Thriving Oceans

Having trouble getting a perspective on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf coast?  Well, Paul Rademacher developed a unique utility that works with Google Earth to overlay the size of the spill as it appeared on May 6th with well-known geographical locations…and customizable to include your own hometown.

As I just returned from the Big Island of Hawaii, I thought it appropriate to share a screenshot of just how bad the problem was last week.   

And if you’re interested in keeping track of the devastation as it continues to grow and consume the marine ecosystem, PBS has created a widget displaying how much oil has leaked and how much continues to flow into the Gulf of Mexico . Unfortunately a mere widget does not do justice to this ecological disaster.

Oil and water don’t mix.  Do I really need to say more?

Happy sea turtle Friday everyone!  Thought I’d send you off for the weekend with an encounter we had on the Big Island of Hawaii last week.  It must be the happening place for a slumber in the sun.  The photos are a little washed out as we were using our underwater camera, but if you look closely that’s a pile of 9 sea turtles.

While exploring the coral reefs of Hawaii’s Big Island I just couldn’t completely pull away from checking the occasional email.  I was actually coming along quite well until a few work calls popped through and forced me to open Pandora’s box.  But amongst the work craziness I can always find email solace with those pertaining to my wildlife and ocean conservation activities.

And it just so happened that awaiting my attention was an email from Ava over at The Reef Tank.  It was a request for an interview and to say the least I’m flattered.  So upon my return from island paradise I caught up with Ava to talk a little about Thriving Oceans and marine conservation.

So hop on over to The Reef Tank and check out the community blog, forums, photos and of course my interview.

Cheers!

Conservation, like expression, comes in many forms and a topic such as declining bluefin tuna is no different.  I recently received a digital copy of the following piece of art from Susan S., which was created in response to the latest failures to protect bluefin tuna.  The original is pastel and collage so enjoy yet heed its warning. 

It is sad but most definitely true that I was completely in the dark.  And I am hoping that the first thing that pops to your mind is not ocean or wildlife conservation.  But before we all start throwing out a potential subject matter, I’ll let you know.  Thriving Oceans was one of 400 reader nominations for Seed Media Group’s Research Blogging Awards 2010 honoring the outstanding bloggers who discuss peer-reviewed research.  And I am even more humbled to discover that out of all the nominations Thriving Oceans was a finalist for the Best Conservation or Geophysical Blog.  What an honor!

Briefly, the reason I found myself in the shadows is an ongoing landlubber conservation effort for burrowing owls.  Yes, with my alter ego I find myself routinely wandering areas out of the salty water, but still working to spark conservationism.

Thanks to everyone for the nomination and all the votes.  So let’s get going with some research blogging, a little ocean conservation, and by all means “Let’s Get Ocean Responsible.”

Cheers to the other finalists and winner…what a great list to be connected with in 2010.

Winner: Highly Allochthonous

Finalists:

• Ecographica
• Southern Fried Science
• Dave’s landslide blog
• In Terra Veritas
• Thriving Oceans
• Voltage gate
• ConservationBytes