Carnival of the Blue 24

It's the best in ocean blogging, hosted here at the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sea Notes blog.

Quite a busy month, highlighted by Earth Day celebrations (though Sylvia Earle would probably call it the Day of Dirt because of the terracentric focus; no matter, World Ocean Day is coming up on June 8!).

Not a problem for ocean bloggers, so let's dive right in:

Dissing Dolphins: David Schiffman at SouthernFriedScience.com offers "Sharks are mean but dolphins are cute...right?" -- the latest in his series addressing the thesis that dolphins are actually jerks. What do you think? (You won't be the first to weigh in with an opinion.)

Discussing Dolphins: As counterpoint, this meditation by Emmett Duffy of Natural Patriot on whether the search for (other) intelligent life in the Universe could well end in the oceans of Earth.

Ducks & Clucks: Marcus Ng of The annotated budak (cluckings on life, nature and ducks), reflects on intertidal life on a small islet, and the possible sexual etymology surrounding some beautiful sea snails. Read one or all three for well-crafted words and fab photos.

Remain Clam:Love the title by Chris Patil of Ouroboros (research in the biology of aging) in this exploration of the career benefits of studying bivalve longevity.

Donovan's Reef?: Mark Hall of Biomes Blog (it's about stuff) as well as for the Daily Kos was smitten by the psychedelic frogfish from Indonesia. And why not? Tune in, turn on and dive down!

Beautiful Birds: Gunnar Engblom of Kolibri Expeditions contributes fabulous photos of pelagic birds (well, not JUST birds, as you'll see).

In Plain Sight: Wanderin' Weeta, the nom-du-blog of Susannah Anderson, shares seaside delights you might otherwise overlook. Moral: Keep eyes wide open & camera at the ready.

Cucumber Crisis: Sheril Kirshenbaum, who blogs at The Intersection for Discover Magazine, is shocked, SHOCKED to learn that anyone is shocked about overfishing for sea cucumbers. Shifting baselines, anyone?

Ain't No Sunshine: Speaking of which, Jennifer Jacquet of Guilty Planet is REALLY talking shifting baselines. If a picture's worth a thousand words, then hers is the longest blog entry of the Carnival! She highlights the half-century decline of fish in the Sunshine State, recorded in trophy shots taken by sport fishermen.

Oh, What a Mess!: From Christie (Observations of a Nerd) Wilcox comes this appalling summary of the mountains of garbage cleared worldwide during the 2008 International Coastal Cleanup.

Best of Brasil: A rare English-language entry from Lucia Malla of Uma Malla pelo mundo (One Malla for the world) -- an interview with biologist Ginnie Carter, who's attempting to cryopreserve corals. (You can also read it in Portuguese, along with other entries.)

Land of Snow: Just because it's springtime in the northern hemisphere doesn't mean we're past the season of snow. Dive into Puget Sound with Mark Powell on his Swim Around Bainbridge blog and you'll be pulling your muk-luks out of storage!

Enduring Love: Sarah Lardizabal of WaterNotes shares her infatuation with babies -- baby harbor seals, that is -- and her profound frustration with the hairless beach apes who clearly don't get it.

Deep Impacts: In the Sea Notes blog, Ken Peterson writes about research by colleagues at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, who warn that rising levels of atmospheric CO2 could starve deep sea animals of oxygen. There's good news in the same entry, as the U.S. Environmental protection agency has opened the door to regulating greenhouse gases as a public health threat.

Death of Captain NIMO?: On the subject of CO2, Mark Powell of Blogfish poses a big question for Earth Day 2009, asking how far we're willing to open our minds to address grave threats to the future of the oceans). Will we think the unthinkable, and begin to talk about it?

Science of Snails: What's the impact of sea snails on diversity and productivity in tide pools? Jarrett Byrnes of i'm a chordata! urochordata! has some answers -- and they're not the ones you'd expect.

Sustainable C-Food?: Can we find a new source of sustainable seafood not by fishing down the food web but by fishing down the EVOLUTIONARY web? And can you find the famous ocean blogger at the heart of the story? Clues abound in this riveting tale from Rick MacPherson of Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets.

Mega-Mouthful: What's the moral thing to do when a rare shark dies in a Third World fishing community? Ponder the story, ferret out the facts and form your opinion, sparked by Patric Douglas' posting at the Shark Divers blog.

Big Mama: She didn't win the Great Turtle Race, but an enormous leatherback sea turtle named Wawa Bear made news of another kind in French Guiana. Let Peter Etnoyer of Deep Sea News tell you all about it.

Pucker & Bloat: Jason Robertshaw at Cephalopodcast brings us the latest installment of his always-popular comic, featuring the two biggest sea starts since Spongebob and Patrick. Guest appearance this month by Eunice the bobbit worm, the newest member of the band TÜN-O-FISH.

Penguins a la Road: Alexa (age 9) and Cindy BeMent of Oceans4Ever meet macaroni & gentoo penguins during travels to the Tennessee Aquarium, and share penguin facts gleaned in a video interview with aviculturist Amy Graves.

Star of Saipan: Finally, how cool is this? Angelo O'Connor Villagomez of The Saipan Blog earned international recognition and told a compelling tale of conservation in the Northern Mariana Islands on the NBC Nightly News during its Earth Week coverage of ocean issues. You can see it here, and read the reactions, too. Way to go, Angelo!

We'll do it again in June, when Mark Powell and Blogfish host Carnival of the Blue 25 for World Ocean Day!

Leatherback photo © Jean-Yves Georges; barreleye photo © MBARI

Comments

[pay day]

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[The Philippine Island]

For me, Boracay is the most beautiful place in the Philippines i have ever seen. How i wish i can go back there someday.

[Gunnar Engblom]

Thanks a lot for including my two contributions. This carnival, apart from sharing excellent blogposts, also recieves a lot of visitors, which is reflected in the large number of hits to my posts. Maybe it is because of the high traffic in general to Monterey Sea Aquarium I think this is the best carnival so far I have partipated in. Keep up the good work. I will be back!

[Ken Peterson]

Really some fantastic work going on. And the deeper you dig into the blogs, the more gems you find.

[Susannah]

Wonderful Carnival! I've been clicking here and there like mad.

Thanks!

[Anne "boracay island philippines" Peterson]

I really enjoyed reading your post!
Thank you for sharing!