Marine Census

It's hard enough for the US census to get people to open their doors and fill out forms. This couldn't have been an easy task.

"The Census of Marine Life estimates 230,000 species of animals in the world's oceans.

A team of more than 360 scientists around the world have spent the past decade surveying 25 regions, from the Antarctic through the temperate and tropical seas to the Arctic to count the different types of plants and animals.

The results show that around a fifth of the world's marine species are crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, krill and barnacles. Add in molluscs (squid and octopus) and fish (including sharks) and that accounts for up to half of the number of species in the world's seas. The charismatic species often used in conservation campaigning – whales, sea lions, turtles and sea birds – account for less than 2% of the species in the world's oceans."

Read more.

26ft Peer Gynt Guy Harvey Series Custom Boat

Wow now this would be our ultimate boat for the Neptune's Defender crew to do work! Available to win, purchase your tickets here. The proceeds from ticket sales benefit the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation.

Chris Fallows Interview

Great Q & A with Chris Fallows the South African photographer and adventurer responsible for "Air Jaws".

"Most people try to stay as far away as possible from great white sharks, given their immense size and raw power. But not Chris Fallows, the South African photographer and adventurer who returns to Discovery Channel on Sunday to kick off the 23rd edition of its annual Shark Week with "Ultimate Air Jaws."

Like its predecessors ("Air Jaws" and "Air Jaws 2"), the new special tracks Fallows as he captures images of great whites as they breach out of the water as they hunt for seals off South Africa's Seal Island. What's new is the state-of-the-art high-definition cameras he's using, which shoot 2,000 frames per second, offering the clearest view of these attacks ever. Footage of a one-second breach can be slowed down and studied in great detail, down to the number of teeth in each shark's mouth."

Read the interview.

Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary

"SANCTUARY NEEDS DONATIONS for a possible impact on Florida's beaches from the Gulf Oil Spill: The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary and Avian Hospital's trained staff is on stand-by to assist with the Gulf Oil Spill Crisis, with over 700 volunteers on call if needed. We are asking for more volunteers to be on emergency call.

The sanctuary is the largest wild bird hospital in the U.S. based on the admission of over 8,000 injured birds each year. It is set up to immediately triage, stabilize and administer fluids to, malnourished, or injured birds. The Sanctuary has received thousand's of emails and calls from around the world from concerned groups and individuals.

The Sanctuary staff and volunteers were a significant workforce in the disastrous Tampa Bay 1993 oil spill

and has experienced avian care staff on standby to assist Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research. To report oiled wildlife affected by the Gulf oil spill please call the Wildlife reporting hotline at 1-866-557-1401."

Visit them here.

Excerpt From Cannibal Squid Documentary

This is an amazing video of jumbo squid.

"The first ever video of jumbo squid acting naturally—footage captured by squid themselves—shows the cannibalistic predators lighting up "like Christmas trees," according to a new documentary of a 2009 expedition.

The same expedition established the jumbo squid—one of which shattered two Kevlar bite plates with its beak—as having among the world's strongest bites."

Watch the video at National Geographic.

Red Tide Toxins Destroying Sharks Brains

Very interesting article! To read the full story go to this link at Discovery

"Toxins produced by red tide events can alter shark brains, resulting in "hyperexcitability" and even death, according to a new study that will appear in the September issue of the journal Aquatic Toxicology.

The study is the first to document how brevetoxins, which are brain-changing compounds synthesized by some harmful algal blooms, affect a free-ranging marine species. In this case, researchers focused on lemon sharks, but they believe many other types of sharks could fall victim to the toxins.

"Sharks are exposed via consumption of brevetoxin-contaminated water and food, such as shellfish," co-author Niladri Basu explained to Discovery News, mentioning that the toxins can easily cross the shark's blood-brain barrier that otherwise protects the brain.

"Once inside the brain, brevetoxins bind very strongly to a protein that controls sodium flow," added Basu, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. "By disrupting sodium flow in the brain, nerve cells will over-fire and cause hyperexcitability and ultimately result in death."
Humans may be at least partially to blame. Basu said that "agricultural run-off can influence the formation and growth of blooms," which is when certain sea algae rapidly increase in number. Since the blooms can make water turn red, these events are sometimes known as "red tides."

No More Threat to FL Keys or East Coast

Keep you fingers crossed friends. Great news! Let's hope for the best but still prepare for the worst because there is still much work to do.

"The Obama administration says the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico no longer poses a threat to the Florida Keys or the East Coast.

A new federal report indicates that only about a quarter of the spilled oil remains in the Gulf and is degrading quickly, with the rest having been contained, cleaned up or having disappeared.

There had been fears that the massive spill could reach South Florida and the East Coast through a powerful loop current, but the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday that enough oil has been removed or evaporated to eliminate those fears.

Still, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco cautioned that the remaining oil - much of it below the surface - remains a threat to aquatic life and Gulf Coast marshes. Just because the oil is diluted and largely out of sight "doesn't necessarily mean (it is) benign," Lubchenco said".

Story received from the AP.