Mad as a Marine Biologist

High-res sexyactionplanet: This card will grow into an Australian shrub known as a ‘bottlebrush’. These free seed-infused, biodegradable cards are the RSPCA’s new initiative to encourage native plants and wildlife in suburbia. Fantastic idea don’t you think? A card that grows into a tree. Amazing.

sexyactionplanet:

This card will grow into an Australian shrub known as a ‘bottlebrush’. These free seed-infused, biodegradable cards are the RSPCA’s new initiative to encourage native plants and wildlife in suburbia. Fantastic idea don’t you think?

A card that grows into a tree. Amazing.

Volunteer to help whale sharks. At home!

ECOCEAN, a scientific charitable group dedicated to whale shark conservation, have provided the daily spotter plane records that we are asking volunteers to transcribe.

Volunteers can take part in this by logging into the volunteer portal and registering their details. More than 200 volunteer transcribers have already signed up. To take part in the project, visit volunteer.ala.org.au 

FYI - ECOCEAN runs the online photo identification library where peeps upload their photos of whale sharks so we can map where individuals have been seen and get a better idea of migration patterns. 

First Ever Shark Hybrid Found Off Of Australia

letmelead:

Scientists have discovered the world’s first hybrid sharks in Australian waters, with multiple generations of the new creature found along the nation’s east coast.

Scientists say the discovery of interbred sharks could signal the presence of new “tropical” sharks in waters as far south as Sydney, The Australian reported.

“Wild hybrids are usually hard to find, so detecting hybrids and their offspring is extraordinary,” said Jennifer Ovenden from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.

This is big news, especially considering the current state of shark populations worldwide.

High-res mothernaturenetwork: Man vs. Shark: Australia’s battle for the deepAn unusually high number of fatal shark attacks have prompted the government to vow a crackdown on the marine predators. I’d like to know what the “crackdown” entails before passing judgement. Additionally, it’s interesting that many reports on shark attack victims have shown the victim to have a profound respect for sharks, rather than the assumed opposite. It’s not to say that shark attacks are good or acceptable in anyway, shape or form but whatever your opinion, sharks are an essential component to marine ecosystems and their loss would have profound negative effects on us, even those who have no direct links to the ocean. 

mothernaturenetwork:

Man vs. Shark: Australia’s battle for the deep
An unusually high number of fatal shark attacks have prompted the government to vow a crackdown on the marine predators.

I’d like to know what the “crackdown” entails before passing judgement. Additionally, it’s interesting that many reports on shark attack victims have shown the victim to have a profound respect for sharks, rather than the assumed opposite. It’s not to say that shark attacks are good or acceptable in anyway, shape or form but whatever your opinion, sharks are an essential component to marine ecosystems and their loss would have profound negative effects on us, even those who have no direct links to the ocean. 

High-res sexyactionplanet: Ghost Nets don’t discriminate…  [Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been abandoned at sea, lost accidentally, or deliberately discarded. They travel the oceans of the world with the currents and tides, continually fishing as they progress through the waters… This is an Australian Saltwater Crocodile found entangled in an Indonesian trawl net.] - Photograph by Jacky Castellain

sexyactionplanet:

Ghost Nets don’t discriminate… 

[Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been abandoned at sea, lost accidentally, or deliberately discarded. They travel the oceans of the world with the currents and tides, continually fishing as they progress through the waters… This is an Australian Saltwater Crocodile found entangled in an Indonesian trawl net.]

- Photograph by Jacky Castellain