Stumbled upon the Glass Jellyfish, a photo album over at PangalacticTrading.com. They are pictures of the works of Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka. It reminds me a of the delicate glass rotifer sculptures at the American Museum of Natural History.
The second half of the 19th century was a time of great scientific discovery. New museums were being built throughout the world and many existing private museums were opening to the public. New galleries were designed to display the expanding array of known living plants and animals. For many groups of animals this was easily done…But what about soft bodied animals such as jellyfish and sea anemones? Examples of these animals could be pickled in spirit to preserve them, but this in no way reflected their extraordinary appearance in life. Their colours quickly faded and their shapes became distorted as the tissues shrank. Papier-mâché and wax models could not capture their translucence and transparency. Leopold Blaschka, a brilliant glassworker and amateur naturalist, devised a solution to this problem - vividly recreating these life forms modelling them in glass.
Another Podcast Aquatic, check it out:
The Dolphin Pod is a podcast produced by researchers from the Dolphin Communication Project and Immersion Presents. It is a weekly science podcast providing subscribers with information concerning dolphin behavior, cognition, anatomy, physiology, conservation, etc. Additionally, The Dolphin Pod covers dolphin events in the news, summarizes and explains the results from recent studies on dolphins, and interviews scientists currently working on dolphin-related research projects.
The Dolphin Communication Project is a private, non-profit research foundation organized to further the following goals: 1) To promote awareness of marine mammal conservation, 2) To increase knowledge of communication behaviors between and among all dolphin species.
Immersion Presents is a nationally acclaimed after-school science media organization that provides educational programming to students across the United States.
UPDATE: If you are interested in the Dolphin Pod podcast, you might also be interested in the Act for Dolphins podcast.
Act for Dolphins is a campaign led by marine scientists, The Ocean Project, The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to end the slaughter of thousands of wild dolphins in the annual Japanese drive hunts.
![SeaScope Aquatic Activities from LaMER [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061226a.gif)
Continuing with our tour of supplementary material made available by your local Sea Grant College Program, we turn to Louisana’s Marine Education Resource Center. Their SeaScope Aquatic Activities section offers the following PDF handouts for free:
SeaScope activity folios are written by teachers for teachers. They use the video microscope nicknamed “Scope-On-A-Rope” (SOAR) in science lessons on aquatic organisms.
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An interactive virtual squid dissection demo is available from another site, Froguts.com.
In May, 2001, 5th graders at Lunalilo School dissected a squid and posted a video documentary of their experience.
![3-D Dogfish Shark Model [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061225a.jpg)
The Delaware Sea Grant program has a neat resource for educators. I mentioned it in the latest podcast, but wanted to bump it up to its own post too. Here’s the description from their annual report:
Learn all about the smooth dogfish shark as you put together your very own 3-D paper model! This eight-page, full-color project meets the National Science Education Standards. It includes background on sharks, the model parts to cut out with scissors and tape together, and a crossword puzzle to test your knowledge. Cost: $1. Contact: Marine Public Education, (302) 831-8083.
![Interior 3-D Dogfish Shark Model [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061225c.jpg)
Unfortunately, there is no further Internet-based info that I could find, so you will have to call to find out more. Or listen to the SeaTalk Radio PSA about the model [mp3].
(Tip of the tentacle to Elizabeth and Kimberly for the resource.)
UPDATE: I notice that a lot of people searching for dogfish dissections end up finding this post. If you need illustrations of a Squalus acanthias dissection, check out BIODIDAC. They have photos and line drawings to help you. Keyword search: dogfish. Available in English and French.
Hey, a new aquatic podcast!
![TWiST: This Week in Sea Turtlesfe thumbnail [4K, 80x60]](http://cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060513_twist.gif "TWiST: This Week in Sea Turtles podcast")
Hot topics in sea turtle research and conservation.
Hosts: Michael Coyne, Matthew Godfrey and Manjula Tiwari
This is an experiment. We aren’t entirely sure where this will go, but we hope it will stimulate discussion and inform and educate the sea turtle community. It also gives the geeks another outlet! We plan to make this a weekly show, so listen and enjoy!
What are the chances they’ll salvage the Calypso for this?
Using state-of-the-art technology and accompanied by marine scientists and ecologists, Jean-Michel Cousteau and his acclaimed diving teams explore a thrilling array of natural phenomena hundreds of feet beneath the ocean’s surface in Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures, a Web site and multi-part HDTV series premiering on PBS Wednesday, April 5 at 8 p.m. (check broadcast listings).
Rare goblin shark caught at mouth of Tokyo Bay
![[64x54, 4K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060326a_pinktentacle.jpg)
A goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni), considered a living fossil by scientists, was caught by a trawler of the coast of Miura, Japan. The 1.3-meter, 4-kg fish is a rare bottom-dwelling species of shark. Catching the shark in the relatively shallow waters around the mouth of Tokyo Bay is considered highly unusual. (via)
UPDATE: New video of rare goblin shark (8 February 2007).
Interesting chance encounter between a sperm whale and a ROV at depth.
…a video filmed on Saturday, March 11 in the Gulf of Mexico at Mississippi Canyon 711 Field in 3,000 feet of water. They were inspecting the flow line jumper and saw this. (via)
From the Flickr blog, an interesting opportunity for citizen scientist and a novel use of Flickr:
![[64x54, 4K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060312a_georgek.jpg)
“People have been submitting good humpback whale fluke shots to a group called Humpback whale flukes. I volunteer at Allied Whale which holds the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalog and I was able to make a very exciting match with one of the whales that was posted on the group by GeorgeK.
George saw this whale in Newfoundland in the summer of 2005. It matched with HWC#2943 in the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catolog ….. this whale was seen only once before in March 1984!!! on Silver Bank (the breeding grounds North of the Dominican Republic).
This is what flickr has the power to do.”
![3-D Dogfish Shark Model [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061225b.jpg)
Jason Robertshaw
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