![Carnival Of The Blue logo, a blue sphere half-filled with water. [100x100, 7K]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1148/531775421_125285bc74_t.jpg "Carnival Of The Blue")
The latest Carnival of the Blue is up at James Hrynyshyn’s Island of Doubt blog. I submitted my last podcast for consideration. New to the CotB is Ocean of Island Rambles with a number of orca photos. I also found out that NOAA should not exist.
Next month’s festivities will be back at the mother fish.
![Logo for the FMSEA 40th anniversary conference, a grouper with a snorkel and mask [300x225, 104K]](http://cephalopodcast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/fmseaconferencelogo.jpg "FMSEA 2008 Annual Conference: A Wonder-Water Discovery")
I’ll be giving a presentation tomorrow during the Florida Marine Science Educators Association 2008 Annual Conference. Presentation materials will be posted here.
Presentation description:
From the depths of the oceans to the tops of the waves, scientist, teachers and students are using blogs, podcasts and other new media to raise awareness of ocean issues. Unlike static Web-based content, this new media revolution allows for real-time conversations and discovery. This session explores the emerging environment of ocean blogging and shows how you can get on board. Case studies of building understanding through new media at the intersection of science, education, and conservation will be examined. Join us for a lively and interactive session and explore the new virtual frontier of ocean education.
On 22 April 2008 I hosted one hour out of a 24-hour long Earth Day webcastathon. My program was about ocean conservation and I was joined by two fellow ocean enthusiasts and science bloggers. First is Dr. Karen James, director of science for the The HMS Beagle Project. The Beagle Project is an international effort to celebrate Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday by building a sailing replica of his ship and then retracing the 1831-1836 Voyage of the Beagle with an international crew of researchers, aspiring scientists and science communicators. Also joining me was Rick MacPherson, Director of Conservation Programs with the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) and author of the Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets. CORAL is a member-supported, non-profit organization, dedicated to protecting the health of coral reefs by integrating ecosystem management, sustainable tourism, and community partnerships.
Rounding out the program was a musical contribution from Kevin Zelnio. Kevin could not make it live for the program, but he had a very good excuse.
Kevin Zelnio, What Did the Deep Sea Say [3:50]
My thanks again to the EdTechTalk.com community for hosting and organizing Earthcast 2008. My thanks also to Peter Etnoyer and the other live participants in the ETT chat room. And to the guests, Karen and Rick.
Also, thanks to you for listening. If you have ideas for future programs or feedback, please send me a message at cephalopodcast [at] gmail [dot] com, or call the Cephalo-Hotline at 1-941-256-0097.
![Earthcast Web badge/logo, planet with headphones and microphone, speach balloons, 24 hour webcastathon, 22 April 2008, edtechtalk.com/earthcast08 [250x285, 84K]](http://cephalopodcast.com/img/earthcast08.png "Earthcast 2008")
This is just a quick reminder about the upcoming Earth Day webcast on 22 April 2008. My hour of programming will be about ocean conservation and starts at 10:00 p.m. GMT (that’s 6:00 p.m. Eastern, 3:00 p.m. Pacific).
I will be joined by three fellow ocean enthusiasts and science bloggers, including Dr. Karen James, director of science for the The HMS Beagle Project. The Beagle Project is an international effort to celebrate Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday by building a sailing replica of his ship and retracing his 1831-1836 voyage of discovery. Also joining me will be Kevin Zelnio, author of The Other 95% Web site and co-blogger at Deep-Sea News. Kevin’s scientific training is in invertebrate zoology and marine ecology at Penn State University where he studies the ecology of deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities. And rounding out the panel will be Rick MacPherson, Director of Conservation Programs with the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) and author of the Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets blog. CORAL is a member-supported, non-profit organization, dedicated to protecting the health of coral reefs by integrating ecosystem management, sustainable tourism, and community partnerships.
I hope you can join us in the discussion. And my thanks go out to worldbridges.net for hosting and coordinating these events.
It can be a challenge for environmental non-profits and educational outfits to produce original multimedia content. On a tight budget it can be tough to produce compelling content in-house, so at some point, the question of using stock images or video comes up. This has a cost too in the form of licensing, clearances and properly managing the rights to the media. Fortunately, there are some low cost (and free) resources available.
Professor Peter Mumby from the University of Exeter has made available a number of coral reef video clips. The database has over 500 clips which are free for educational and research use. The clips on the Web site are suitable for use in a PowerPoint presentation. Full-quality footage is available on mini-DV tapes, DVD, or DVD-ROM (recorded in PAL) by contacting them.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also maintains a library of public domain video footage. The only cost is for reproduction, there are no other licenses or clearances required. All they ask is that you credit them as the source. In particular, I’ve found the Year of the Ocean, Turtle Excluder Device (TED) and Commercial Fishing to be useful stock footage for many projects. They also have a photo library of royalty-free still images.
Finally, there are also exceptional stock libraries available for a fee. The quality of these is incredible and the staff are available to help you find just the right image for your message. Some of the more marine-themed ones are listed below.
Have you used any other video resources for ocean conservation? Let me know.
I’ll be heading up to St. Petersburg sometime tomorrow to the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute*. They are having their annual open house, called MarineQuest, and their should be a lot of events and activities for anyone interested in marine biology.
I also got my little Belkin TuneTalk working again, so I hope to record a little sound-seeing tour along the way to share later.
MARINEQUEST 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
100 Eighth Avenue Southeast
St. Petersburg, Florida [Map and Directions]
*What is now the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute used to be called the Florida Marine Research Institute when it was part of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. But back in 1999, an amendment to the state’s constitution merged the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission, the Marine Fisheries Commission and other elements, forming the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The latest Carnival of the Blue is up at Zooillogix. Plenty of “hot, mollusk action” in this one. Sad to say, I completely missed the deadline (again), so no entries from me. Instead, enjoy apophallatic hermaphrodites from the Oyster’s Garter, plastinated squids from the Bleiman Brothers, or even suicidal pelagics from Rick.
And next month remind me to send a link to Mark before it’s too late.
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.
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.
UPDATE: Rick MacPherson from Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets is now also on the ticket.
With the coming of spring in the northern hemisphere also comes a time to hunt for eggs. But it’s not just about birds anymore. The folks over at the Shark Trust also want people to head to the beach to look out for the fecundity of fish.
Colloquially known as mermaid’s purses, eggcases are the protective capsules laid by skates and some rays**. Inside is a tiny baby skate and a big yolk sac. Typically the capsules have odd keels and horns to help them remain tangled in seaweed and camouflaged on the bottom. The young develop for several months before hatching out as miniature adults. But after hatching, the horny cases begin to breakdown and may come loose, washing up on the shore. Storms might also dislodge living ones from the bottom. If you find a lot of eggcases in an area, it may indicate that a skate nursery is located nearby. This kind of information is valuable to conservationist who are trying to protect these species.
Why does the Shark Trust want you to record eggcases? In recent decades several species of skate and ray around the…coast have dramatically declined in numbers…The identification of these critical areas will enable the Shark Trust to propose conservation measures, in order to reverse the decline of these charismatic animals.
So now’s your chance to contribute to skate and ray conservation and have a lot of fun at the same time.
They have a lot of resources for citizen scientists and for educators who want to organize a local eggcase hunt. And if you don’t live near the coast, you can still take some time this spring to create your own giant eggcases (PDF link) out of balloons and papier-mâché. Or better yet, make some chocolate ones that you can send to me!
Continuing with my aquatic version of things vernal, there is news that rabbitfish might be helping to save the Great Barrier Reef. Many herbivorous reef fish species like parrotfish and tangs regularly graze on the fast-growing algae of the reefs. But apparently they only like to eat it when it’s young and not too weedy. This is where the rabbitfish comes in.
“Then, to our even greater surprise a fish we had never seen in this area before was observed grazing on the weed. The rabbitfish (Siganus canaliculatus), came out of nowhere and began to clear-fell the weed placed on the reef crest.”
The rabbitfish were caught on underwater videocams, in schools of up to 15 fish, grazing the crest, slopes and outer flats of the reef, and chomping away at more than ten times the rate of other weed-eaters.
sƎʇɐʞs ɹƎɥ :ɐ*
![Best of Ocean Blogging [75x75, 4.8K]](http://cephalopodcast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/pic-cotb95.jpg "Carnival of the Blue, The Best of Ocean Blogging")
Carnival of the Blue #9 is up at Kevin’s Other 95% blog. Billed as a “appreciation of the under-appreciated majority of life,” the blog is devoted to all the interesting things on earth that lack a backbone.
In addition to highlighting some of the best in ocean blogging this month, Kevin also reminds everyone to live blue in 2008.
I’ll be headed up to where it’s colder this weekend for the NC Science Blogging Conference. I will be participating in one panel discussion during the conference, Real-time blogging in the marine sciences from 9:50-11:00 a.m. (ET).
Moderated by Kevin Zelnio of The Other 95%, Peter Etnoyer of Deep Sea News, Karen James of the Beagle Project, Rick Mac Pherson of Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets and Jason Robertshaw of the Cephalopodcast.
Our discussion will be initially be focused on the following:
- Using blogs as a tool in Science, Conservation and Marine Education
- Blogs as filters of novel research and synthesizers of concepts
- Communicating Marine Science to the public via blogs (including podcasting and video blogs) to increasing public awareness of Ocean Science and related issues (i.e. who reads marine biology blogs and why).
- Blogging from the field as a method to communicate the scientific method, how research is done and what its like to be a scientist
- The multifaceted constraints of blogging in the field and to what extent blogging does or does not represent the organization you work for.
This is in an unconference format, so everyone who attends the event is encouraged to be an active participant in all of the sessions and discussions.
Also, depending on the bandwidth capabilites available, I will attempt to stream the presentation.
![Cephalopodcast album art [300x300, 14K]](http://cephalopodcast.com/img/cephalogo080108.gif)
Cephalopodcast 08 January 2008, Episode #7: Happy Blue Year: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (217)It’s been a little while since I’ve updated the blog and the podcast. Here’s a new episode. My thanks go out to Mark Powell from the Ocean Conservancy for taking time out to share his thoughts about the Carnival of the Blue. The interview was recorded back in November, shortly after CotB #6.
00:00 www.cephalopodcast.com
01:08 Happy Blue Year: 2008 Color Trends, Pantone color 18-3943
02:12 LivBlue
03:00 Sea Notes
03:38 Center for Ocean Solutions
05:06 Carnival of the Blue #8 at I’m a chordata, urochordata!
06:00 Interview with Mark Powell from blogfish
14:38 International Year of the Reef
15:11 ICRI IYOR Mini-Symposium, Washington, DC, January 25, 2008
15:35 11th International Coral Reef Symposium in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 7 July 2008
15:54 Coral Discovery Kits from NOAA
16:31 Coral Reef Conservation Fund from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, 20 Feb 2008
17:05 Year of the Frog
18:16 New frog species in North America, Cajun Chorus Frog, Pseudacris fouquettei
19:15 Some mammals smell underwater
21:05 Underwater text-messager for safer SCUBA
22:10 Underwater camera in SCUBA mask
23:25 NC Science Blogging Conference, 19 Jan 2008, Real-time blogging in the marine sciences. Discussion leaders are Kevin Zelnio, Karen James, Rick
Thanks for listening. If you have ideas for future programs or feedback, please send me a message at cephalopodcast [at] gmail [dot] com, or call the Cephalo-Hotline at 1-941-256-0097. Also be sure to check out the cephal.icio.us links to see what’s coming for future shows.
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New Ocean Music: Jonathan Coulton, OCTOPUS [5:43]
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Things have been pretty dry here at the cephaloblog. My apologies, but tis the season for distraction. I didn’t even have a post worth forwarding on to this month’s Carnival of the Blue. But you can moisten up with the latests submission from other fin folk. Carnival of the Blue #7 is now up at The Natural Patriot.
And I have a long overdue interview with Mark Powell to post on this very matter shortly. Stay tuned.
Last Sunday was International Rock-Flipping Day. I made another 60 second video highlighting some of our discoveries. It’s a little choppier production, since I only had the Powershot A95 (movie setting). Once again, edited with iMovie and scored in Garageband.
Sticking a tentative tentacle into the world of video podcasting. This first one is something of a test.
Shot on 07/28/2007 with my peewee Canon ZR500. Edited with iMovie and scored in Garageband. Inspired by this series 60 Seconds in the Life of the Galapagos Islands over at Ironic Sans.
BTW, my buddy SB just coined a new word tonight. I was asking him about youth culture and the balkanization of all these social networking sites. He said that geeks go to blip.tv and the “general public & yutes go YT [YouTube].” So there you have it:
yutes |yoōts|
noun
1. [informal] plural for young adults.
2. [slang] YouTube enthusiasts (often obsessive youths).
youts
British spelling of yutes
The 2007 Annual National Marine Educators Association Conference is under way in Portland, Maine. Sadly, I will not be able to attend NMEA this year. However, I did get a chance to present last year. My wife and I also took that opportunity to tour through New York City. Our last day was rather rainy, and somewhere in SoHo we serendipitously ducked into the Scholastic Retail Store to avoid the downpour. It was a pretty amazing space, with lots of primary colors and opportunities for young readers. I picked up a book on sharks to share with my co-workers.
Back at work, summer camp was still underway. During the first sessions the kids were asked to draw a picture of a scientist, which is pretty standard stuff*. Their efforts were posted up in the classroom and I had a chance to check in a couple of times to see the progress. Many of them initially drew the archetypal illustration of a white male in a lab coat doing something with test tubes. And it was also interesting to note how many of the younger Aquakids (students entering grades 1-4) had a hard time distinguishing between science and magic. Many of them conflated chemistry with potion making and mixed up the regalia of wizardry with that of the laboratory.
Which brings me back to Scholastic. They are the the American distributor for the Harry Potter series. Many people intuitively argue that Harry Potter is good because it gets young people reading. Others are not so sure. So one might also blame Scholastic for contributing to the confusion in the kids’ illustrations. But the picture isn’t that clear. Scholastic also has a remarkable partnership with the American Museum of Natural History called Science Explorations.
![Scholastic: Squid Anatomy [200x150, 8K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070723_ScholasticSquid.gif "Investigating The Giant Squid, Scholastic Science Exploration")
The program promises to, “engage students and teachers with authentic, hands-on science investigations with real scientists, primary documents, genuine artifacts, and standards-based science inquiries based on the Museum’s resources.” In additon to print publications, engagement currently seems to consist of a half-dozen interactive, Flash-based websites. These include exhibits on bats, bugs, space, reptiles and Charles Darwin. But naturally enough, my favorite one is Investigating The Giant Squid: Mysterious Cephalopods of the Sea. The exploration includes a virtual dissections and an interview/slideshow with Dr. Neil Landman from the AMNH. I am planning on posting this bit to TONMO (if it is not there already) because they recently started a new K-12 forum devoted to using cephalopods in education.
Science Explorations also has a section called Writing with Scientists. It offers teachers and students, “step-by-step support to transform a collection of notes, observations, research, and experiments into a well-organized, thorough, and thoughtful science report.” You can read examples of how students use the resource over here.
![I'm a sucker for the Cephalopodcast, science edu+ocean info, cephalopodcast.com [180x150, 39K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/cephalobanner1.jpg "Cephalopodcast Fans")
![Cephalopodcast album art [300x300, 14K]](http://cephalopodcast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/albumart-300.jpg)
