MESSAGE TO YOU FROM SIREN!

My dear friends on land and sea.

As this year comes to an end, I'm thinking of all the science facts and delicious fictions about the ocean, not only the creatures below the waves but those who ride them on surfboards and in boats, and all of us who, if we could, would be mermaids and mermen! At this beginning of this year, I'm going to go through all the posts from the beginning, check that links and videos are still alive, and make sure that the links also appear on the sidebar. If you have any ideas or suggestions for me, please leave a comment!

Thank you for reading me, SIRENS LINK TO SEA!

HAPPY NEW YEAR,

Siren

BRIDGES ACROSS THE SEA FLOOR AT THE DEEPEST LEVELS!

Crystal Gammon for Live Science writes this article, linked above through Yahoo news, about the suprising bridges deep down in the Marianna Trench, which is located in the Pacific Ocean.

Under the sea there are mountains (seamounts) that don't reach the surface, and now scientists know that there are also bridges, maybe 6000 feet high, that are also elevated but narrow. The scientists are mapping these. It's still a mystery how they are formed but they have a theory...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM SIREN!

EYE OF THE DOLPHIN : FILM STARING CARLY SCHROEDER

Filmed in the Bahamas, the EYE OF THE DOLPHIN focuses on dolphin conservation. A young woman meets her father, the conservationist, for the first time at 14, after her mother has died, and learns to swim with the dolphins. Did you know that some dolphins swim with sharks? This is a family movie with good values that came out in 2007, and the actor Carly Schroeder was praised by the International Family Film Festival for her acting in it. I enjoyed watching it When it's too cold to go to the beach, home with the DVD and popcorn works!

ORAGAMI WATERBOMB

LOBSTER TAG LOST IN 2011 PERFECT STORM WASHES ASHORE IN IRELAND

It washed up 3000 miles away and across the Atlantic. Linking to the Associated Press Article and picture from the Patriot Ledger newspaper. A man lost hundreds of lobster traps and has been united with this memento when the beach comber who found it located him using Facebook.

SEA CREATURE WHAT IS IT?

COLUMBIA BASIN FISH AND WILDLIFE NEWS

I've been reading about the authorized killing of sea lions (because they are no longer a protected species) so that salmon and other fish that are endangered can live. Sea Lions have been eating the fish into endangerment. This is what happens when Sea Lions, who generally do not live in rivers, hang out around deltas and rivers, looking for food. The Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife News is for those of you who want salmon and steelhead to recover.

GATEWAY ANTARTICA : LINK TO THE FISH THAT LIVE ON THE ICE ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE SEA

This is a new one for me. I knew that there were some fish that could survive for a short while half in and out of the water, but I never thought I would see fish that are living on the top of the ice. Go to the ADAPTIONS TO THE COLD PAGE and see the picture for yourself!

The Antartic temperatures require great adaptations. THESE SURFACE DWELLING FISH HAVE BLOOD THAT'S LIKE ANTIFREEZE!

NATIONAL ICE CENTER REPORTS ON INDIVIDUAL ICEBERGS!

Recent news that there's an iceberg the size of MANHATTAN breaking off Antartica had me researching icebergs. I found the NATIONAL ICE CENTER, linking above! You can click on an ID code for a berg and see a picture of it! The list includes the current LOCATION of the berg!

PORTLAND OREGAN COLUMBIA PACIFIC OCEAN HERITAGE MUSEUM

WHERE THE COLUMBIA RIVER MEETS THE PACIFIC OCEAN... Linking to this site now, which had a lot of historical information: http://columbiapacificheritagemuseum.org/

There's an OCEAN VIEW lecture series and so much else here! Take a look at the site!

PIRATE MAZE 2

RIVER SWIMMING WHALES DIE : FRESH WATER ISN'T THEIR NATURAL HABITAT SO WHAT WAS GOING ON?

"While killer whales are known to linger near the mouth of that salmon-rich river, which flows into Bristol Bay, there had never before been a documented case in Alaska of killer whales spending prolonged periods in a river's fresh water...The adults, one of them in the late stages of pregnancy, were found dead in the river last weekend. Initial results from necropsies have failed to pinpoint a specific cause of death."

Inform Science brings us the story from Rueters news service. Three whales, one pregnant swam thirty miles upriver! All three died.

ALBINO SHARK WITH ONE CYCLOPS EYE IS REAL!

"The shark fetus, which measured "22-inch-long, has a single, functioning eye at the front of its head—the hallmark of a congenital condition called cyclopia, which occurs in several animal species, including humans," according to National Geographic."

PIRATES FULL SAIL

MAD ABOUT SEASHELLS - THE SMITHSONIAN

Did you know that our nation's biggest museum, the SMITHSONIAN, has the largest collection of sea shells?

LINKING HERE TO AN ARTICLE CALLED
MAD ABOUT SEA SHELLS!


click on title link

SEYMOUR CENTER - UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SANTA CRUZ - MARINE LAB

OCTOBER 28th is MARINE MASCARADE : the science lab has a visitor center where you can watch dolphins being trained and learn more about the Monterey Bay ecology!

MERMAIDS COMMUNES WITH THE FISH

SURREAL ARTIST REEF : ARTIST JASON DE CAIRES TAYLOR

Sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor designed 400 statues of people from all walks of life and then installed them on the ocean floor. The article from GrindTV is linked here and this is the video! AMAZING!

LA WEEKLY : THE BATTLE FOR MALIBU LAGOON BY HILLEL ARON

CAN HUMANS DESTROY MOTHER NATURE IN ORDER TO SAVE HER?

There are so many opinions voiced here! Should we wait for nature to send in a big storm and clean out - or flush out - the Malibu Lagoon and reconfigure it, as has happened before? Or should the lagoon be a more park-like setting? The article is by Hillel Aron with Ted Soqui as the photographer and you can read the whole article here!

PEARLY SHELLS : THE WAIKIKIS

SHARKS EAT IN SAN DIEGO - SEA LIONS ATTRACT THEM - SURFERS BEWARE

LA Times today reports on surfers and sea lions and sharks!

12 FOOT WAVES FROM TAHITI STORM SURFING IN ORANGE COUNTY

Read about it now!

ANDRE THE SEA TURTLE FOUND DEAD AFTER HEROIC EFFORTS TO SAVE HIM

"When Andre was found stranded on a sandbar on June 15, 2010, he had gaping holes in his shell, the result of two apparent boat strikes. More than three pounds of sand were inside him, along with at least a couple of crabs, a raging infection and a collapsed lung. His spinal cord was exposed, pneumonia was plaguing him and death seemed certain. Any one of those injuries could have killed him, but his flippers were working and his neurological function appeared normal. So after beachgoers pulled him ashore on a boogie board, veterinarians began what became a yearlong effort to save him."

MATT SEDENSKY - Associated Press

EBB TIDE : THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS

BEACHES CLOSED DUE TO SHARKS : YAHOO TRAVEL LISTS

John Giuffo makes the list:
Surf Beach, north of Santa Barbara, California
New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Topsail Island, North Carolina
Fripp Island, South Carolina
Lyman Beach, Kona, Hawaii

Linking to the article from Yahoo Travel!

MOM WHALE LOST IN THE KLAMATH RIVER FINALLY DIES

Linking now to this article about the Pacific Blue whale who swam up a river with her calf and eventually died on a sand bar. Scientists say she had plenty of fat so something else was going on...

" The mother whale entered the river on June 23 with her calf, during the species' migration from Baja California nursing grounds to Arctic home waters. They immediately became a tourist attraction. After the calf swam back into the ocean on July 23, facing an uncertain future, marine mammal experts and members of the Yorok Tribe, whose reservation lines the banks of the river, tried many tactics in an attempt to persuade the 40-ton female whale to leave.

AQUATICS INTERNATIONAL LOOKS AT DROWNING!

This article brings up some frightening statistics. "In Asia, as many as 350,000 children drown every year, 1,000 every day, according to research conducted by The Alliance for Safe Children and UNICEF. Drowning is now known to be the leading cause of death for children between 1 and 4 years of age in many Asian countries."

MERMAID PAPER DOLL

I want to share this paper doll with you.

You can print it out!

It comes from Dover Publishing, and it's used here for non commercial use only.

THANK YOU DOVER!

OCEAN GARBAGE KILLING WHALES ? PROBABLY SO !

"Grisly examples abound. In 2008, two sperm whales stranded on the California coast were found to have a huge amount -- 205 kilos (450 pounds) in one alone -- of fish nets and other synthetic debris in their guts. One of the 50-foot (15-metre) animals had a ruptured stomach, and the other, half-starved, had a large plug of wadded plastic blocking its digestive tract.
Seven male sperm whales stranded on the Adriatic coast of southern Italy in 2009 were stuffed with half-digested squids beaks, fishing hooks, ropes and plastic objects."

Marlowe Hood, reporter

BEACH BOYS SURFER GIRL

RARE BLACK JELLYFISH VISIT SAN DIEGO

Breaking News! Linking to the article!

"The exotic species also is mysterious. It was not officially described in scientific literature until 1997." - Nigella Hillgarth, executive director of Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

TEN MERMAIDS

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE SWIMMING WITH WHALE SHARKS JUNE 2011

"The biggest fish in the sea is a polka dotted gentle giant." Link to the article from Smithsonian Magazine (one of our favorites) now! Juliet Eilperin is the writer and photographs (wow!) are by Brian Skerry.

"The biggest fish in the sea, a whale shark can weigh many tons and grow to more than 45 feet in length. It’s named not only for its great size but its diet; like some whale species, the whale shark feeds on plankton. A filtering apparatus in its mouth allows it to capture tiny marine life from the vast amount of water it swallows. But it is a shark—a kind of fish with cartilage rather than bone for a skeleton—a slow-moving, polka-dotted, deep-diving shark."

WAVVES KING OF THE BEACH

GIANT 45 Foot long and 4.5 tons of DECAYED SEA MONSTER UP ON SHORE IN CHINA

Live Science brings you this one..... ooooooh..... YUCK! 4.5 tons and 45 feet long....

SCIENCE NEWS : ANTARCTICA ICEBERGS FERTILIZE NEW LIFE WITH IRON

"Icebergs calving off of Antarctica are shedding substantial iron — the equivalent of a growth-boosting vitamin — into waters starved of the mineral, a new set of studies demonstrates. This iron is fertilizing the growth of microscopic plants and algae, transforming the waters adjacent to ice floes into teeming communities of everything from tiny shrimplike krill to fish, birds and sometimes mammals.Icebergs calving off of Antarctica are shedding substantial iron — the equivalent of a growth-boosting vitamin — into waters starved of the mineral, a new set of studies demonstrates. This iron is fertilizing the growth of microscopic plants and algae, transforming the waters adjacent to ice floes into teeming communities of everything from tiny shrimplike krill to fish, birds and sometimes mammals." Linking to the Science News

RICHARD BRANSON

"Billionaire adventurer Richard Branson on Tuesday unveiled a new single-person submarine that he said will be used to set new world records by exploring the five deepest parts of the world's oceans.

Branson said that over the next two years, the solo craft will go to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic's Puerto Rico Trench and South Sandwich Trench, the Diamantina Trench in the Indian Ocean and the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean."

Link to the full article above!

SURFING MAGAZINE ON LINE!

You can read back issues on line!

ANTARTIC MELT WARMING ATLANTIC : FIRST TIME IN 2000 YEARS

Water flowing into the Atlantic is two degrees warmer than it has been for 2000 years, so Nature News brings this report on the effects of what might be global warming on our oceans.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BRIMMING POOL JUNE 2011

Link now to the National Geographic all about tidepool life!

JELLYFISH CRASH FLORIDA BEACH PARTIES!

Stinging jellyfish are crashing Florida beach parties. Link here to this breaking Yahoo news article... these jellyfish are an unusual purple species!

More than 800 people stung!

GREENPEACE REPORTS ON THE GARBAGE VORTEX !

"The very thing that makes plastic items useful to consumers, their durability and stability, also makes them a problem in marine environments. Around 100 million tonnes of plastic are produced each year of which about 10 percent ends up in the sea. About 20 percent of this is from ships and platforms, the rest from land."

COASTAL CODE : SCIENTIST MAKE TWO MONTH EXPEDITION TO SAVE ENDANGERED FISH

"The future may be getting brighter for a medley of Pacific Ocean creatures long known to be hapless victims of accidental fishing, in particular several species of tuna which may be on the brink of extinction for being caught in nets not meant for them."

Link to the story... and think again about eating that tuna from a can!

RARE DOUBLE WATERSPOUNTS FORM OFF SHORE OF HAWAII

Like the tornados that touched down in the American South last week, there are tornados at sea, called water spouts. Click on the title above to get to a video and report!

"The spouts lasted for about 12 minutes. Waterspouts can become twisters if they reach land, but are usually weak."

THE REAL BETHANY HAMILTON TALKS ABOUT THE SHARK ATTACK

THE ANGRY SEA

SOUL SURFER : A TRUE STORY FILM

I love it that WOMEN IN SURFING are finally getting more attention in the sport but BETHANY HAMILTON'S STORY which was made into a movie called SOUL SURFER, is one of the most amazing. I'm linking to the movie web site and will be covering Bethany in later posts. It's a TRUE STORY. YES! I did go to the movie and enjoyed it. The title SOUL SURFER comes because Bethany herself says her Christian beliefs are what made all the difference as she survived the attack of a shark that bit off her left arm and went on to be a tournament winning surfer anyway. I thought the movie downplayed that aspect of her challenging recovery.

RADIOATIVE WATER BEING RLEASED INTO THE SEA

12,000 tons of water from Japan ... and fish are already testing radioactive. We can't eat them.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC : THE ACID SEA

Link now to the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC article THE ACID SEA which has pictures of sea creatures who live in healthy water and then those of the same species who live in acid water.

THERE IS CLEARLY A NEGATIVE IMPACT FROM ACID and OTHER POLLUTION!

Imagine loosing your arms or growing to half the size you should?

DIETY MERMAID

JAPANESE MERMAIDS NEEDED TO THE RESCUE!

We've been watching the developments in Japan - the struggle to keep the nuclear reactors from blowing up - the rescue crews trying to find people who might be alive under the rubble - and it's all so very upsetting.

But don't think I'm being silly when I say that Japanese mermaids are needed to the rescue.

You see in ancient Japan there were goddess of the sea and most of them were married to sea dragons!

In ancient Japan a tsunami might be thought of as in their area of expertise!

Seriously, our hearts go out to the people who have lost so much, and we can only hope that the good that comes out of this is lessons for the entire world!

Siren

TSUNAMI SWEEPS ACROSS THE PACIFIC KILLS HUNDREDS AFTER QUAKE IN JAPAN LAST NIGHT

Tsunami: One of the effects of a massive earth quake. It makes you want to live on a mouontain instead of at the beach. With tremors ghoing as far as Tokyo, this one makes history,

Here is breaking news including a video from Malcolm Foster, Associated Press.

"The entire Pacific had been put on alert — including coastal areas of South America, Canada and Alaska — but waves were not as bad as expected... Police said 200 to 300 bodies were found in the northeastern coastal city of Sendai, the city in Miyagi prefecture, or state, closest to the epicenter. Another 137 were confirmed killed, with 531 people missing. Police also said 627 people were injured...The magnitude-8.9 offshore quake unleashed a 23-foot (seven-meter) tsunami and was followed for hours by more than 50 aftershocks, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0..."

I'M RESEARCHING MERMAID STORIES

These are often called "mythologies" but I have to wonder why mermaids are believed in all around the world!

SEA MONSTER

SOMALI PIRATES KILL 4 AMERICANS ON HIJACKED BOAT - TAKING BIBLES AROUND THE WORLD

You may've been following this story. Americans who were sailing around the seas and giving out Bibles were caught in the waters of Somali Pirates, and though rescue attempt was made, the four were found dead.

"Scott Underwood Adam and Jean Savage Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., left, owners of the yacht S/V Quest; and passengers Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, both of Seattle. The four Americans were taken hostage when the Quest was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Oman. All four were reported killed Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011." A video is at the site linked to above!

SIREN and HER MERMAIDS ARE VERY SAD TO HEAR THIS NEWS. We were hoping those Pirates would have some heart!

FISHING FOR LOVE?

PLEASE DON'T BAIT ME VALENTINE!

What fun!

TODAY IS JULES VERNE'S BIRTHDAY : LES VOYAGES EXTRAORDINAIRES

Les Voyages Extraordinaires is the work of Dennis Kytassaari and we are linking to his page, which has a full list of the work of this famous author, who we mermaids love (though we think he may have neglected to mention us) such as "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."



"1870. ... Ships are disappearing all over the world and it believed to be caused by a sea monster. Prof. Pierre Aronnax, author of the book The Mysteries of the Ocean Deep, his companion Conseil and Canadian harpooner Ned Land are hired by the U.S. government to help put and end to this mystery by joining an expedition on the Abraham Lincoln. After months of searching the Abraham Lincoln finds its quarry and in the ensuing collision, Prof. Aronnax, Conseil and Ned Land are thrown overboard. In their efforts to survive, the trio find themselves on the surface of the “monster” itself, which turns out to be a submarine. Captain Nemo allows them to remain alive on board his submarine, the Nautilus, as his permanent guests, meaning he will never allow them to leave and reveal his secrets. The Captain uses this meeting with Prof. Aronnax, whose book he has read, to begin a new cruise through the oceans and seas of the world, so that he can show Prof. Aronnax where his book was lacking in details; meanwhile, Ned Land’s primary interest is in escape."



Jules Gabriel Verne
8 Feb 1828 to 24 Mar 1905

PROJECT KAISEI CAPTURING THE PLASTIC VORTEX

PLASTIC IS OUR ENEMY and the ENEMY OF TURTLES, BIRDS, FISH, even WHALES...

Concerned about the Great Pacific GARBAGE PATCH of floating, killing, plastic?


Link now to PROJECT KAISEI and watch the video that explains just how far reaching plastic is in our seas...

It's not just visable plastic...

It's particles too...

OPERATION SPLASH IF YOU LOVE THE SEA!

STOP POLLUTING LITTERING and SAVE HARBORS (SPLASH) is a volunteer non-profit organization started in 1990 that works on the issue of waterfront pollution. At least once a day splash volunteers go out in a boat and collect trash on the sea.

OPERATION SPLASH VOLUNTEERS HAVE RESCUED MORE THAN 325 TONS OF GARBAGE FROM OUR SHORES: plastic bags, bottles, caps, juice boxes, Styrofoam, food containers, (things we expect to be floating out there) but also things like hit water heaters and flat screen TVs. engine blocks and more!

Link to their site here to learn more!

The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water from Surfrider Foundation on Vimeo.

POPULAR SEA SHELLS COLLECTING : DO NOTE WHEN AND WHERE YOU FOUND THE SHELL

I collected sea shells when I was a child and I did so without ever going to the beach! Sea shells were TRADED in my neighborhood like baseball cards!

Now I know that a very important part of collecting sea shells is to carefully note when and where a shell is found. This can reveal important information about the life of shelled creatures under the sea including the effects of tides, fishing and pollution!

2011 A NEW YEAR BEGINS

Hello! Siren here! I'm feeling a little lazy right now...

Did you make any New Years Resolutions?

I did! I realized that swear words have been coming out of my mouth way too frequently and that I have been saying "Yea" instead of "Yes!" So my first resolution is be more careful of my words!