fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Producing a landmass shapefile of the Last Glacial Maximum in R
Tags: Oceans, Climate Change, Featured, Data Science, Code

The major cause of global sea-level change is the exchange of water between ice and ocean during ice ages. The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) was the most recent period with ice sheets at their greatest extent (maximum coverage between 26,500 and 19,000 years ago).

Massive ice sheets covered much of Northern Europe, North America and Asia and significantly affected global climate with increasing drought and desertification. Sea levels dropped about 120 meters (about 410 feet) when compared to today. This lead to exposed continental shelves, joined land masses and extensive coastal plains.

Here are a few lines of R code to produce a landmass shapefile of the Last Glacial Maximum for Geographic Information Systems. The code uses a bathymetry raster layer extracted from Bio-ORACLE, an open source dataset of GIS layers that provides geophysical, biotic and environmental data for surface and benthic marine realms.

library(raster)

library(rgdal)

library(rgeos) bathymetryFile https://github.com/jorgeassis/rGIS/blob/master/Data/BathymetryDepthMean.tif bathymetry <- raster(bathymetryFile)

rclmat <- matrix(c(-Inf,-121,NA,-120,0,1,NA,NA,1), ncol=3, byrow=TRUE)

bathymetry <- reclassify(bathymetry, rclmat)

plot(bathymetry)

The first section of the code reclassifies bathymetry to a binomial layer where depths above -120m are considered as landmass.

bathymetryPoly <- rasterToPolygons(bathymetry, fun=NULL, n=4, na.rm=TRUE, digits=6, dissolve=TRUE)

plot(bathymetryPoly)

writeOGR(bathymetryPoly, ".", "landmassLGMPolygon", driver="ESRI Shapefile")

The second section uses a simple function to transform the binomial layer into a polygon. This is saved as a shapefile for Geographic Information Systems.

Landmass polygon of the Last Glacial Maximum

ggplot() +

geom_polygon(data = bathymetryPoly, aes(x = long, y = lat, group = group), fill="#848484", colour = NA) +

geom_path(data = bathymetryPoly, aes(x = long, y = lat, group = group), color = "#848484", size = 0.1) +

coord_equal() +

theme_minimal() +

theme( axis.text = element_blank(),axis.ticks = element_blank(),axis.title = element_blank() )

The third section uses ggplot package to produce a map with landmass of the Last Glacial Maximum.

Permanent repository: github.com/jorgeassis/

How to cite the code: Assis, J., Tyberghein, L., Bosch, S., Verbruggen, H., Serrão, E.A. & De Clerck, O. (2017) Bio-ORACLE v2.0: Extending marine data layers for bioclimatic modelling. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 27, 277–284.
“He Came Over in a Barrel” #georgiapioneerscom #gagenealogy
By: Jeannette Austin
Tags: Legends, Genealogy, Ocean, Barrel, Georgiapioneerscom

There are lots of interesting tales being spun concerning the origins of the ancestors. A popular refrain is “three brothers came over.” Then there is the one who crossed the seas hiding inside of a barrel. The truth is usually far removed from such tales, and the only means to find it is to dig into the immigration records at the Federal Archives. The Federal Records Center is open to the Atlanta area five days per week at the following address: 5780 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260. Hours: 8:30 am-5 PM, Monday thru Friday. Note: the Ship’s Manifest listing passenger names, ages, place of port and distination may date up to three months after the actual voyage. If your ancestors were at sea enroute during the 18th century, deaths were rather frequent. The list of shipwrecks includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded or otherwise lost. The estimate of maritime deaths of Great Britain vessels on the high seas is as follows:

1703> 1500 plus

1707> 1400–2000

1782> 3500

Still and all, considering radar, sonar and other modern ship-detecting devices, sunken vessels continue to be discovered on the high seas and these estimates may just begin to touch the surface of reality. Index to Georgia Wills-See Names of your Ancestors
“He opened the letter and quickly threw it in the fire”
By: Hazel Koger
Tags: Short Story, Pain, Oceans, Heart, Love

“He opened the letter and quickly threw it in the fire”

He didnt want to know. Not about the big fancy houses or how close to the ocean they were. How Jennys dress fit just right and Ben loved the down town cinema. He was so sick and tired of hearing about how great california was. How great their new life there was. How great it could possibly be while he was back here rotting away in this prison cell of a life, paying the bills, watching over lilly, all the while trying to balance college to maybe get a better job and get Lil out of this place. This town. This life. Meanwhile his father sat ocean side in the hamptons after he ran away to start over with a fresh family. One not tainted by the sparkle in her eyes or the resounding echo of her laugh and certainly not by the distastful film her name left in his father mouth. His mother was a great woman. Maybe thats why his father ran away, but it didnt matter now. They were both gone and he was just so sick of hearing about how great it was to be gone.
CNA Week 4 Virginia News
By: Kira Stegmeier
Tags: Ocean

Charlottesville Looks to Designate 2nd Weekend in August as Unity Days

Charlottesville City Council discussed a proposal to mark the second weekend in August as unity days. The unity days would commemorate the events of August 11 and 12, 2016 and promote community healing. The community members who have been involved in discussions support the proposed unity days.

Killer whales spotted in waters off Virginia Beach

A man spotted killer whales off Virginia Beach while fishing for sea bass on a charter boat February 6. The man first posted about his sighting on Facebook. A spokesperson from the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center told WTKR that while the sighting was uncommon, killer whales are found in all oceans of the world.

Virginia high school principal accidentally pepper-sprayed

A principal at a Norview High School in Norfolk was accidentally pepper-sprayed by a security officer February 5. The principal and administrators were attempting to break up a fight in the cafeteria. No injuries were reported.
Fun Facts About Sea Turtles
By: Eco Pandas
Tags: Sea Turtle, Turtle, Marine Conservation, Ocean

It’s World Sea Turtle Day (June 16)! Sea turtles are amazing creatures that deserve to thrive on our planet. In honor of this day, let’s learn some fun, wild, and unexpected facts about sea turtles!

1. There are seven species of sea turtles

The seven species are leatherback turtles, green sea turtles, loggerhead turtles, hawksbill turtles, kemp’s ridley turtles, olive ridley turtles, and flatback turtles. All of these species except flatback turtles are found in US waters and are classified as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

2. Sea turtles are as old as dinosaurs

Dinosaurs went extinct about sixty-five million years ago, and the oldest sea turtle fossil ever found dates back to one hundred twenty million years ago. That means that sea turtles existed alongside dinosaurs! Seems crazy, right?

3. Sea turtles can’t retreat into their shells

Many people have an image of turtles in their head — slow moving and spends most of the time hiding in their shells. But that couldn’t be further from the truth for sea turtles! Unlike snails, hermit crabs, and other animals who have shells, a sea turtle’s shell is actually part of their body — it’s their spine!

4. Sea turtles lay eggs in nests they dig out of the sand

Have you ever been to a beach where part of it was closed off for turtle nesting? Well, adult sea turtles will dig holes on the beach and lay their eggs in them (up to one hundred twenty-five eggs per nest!) and once the eggs hatch, the baby sea turtles make their way into the ocean. Unfortunately, not all of them make it due to tourists disrupting them or other natural forces. The ones that do make it live in the ocean, where they hopefully live a long, happy life.

5. Sea turtles can hold their breath for hours

So if sea turtles are born on land and are actually reptiles, how do they breathe? Unlike fish, sea turtles do not have gills. Instead, their anatomy has evolved over time to be able to retain oxygen, allowing them to stay underwater for extended periods of time. When a sea turtle is underwater, its heart rate slows down a lot — even down to just one beat every nine minutes — which helps them stay underwater longer.

Sea turtles are fascinating creatures, and we should do all that we can to protect them and all the biodiversity in our oceans! Use less single-use plastics and reduce fish consumption to help save the sea turtles!
To Be or Not To Be ‘Anthropogenic’ — That Is The Question — Lucky For You — It Is All Your Fault
By: Phil Plumley
Tags: Anthropogenic, Oceans, Social Responsibility, Environment, Climate Crisis

To Be or Not To Be ‘Anthropogenic’ — That Is The Question — Lucky For You — It Is All Your Fault Phil Plumley Jun 3, 2020·2 min read

As I was reading abstracts and reports on the issues that the oceans are facing, I kept coming across the term ‘anthropogenic’.

I understood the meaning of the word, yet I did not find it to be very inviting. I actually found that it was adding a small space that distanced me from every other word it was qualifying.

‘Anthropogenic’ is the term used to express something that results from human activity. For instance, the anthropogenic impact on the environment, or the anthropogenic effects that lead to ocean acidification.

While the term is accurate and fit, I also find that it is a distraction.

The reason I write and share on the many issues relating to the oceans is to allow for more people to be aware of them. The idea being to open up the conversation to more people.

In a busy world, making a message quicker to understand allows for more accessibility, which in turn opens the door to more involvement.

The idea being that it allows for non-experts to understand the relevance of a message by speaking in a language that more people understand.

So now that we broke down the term ‘anthropogenic’, we realize that its definition includes us. This is the primary key of this exercise.

As the term includes us, it also reminds us of our very own responsibility.

Our responsibility is to care for ourselves and our survival. That may sound selfish, yet if you do not take care of your own environment you are compromising yourself. If you do not think that the environment is needed for your own survival, think again.

If you know that you need air to breathe, you should do your utmost to not compromise its existence or quality. All elements leading to the quality of the air should then be considered within the environment. All these elements play a role in the eco-system.

By being aware of this, you become part of the solution.

Now, it is a matter of learning what habits you can take on to assist the healing of the planet.
What a Waste — Why We Need to Stop Throwing Things ‘Away’
By: Louella Carr
Tags: Oceans, Sustainability, Pollution, Climate Change, Waste

The concept of waste is a strange one, isn’t it? To think that there could be something on this Earth that we have no use for, so we simply discard it. I can hardly imagine early hunter gatherers leaving behind food or useful tools, nor can I see those who lived during the war throwing away their clothes when they got a hole in them (opting to delicately mend each item instead). So why do we, as citizens of the 21st century, find it SO easy to throw something into the bin?

The obvious answer is that we just have too much stuff. It’s so cheap and easy to buy new items to fill our lives and homes that we don’t care about letting some of them go. But it’s also because when we throw something ‘away’, we don’t ever stop to think where ‘away’ really is. Let me ask you the question right now — what happened to your rubbish from last week? Last year? 10 years ago? Unfortunately just because we don’t see where our rubbish ends up doesn’t mean it disappears, that it isn’t a problem.

Every year over 2 billion tons of solid waste is dumped: food we didn’t like, cheap things we ordered online that stopped working or weren’t as we expected, the ridiculous amount of packaging that came with every single item we bought… enough material to go around the world 24 times.

And this magical ‘away’ place that it ends up in is usually a landfill site or the ocean. In landfill, this waste is unable to decompose properly due to oxygen-limited conditions. Instead it releases dangerous methane emissions (about 28 times more harmful than carbon dioxide) which contributes massively to climate change. In 2016, waste accounted for 5% of total global emissions.

Waste is also one of the largest sources of pollution in oceans, particularly plastic waste. Plastic is an incredibly resilient material and can take hundreds of years to break down (one startling realisation is that the toothbrush you had as a child still exists somewhere). Whether it’s a plastic bottle in an overflowing bin, or a straw that is picked up by the wind, this waste often gets sucked out into the ocean where it disrupts food chains and degrades natural habitats.

We’ve all seen the horrible images of sea life getting trapped in discarded nets or six-pack rings, or pieces of plastic inside the stomachs of fish. You would have hoped that seeing this would be enough for us to change, but unfortunately the problem is only getting worse.

It is anticipated that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.

It’s terrible to think that our actions are affecting the environment in this way. Even though sometimes it might be hard to visualise the problem because we’re not directly impacted by it, it shouldn’t be an excuse to continue throwing things away. If we are to reduce our negative impact on this world, we must confront the uncomfortable images and ask the aforementioned difficult questions — where does my waste go? How is it affecting the environment? We must and can do better.

Click here for original story
Are We All Colorblind?
Tags: Oceans, Animals, Future, Light, Science

Are We All Colorblind?

Most people think that humans have superior vision when it comes to seeing colors, but there are 13 colors we cannot even fathom. Rushil Follow Sep 27, 2020 · 5 min read

Mantis Shrimp (Picture Credit: RareAnimals)

Are humans far superior to other animals? We can walk, we can swim, and through the power of our minds and technology, we can even fly. Even if we haven’t been around for as long as other animals, we are the only creatures with advanced tools and technology. It has come to the point where we have so much power that we can destroy landscapes we don’t like and create our own environments like the concrete shelters we call cities.

But even with all of our technology, even with all of the advances we have made in science, medicine, and technology, there is one limitation we never imagined. We are colorblind.

Most of us can see the reds, greens, and blues in our world. We can see the vibrant colors of life all around us! But can you see 16 primary colors? I will give you a second to look around; think about this: how many primary colors can you see? If you are diagnosed as ‘color blind’ you can only see 2, maybe even 1 primary color while the average person can see 3. What about the weird rainbow shrimp you saw at the beginning of the article? Well, that weird but colorful shrimp can see 12–16 different primary colors! Meet the Mantis Shrimp, which is better known for its fighting abilities but possesses a unique ability even humans don’t have.
Ready, set, biorefine
By: Matthew Perkins
Tags: Climate Change, Seaweed, Kelp, Oceans

Test tubes are rarely sexy, except perhaps when they are full of kelp. We’ve been hard at work in the lab and thus haven’t had much time for the newsletter. So instead of sharp analysis we thought we’d send this brief update and a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Working Hard @ AgStart

In May we moved into AgStart, a brand new 4,800 sq ft co-working lab space in Woodland, CA. It is fully stocked with state of the art equipment and lots of awesome food and ag startups such as Pheronym (producing nematode pheromones) and TurtleTree (cell-based milk). It is a perfect home for us as we expand our wet lab operations.

Now that Alaska’s summer 2021 kelp harvest is behind us, we’ve received ~50lb of beautiful Saccharina latissima from our farmer partners. It’s safely stored in our freezer in the lab, ready for testing. As usual when we start working with new biomass samples, we are running a full spectrum of compositional analyses. This will provide a great dataset of the wonderful bioactive compounds, essential nutrients and minerals.

Day to day, we are hard at work on optimizing our biorefinery process to deliver a host of interesting bioproducts. Achieving high yields with low costs is not easy. We’re innovating on everything from storing biomass, to working in saline environments and applying the latest green, sustainable chemistries.

Kelpify America

These days it’s hard not to notice the vibrant and emerging US kelp ecosystem. We are excited to see all the progress from different groups and thought we’d share a few kelp resources worthy of your attention:
Day 4: Realizing your place#300DaysofSurf
By: Bhanu Prakash
Tags: Fear, Productivity, Oceans, Mindfulness, Surfing

Big scary walls of water — that’s how I would sum up Day 4.

One thing that I love about the ocean is how it always puts us back in our place. There are days where I feel I know it all, an illusion of mastery — feeling I am getting better with my surf journey. Then a day like this comes where all it takes is a few waves and 5 minutes to show me my place.

This is one alluring reason why I fall in love with the ocean every day — it always humbles everyone around always proving that you can never ‘conquer’ mother nature. You can just feel like a master one day and be a pupil/apprentice the next one, just learning from scratch.

I was hoping the surf would be manageable but it literally took 5 minutes of paddling through the channel to the surf for the ocean to put me back in my place! I was humbled, overwhelmed but also driven to control my fear in the face of big lines/walls of water marching in.

I paddled out to be surrounded by 6.5/7 ft pumping waves from the east! They were definitely outside my comfort zone, almost double overhead but I tried to stay composed.

Crest of a wave! Always a teacher…

I definitely need to start feeling more in control in conditions outside my capability. I realized that focus on my breathing, staying calm, and just thinking straight without panic helped me through the situation.

In the coming few months, I want to work on my awareness of the ocean, rips, a better understanding of swells, train for heavier conditions, and ensure I can take on conditions slightly beyond my comfort zone at least for overhead surf.

Overall to sum up today, I couldn’t find the strength to paddle into any of the big waves coming in and hardly had the drive to take/commit to a big fall on the incoming waves. I feel like a complete beginner again and want to start overcoming this feeling by training/increasing my awareness. I had mentioned this earlier but fear comes from a lack of understanding and preparation. Preparation comes from repetition.

However, one thing that helped today and something I was proud of was just the objective of trying to get used to bigger surf and I was mentally prepping myself to feel at place in those conditions. I stayed out for an hour, dodged sets but still paddled around trying to mentally familiarize the conditions.

I don’t know if it applies to all situations in life but maybe in conditions someone feels anxious, serenity and composure is your way out.
Gumbo Limbo Nature Center
By: Jean Oshima
Tags: Nature, Oceans, Wildlife, Turtles, Conservation

On a visit to Florida last year with my children the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center was certainly a highlight of the trip. Highly recommend a visit to this well-run, educational experience.

The center is clearly dedicated to the preservation of our natural environment and wildlife resources . The volunteers and staff are extremely knowledgeable and demonstrate a sincere love and dedication for their work. Gumbo Limbo’s website touts itself as a coastal and marine experience unlike any other and I could not agree more.

This is an experience for the entire family. For information, please visit their website: https://www.gumbolimbo.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.main

Here’s a photo of an actual turtle nest my awesome nephew and I came upon when walking along the beach in Florida a couple years ago. He spotted the nest way before I did and knew so much about it. He was only 11 years old at the time! I was amazed how much he taught me about turtles, specifically the nest. Did you know the number of eggs in a turtle nest is referred to as a clutch?
Best Aquarium Filter for Large Tanks
By: Donnie M. Weston
Tags: Ocean

Many animal friends now have small fish in their homes. Many fish are good enough for beginners, but for true enthusiasts, the more we are crazy

And if you have a tank of 90 liters and more, you should definitely fill it with several types of medium to large sizes. And to keep this tank as large as possible, you need an aquarium filter that can accommodate large tanks and allow rotating water to rotate.

Designed for a 100-gallon aquarium, the Penn Plax 1200 is designed for a clean, worry-free 265 GPH aquarium

This filter is very easy to install and contains all the necessary accessories to connect your tank. Filtration begins in just 30 minutes with a visible improvement of less than one day.

It has a priming button that facilitates starting and two independent 360-degree rotary valves that allow easy placement. Adjustments and configurations are extremely simple thanks to the pool clamps and flow control valves.

Each pump has a large filter source, inlet / outlet hose and starter filter medium. Thanks to the large filter holder, you can use more media and more time between replacements. The tight seal ensures proper flow and guarantees extremely quiet operation. Finally, the strong rubber base mounted on the bolts must hold the unit in place.

For more related articals; sparrowsurf.com
Water We Going to Do?
By: Adam Jurgens
Tags: Oceans, Flooding, Climate Change, Disaster Response, Global Warming

A look at what rising-sea levels mean for our generation.

There was nothing ordinary about the wave hurling toward George Johnson. For one, it was 10 feet tall — bigger than any he had seen in his life. Second, it was coming from his potato field, 2 kilometers inland.

Then again this was no ordinary day. It was September 2nd, 2019, and Hurricane Dorian was just beginning to pound Grand Bahama Island. Little did George know, his little farm was right in the path of what would turn out to be the strongest hurricane the Bahamas had ever faced.

George didn’t much time to react. As the wave hit his house and the flooding began, he rallied his wife, mother-in-law, and farmhand to the attic. Then things went from bad to worse. Outside, 300km/hr winds tore his house apart. Inside, ocean water crept towards the ceiling.

Faced with being trapped in a flooded attic or collapsing house, George knew they had to leave. But there was one problem. At 85, his mother-in-law was too frail to go out into a Category 5 hurricane. She would remain in the attic, tied to a beam with only the faintest hope of survival. Outside was not much better. Faced with strong currents and insurmountable wind, the farmhand was separated from the group and drowned. Meanwhile, George and his wife were swept out to sea.

They would be found 24-hours later by a rescue party. The first thing they did was drive a boat over the flooded landscape back to the farm. By some miracle, they found his mother-in-law still tied to the beam, alive and in critical condition. Their home was in pieces, their farmhouse and livestock nowhere to be found.

This true story is a snapshot of a disaster that left 70,000 people homeless and 50 dead, with more than a thousand still missing. It caused an estimated $7B in damage and left an economy in tatters in a country still reeling from a devastating hurricane 3 years earlier. All this in a country with only 400,000 people.

Hurricanes don’t usually hit the same region this often, and they’re usually not this strong. But as climate change continues to make sea-levels rise, what happened to Grand Bahama may become the new normal.
Waves
By: Denise Hearn
Tags: Waves, Poetry, Ocean

A wave is born of the Breath of the Wind, or perhaps of a deep Tremor, and from the outset is directed towards an ultimate destination. Some are born in the height of a great gale, while others enter existence on the tail of a soft summer breeze. The wave journeys far across the open sea until met with an equal or stronger force to which it must succumb or, if fortunate, gains speed and the value of circular, repetitive rhythm as it moves ever forward towards its purpose. Despite magnitude and might, it is helpless to escape the fate of all waves which circle on until the sight of land invokes excitement and also rage as the end approaches. The wave swells as if to make one last attempt at fighting its imminent death and begins to spill itself over, a white trickle at first which slowly infects the whole of the body. A roar is issued forth as the culmination of a life spent harrowing the deep mysteries is broken onto the shore, crawling, feeling its way slowly onto the new home, depositing its richness and substance which it has accumulated on the journey. The surroundings barely have time to mourn the loss of the aged wave before the next suffers the same fate, collapsing almost on top of its predecessor, drowning out its last, soft hiss as it releases itself completely. While echoes of the tragic are heard in the decay of this life, this particular eternal melody is as familiar as the rhythm of the wave’s birth. The final convergence of the two elements separated from the Beginning (land and sea) marks the unification of the two worlds as each of many thousands once again touches the place marked off from the Origin. Then, the remains of the broken wave creep ever so gently back into the mix, giving its skeleton away to be caught up, reshaped, reformed, and molded once again by the Spirit of the Wind.

- December 30, 2007
Can the ocean feed us sustainably?
Tags: Aquaculture, Oceans, Goparity Project, Clam, Protein

Humans have always been fascinated with oceans. Stories, myths, and fantasies have been created about it, which even today feed the imagination of those who see and feel the sea.

Unfortunately, since the last century, excess fishing has led to the depletion of stocks. These organisms are part of a whole that also includes humans.

There will always be capture; there will always be predator and prey. However, it is our responsibility to minimize our impact on this (still) Blue Planet and not destroy its future.

Aquaculture helps in this process. Nonetheless, there is good and less good aquaculture.

What makes the project Oceano Fresco fit into the category of good aquaculture?

Firstly, because the aquaculture of bivalves has less environmental impact because no artificial chemicals or feeds are used, they have a filtering function that improves the quality of the water and their shells capture and use CO2 in their formation.

Furthermore, because it focuses on the cultivation of a European species of clams, whose population has reduced a lot in their natural habitat due to the monoculture of an invading species from Asia.

Finally, because of the origin of the clam seed, which is not extracted from its natural habitat but cultivated in the bio-marine centre, ending the process growing until adult size in the western Algarve sea.
Virtual Zoos and Aquariums!
By: Connie Yang
Tags: Oceans, Animals, Entertainment, Aquarium, Conservation

Even though we can’t visit zoos and aquariums in person, we can still do it virtually! Here‘s my curated list of great animal livestreams. Watch for a peaceful break, or just have it on in the background while you do you.

Moon Jelly Cam

Monterey Bay Aquarium has 10 livecams, and even a ‘Morning MeditOcean’ overlooking their coast. But the best two are the jellyfish and the kelp forest.

Kelp Forest

Peaceful, sun-dappled ocean. Comes with calming music and gently drifting kelp in the waves.

Aquarium of the Pacific — Shark Lagoon

A wide-angle view of a shark reef! Lots of activity and many teeth, with sharks, fish, and even big rays!

Chinese Panda Cam

Live from the Wolong Panda Grove. This is almost too cute and distracting to have on. Currently a panda mom playing in a tire swing with two young cubs.

Bald Eagle Nest

Explore.org has a lot of livecams, but their most popular is a close view of a pair of nesting Bald Eagles. Get your daily dose of freedom.

Africam

Africam has amazing night-view cameras. Even when there are no animals, there are crickets chirping.

Red Panda Cams

Oklahoma City Zoo just launched a Red Panda Cam a few days ago! They have a family of four, with two 9-month old cubs. Haven’t see anything yet but seems worth the wait. There is also a Red Panda stream at Trevor High School, with the most advanced camera setup I’ve seen.

Sheep Barn Cam

You don’t have to go exotic to have a good time. The sheep mostly sit and chew, quietly. Once in a while there is a flapping of the ear. There is gentle bird-chirping in the background.

Miami Zoo — Meerkats

Very active during the daytime! Meerkats are STILL standing up and watching for danger, through the glass.

San Diego Zoo — Safari Cam

Mimic the African Plains! See rhinos and giraffes bask in the sun. They also have a great Elephant Cam — dusty, but almost always elephants.

Georgia Aquarium — Ocean Voyager

This is the only livestream that gives you the chance to see *whale sharks*. Their Pacific Reef Cam is also beautiful.

Pier 39 — Sea Lions

And finally, even though we can no longer wander San Francisco piers, it’s never been a better time for the sea lions. Live vicariously through them.
The Oceans Are Our Best Hope
By: Alec James
Tags: Climate Crisis, Climate Change, Oceans, Climate Action

Recently, I have been exploring small technology-based startups at the forefront of climate change mitigation innovation. I have been doing this to further my own understanding of the current reality of climate solutions, but also so I can discern where my efforts will be best placed in the future; I am trying to understand in which sectors my career efforts will have the most impact. One of my recent calls led me to investigate a unique mitigation angle, that the oceans are our best hope for mitigation.

Amazingly, the ocean sequesters as much as a third of the carbon emitted by anthropogenic activity each year. This equates to approximately two billion tons of carbon each year. Yet, there is so little talk of oceanic mitigation measures, and also little innovation happening. I only managed to identify two main oceanic sequestration strategies, highlighting either the lack of focus on this area, or the poor potential for diverse sequestration strategies. These strategies are direct injection and ocean fertilization. Direct injection is a very hard-engineering approach to ocean sequestration. It requires the capture, separation, transport and injection of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the deep sea. Immediately, it is very obvious that this overall process is super energy heavy. Until our world has a reliable clean energy system, this cannot be considered a reliable mitigation effort.

On the other hand, ocean fertilization — increasing the population density of carbon-sequestering phytoplankton at the ocean’s surface — is far more viable. Although the UN placed a moratorium on the process in 2008, the science is now there. The “key to producing net carbon sequestration” is to cause upwelling of deep, nutrient-rich water in low-nutrient, low-chlorophyll ocean gyres. Ocean-based Solutions is one company that is spearheading the development of feasible and effective ocean fertilization.They have developed an autonomous, wave-powered pumping technology designed to sit in groups in these ocean gyres to pump nutrient-rich water to the surface, thus stimulating phytoplankton growth. Each group of ten pumps is paired with an ARGO sensor: a profiling float that accurately transmits oceanic conditions in real time, including carbon dioxide content. Through the combination of these technologies, Ocean-based can monitor the exact efficacy of their pumping efforts and how this changes with varying scale. The company intends to target large corporations that have committed to carbon-neutrality by offering their technology as an effective carbon offset of which the real-time effect can be accurately validated.

This company and technology are very exciting, and I look forward to tracking their progression as they attempt to scale.
Simple Steps to Save our Seas
By: Lisamarie Bourke
Tags: Nature, Oceans, Lisamarie Bourke, Environment, Global Warming

From subarctic waters to crystal clear Caribbeans and everything in between, the oceans of the world cover over 70% of our planet. With this mass also comes a plethora of benefits that we gain from our oceans. Microscopic marine plants known as phytoplankton produce almost half of the oxygen that sustains all living things on earth. Furthermore, the oceans absorb most of the carbon dioxide that is polluting our earth and warming our climate at an alarming rate.

With the enormous impact that our oceans have on life, it is concerning the lack of consideration for its health that most of the human race is exhibiting. Major corporations like the World Wildlife Fund and National Geographic are working with governments, companies, and communities around the globe to change this declining ocean health. However, there are simple steps that everyone can take to help save our seas.

Clean up after yourself

If you are enjoying a summer vacation at the beach or relaxing by a lake, be cautious of what you leave behind. Too often, plastic or other nondegradable items are washed or blown into the water, having detrimental effects on marine life.

Ditch plastic

Plastic is a major contributor to climate change and declining ocean health. Make reusable products a trend by taking them with you wherever you go. Use cloth tote bags for groceries, reusable water bottles and utensils, and eliminate your overall waste.

Reduce your carbon footprint

Most of the carbon pollution you create will eventually be absorbed into our oceans. Be cautious of your footprint and make changes where you can. Walk or bike when you don’t have to use a car, and switch to eco-friendly alternatives at home and at work.

Respect marine life

While there are many fascinating and adorable marine life creatures to see, be respectful of their space. Interfering with wildlife or with their natural habitat can harm the animals. Don’t remove rocks, plants, or coral when you come across it. Leave your surroundings how they were when you happened upon them.

Support clean ocean initiatives

Encourage friends and family to join you in local beach cleanups. Find local organizations that protect oceans and consider donating time or money if you can. Research restaurants in your area to support those that practice sustainable seafood. Be a voice of change in your community.

Any change can leave a large impact on the health of our oceans. No act is too small when it comes to saving our marine life, and one small step could cause a ripple effect for positive change.

Originally published LisamarieBourke.co
Death to Plant Earth
By: Angel Morejon
Tags: Pollution, Environment, Oceans

A beached whale sculpture made from ocean trash made by Greenpeace for a recycling campaign

For too long, humans have taken their environment for granted. Decades upon decades have brought us to a place where our world is decomposing on us, and it is all our fault. Through pollution, technological, and scientific advances, and our selfishness, we are killing our planet. Thus, in turn, destroying the resources that help keep us alive.

The questions now have become “how did we let this happen” and “what can we do to fix it?” It does not matter what question that’s asked; there is no change until there is a catalytic event. Take in point where ocean pollution has been a horrible curse for years now, but it hadn’t had the attention that it does now. The event that caused the outcry about the ocean environment now was a short video about a sea turtle. This sea turtle was found in the waters of Costa Rica with what appeared as an obstruction in its nostrils that was thought to be a parasitic worm. When the researchers started to remove it, they discovered it actually to be a plastic drinking straw. This video went viral and caused millions to protest the offensive convenience. The footage from Christine Figgener, a marine biologist at Texas A&M University, is shown below.

Since the release of this video and the following protests about it, several places have banned the use of the single-use plastics. In Florida, Miami Beach and Fort Meyers. In California, Alameda, Carmel, San Luis Obispo, Davis, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Oakland, Richmond, and Berkeley. Along with several others, there are lists of cities and states that are in the works of banning them as well.

Single-use plastics are by far not the only thing polluting our oceans. The plastic and garbage and chemicals have been building up for decades, harming animals and destroying ecosystems. According to UNESCO, there are enough parts of the ocean that are considered dead that it can build the size of the United Kingdom. Tons and tons of human waste and carelessness make those dead ecosystems grow more by the day.
A Rising Tide of Ocean Optimism
By: Richard Vevers
Tags: Oceans, Climate Action, Climate Change, B Corp, Climate

Optimism isn’t a word that’s normally associated with ocean conservation. As someone working in the field, I have witnessed the chasm growing between our slow progress, due to a chronic lack of support, while the problems grow exponentially. However, for the first time in years, I’m starting to get excited about the future — the pessimism is finally being replaced by optimism.

For the last decade as the founder and CEO of The Ocean Agency, I have sat alongside scientists and environmentalists and watched issues such as pollution, overfishing and climate change take their ever-increasing toll on ocean life despite our best efforts to raise the alarm. And I’m just a newcomer—some have been recording the decline for their entire careers. It’s been like watching a runaway train accelerate freely into the distance — a train that supports all life on Earth and is seemingly destined to crash.

Left: Healthy coral in American Samoa, December 2014. Right: Bleached coral in American Samoa, February 2015. (Photos by Richard Vevers/The Ocean Agency)

Ocean health is one of the biggest issues on the planet (quite literally), yet it has suffered from a chronic lack of support. For every dollar of charitable giving, only an average of 1 cent goes toward saving the environment, and the ocean gets a tiny fraction of that. Only issues that capture the public imagination have any hope of being funded to a meaningful level. So, for years, ocean conservation groups have had to pick their battles carefully and focus on issues such as reducing ocean plastics and saving megafauna rather than some of the bigger, but less popular challenges. This is why the situation felt hopeless.

So what’s changed? The answer is as equally unexpected as the glimmer of optimism. It’s the rise of millennials and Generation Z. These generations have suffered relentless criticism by older generations accusing them of being self-interested and lazy. However, they are now coming of age and, in the case of millennials, rapidly taking control — an unbound force entering the marketplace whose members are proving they’re quite the opposite of self-interested and lazy. They have had enough of business as usual, in fact so much so that nine out of 10 millennials say they would switch the brands they buy in support of a cause. Now more than ever, conservation is becoming a big business opportunity.
The Legend of Tawhiri the Heart Thief: Part 12
By: J.E. Purrazzi
Tags: Oceans, Pacific Ocean, Writing, Fantasy, Fiction

Something echoed in through the walls of the grotto. A shrill sound, not the drumming of the waves against the cliff walls.

Tawhiri kicked against the still water, pushing himself against the wall and placing his ear to the crack. There it was. But it was not so shrill now. It was vibrant and multifaceted. Like wind and waves and the cry of birds all wrapped together into a dancing song.

That’s what it was. It was singing!

Tawhiri let his hands rest on the wall as he listened. Somewhere on the far side of it, in the depths of the ocean, something was singing. It was mournful in some ways, tugging at his heart and dragging it deeper. But in some moments it seemed to separate and leap into the sky like a dolphin.

Perhaps it actually was just some sort of whale or dolphin. But Tawhiri had heard whale songs before, and these were different. They were close, but there was a language to it.

The song trailed off, leaving only the dull crash of the waves again.

Tawhiri frowned and sank back. The water offered no interference, and he settled into the sand, under the watchful eyes of the eel.

He dug his hand into the sand and hit something hard. Not just hard, sharp. It was unnatural, that was easy enough to tell with just one touch. This was not a creation of the ocean. Tawhiri gripped it and dislodged it from its resting place.

It was some sort of rock. There were a few barnacles on it, and a reddish tint, but other than that it was flat and dark with an edge as sharp as broken obsidian.

Tawhiri gripped the stone close to him and kicked off the sand, fighting against the current.

He had been down a long time, and he wanted to see this oddity in the light of the sun.

His heart sunk deeper as he rose higher. The current played in his hair and tugged at his lap-lap, as if pleading with him to stay.

The touch of the air on his skin chaffed as he burst through the surface again. His skin already thirsted for the cool touch of the water again.

Ignoring the strange emotion, Tawhiri grabbed onto the rocky wall beside him and held up his discovery for inspection. It was not very different from an ax-head, but no ax head Tawhiri had ever seen had such straight lines. It didn’t seem like it was made of stone, either. Only obsidian could create such sharp lines, but this was not obsidian Obsidian was much more difficult to shape than this. And any other stone would have been worn and pocked from the groping current and the abrasive salt.

Shrugging, Tawhiri found a crack in the rock and wedged the strange object in, so it couldn’t be washed away. He’d take it out again later.

For now, the ocean was calling.
Superstitions of the Sea
By: Sandy Costa
Tags: Short Story, Sea, Short Story Writing, Ocean

The sea captain was not old, not in the traditional sense. He had lived perhaps 30 winters, but he had seen much more; the sea has a way of aging you, changing you, showing you things you shouldn’t see.

The stories of the ocean are many, but not all are true. The sea captain had sailed long enough to know the true stories. A willing selkie on your ship is good luck, a mermaid, bad luck. You should never follow a wisp that is far out at sea, and never allow yourself to get caught up in counting the tentacles of an octopus (it’s always both more and less than you expect).

And so, the sea captain knows what to do when his men start waking up dead. Every morning, for the past hundred mornings, he walks through his ship and checks on which men he will have still working for him today. The others, he dresses in their finest clothes (sometimes he gifts them his clothes), shines their shoes, cleans them up. It will not do to have them not look their best.

The sea captain carries his men to the port side, it must always be the port side, and places them in a lifeboat. Then, once the lifeboat is weighted down with the man’s weight and bags of sand, it is lowered, and the sea captain watches until it sinks, out of sight, into the darkness.

The last man woke up dead yesterday. The sea captain knows it will be his turn soon. The fog rolls in around his ankles, and he waits. There will be no one to lower him into the ocean, and he will never know the rest he has given his men.
An Ode to the Ocean
By: Imperfection Freak
Tags: The Beach, Poetry, Poetry On Medium, Ocean, Oregon Coast

Like many on their summer vacations, I had the express privilege to visit the ocean on the Oregon coast recently. Although this was a location I had not been to before, I still felt so connected to it in a strange way because I was born and raised on the Oregon coastline and have spent a lot of time within the reach of the mighty pacific.

A lot of beach towns are very much the same along highway 101, and Gold beach was no different. Sleepy even through the busy August tourist season, and dotted with hotels, campsites, and seafood restaurants. Balmy with a breeze, yet delightfully sunny after the mid-morning fog. Tempestuous waves continually crash along the rocky cliffs and sandy beaches.

Naturally, a poem demanded to be written. Who would I be to stop it?

I was born by the Pacific ocean

Under a nearly full

waxing gibbous moon.

Every time I return to the ocean

It feels

As if I’m coming

Home

To the foam that borne me

And the sea that raised me

Even an unfamiliar shore

Is home to me,

Forever a pacific child.

Drinking milk from seashells

Running untamed in the sand

Half naked with hair and feet

Unbound,

An echo of a former life

That still exists in me somewhere

And that I will someday return to

Not too far away

JJC
Top 10 Largest Destroyer In the World: A fast manurable long-endurance warship intended to escort…
Tags: America, Oceans, Russia, Destroyer, China

Top 10 Largest Destroyer In the World: A fast manurable long-endurance warship intended to escort large vessels in the fleet or battle group. We are reading about destroyers and now see the list of Top 10 Largest Destroyers In the World. Many specifications are taken into consideration like size, crew-carrying capacity and many more but one most important feature that we face here the load-displacement.

10. Sovremenny Class Destroyer

Sovremenny Class Destroyer

The Sovremenny Class or Project 956 Sarich is a class of anti-ship, anti-aircraft guided-missile destroyers of the Soviet and now the Russian Navy. It has a maximum displacement of about 8480 tons and its crew-carrying capacity is 344. Its total length is about 512 ft.

9. Type 45 Daring class Destroyer

Type 45 Daring class Destroyer

Type 45 is a daring class destroyer considered to be the biggest and most advanced warship in the world of the Royal Navy fleet. This class is a class of six guided-missile destroyers which has a full load displacement of 8500 tons and can carry a crew of 190. It has a length of 500 ft. continue reading