“What is an estuary?” I make a point of asking my students this every year in mid-September and typically get a room full of blank stares and some really weird answers. I’ve gotten “where the sewage water is” to “deep, deep, deep, deep sea” and everything in between, but mostly just lots of blank stares. …
Imagine walking into a room where everyone is interested in what you have to say, and you in turn are thoroughly engaged in whatever everyone else has to say. It’s a weird feeling, that you belong somewhere, and everyone can provide something wonderful to add to your career. This was my first ever National Marine …
Read more “NMEA 2023 – Strait to Sound: Gathering at the Salish Sea”
Welcome to the Reef Down in Key Largo, about six miles offshore, there lies a reef of beautiful clear water, with many fish flitting around, sea fans waving in the current, and a happy me drifting about. This beautiful place is well known as Molasses Reef.
How It All Started Shark tagging can be highly sensationalized, and most people know the gist of what shark tagging is and a basic idea of why it’s done. Shark Week typically shows at least one show every 2 hours that involves someone tagging a shark for research purposes, giving most people that baseline understanding …
What is Shark Awareness Day? Are you aware of sharks? It’s a weird question to ask, I’m sure. Obviously, you’re aware of sharks. They’re around, they star in terrible Sci Fi films, they have their own week, the list goes on and on. Shark Awareness Day isn’t about just knowing sharks exist, it’s about knowing …
The smell of urea is always a weird one. But my lab girls were into it. The poor conference room looked like a massacre but hey, it was all in the name of science! This wasn’t a wholly unusual day at the Oceanography Camp for Girls (OCG), but it was definitely a memorable one. OCG …
Aristotle once theorized that living creatures could arise from nonliving matter and that this process was common. He hypothesized that maggots could arise from dead flesh and fleas come from dust. According to Aristotle, the generation of things like sea shells varies with the sea bed. Slime gave rise to oysters, sand to scallops, and …