The post Snow At Sea first appeared on Deep Sea News.

And luckily for us, Roxanne posts all of her adventures as they happen on her Istagram and Twitter feeds. Even better—Roxanne is currently on an expedition to explore the deep-sea Gulf of California with Nautilus Live, which is live broadcasting all of its dives for the world to watch. So you too can follow Roxanne and the octonaut crew on their real-life mission of discovery. As they say on the show: Octonauts, let’s do this!

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The #octonauts are back at it! Join us with @nautiluslive as we explore new vent and seep sites off the coast of Mexico. Dives will start in a few days!

A post shared by Roxanne Beinart (@rbeinart) on Oct 19, 2017 at 5:10am PDT

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Arrived at the ship and getting settled into the snazzy top bunk

A post shared by Roxanne Beinart (@rbeinart) on Oct 19, 2017 at 5:06pm PDT

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The #octonauts are steaming to station with @nautiluslive

A post shared by Roxanne Beinart (@rbeinart) on Oct 20, 2017 at 4:57pm PDT

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Working hard, processing samples with @nautiluslive

A post shared by Roxanne Beinart (@rbeinart) on Oct 22, 2017 at 2:30pm PDT

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#octonauts #roxbscience

A post shared by Roxanne Beinart (@rbeinart) on Oct 8, 2016 at 2:37pm PDT

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Look closely at the boxing glove. The #octonauts are psyched about this gup! #roxbscience

A post shared by Roxanne Beinart (@rbeinart) on Oct 8, 2016 at 10:38am PDT

The post When real-life marine biologist and mom goes to sea, she takes the octonauts with her first appeared on Deep Sea News.

So where to start with the long list of insects in the Louisiana marshes with a life’s mission to remove my flesh and blood?  There is of course the state bird, the mosquito, of which 68 species reside in Louisiana.  Nearly 100 species of horse, sand, and dear flies exist in the state.  My personal favorite is the the car-sized yellow flies that prefer the soft parts of my neck.  Yep Louisiana is a regular biodiversity hotspot for flying, biting insects that want to destroy me.

Mosquitoes use the sense of smell for long range detection of hosts.  Two human sweat components, lactic acid and 1-octen-3-ol, act as strong mosquito attractants.  Which is just dandy when I’m outside in the hot Louisiana summer.  Carbon dioxide is another strong attractant for mosquitos.  Which is also great because I never exhale when I’m doing field work.

Of course I could use a DEET base product.  DEET is interesting chemical in that it does not suppress a mosquito’s ability to smell but rather mosquitos truly dislike the smell of DEET.  I also truly dislike the smell of DEET.

Enter in Amber Romance a special scent from Victoria’s Secret.  The dreamy body mist is a “warm and alluring blend of black cherry, crème anglaise, vanilla and sandalwood belonging to the Secret Garden collection.”  Amber Romance also proves to be an effective insect repellant.  A year ago, I was keyed into this part of the shared knowledge of scientists and educators working in wetlands.   And as someone who has worn the “alluring blend” of Amber Romance in the field, the chatter is true.

In 2015, a group of scientists put another Victoria’s Secret scent, Bombshell, to the test against DEET and DEET-free “natural” products.

Repellents with DEET as active ingredient had a prominent repellency effect over longer times and on both species. Repellents containing p-menthane-3,8-diol produced comparable results but for shorter time periods. Some of the DEET-free products containing citronella or geraniol did not have any significant repellency effect. Interestingly, the perfume we tested had a modest repellency effect early after application, and the vitamin B patch had no effect on either species.

Why Amber Romance and Bombshell, the latter with its fruity floral notes of purple passion fruit, Shangri-la peony, and vanilla orchid, are effective is still unknown.   As the researchers note, floral smells typically attract mosquitos.  While, DEET still preforms better for longer those sweet smells of Victoria’s Secret are hard to deny.  Perhaps Amber Romance needs a name change to reflect is insect repellant charm?  Marsh Spurn?

The post Are the floral smells of Victoria’s Secret fragrances needed for marsh field work? first appeared on Deep Sea News.

WE’RE ON A BOAT! That’s right, The Blogfather Dr. M and myself (Dr. Bik, Assistant Blogmaster?) are in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico AT THIS VERY MOMENT!

To celebrate this awesome scientific cruise, we’re running a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session Tomorrow, Saturday May 27th from 8AM – 8PM Central Standard Time (Louisiana, USA time zone).

Hi @reddit_AMA! Ask me anything this Sat. I’m currently on the ocean for a science research cruise studying the deep sea with a robot #AMA pic.twitter.com/dvkQ67VPx8

— Craig McClain, Ph.D. (@DrCraigMc) May 25, 2017

Why are we here? Well Dr. M has a nifty new NSF grant to research wood falls in the deep oceans; logs and whole trees that saturate with water and sink to the deep-sea floor. These wooden carcasses bring a rare commodity to the deep sea devoid of light and plants: food. On the seafloor, these wood falls are covered in unique marine invertebrates wholly adapted to eating wood.

As part of this work, Dr. M is also collecting sediment cores, which I’ll be using to isolate nematodes for environmental sequencing and genomics work.

But there is a whole team of people here on the boat, and you can ask them anything too! Our scientific cast is:

–Dr. Craig McClain, a deep-sea biologist, DSN Blogfather, and the Executive Director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON).
– Dr. Clif Nunnally (LUMCON) – Research Associate, Actual Person in Charge of the cruise
– Chase Landry (LUMCON/Nicholls State) – Undergraduate Researcher, Cajun Translator
– Dr. Virginia Schutte (LUMCON)- Media Officer, unfortunately a Morning Person
– Dr. Thomas Webb (U. of Sheffield) – Statistical Guru, “All the gear, no idear” (he’s British)
– Dr. Holly Bik (U. California Riverside) – Microbial Genomics and nematode taxonomy, bringing high fashion to the high seas
– River Dixon (U. South Carolina) – Undergraduate Researcher, has no idea what she signed up for
– Jason Bradley (Bradley Photographic) – Photographer, probably has kissed more sea animals than you
– Chase Lawson (Texas A&M) – Undergraduate Researcher, literally just spent 2 hours handling raw meat
– Dr. Alicia Caporaso (Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management) – Underwater Archaeologist, studies shipwrecks but can’t touch them

The post Reddit AMA (Saturday May 27th): DSN on a boat, throwing wood in the ocean! first appeared on Deep Sea News.

As a coastal community, the economic, social, and industrial capacity of San Diego is intrinsically linked to climate change. So much so, that the city maintains one of the world’s most ambitious Climate Action Plans. Along these same lines, in an effort to unite the community towards climate resilience and education, the Climate Science Alliance (CSA) was established. The Alliance stands as a bi-national collaboration of over 130 government, academic, non-profit, private, tribal nations, and educational institutions working toward science focused partnerships, capacity building, and innovative community engagement. The ultimate goal — a united front on the South Coast across agencies and stakeholders to come together and work towards safeguarding our coast and communities from the effects of changing climate.

As part of their commitment to building a community of practice around climate adaptation, the Climate Science Alliance has developed the Affiliated Artists Program to work directly with artists who are exploring themes related to climate change and environmental stewardship. They work collaboratively to develop projects, programs, and opportunities to bring artists and scientists directly into climate resilience activities.

The artisans the Alliance collaborates with range from dancers to singers to more traditional art mediums. Working with students across the county and participating in large scale public engagement events, the seamless incorporation of art and science has resulted in a highly effective messaging strategy for the Alliance regarding climate change. The art allows people to connect to the issues of sea level rise, ocean acidification, and warming seas in a way that is more relatable than the science itself. Additionally, most of the pieces serve as a call-to-action platform whereas students and the public are encouraged to incorporate their climate commitments into the artwork. Through this program, the Climate Science Alliance has taken an effective approach for large-scale community dialogue and engagement regarding the most pressing issues facing our coastlines.

The post The Writings on the Sea-Wall: Climate Science Alliance first appeared on Deep Sea News.

This season, in an effort to be more sustainable and offset the gajillion holiday catalogs I have received in the mail (seriously Brookstone it’s getting ridiculous) I decided to go a different route.

Sacrificing a small stack of old Alert Diver mags, I wrapped this years gifts in an assortment of my favorite squishy creatures.

The post Have you been nautical or nice? Take your present wrapping game to the next level first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Lately I have been saddened by a series of unfortunate events that have become all to common. These incidents center around one central theme- human interaction with wildlife. From bison making their way into cars at Yellowstone National Park, Gorilla’s being shot at the Cincinnati Zoo, and even in my own backyard, Sea Lion’s being “rescued” for crying for their mothers or “looking sad” on local beaches. Most often, if not always, the wildlife suffers at the hands of human intervention. Now I am not going to debate here on the value of a human life (as was the potential case in Cincinnati). I don’t care to open that can of worms. However, I would like to make a request that people take a second and review their actions in regard to wildlife and the natural world. And check yo selves.

For your pondering, an excerpt from Paul W. Taylor’s “The Ethics of Respect for Nature”.

“A life-centered system of environmental ethics is opposed to human centered ones precisely on this point. From the perspective of a life-centered theory, we have prima facie moral obligations that are owed to wild plants and animals themselves as members of the Earth’s biotic community. We are morally bound (other things being equal) to protect or promote their good for their sake. Our duties to respect the integrity of natural ecosystems, to preserve endangered species, and to avoid environmental pollution stem from the fact that these are ways in which we can help make it possible for wild species populations to achieve and maintain a healthy existence in a natural state. Such obligations are due those living things out of recognition of their inherent worth. They are entirely additional to and independent of the obligations we owe to our fellow humans. Although many of the actions that fulfill one set of obligations will also fulfill the other, two different grounds of obligation are involved. Their well-being, as well as human well-being, is something to be realized as an end in itself.

The post The Ethics of Respect for Nature first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Dr. M’s Really Damn Good Advice #1: “Be passionate. Others will tell you that science should be an emotionless endeavor. Well good luck with that. If you don’t get super excited about what ever you are studying then you are probably not going to make it.”

You guys. This is EVERYTHING. PASSION IS EVERYTHING. I tell all the kids I teach science stuff to or mentor about science stuff, that this is the #1 thing you need to be a good scientist. Hell, this is just good overall life advice. If you aren’t passionate about what you are doing…. then why are you doing it?

Dr. M’s Really Damn Good Advice #2: “Embrace the World Around You.”

You like Beyoncé? Well, I freaking lover her. Can I tell you 3 ways that Beyoncé and the Rocky Intertidal are related. You damn well bet I can. Will you always remember those three things every time you hear a Beyoncé song? Chances are good. Relevance is Power. Embrace the World Around You.

Dr. M’s Really Damn Good Advice #3: “Don’t forget why you wanted to do this. When you get those rejections and your scientific career is generally weighing you down, remember why you do this… It is because sorting little snails and worms out of decaying stinking wood is the best thing that has ever happened to you.”

 I wouldn’t be the first to say it, nor will I be the last. While this is REALLY damn good advice, this is also REALLY damn hard advice. There will be times that you will most definitely forget why you are here (But then you will come back to this post and remember your brilliance!). Ocean science is full of awesome, squishy, crazy things! Ocean science is also full of crap. Sometimes, you will need to be able to wade through both. Also remember that while worms and snails make Dr. M happy….he is a nerd. Other things like seaweeds, and jellyfish, and genomes, and waves, and rum might make you happy….but you are probably a nerd too. So carry on.

Dr. M’s Really Damn Good Advice #4: “Say Things Others Do Not”

This one might be slightly cheating cause it was a DSN groupthink that included Dr. M that created this line, but this is my post so I get to do what I want. One of my most favorite DSN core values challenges the status quo of science. To say what needs to be said rather than what the PR department at your university said you could say.

Dr. M’s Really Damn Good Advice #5: “I believe that effective science communication, from the scientists themselves, must be based on a model with better integration between research and outreach. And importantly, we must teach these models to our students.”

Some advice I wish all scientists could take to heart. Not only is science communication an actual thing, but you can do it too! So many scientists I have come across, just don’t see the world this way. And the most unfortunate part is that students suffer because tools needed to do this well aren’t being presented in the classroom. It’s a spiral of doom!

Dr. M’s Really Damn Good Advice #6: “10 Reasons Why Dolphins Are A$$holes”

Need I explain further….

Dr. M’s Really Damn Good Advice #7: “Own it.  Love it. Define yourself. For all my struggles, I have won.  And so will you.”

Excuse me guys, I have something in my eye.

Real Talk: The first time I read this, I was sitting in my lab and it had been one of those real awful days. I had just started grad school and I was having an “Oh shit what did I sign up for” moment. You may be familiar. Nothing was working, classes were overwhelming, I had no secured funding, struggles were indeed real. Reading that last line from Dr. M’s “I Am Science and a Nerd” post got me through it. I felt a little less alone in a pretty dark place in my life. If this crazy bald man who studied something as weird as the Deep Sea could do it…I could do it. Thank-you Dr. M for all you have contributed to our field and for truly paving the way for the crazy kids like me to continue your legacy of work. I’ve been owning it, loving it, and defining myself ever since. And everyone else should too.

The post Some REALLY Damn Good Advice first appeared on Deep Sea News.

The post A little science, a little soccer. All while adrift on the ice. first appeared on Deep Sea News.

At 2 am, I lie here awake in my bunk. After a few days my nausea has passed. Now the gentle rocking of the ship, the soothing hum of the diesel engine reverberating through the ship’s steel frame, and the gentle of lapping of the waves on the hull, cannot coax me asleep. I am more excited than I have ever been. I am busy working on a hypothetical reel of tomorrow’s events. This is my first submersible dive. Here awake in the middle of the night, I ponder the bizarre life of the ocean floor and celebrate my choice to become a deep-sea biologist.

Well before our 7 am pre-dive check, I am on the aft deck. I am too excited to eat; instead choosing to stare off at Rum Cay in the distance. I should be scared. I am a very, very large and claustrophobic man. Any sane person with my size and affliction would run away from this soda can-sized sub. But the thought of my first visit to the deep sea, the habitat I have dedicated my life to, has flooded my brain with endorphins. With my girth, I am barely able to get through the sub’s hatch. But I am not bothered. I am eager to witness for myself the deep-sea life that I’ve only known from grainy photographs and video.   The hour dive to the bottom is filled with a light show of tiny animals that bioluminescence when they brush the sub’s porthole. The entire time dive, nearly 6 hours on the seafloor, I press my face against a 15-centimeter porthole, my cheek against the cold glass, and focused my eyes on the three meters of illuminated sea floor around me and the kilometers of black beyond.

When I am speak about my profession—my time at sea in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Antarctic, the rough seas that I have experienced, and my dives in submersibles—with students and the public, I am often asked if I was scared. I am not surprised by this question. Recently, when a Reddit member posed the question “what is the scariest real thing on our earth?” over 6,000 people upvoted the “the ocean.” This was followed by the subsequent comment, liked by over 5,000 people, “the deep ocean.” Not even Alzheimer’s ranked as high.

Thousand of words—not one scary—come to mind as I think of the deep oceans but none as fitting as imagination. That submersible dive so many years ago continues to inspire my own imagination.   It was down there on the sea floor, nearly one kilometer beneath the surface, that I got my first look at the giant isopod, Bathynomus giganteus. Many might view this deep-sea, foot-long, roly-poly as a harbinger of fear. The creature instantly inspired me, launching a journey to understand the sizes of deep-sea animals.

Many think of the deep sea as a land full of giants. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The deep sea is a kingdom of dwarfs. From clams to crustaceans and snails to sharks, many species are much smaller in the deep than they are in shallower waters where we humans swim. This miniaturization a result of the meager food available in deep ocean where the lack of light precludes photosynthetic organisms that provide ready meals. Many of the deep-sea fish the public knows are much, much smaller than they realize. Take anglerfish, viperfish, hachetfish, and dragonfish. Only oddities like the Giant Isopod reach tremendous sizes for reasons that still escape me today.

The environmental extremes of deep-sea—the massive pressures, the freezing temperatures, lack of light, and scarcity of food—have created extreme evolutionary forces on life. This process has resulted in a diversity of life with magnificent adaptations to meet these challenges. Because these environmental conditions are so outside of our normality here on terra firma, the adaptations of deep-sea animals also seem alien. And this foreignness is perhaps scary to some.

At 2 am, I lay here pondering the word scared. It is something I’ve done a lot of lately. I have been scared. Scared a grant or paper will get rejected. Scared that fieldwork will fail and waste resources. Scared to not become the great scientist I want to be. I am very scared now. I am scared because in just over two months my job and salary will end. I am scared I will have no job to move to. I am scared that I will need to leave science, research, and the oceans behind to find work to provide the basic necessities of life. Here I lay awake with anxiety, I mourn that my career appears near its end, struggle to define my life without the ocean, and ponder my choice to become a deep-sea biologist.

At 7am, I sit hear finishing this post in my local coffee shop. I am preparing to fill out more job applications. Then on to more exciting tasks, finishing off analyses for my wood-fall research. Scared is not the word I want to focus on this morning. I want to remember how that first submersible dive made me feel and the bizarre animals I witnessed. As I type this I think of animals that can feed through their anus, snails larger than small children, complicated invertebrates without toes or gonads, fish with clear skulls, and manta rays that swim like superheroes. Not scared. I choose imaginative. I choose creative. I choose inspiring…

…actually maybe funny because well anus feeding.

The post On being scared first appeared on Deep Sea News.