Bubbles in the Bathtub

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is going mainstream, with a prominent mention in a mainstream television program (sort of), not to mention new entries in Wikipedia and How Stuff Works. A recent episode of a new program called Life After People on the History Channel featured the GPGP. The premise of the program is speculation about what would happen to all of our man-made constructs if people were to suddenly disappear from the face of the earth one day. Last night's episode (The Capital Threat) focused on Washington DC and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles segments followed the GPGP and noted that the patch would continue to grow for many years after people because of all of the plastic currently floating in the ocean that has not yet reached the GPGP.

The show ends with the sobering note that our plastic garbage will likely be our longest lasting legacy, outlasting our steel megastructures and monuments of solid stone. After 600 hundred years the plastic trash will have photo-degraded into smaller and more toxic elements and continue to impact wildlife long after we are gone (they even have a video vignette of a hawksbill sea turtle).

While our sudden disappearance from the Earth is unlikely, the take home message is that even if we were to completely stop using plastics today they will continue to accumulate in the environment for many years. Some significant steps are needed to gain control of plastic and mitigate the long-term price we are going to pay for our current irresponsible practices.

Photo gallery from the episode

This episode of Life After People will be airing again (all times are US eastern)...
Tonight (11 May) at 11pm
Tomorrow (12 May) at 3am
17 May at 5pm

Posted by Michael Coyne at 08:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Save This Page |

The kids have been bugging us for a couple of weeks to let them watch Monster Quest (on the History Channel). So we finally gave in and watched an episode this morning called "Jaws in Illinois". Basically about how sharks have been reported upstream in fresh water rivers and lakes. Not that big a deal, as bull sharks are known to be able to move from salt to fresh water. In the end it was about 15 minutes of material (repeated over and over again) expanded in to an hour long show.

But the worst part was the extreme hyperbole playing upon the completely bogus reputation of sharks as cold-blooded killers. Indicative of the overblown drama was the line "they are invading our rivers". Never mind that the rivers don't belong to us and that sharks and many other organisms have been using them long before humans even evolved. They repeatedly suggest that humans are in mortal danger because the sharks are moving in to fresh water. Complete bunk!

Left unmentioned was that IF the sharks are increasingly moving in to fresh water it is because we have wiped out their food resources in the ocean and they are looking farther afield for food. Or perhaps they have just always been there and we didn't notice it. The truth is that shark species around the world are in trouble because we have wiped out their food sources, fisheries that target shark fins and waste the rest of the shark, and a shoot first ask questions later mentality when it comes to sharks fueled by shows like this that continue to demonize these magnificent marine creatures.

One cool tidbit of info was that scientists believe that greenland sharks live up to 200 years, the longest lived vertebrate on the planet. But in general, this show represents the worst kind of human arrogance. Hopefully the first and last episode of this show we will watch.

Posted by Michael Coyne at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Save This Page |

I was invited to speak at the Duke University Marine Lab this week as part of their Seminar Series. The PhD students invite a different speaker each week. I recorded my presentation on "Education, Outreach and Collaborative Networks", or how seaturtle.org is working to network the global sea turtle community. The presentation is included below.

Posted by Michael Coyne at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Save This Page |

Google just announced an expansion of its popular Google Earth application to include seabed maps and underwater imagery. This new "Google Ocean" provides a powerful new tool for sea turtle researchers.

SEATURTLE.ORG's wildlife tracking tool allows researchers to open satellite tracks in Google Earth with the click of a button. By incorporating the sea floor in to Google Earth, Google has provided an exciting new way for researchers to visualize their wildlife tracking data.

Swim with Adelita

Take an 8-minute tour across the Pacific Ocean with Adelita the sea turtle.

Adelita was the first turtle ever tracked across an entire ocean basin using satellite telemtry...maybe even the first marine animal! Millions of kids shared her migration on the internet. Her migration helped to prove that loggerheads born in Japan cross the Pacific and feed in California and Mexico, before migrating back home to nest in Japan. She also reminds us that the oceans are connected and that we need to work together to protect sea turtles and their habitat.

Continue reading "Sea Turtles Navigate (Google) Ocean" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Save This Page |

Google has added a new high-resolution bathymetry layer to Google Earth and Google Maps. In Google Maps you have to switch to satellite mode to see it. The new layer appears to be based on the NOAA NDGC ETOPO1 or Gebco global bathymetry products.

These are the same bathymetry data used in SEATURTLE.ORG's STAT and Maptool resources.

This is a very exciting development, particularly if it means we are getting closer to the release of the long rumored Google Ocean product.

Posted by Michael Coyne at 05:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Save This Page |