Syonara Dr. E

He drifted to the sea
Like phytoplankton floating
free from Tinseltown

The New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center is Coming!

It's been forever and an age since I had time to post something, but this is too good not to share.
The New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center has some new residents... the Northern fur seals are back. It's making the news:



They're getting used to the new space right now, so they'll be ready for viewing when the exhibit opens to the public on July 1!

Go Check out The Carnival of the Blue #24!

It's up over at Water Notes!

The Big Lobster

I think they're calling him Jedi now ...



Full story is here.

Partners in Preservation Support for the Aquarium

A very warm thank you to all the Aquariums amazing friends who are sharing the Partners in Preservation voting information! The inimitable bloggers Eric at Other 95%, Cindy and Alexa at Oceans4Eva and Rick at Malaria, Bedbugs, Sealice and Sunsets have shared the kind of caring for the Aquarium that puts a spring in my step, even as the mass of work piles up on my desk.

If you would like to join them in supporting the Aquarium, I put this video together with the help of my filmmaking brother, David and musical artist David Shuler of Macroform.

National Trust for Historic Preservation Recognizes the Aquarium!

The New England Aquarium was built 40 years ago, and this anniversary is starting out with some amazing recognition from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Their Partners in Preservation grant program has recognized the Aquarium as part of Boston's rich historical heritage.



Starting today people can cast their vote for 25 Boston-area landmarks. Daily voting lasts until May 17, when the winner will be announced and automatically given a grant.

If the Aquarium is fortunate enough to win a grant, it will be used to restore the internal concrete to its original 1969 finish, giving visitors an idea of what it was like to step into the Aquarium when it opened and made the Boston waterfront a major attraction.



This is an amazing piece of recognition for the Aquarium, which is considered the first modern aquarium in the world. It inspired similar projects in Baltimore, Monterey Bay and Okinawa. Its architecture is truly inspiring. When you step inside the main doors, you are greeted by the towering Giant Ocean Tank and surrounded by penguins and a series of colorful tropical fish exhibits along the walls.

It's also an important step for joining an environmental conservation organization like the Aquarium with a cultural preservation organization like the National Trust. The values that the Aquarium was founded on now seem to be part of the Boston's cultural identity.

Help support the Aquarium by participating in the daily voting. You can sign up for reminders to vote here. Be sure to register and vote daily here.

One year at the Aquarium!

It's been (almost) exactly one year since I began working here. That takes a moment for that to set in, because the last twelve months been a maelstrom of incredible events. The stories that come out of the Aquarium on a daily basis are incredible, and the images and events are captivating.


(Me in front of the office building I'm stationed at across the street from the main Aquarium building)

I can't wait to see what comes next ...

Harbor Seals Know Cute

Trainers are teaching seals the tongue-sticking-out behavior.
Rochelle posted pics here.

Carnival of the Blue 23!

That's right. It's #23!

But not this 23:



This 23:


Check it out at Deep Sea News! Kevin even did the whole carnival in song!

The first whale watch weekend of 2009

This past weekend was the launch of the 2009 Whale Watch Season at the Aquarium. It may still be cold outside, but the whales are already back in Stellwagen Bank!


Photo by naturalist Melissa Rocha

This year there's more information available to visitors looking to experience the Whale Watch. Naturalist Melissa Rocha is reporting daily sightings as she gets back to the docks on the Whale Watch Log.

This Week In Aquarium Blogs

For the last several months the amount of posting on this blog has taken a back seat to the efforts being put into the Aquarium's 10 (!) active blogs. Those blogs get way more interest than this one because 1) they are written by actual marine biologists and conservation experts and 2) they have much more fascinating pictures and video that aren't publicly accessible.

So, I have prioritized them much higher than my observations on this blog. However, I do want to make sure that readers of The New Blue are fully aware of all the great ocean posts coming out of the Aquarium. So, this is the first in a series I'm going to call "This Week in Aquarium Blogs." Let's take a quick spin through the NEAQ blogosphere, shall we?

Subscribing to Aquarium Blogs
The home URL for NEAQ blogs is www.neaq.org/blogs. All the Aquarium blog feeds publish to our Tumblr account as simple, and intruiging, photo links. You can get that RSS here so you never miss a post. You can also add this to your google homepage or reader with this link.

This Week in Aquarium Blogs

The right whale team wrapped up their aerial survey season. First they explained the calving grounds in the Southeast on Sunday, then they posted a season overview on Thursday. They also put up some amazing aerial photos of various marine animals. It's been an amazing and complex season, and they did a great job reporting on it.

The Aquarium Rescue Team has covered some amazing stories this week. It began on Monday with a fantastic post about rescued Kemp's ridley sea turtle Bubba's bronchoscopy. On Tuesday Adam posted some encouraging lab results about Orion and Bubba. Then, shocking news came on Thursday when the team responded to a harp seal with birdshot wounds.


Piping plover season is almost upon us! When the rare shorebirds come nesting, the Aquarium will be ready with a breadth of knowledge about these amazing animals. Biologists Kate and Susannah launched the shorebirds blog on Wednesday.


Let it never be said that the Aquarium does not have a sense of humor. Dive Safety Officer John rocked the marine biology world on April Fool's Day by reporting his unexpected finding in the Giant Ocean Tank.




One of the most breathtaking things to come out of the blogs this week was a series of detailed underwater photographs taken by Parsons School of Design professor and Aquarium friend Keith Ellenbogen in Fiji. He posted these photos on Thursday along with his account of taking them.


And last, but certainly not least, is the Marine Mammal Trainers Blog. The trainers started the week by posting a link to the Boston Globe video of harbor seal Chacoda playing with Harlem Globetrotter Buckets Blake. Not to be missed. Rochelle's Friday post is a great cheat sheet for learning to recognize each harbor seal and call them by name! If that doesn't impress your friends and family next time you're on the Aquarium plaza, I don't know what will.

So there you have it! It's been an amazing week in Aquarium blogs, and so will next week. Also, don't judge me too harshly for falling behind on this blog when I've got so much other (superior) material to work with :)

Blondie (the lumpfish) Video

For more on Blondie the lumpfish, read Lindsay's posts.
Now, check this out.

The Salmon Dance ;)

Happy Friday Night!

Fall and Rise of the Right Whale

Today's New York Times science section carries an in-depth look at right whale conservation measures, including a slide show of images and a fantastic map co-created by Aquarium GIS expert Kerry Lagueux detailing whale population density and shipping lane modification:



The article does a good job of stressing the constant challenges facing this species. This season's calving experience in the Southeast is a good example. While there's cause for hope with a record number of calves being born (39 to date), dead calves have also washed up on shore. While there's cause for hope with some amazing disentanglement efforts, there has been a record number of gear entanglements to try and keep with.

This article adds to the much needed media attention to the issue, and hopefully it will help convey the precarious place this species is in and how directly human actions relate to their survival. Fortunately the New York Times isn't alone in covering this issue. The season also saw a NBC Nightly News piece covering disentanglement efforts and Early Warning System measures. Here's that piece:



In between these reports in the big media outlets, you can keep up on the latest Right Whale news from the field by subscribing to the Right Whale Research Team's Aerial Survey blog and the Bay of Fundy Photo ID blog.

A New Ocean Blog on the Block

Before I worked at the Aquarium, I was a writer/editor for educational publisher Weekly Reader. Before that I was a teacher. And before that I was in school. So I have a lot of respect/sympathy pains for educators and educatees. Now, at the Aquarium, I get to enjoy the best of both worlds with a constant immersion in ocean education. And The New Blue isn't alone with this obsession.

The latest addition to our blogroll is Oceans4Ever, a collaborative effort of 9-year-old Alexa and her mom, national magazine writer Cindy. The pair are charging ahead with some amazing ocean posts gleaned from all over the net.



They've even shared some great content from the Aquarium's blogs, like this post highlighting Mamma Jamma the blind African lungfish.

Big Octopus. Little box.

It's a perfectly natural and healthy behavior.
It normally happens at night.
Not today!

Get the details and a bunch more photos here.

Like Underwater Filmmaking? Meet the Halls!

This Sunday, IMAX movie goers will have the chance to meet two of the best underwater filmmakers in the world! Howard and Michelle Hall's newest film, "Under the Sea 3D," just recently opened in the Simons IMAX Theatre to great movie reviews from both the Boston Globe and Boston Herald.

This Sunday March 8th at 7 p.m., the Halls will be hosting a special screening of their new movie in the Aquarium's IMAX Theatre. They will introduce the movie and answer questions following the film. This screening is the culminating event to the Boston Sea Rovers weekend long conference. Seats are limited, and space is available on a first come, first serve basis.

Also, be sure to check out the film's web page, with some amazing webisodes about the making of Under the Sea 3D.

Shark Conservation Act Passes House

The U.S. house took an important step in fighting the brutal practice of shark finning yesterday by passing the Shark Conservation Act of 2009. The bill closes some loopholes by making it illegal to remove the fin from a shark at sea. If fishermen want shark fins now they will have to land the whole shark, making the practice less economical and therefore less likely to happen. The bill is pending a vote in the Senate before it can be sent to the White House.

New England Aquarium researchers are involved in several projects relating to elasmobranch stress and bycatch. Preventing the needless deaths of the ocean's dwindling shark populations is essential for the health of ocean habitats.

Carnival of the Blue 22!

That's right. There's a new Carnival of the Blue up at Malaria, Bedbugs, Sealice and Sunsets. Rick is an extremely gracious host to a treasure trove of ocean news. Head on over!

Fiji Expedition Blog Underway

As my work piles up, the New Blue continues to languish. However there are some amazing blogs up on the Aquarium site. The most recent of which is the Joint Aquarium Fiji Expedition Blog, written by New England Aquarium fish curator Steve Bailey (call him Bailey). Also on the expedition is Dr. Steve Webster from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Image from a shipwreck dive the crew made yesterday.
The ship is the Nasi Yalodina, a medical supply ship that sank in a storm a dozen years ago.

The expedition promises to produce some amazing images of Fijian biodiversity. Not only is the expert photographer Keith Ellenbogen on board, but an engineer from Light & Magic is testing out some new underwater image capture equipment.



So far the shots on the blog are amazing, and they were sent via a tenuous satellite connection! I can't wait to see what kind of amazing photos the crew brings back.

The Obama Administration and Coral Reefs

Tomorrow the United States Coral Reef Task Force will report to the Congressional Committee on Natural Resources. Angelo over at The Saipan Blog and Rick MacPherson from Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets encourage everyone to watch the meeting streaming live here.

The full letter is up on The Saipan Blog. Here are the bullet point recommendations [some of my notes in brackets]:

• Reauthorize the U.S. Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000, including authorizing international coral reef conservation activities; [NOAA funds for Coral Reef conservation expired in 2004, this included the ability to partner and provide funds to conservation groups. Source: NOAA]

• Support passage of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act; [Passed the House but died with the last session without a vote in the Senate. Source: Govtrack WHOI recommends this bill provide between $50-55 into acidification research Acidification from excess CO2 not only threatens corals, but also other calcifying organisms such as phytoplankton and crustaceans]

• Enact meaningful reductions in carbon dioxide emissions that target CO2 concentrations to stabilize at levels climate scientists determine are necessary to preserve coral reef ecosystems; [We Bostonians had a chance to explore this issue at the recent Climate Change Symposium hosted by the Aquarium and WHOI. Here's an overview of possiblities.]

• Fund and lead domestic and international coral reef conservation efforts through NOAA, USAID, EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the State Department;

• Support NOAA’s priorities in reducing impacts to coral reefs from fishing and land-based sources of pollution;

• Effectively conserve at least 30 percent of coral reef and reef-associated coastal resources in U.S. states and territories using marine managed areas over the next eight years; and [A network of state-run marine managed areas is already in place, but could use Federal support.]

• Provide more support for ocean education and citizen-science programs to create an educated public that understands and is committed to ocean conservation.

What effect will these measures have if enacted? Will the Obama budget reflect the ocean conservation values he telegraphed during the campagin? Tomorrow should be an interesting starting point for this discussion and for upcoming actions.

I was on the TV (but that's not important)

Yesterday the "See Turtle" photo contest winner collected their prize. DJ (below top) fed Myrtle the green sea turtle!


A side-effect of this was me doing a couple seconds on camera with Channel 7 about the contest. The link is here, but don't watch it. Bright lights kind of distract me from ... speaking coherently.

Happy Valentine's Day Everybody!

When two fish fall for each other...



For the full story be sure to check out Chris' post on the GOT blog.

Under the Sea 3D Opens Tomorrow!

I've been hearing rave reviews of this new IMAX experience for weeks. Now, it's finally coming out for general audiences and I can't wait to see it on the really big screen!



There are plenty of places to preview the amazing footage the filmmakers took off the coast of Australia and in Papua New Guinea. Those previews are generated from the film's website, which did the best job generating interest with a series of webisodes showing how the massive camera was used to film playing seals and feeding sharks.

Celebrate Dental Health Month (seal style)

The Boston Globe covered National Dental Health month with a little help from the harbor seals:



The Marine Mammal Trainers were on this already with these three toothbrushing video posts.