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)

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)

Posted by Michael Coyne at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A really great little post on the importance of making data freely available (or at least with as few restrictions as possible). And the dangers inherent in treating data as intellectual property.

In particular this bit, quoted from a policy paper prepared by Athena Global:

• A direct association exists between pricing and its effects on public access and commercialisation of government agency information. Current pricing problems are having a deleterious effect on the affordability of spatial data in Canada, France, and the United Kingdom;
  
• A direct association exists between the application of intellectual property rights and the degree of public access and commercialisation of government agency information. The greater the restrictions on access, the less successful dissemination programs will be;
  
• Reducing prices and relaxing intellectual property restrictions on government datasets are significant factors improving opportunities for access and commercialization for stakeholders in the geographic information community.

It's impossible to put a value on all the earth observation data that the US government makes freely available. It is one of the undeniably good things they do and it's a shame that other countries do not do the same. Access to European remote sensing data, in particular, is a shambles (CNES Aviso data the notable exception).

Posted by Michael Coyne at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth just came out on iTunes.

Do you want to scare yourself?

Read some of the customer reviews posted to iTunes about the movie. You will get a good sense of why conservation is so hard!

Posted by Michael Coyne at 08:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the most intelligent things I've read in a while.

From the opinion page at PalmBeachPost.com

Posted by Michael Coyne at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It would have been this week, but things have been busy...

I traveled to New Hampshire last week for a PI meeting at the Large Pelagics Research Center at UNH. Sorry, turtle related topics end here. The rest is just a rant...

Continue reading "Last Week's Sign of the Apocalyspe" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Not sure if this will mean anything to most people, but I found it very amusing and all too true!

http://www.slash7.com/pages/vampires

Remind you of anything?

Posted by Michael Coyne at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I somehow got on to the moveon.org mailing list when they first started up and have never bothered to remove myself. Not sure why. I generally don't read their messages (usually over the top pronouncements about how particular politicians are destroying the country).

In any case, I just received a message from them that I did happen to read and I have to say I found it rather disturbing... 

Continue reading "IT'S SICKENING!" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Australian courts are going to make distributors of a computer program (Kazaa) responsible for the illegal use of their program by end users.

See:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050905/ap_on_hi_te/australia_kazaa

Does this mean that you and I can be held responsible for any product we create or distribute that ends up being used illegally by someone else?

The US Supreme Court recently ruled similarly against the distribution network Grokster:
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=12536&hed=Grokster+Loses

So if software makers and/or distributors are responsible for the illegal use of their products by end users, why have they refused to do the same for gun makers? Where is the press on this one?

Definitely stinks of favoritism for and lobbying on the part of the entertainment industry!

Posted by Michael Coyne at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Matthew mentioned in one of his last posts that we recently spent some time in the field together. One thing I noticed was Matthew's abundance of swag. It seemed like he wore a t-shirt from a different sea turtle project every day we were in the field. Sometimes TWO in one day!

All I have are a couple dozen symposium t-shirts and seaturtle.org hats and shirts.

The experience left me feeling... inadequate. I need more swag. Send a t-shirt (sized XL, or L if your sizes run large), or other favorite item, from your sea turtle project or organization. Bonus points for items that can't normally be purchased. I promise I'll wear your swag to all the best meetings :)

Send your swag to:
Michael Coyne
1 Southampton Place
Durham, NC 27705

I am happy to make a trade. If you would like some seaturtle.org swag in return, drop a note in your package and let me know if you'd prefer a baseball cap, bucket cap or t-shirt. If you'd like a t-shirt let me know what size. If you don't have anything to trade, consider making a donation to seaturtle.org and select the swag you would like.

Posted by Michael Coyne at 03:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It really bothers me when people try to tie wildlife conservation efforts into their otherwise unrelated, and often specious, world views.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/sfl-brmail703apr06,0,276292.story?coll=sfla-news-letters

You have to wonder whether this person owns beach property.

I am hearing more and more statements similar to the one expressed in the letter linked above. My first question is, in which mythical time and place have the issues raised by the writer not existed? Human beings have struggled with the issues she mentions throughout recorded history. People that make statements like the one below clearly have no clear understanding of human history, not to mention US history.

"Not so long ago, all life was sacred."

Not to mention the completely stupid statement:

"Giant portions of our population work to save whales, birds, trees and bugs. But they were more than supportive, they were eager for Terri Schiavo to die."

Where does the support for this statement come from.

Mostly I am disappointed that the South Florida Sun-Sentinel would publish material with so little basis in reality. Such things only serve to raise tensions that are already high and further divide people.

Posted by Michael Coyne at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I received an interesting spam message today (it should be noted that I consider any e-mail advertisement from an organization that I do not have some kind of a relationship with to be spam). If I buy something from a company or register on their websites, then I am fair game (unless I specify otherwise :). Anyway, it was an ad for a new auction website for the buying, selling and trading of animals and animal related products. I would provide a link, but I don't want to inadvertently provide additional advertisement. If you want to know the details contact me separately.

I can't quite put my finger on what bothers me about it, but their tag line "your animal marketplace" just seems crass.

I did not see any signs of protected species on the site, and I am assuming they will not allow that sort of thing. Seems like most of the listings at the moment are fairly common pets (dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, etc). But they do have an exotics section that concerns me. There were no live animals listed yet, but they do have categories for giraffes, lions, tigers and even gorillas. I'm guessing that last one at least is illegal. I that of at least a few gorilla species that are on the CITES red list. And people pretty much just don't have any business owning giraffes, lions or tigers! What's the point of taking these animals out of their natural habitats (or what's left of them)?

I am guessing that the site will be just a drop in the bucket of the global exotic pet trade that is wiping out biodiversity all over the planet. But we certainly do not need any new efforts to create a market for exotic animals. The aquarium fish trade alone is single-handedly responsible for destroying the diversity on reefs around the Big Island of Hawaii.

Oh well, just meant to report. I was not intending to get in to a rant. So I'll stop here...

Posted by Michael Coyne at 12:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An actual message received this morning. One of the more abusive messages that I have received (see the post about the GADNR turtle Ormanda for more examples).

In any case, I'm not exactly sure why this new poster sent the message. He obviously seems to be upset that sea turtle protection is putting a crimp in his beach driving, but why he chose to lash out at seaturtle.org is beyond me. From reading the news I assume he is talking about the specific situation in Flagler County Florida.

Judge denies bid for beach driving ban
Judge denies activists' request for injunction
There were more stories, but unfortunately most seem to have expired because of AP rules that they can only be displayed for two weeks...

This is not something that I know much about or that seaturtle.org is involved in. So again, not sure why we received the message. It also means I feel no particular compunction against reposting it here :)

Continue reading "Sickening" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 07:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Honestly!

That is a message that I just received. There was no please. No thank-you. No "my name is...". Just the From e-mail address and that message.

How the heck do you help someone that gives you no information?

Continue reading "Questions" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sorry, this has absolutely nothing to do with turtles. Well, unless you count the fact that it has to do with how I connect to the internet and thus how I do all things related to SEATURTLE.ORG...

Continue reading "Don't use DSL.net" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As if the complaints weren't bad enough, it appears that a great many German spammers have now found seaturtle.org.

Continue reading "Insult to injury" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEATURTLE.ORG set a new record this past Tuesday with more than 56,000 hits in a 24 hours period. For a bit of reference, if that happened every day we'd get more than 20 MILLION hits a year. As it is we got 2.4 million hits last year and Tuesday's total was about 3x higher than the previous record day.

Unfortunately, all of the news is not good...

Continue reading "A new record" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

There is a new vile and insidious disease spreading through the web...

Comment Spam

Continue reading "Comment Spam" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 12:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A big migration is set to begin. Not the migration of a turtle, but a turtler. I thought I would use this space to document the process and everything that is involved in moving a turtler from here to there...

Continue reading "The big migration" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was just browsing around the web and came across the website for an organization called Reef Ball.

Continue reading "Reefballing" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 03:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

They say that people will buy anything on ebay.

Bah!

Continue reading "Ebay Schmeebay" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Photo Gallery

Continue reading "Look at my pictures!!!" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

OK, this is not strictly sea turtle related, except that this issue causes a huge burden to the seaturtle.org server and every other server in the world. Namely the propagation of micro$oft based viruses and worms. There must be millions of infected PC users out there that don't even have a clue that they are infected. And their machines are happily spewing infected messages to the rest of the internet. I clean several hundred infected messages out of my filter logs every couple of weeks, and another 20 or so a day get through to my inbox (and probably the inbox of all the other seaturtle.org users). Not to mention the literally thousands of probes logged each day by infected windozes machines looking for weaknesses in other computers on the internet.

Bah!

Continue reading "Micro$oft is EVEEL" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A recent Houston Chronicle article, among others, noted the first Kemp's ridley nest of the season in Texas. Considering that until recently there were no Kemp's nesting in Texas, this sort of news always gives me hope. There is the general joy and happiness because it is one of many signs that the Kemp's population is recovering. Donna Shaver has been doing a great job of keeping us all up-to-date on the recovery status of Kemp's ridley in Texas (MTN42, MTN70, MTN74, MTN75, MTN82).

Continue reading "Go Kemp's Go!" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Another rant. This one has been bugging me for a long time...

So I've just posted another 10 back-issues of the Marine Turtle Newsletter on the MTN website. That's all but about 10 issues of the MTN now available to the public, nearly 90 issues available RIGHT NOW...

FREE OF CHARGE

FULLY SEARCHABLE

WHAT A GREAT DEAL

Continue reading "Show me the money" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Larisa's first blog reminded me about a pet peeve of mine with regards to turtlin'. She didn't come right out and say it, but reading between the lines I can assure you that she would agree with me :)

Continue reading "Turtler? Hah!" »

Posted by Michael Coyne at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)