Weekly Video - Sea Serpents

Ever wonder where the legends of sea serpents come from? The oarfish is a pelagic Lampriform fish that can grow up to 30 feet long. (One species with the amusing name "king of herrings" holds a record of 56 feet in length.) This is what one looks like when we see them at the surface:



Amazingly, the oarfish was recently caught on camera in the Gulf of Mexico:



Utterly insane stuff. This is just a reminder of all that we have yet to learn about the inhabitants of our world's oceans.

Science Fair at the White House

"Today, President Obama will host the White House Science Fair celebrating the winners of a broad range of  science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions. The White House Science Fair fulfills a commitment the President made at the launch of his Educate to Innovate campaign in November 2009. That campaign aims to move American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade." (Find the announcement and a list of the exhibits that were on display HERE)

So President Obama has held good on his word to help restore science to the White House and America in general. In addition to the science fair held today, he has also named Dr. Subra Suresh as the new director of the National Science Foundation. An expert in nanotechonolgy and the Dean of the School of Engineering at MIT, Dr. Suresh is the first actual research scientist to hold this position in quite some time. Hurrah!

Weekly Video: Pale Blue Dot

For your weekly video of awesome I have decided to take things in a slightly different direction.

All hail Carl Sagan.

Invasive Species of the Week

I have to admit, when I was looking for something to start this subject off, I asked a few friends what their favorite invasive species was. They all gave me the same answer: humans. You guys are so cynical and morbid! I mean, sure, we've adapted to live all over the globe and often push out other species to do so not to mention destroy large swaths of forest or swamp or grassland without compunction... Okay. So by any normal person's standards, we probably count as an invasive species. However, humans have adapted to be the dominant species on Earth. We have technology and global communication and travel in a way that no other species does. What I want to take a look at here is how our global expansion has contributed to the expansion of other species - and how that hasn't always necessarily been for the best.

A few definitions before we begin with our first victim:

"An invasive species is a non-native species (including seeds, eggs, spores, or other propagules) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic harm, environmental harm, or harm to human health. The term "invasive"; is used for the most aggressive species. These species grow and reproduce rapidly, causing major disturbance to the areas in which they are present."
- http://www.invasive.org/ 

"An "invasive species" is defined as a species that is

1) non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and
2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. (Executive Order 13112).

Invasive species can be plants, animals, and other organisms (e.g., microbes). Human actions are the primary means of invasive species introductions."
- http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/ (USDA)


You see already that the emphasis on invasive species is how they harm humans. The Nature Conservancy says this: "Invasive species damage the lands and waters that native plants and animals need to survive. They hurt economies and threaten human well-being.  The estimated damage from invasive species worldwide totals more than $1.4 trillion – five percent of the global economy." That's not an insubstantial sum of money. Governments and organizations around the world look for ways to halt and stem the damages done by invasive species all the time. But it's not an easy issue to tackle...

In the same way the ecosystem management is difficult, so is containing or minimizing the impact of an invasive species. In most cases, we simply do not have all of the information we need. This has led to the release of one invasive species to control another only to have the second take over and have an even bigger impact than the one we sought to eliminate first. We have doused ecosystems in deadly chemicals without even knowing what the consequences would be for native flora and fauna, or the watershed. Without a doubt, the problem of invasive species is real and ongoing - and we should all be a little more aware of how these things can spread in order to stop the problem from happening in the first place.

I will illustrate the problems associated with invasive species further by swinging the spotlight on a different one each week. We'll begin in the United States - simply because that's the area I am the most familiar with. And we'll expand from there. Tune in every Friday to learn more.

What value is there in nature? (part one - biodiversity)

One of the biggest questions that must be answered for environmental management of any kind is what we value about the system. And while there are myriad reasons why we humans might value an ecosystem, one of the most popular answers is biodiversity.

The 'Hall of Biodiversity' at the American Natural History Museum.

Biodiversity is a key word that gets thrown around in the environmental Green movement almost as much as sustainability. We'll get into sustainability later. I want to focus on biodiversity now because I feel that it is something not many people understand the value of beyond "something we should protect because it's good to have." Honestly "because it's good to have" is no reason to protect or invest any energy into caring about anything. That would be like jumping off the proverbial bridge just because all your friends are doing it, and I certainly don't condone people acting like sheep.

A Canadian education website defines biodiversity as: The diversity of life on earth, consisting of genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity. I think this definition describes much more than what generally comes to mind. It is also the definition that the government ostensibly works with, and what most biologists mean when they use it. Recognizing this sort of all-encompassing approach to biodiversity is essential to understanding its ultimate importance.

You might think about it this way: What kind of team is more successful? One in which everyone has the same or similar skills? Or one in which people have different skill sets with the potential to complement each other? Ecosystem, species, and genetic diversity all contribute to a collective whole with a greater power to survive and prosper in the world.

The most important reason we should care about biodiversity is a little something called ecosystem services. You've no doubt heard of this before, but take a moment and let something sink in. If there was a sudden decrease in the world's pollinators, what would the effect on people be? No more crops, flowers, trees... any plant relying on an outside species to pollinate them would be crippled. Unable to reproduce. This is a bit of an exaggeration - but, honestly, there are so many ways in which life on Earth intertwines that we aren't even sure what all the consequences would be of eliminating ANY species. 

We do however know that biodiversity affords humanity the following things: 

- food in the form of crops, spices, seafood, game meat

- clean water

- any number of medicinal uses

- products for use in industry as well as energy production

- regulation of: climate, carbon, waste, purification processes, pollination, pests, diseases

All of these things are absolutely essential if we'd like to go on living the life the way we have. And I didn't even mention the cultural or spiritual values we find in nature. The entire ecotourism industry is hugely popular and constantly growing as well.

This is a brief overview of this large and all-encompassing topic. If you'd like to hear about anything in more depth, I will gladly do more posts on specific aspects of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Just let me know. 

All right! Now that you understand why biodiversity is important, you have one HUGE reason to value nature. And we also have much of the information we need to delve into my next weekly broadcast.... Introduced and Invasive Species. Oooooh.... Ahhhhh....

Weekly Video - Weird Nature Roundup

I love the BBC's Weird Nature segments. (See the vid about the alcoholic vervet monkeys I posted awhile ago.) Here are a few that never cease to amuse and amaze.

Pistol Shrimp - they literally use their claws like a gun.



Doing Wheelies - we weren't the first to exploit the invention of the wheel.



Breakdancing skunks...?



Want more? Just search "weird nature" and you'll find plenty to keep you occupied.

Weekly Video - Barnacle Sex

This week's video was actually featured in a lecture by my marine biology professor when I was an undergrad student. Did you know that barnacles have the largest penis to body size ratio of the animal kingdom? Well, you will after you watch this educational and highly amusing music video.




And for even more fun, a clip from the BBC's hilarious show of talking wildlife footage, Walk On the Wild Side.