LARGEST WHITE SHARK EVER TAGGED OFF COAST OF FLORIDA : MALE ALMOST FOURTEEN FEET LONG! NAMED "CONTENDER"

Siren here!

We are going to the https://www.ocearch.org/tracker/detail/contender OCEARCH TRACKER SITE SO YOU TOO CAN WATCH CONTENDER SWIM!

What is his territory if he has one?!

over 1600 pounds too!

*** He keeps pinging !

170O POUND GREAT WHITE SHARK TRACKED - FLORIDA TO NORTH CAROLINA : HE'S NAMED "CONTENDER"

CBS NEWS : 1700 POUND SHARK TRACKED OFF COAST OF NORTH CAROLINA 

Excerpt:

Sharks don't ping every day. Their movements are tracked by devices attached to their dorsal fins. The trackers can't transmit through water, OCEARCH senior data scientist John Tyminski said in a video published by the organization. To accurately confirm a shark's location, the tracker must break the surface while an Argos satellite is above. The satellites are only in a given spot for about 13 minutes. During that time, the tracker must send multiple messages for a location to be confirmed.

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ARE YOU AFRAID OF SHARKS? Leave me a comment!  Siren

S.S UNITED STATES WILL BE SUNK TO BECOME ARTIFICIAL REEF : MORE THAN 4,300 ARTIFICIAL REEFS OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA

SCIENCE FRIDAY : S.S. UNITED STATES TO BE ARTIFICIAL REEF 

Excerpt:  This week, after a notable career, the SS United States, a 1950s ocean liner, took her sunset cruise. Like many retirees, the ship is heading south—from Philadelphia to Florida—where she’ll be reinventing herself. In this next chapter, the SS United States will have new passengers: fish and other marine creatures. The ship will be sunk to the bottom of the sea and turned into an artificial reef, joining more than 4300 artificial reefs off the coast of Florida.

NBCPHILADELPHIA : S.S.UNITED STATES ARRIVES IN ALABAMA (DETAILED REPORT ON THE PLAN)

Excerpt:  “In the spirit of her record-breaking history, America’s Flagship concluded her journey from Philadelphia to Mobile faster than anticipated. As she moved through the waves for the first time in 28 years, countless onlookers and admirers along the country’s eastern seaboard were inspired by her majesty and beauty," said SS United States Conservancy president Susan Gibbs in a statement on the ship's 401st voyage.

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SS UNITED STATES BEING TURNED INTO ARTIFICIAL REEF

GOOD NEWS NETWORK : OCEAN LINER SHIP BEING TURNED INTO ARTIFICIAL REEF 

Excerpt: Now, the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners has approved a contingent contract to see the United States off on her final voyage to Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where she would be sunk to join a collection of 500 other artificial reefs that provide a true spectacle for divers.

GREY WHALE NOT SEEN IN ATLANTIC FOR 200 YEARS DOCUMENTED SWIMMING PAST NANTUCKET : CLIMATE CHANGE

DAILY MAIL UK : EXTINCT FROM ATLANTIC FOR 200 YEARS : GREY WHALE : CLIMATE CHANGE 

Excerpts:

'The Northwest Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific through the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has regularly been ice-free in the summertime in recent years, partly due to rising global temperatures,' the aquarium said.

This means that more gray whales could potentially travel the Northwest Passage during the summer when normally they would have been blocked.

...

O'Brien, an associate research scientist with the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium, said the animal's arrival off New England serves 'as a reminder of how quickly marine species respond to climate change, given the chance.'

So how can you tell a gray whale apart from its counterparts?

Unlike the humpback whale, which is more commonly sighted in New England, gray whales can be identified by their lack of a dorsal fin and mottled appearance. 

They also sound different; gray whales make gurgles, grunts and croaks while humpback wales produce what is known as 'songs' as it is reminiscent of human vocals.

WORLDS LARGEST DEEP SEA REEF - MIAMI to CHARLESTON - 6.4 MILLION ACRES : THIS IS AMAZING!

DAILY MAIL SCIENCE : REEF TEEMING WITH UNKNOWN SPECIES  article my Matthew Phelan

Excerpts:  Marine scientists have found and mapped the world's largest known deep-sea coral reef: a hidden ecosystem roughly the size of Vermont teeming with new species.

The discovery was the painstaking product of 23 submersible dives and 31 multibeam sonar mapping surveys, researchers revealed, all in the service of charting the Atlantic ocean's deep-set Blake Plateau.

The plateau's deep-sea or cold-water coral ecosystem stretches nearly 311 miles from Miami, Florida to Charleston, South Carolina. And it's east-to-west width reaches passed 68 miles in some regions.

Unlike shallow ocean coral, which feeds itself in part via the photosynthesis of zooxanthellae algae, and can be harmed by the heat of climate change, this D. pertusum coral filter feeds off floating biological particles, like dead cells and microorganisms. 

And, like a pale cave fish, this cold-water coral is an eerie spectral white.

HOW BAD WILL THE SEA LEVEL RISE BE FOR CALIFORNIA? SURFRIDER FOUNDATION RELEASES ANNUAL REPORT ON BEACHES

SURFRIDER ANNUAL REPORT  Not just the Pacific or California...  but California got an 'A'.

Go to the FULL REPORT.  Washington state improved. Florida and New Jersey got worse.

Go to the GUIDE to see what change you can make.

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Remember that the BEACH ecology impacts the OCEAN and EVERY MARINE ANIMAL IN IT!

THE SOUND OF THE SEA - INTERVIEW CYNTHIA BARNETT and MARINE MOLLUSKS

Cynthia Barnett, an environmental journalist, who has written two books about fresh water, and one about rain.  The book Sound of the Sea is about the oceans.  Many people do not know that a sea shell is made by a living animal and are not rocks or stones. We love the shells for their beauty but don't know about the creatures that make them and live in them.

Beaches are sometimes covered with the living shelled animals crawling on the sand. 

She will show you where the animal was with the shell when it was born.

IS IT ETHICAL TO COLLECT SEA SHELLS? IMPACT TRAVEL ALLIANCE HAS AN OPINION

IMPACT TRAVEL ALLIANCE on ETHICAL SEA SHELL COLLECTING 

EXCERPT:  The idea of killing an animal just to display some of its body parts (much like trophy hunting) may sound disgusting, but many folks are willing to do just that to have a shell, a sand dollar, or a starfish on their shelf  It's not just immoral, it is illegal in Sanibel and Lee Couty (according to the laws about recreational sea shell harvesting in Florida) to "harvest or possess any shells that contain a live organism except for oysters, hard clams (quahogs), sunray venus clams and coquinas."

PORTUGUESE MAN OF WAR THREATEN SPRING BREAK

 Daily Mail : Portuguese Man of War Spring Beak

Excerpt:  The Portuguese Man O War, which are related to jellyfish, are loaded with dangerous toxins for anything that happens to brush up against their tentacles.

FLORIDA AQUARIUM : TAMPA BAY

FLORIDA AQUARIUM TAMPA BAY 

An educational and conservation location with exhibits that focus on "a large simulated wetlands environment located under a tall glass atrium, shallow bays and beaches, and a coral reef ecosystem encompassed in half a million gallons of natural seawater.

TINY SEA TURTLE DEAD WITH PIECES OF PLASTIC IN IT"S LITTLE BODY

DAILY MAIL: TINY TURTLE DEAD FLORIDA BEACH - 104 PIECES OF PLASTIC

It would fit in the palm of your hand so this little turtle was stuffed with plastic. 

BLUE GREE ALGAE - CYANOBACTERIA - BLOOM EFFECTING SEA LIFE and FLORIDA ECONOMY

FLORIDA ECONOMY and SEA LIFE effected by BLUE GREEN ALGAE BLOOM - DAILY SABAH
Excerpt:


The turquoise canals, streams and lakes that zigzag among Stuart's islands make this small town a nirvana for beachcombers and water sport lovers.

But the thick layer of slimy blue-green algae - also called cyanobacteria - coating the water and smelling of sewage has dampened the town's appeal.

The putrid algal blooms, which appear mornings and evenings with the rising tide, are toxic and can cause rashes and respiratory problems.

"The economic consequences are grave and ongoing," said Sarah Heard, the commissioner of Martin County, the district that includes Stuart. This past weekend several beaches in the county closed during July 4th celebrations. Algae also kills sponges, oysters and other sea creatures integral to water filtration. "There comes a time when the water can no longer sustain life," Briceno said.

RED ALGAE BLOOM TIDE TOXIC TO MARINE LIFE - FLORIDA

NBC SCIENCE on the RED ALGAE BLOOM FLORIDA

"The patchy bloom stretches from the curve of the Panhandle to the central Tampa Bay region. It measures approximately 80 miles long by 50 miles wide. Red tide occurs when naturally occurring algae bloom out of control, producing toxins deadly to fish and other marine life. The chemicals can trigger respiratory distress in people, such as coughing and wheezing."

We often hear about man made chemicals and products polluting the ocean but in this case the algae is a natural living sea plant which can take over an area of the sea and kill marine life.  Last year manatees died from a similar bloom.

SEA LEVELS ARE RISING! WILL YOUR CITY BE 10 FEET UNDER WATER? CHECK THIS SITE MAP!

SEALEVEL - CLIMATECENTRAL- MAP  go to the map and see how deep under your city will be.

"Global warming has raised global sea level about 8 inches since 1880, and the rate of rise is accelerating. Rising seas dramatically increase the odds of damaging floods from storm surges. A Climate Central analysis finds the odds of “century” or worse floods occurring by 2030 are on track to double or more, over widespread areas of the U.S. These increases threaten an enormous amount of damage. Across the country, nearly 5 million people live in 2.6 million homes at less than 4 feet above high tide — a level lower than the century flood line for most locations analyzed. And compounding this risk, scientists expect roughly 2 to 7 more feet of sea level rise this century — a lot depending upon how much more heat-trapping pollution humanity puts into the sky."

DIANA NYAD SWIMS FROM CUBA TO FLORIDA - A FIFTH TRY FOR THIS COURAGEOUS ATHLETE!

A THIRD TRY FOR THIS COURAGEOUS ATHLETE! She tried four times before, twice in the last year or so, before and had to stop - mostly due to jelly fish stings. Here's video of Diana's arrival in Key West yesterday September 2, 2013 at 153pm, after swimming 52 Hours 54 Minutes 18.6 Seconds and 110.4 statue miles. DIANA's OWN WEB SITE!

Diana tried four other times... it was jelly fish stings that stopped her. She swam without a shark cage, without flippers, through the nights, and this time with a special jelly fish sting remedy. She is the first person to do this swim and she's 64 years old. She says we are never too old to give up on our dreams. CONGRADULATIONS!
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SEA TURTLE HURT BY FISHERMAN'S HOOKS DELIVERS 6 EGGS

The endangered turle was brought to a turtle hospital in the Florida Keys, and her six eggs, if they hatch, will be returned to the beach she was found on. Linking to Yahoo News, for the picture and article!

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

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!

BAILEY MATTHEWS SHELL MUSEUM focuses on GULF COAST SHELLS and MOLLUSKS

Here's the link to a SEA SHELL and MOLLUSK MUSEUM in Florida that focuses on the sea creatures of the GULF OF MEXICO.

Now we would suggest that if you go to a beach to clean up and you find some washed up shells that you ASK someone - a teacher or the director of the clean up effort what you should do if you find sea shells. The scientists may want to study these rather than let you take them home.

REMEMBER THAT A GOOD SEA SHELL COLLECTOR ALWAYS identifies not only the shell, but the location it was found and the date.