Cephalopodcast

Earthcast 2008 Web badge by Jason Robertshaw is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Webcast Around the Earth Day 2008

Earth Day is coming up on April 22 and the fine folks over at the Worldbridges.net community are celebrating by hosting a 24 hour webcast focused on the environment. Earthcast 2008 will feature live, interactive programs from educators, students and other citizens of the planet starting at midnight GMT.

The Other 71%

I am planning on covering one of the hours with a program focused on the other 71% of our planet’s surface. Guests for the program include Dr. Karen James from the Beagle Project and Kevin Zelnio of Deep-Sea News and The Other 95%. I also have feelers out to a few other ocean bloggers. If you know of anyone else who would like to join the conversation, let me know. More details on how to participate will be posted here in the coming days. Stay tuned.

What: This is intended to be a 24 hour long conversation about the health of our planet. We hope to have participants from around the world moderate an day long conversation. Potential guests could include local leaders, student environmental advocates, scientists/engineers, politicians, grassroots leaders, etc.

When: Tuesday, April 22nd 2008. We will follow the 24 hour GMT day (we’ll use the time in Greenwich, England as the standard for planning the time blocks).

Why: The goal is to help our participants (both listeners and moderators) form a more global perspective on the issue of sustainability and the health of the earth.

• Enviroscims: Earth Day 2008 24 Hour Webcastathon!
• Earthcast 2008 flyer (PDF)
• Dr. Karen James, The Beagle Project
• Kevin Zelnio, Deep-Sea News and The Other 95%

UPDATE: Rick MacPherson from Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets is now also on the ticket.

Cuban Tree Frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis), a common but introduced species in Florida. Picture by J. Robertshaw

According to the Gregorian calendar, today is Leap Day. It is also the beginning of an amphibian conservation promotion by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as part of their Year of the Frog campaign. Frogs and toads are the most numerous group of the amphibians, which also include the newts, salamanders and caecilians. But they are all in trouble.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums will highlight 2008 as the Year of the Frog to mark a major conservation effort to address the amphibian extinction crisis. The Year of the Frog is also meant to engage the public in amphibian conservation and to raise funds for AZA amphibian conservation efforts into the future.

Find out the Top 8 Ways to Help Frogs in 2008

1. Look, listen, and learn: educate yourself and your family about amphibians.
2. Visit an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited institutions near you and experience your very own amphibian adventure!
3. Create amphibian friendly environments by providing clean water, hiding places, and insects to eat.
4. Don’t pollute.
5. Be a responsible pet owner.
6. Conserve water at home, school, and work.
7. Reduce the use of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and natural gas.
8. Be an amphibian champion.

Growing up on a lake in Florida, we had a lot of opportunities to witness amphibian activity. During the wet season there was a solid wall of noise coming from the passionate anurans in the pastures. It was not something you would hear so much as feel. Soon, the lake edge was strung with the black beads of toad eggs. And later, we could gather pollywogs by the handful. I have to wonder what it would be like if I ever went back there.

The difference between frogs and toads might seem obvious at first. Frogs are hoppers with long legs and wet skin. Toads are walkers with dry skin. But as my herpetology professor pointed out, there are exceptions to each of these and the distinction between frogs and toads amongst the experts is not so clear. For instance, the suborder of spadefoot toads (Mesobatrachia) also includes the parsley frogs.

Recently on This Week in Science, Justin and Dr. Kiki were commenting on the recent discovery of a very large amphibian fossil in Madagascar, appropriately dubbed Beelzebufo (at approximately minute 00:23:29). They ran into this same kind of consternation.

• Amphibian Ark: Year of the Frog
• AZA: Year of the Frog
• AZA Year of the Frog Educational Activities and Resources
• How to Tell a Turtle from a Tortoise is a book that also talks about the difference between frogs and toads. Remarkable moreso because it is the first book that I have ever come across that is not available on Amazon.

lionfish, by jon hanson

Common names: Lionfish, lion fish, zebrafish, firefish, turkeyfish, red lionfish, butterfly cod, ornate butterfly-cod, peacock lionfish, red firefish, scorpion volitans

Happy Turkey Day for those in the States. Ben Franklin famously suggested that the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) would make a more fitting symbol for the United States than the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Many derisively scoff at the notion, but if you read this account of his recommendation, especially in light of current events, it’s rather telling we chose the latter bird instead.

But there is another turkey out there that I wanted to mention today. This one won’t end up on too many dinner plates, probably because it’s a venomous fish. more commonly known as the lionfish in the United States, Pterois volitans is also called the Turkeyfish in many other parts of the world. Normally found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, it has recently been found in increasing numbers off the east coast of the U.S. It is a common and spectacular staple of the live reef fish trade and authorities suspect specimens released from aquariums were the original source of the invasive population.

The Turkeyfish is in the Scorpionfish family and is a predator of smaller fish. Authorities fear that as its range expands into new areas, it will have a disruptive effect on the ecology of these environments.

More Turkeyfish Day links appear over at the Invasive Species Weblog.

• NOAA: Lionfish Invasion Teacher’s Guide
• EISF: Lionfish Invasive Species Education & Outreach
• Invasive Lionfish Species Confirmed in Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary
• Wikipedia: Lionfish

Tomorrow is the International Coastal Clean Up Day.

In 1986, a staff member of The Ocean Conservancy was appalled by the amount of trash she found littering the shores of South Padre Island, Texas. She took responsible action by organizing a beach cleanup. In three hours, 2,800 Texans picked up 124 tons of trash from 122 miles of coastline. With that, Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup was born.

That event was just the beginning of a movement for cleaner beaches and waterways. Later, it grew to encompass the shorelines of 25 U.S. states and territories. In 1989, the Cleanup went international, with the participation of residents of Canada and Mexico. To date, over 6 million volunteers have removed over 100 million pounds of marine litter from a grand total of 170,000 miles of beaches and inland waterways.

If you are in my neck of the woods, the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program is having a shoreline restoration at Herb Dolan Park in Bradenton Beach. They need help removing rubble and planting 2600 plugs of Spartina grass. The Eco-Sarasota Meet Up Group is also organizing a cleanup on Otter Key.

And here is a funny idea from Jaehyung Hong mentioned over at Yanko Designs that is supposed to get kids excited about conservation. It is a piece of plastic that you stick other pieces of plastic into and is vaguely shaped like an octopus. But it seems a bit daft to me. There are only six openings for the legs.

• Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup
• Toy Octopus Encourages Beach Clean Up

[via bioephemera]

ATTENTION!

Sunday is the first annual International Rock-Flipping Day.

The point is simply to have fun, and hopefully learn something at the same time. We don’t want to over-determine what that something should be: those of a more scientific frame of mind might focus on i.d.s or ecological interactions, while those of an artistic or poetic bent could go in a different direction entirely. Pictures alone would suffice, of course. But whatever you do, please be sure to replace all rocks that you flip as soon as possible, so as not to disrupt the natives’ lives unduly.

Here at Cephalopodcast HQ we are making plans to visit our favorite rock flipping site. You can share your results via Flickr or email your efforts to the organizers below.

• Official IRFD proclamation by Dave Bonta
• More IRFD details from Bev Wigney
• IRFD Flickr pool
• JM reminds us that this weekend is also the Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw. Maybe there is a bonus for flipping a chip instead of a rock.

UPDATE: I made a couple of optional and complimentary web badges to accompany any IRFD events. Available in various sizes and with or without a grass border.

Rare dolphin ’sighted’ in China: “A fresh-water dolphin believed to be extinct has been sighted in the Yangtze River, Chinese state media report.”

[via BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition]

This is also a test to see if I can post via NewsFire + MarsEdit. Looks like this feature works.

Looking for ways to make a difference by beginning or improving a youth water education program? Educating Young People About Water (EYPAW) is a searchable oline database of over 150 water-related curricula. The fine folks at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Environmental Resources Center have cataloged all of them according to topic, format and education goals.

Glance at them all at once, or focus in on selections like Liquid Explorations or Your Impact on Salmon/Fish: A Self-Assessment.

But don’t wait too long to check these out. You want to be ready for World Water Monitoring Day, which is only two months away!

Today is World Ocean Day.

Whether you live along the coast or far inland, each one of us is connected to the world’s ocean. Make your ocean connection on June 8th!

Today also marks the start of the first Carnival of the Blue.

More events and activities will be posted here later today soon. Stay tuned.

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is pleased to announce that 22 May 2007 is International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD). The focus for this year’s “celebration” is climate change.

The newest issue of Sea Stories is available. Sea Stories is a quarterly online journal of international ocean writing and art, published by Blue Ocean Institute.

Sea Stories…features contributions by ocean-lovers from all backgrounds and walks of life - writers, artists, educators, students, scientists, fishers, conservationists, explorers, and just regular people. Educators are invited to use Sea Stories in the classroom or as a publishing opportunity for yourself or your students. Join us in celebrating all things oceanic!

• Sea Stories

Got a chance to see this at FMSEA. Very nice.

The Loxahatchee River District is pleased to announce the debut of its environmental poster series: Seagrasses found in the Loxahatchee River Estuary and southern Indian River Lagoon

The poster provides a way to educate the public about the importance of seagrass and how residents can alter their actions to minimize their impact on seagrass. Through education and awareness, the poster will foster a stronger sense of stewardship for the protection of seagrasses and the Indian River Lagoon. The seagrass poster will be distributed throughout Palm Beach and Martin County schools, environmental centers, and other learning facilities. Funding for this project was provided by the South Florida Water Management District through the Indian River Lagoon License Plate Program.

• 8.5 x 11 Poster (PDF-556Kb)
• 11 x 17 Poster (PDF-536Kb)
• For more information or to obtain a poster, please contact Jocelyn O’Neill at 561-743-7123 or 561-262-2991

Take eight minutes out of your day and watch this clever little animated PSA about sea turtle conservation. Even though it is targeted at European travelers, its message is global.

The short film explains how UK tour operator practice can make a positive difference to the conservation of endangered loggerhead and green turtles during the summer holiday season at destinations in Greece, Crete and Turkey.

It’s not nearly as dry as it sounds. In fact, it is delightfully moist.

• Turtles in Trouble movie
• Turtles in Trouble resource page, including training script and handout
• Marine Conservation Society press release

Got a chance to see Spider-Man 3 tonight. First time we’ve been to the movies since we wasted an afternoon with The Fountain. One thing that surprised me were three different ocean-related messages that popped up during the preshow.

First, we went to a new AMC Theatres theater that was equipped with a digital projector. I’d be curious to know what software they used to generated their little trivia graphics. Anyone know? Well, one of the slides was about blue whales. They related their size and weight to other critters. Can’t remember exactly what numbers they used, but think it said blue whale=1800 humans?

The second thing I noticed was yet another animated penguin movie (YAAPM) coming out this summer. This one features surfing birds.

Finally, there was a crummy commercial for Vault soda. You can watch it here while it lasts (under Advertising). The premise is that a weakling male wins back the affection of his philandering female by blowing up the reef and showering her with pearls. Take home message: drink plenty of caffeinated, carbonated, corn syrup and you will have the strength to destroy the environment, thereby intimidating your rivals and winning the attention of the opposite sex.

So anyone else notice the ocean popping up in unexpected places? Let me know.

BTW, I did enjoy the Spider-Man movie. Pacing was a little rushed, and it had an unexpected twist. But a nice popcorn flick. Nothing like the artificial experience of the cinema.

The Radula blog reports that students at John Adams Middle School vandalized some of the fish tanks during a recent fieldtrip to the Albuquerque Aquarium.

There is damage to two separate tanks, which had been gouged and “tagged”. The massive shark tank may be repairable but the tank holding the moon jellies will have to be replaced at a cost of over $30,000. The biopark has banned the school (an APS school) from all future biopark venues.

If you would like to donate to help repair the aquariums, contact the office of the BioPark Director at 505-764-6211 for details.

• KOAT: Albuquerque Aquarium Vandalized
• KOAT: Animal Tanks Damaged At Albuquerque’s Aquarium
• The Radula: What we value
• Albuquerque Aquarium

Hey, NOAA has updated their online photo library. Because most of these images are taken as part of the normal operations of this federal agency, they are copyright free and in the public domain. All they ask is that proper photo credit is given.

Bizarrely, the search function is currently not working, making perusal of the collection a somewhat arduous expedition.

• More than 10,000 new images.
• New search capability.
• Many new albums that better reflect NOAA’s stewardship role and range of operations.
• Hundreds of Hurricane Katrina images that help record the extent of damage of this American tragedy.
• Thousands of stunning ocean exploration photographs, coral reef photographs, and polar regions photographs.
• New additions to albums including remarkable lightning photography, coastal photographs detailing the nooks and crannies of our American coastline including a medley of American lighthouses, and new images detailing the Treasures of the NOAA Library.
• And in this, the 200th Anniversary of the Coast Survey, NOAA’s oldest ancestor agency and America’s first science agency, thousands of newly digitized historical photographs detailing the work of the Coast Survey, Fisheries Commission and Weather Bureau.

In addition to still images, NOAA also makes available a number of copyright free video clips. The quality is a bit mixed, but it’s a nice way to build a royalty-free library.

NOAA maintains a library of video footage, which is compiled and categorized by subject. It’s available for the cost of reproduction on a public domain basis—no license or clearance required. It’s requested that you credit “NOAA” or “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,” when using the footage.

• NOAA Photo Library
• Other NOAA photo sites
• NOAA video B-Roll

Leatherback sea turtles are the largest and most ancient lineage of marine turtles. Eleven of them have been fitted with satellite transmitters as part of the Great Turtle Race, which begins on April 16, 2007.

The event is organized by The Leatherback Trust, Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP), Conservation International and Costa Rica’s MINAE. Some of the turtles are sponsored by Plantronics, Yahoo and West Marine, among others.

The whole site is a pretty slick production and includes Flashified trading cards for all the animals and a Flickr page. No word on whether the sponsors got to stencils their logos directly onto the turtles.

The sponsored turtles…are “racing” toward feeding areas south of the Galapagos Islands after nesting at Playa Grande in Costa Rica’s Las Baulas National Park, the primary nesting area for leatherbacks in the Pacific. The leatherback is a 100 million-year-old, massive sea animal that outlived the dinosaurs but is now dangerously close to extinction. Leatherback numbers have decreased at Playa Grande from thousands of nesting turtles 10 years ago to fewer than 100 in the last five years. This online event will raise funds to protect Playa Grande and raise awareness about what individuals can do-no matter where they live-to help protect sea turtles in our daily actions.

Lesson plans for K-5 and 6-12 grades are hosted by ERIC. Additional educational materials are supposed to be available in the “Sea Turtle School” area at www.GreatTurtleRace.com.

• Wikipedia: Leatherback Sea Turtles
• Great Turtle Race
• Great Turtle Race: Lesson Plans
• Flickr: Leatherback Turtle
• Yahoo Video: Great Turtle Race
• The Leatherback Trust
• National Geographic: It’s Tough to Be a Leatherback Turtle (3-5)
• National Geographic: Can Research Save the Leatherback Turtle? (6-8)

UPDATE: Stephen Colbert devoted part of his monologue to the leatherback race. One of the turtles is named after him.