of my fingernail," or "one square meter... about the size of a mini refrigerator". This isn't meaningless window dressing. It's helping an audience make sense of our science.

Of course she issued press releases, but she and Scripps really worked to ensure that the science would be interesting to the media. It seems to have worked. Just a quick tally shows that the expedition was covered by CNN, Reuters, Yahoo News, NBC San Diego, the Irish Times, and Seed Media's ScienceBlogs.

And Miriam is not alone. I reported last month on the Finding Coral expedition, and Dr M of Deep Sea News is about to embark on a research cruise that looks to be gearing-up for an equally impressive splash in broader impact.

Does this sort of awareness building take precious time from the scientific research? I'd argue it does if scientists insist on seeing broader impact as a wholly separate objective. To me, I see them as different facets of the same enterprise.

Enterprise? Maybe there's no escaping space envy. Or is there?