Monday, November 22, 2010

The first rogue wave?

 On New Year's day 1995 a huge rogue wave occured at the Draupner Platform (an area in the North Sea off the coast of Norway) and was hence named the Draupner Wave. This wave is certainly not the first rogue wave to occur, but it is the first wave to be measured with instrumentation thus proving the many past anecdotal occurances. The Draupner wave reached a height of over 20 meters.


 

Friday, November 19, 2010

quahogs, cherry stones, and gooey ducks oh my!

Quahog
 












Cherry Stones
Gooey Duck









The first 2 bivalves seem harmless. I'm not so sure about the last one...

Thursday, November 11, 2010

ESI map


















This is an ESI map of the coast of Point Reeves, California. This map focuses on various different species of seals and their corresponding habitats.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Icebergs and Glaciers

About 75 % of all the world's freshwater is stored as ice. After the oceans, the single greatest body of water is the Antarctic ice sheet.

A glacier is any large mass of snow or ice that persists on land for many years. Glaciers form in areas where more snow falls than melts. As this snow accumulates it compresses into thick, dense, solid ice. Glaciers actually move because their own weights causes a type of melting to occur, allowing movement —downhill if on a slope or in all directions from the center if on a flat surface.

North Polar ice cap:


















South Polar ice cap:


















Iceberg:


















Iceberg video:

A video that contains an overview of the cryosphere and the movement/ seasonal retreats of glaciers

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

URLs

Cycling of DDT in the Environment

The long range transport of persistent and semi-volatile organics was studied in this article using a coupled atm-ocean circulation model. DDT was found mostly in soils and had the longest residence time in the soil and ocean. DDT travels vertically in oceans by attaching to particles and suspending downward. About 30% of DDT is stored in particulate matter in the oceans. The global scale substance transport in the environment is ultimtely determined by atmospheric circulation. After a decade of simulation 12% of global DDT was found to accumulate in the Arctic.








http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=10&sid=ef1c4dca-6aaa-42ce-bd7a-9ad82667cc61%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=43893812#db=a9h&AN=43893812





ER admissions and the Red Tide

This article deals with the relevancy of emergency room admissions for gastrointestinal issues to Florida Red Tide Blooms. Exposure to Red Tide aerosols has been known to cause neurological as well as respiratory illnesses, but it can also cause gastrointestinal complications due to ingestion of shellfish and fish. During Florida Red Tide blooms, ERs saw a 40% increase in admissions for gastrointestinal illness.









Chinook Salmon Growth during the 1998 El Nino and 1999 La Nina

      The following article researches the growth rate of juvenile Chinook Salmon during El Nino and La Nina periods. The salmon experienced greater growth during strong El Nino events as opposed to the La Nina event. This was due to elevated temperatures, lower salinity, and greater freshwater outflow.










Monday, August 30, 2010

Shark Ray Alley


These Nurse Sharks are swimming in Shark Ray Alley, my favorite snorkeling sight we visted for Coral Reef Ecology. When you're swimming there's always nurse sharks or Souther Stingrays bumping into you:)

The Blue Hole- Belize


This is the Blue Hole located in Belize which is where I traveled 2 years ago for a coral reef ecology class. We didn't get to travel to this particular reef (lighthouse reef) but it is a very interesting place.