New Year’s Conservation Resolutions

It’s that time of year again. New Year’s. Another year, another chance to make some resolutions to hit the gym more or eat healthier. Let’s be real, it can be a challenge to make drastic changes over short time spans. I get it. So why not try some smaller changes this year? If you are looking for some simple ideas that can make a big impact, look no further!

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Photo by Catherine Sheila on Pexels.com

Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

It can be overwhelming to make conservation minded choices a part of your daily life, but I am here to bring you some easy environmentally friendly choices. Some things, like bringing canvas bags to grocery shop or refusing single use plastic utensils, seem pretty straight forward. These options are great and are fairly easy to adopt in your daily life, but I wanted to expand on these basics for you guys. Here are some of my favorite ways to reduce, reuse and recycle:

Fall Foliage Explained

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Happy Fall! As I was sitting at home thinking about what topic to cover next, I looked out the window to a wide range of fall colors. All of a sudden, it hit me. Fall brings so many fun adventures, like pumpkin patches, apple picking and of course Halloween! In my opinion, all of these activities are enhanced by the beauty of yellow, orange and red leaves falling from trees. While I was in college, the one thing I missed most about the Pacific Northwest was the vibrant fall colors. While I was still able to partake in some of my favorite fall activities (yes, I did track down a pumpkin patch in Hawaii) it just felt off being surrounded by lush green jungles and palm trees. It dawned on me that science classes are really good at teaching how plants turn green, but what causes the beautiful fall colors? 

Species Spotlight: Bald Eagle

Last time we broke down some pretty heavy topics and got into a lot of legal jargon. While it is important to understand these important changes to the ESA and how they could impact future conservation efforts, I remain hopeful. With that being said, I thought it was appropriate to focus on an important success story thanks to the Endangered Species Act. That’s right, we are talking about bald eagles today!

Endangered Species Act: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

After a big break, I am back to break down an important topic! I am excited to share so many other topics with you all, but this issue can’t wait. There has been a lot of news about the Endangered Species Act (or ESA) lately, but what does it really mean? In 1973, the ESA was born. With this crucial piece of legislation, a path towards conservation and environmental preservation was cemented. While states are offered incentives to protect species and habitats on the endangered species list through this program, the ESA is headed at a federal level through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service.

Hawaiian Monk Seal Pup. an important endangered species supported by the ESA

Red Wolf Howling, a species that has seen recovery through ESA listing

The Endangered Species Act has been credited with many great successes in its 46 year history, but one of the most iconic successes for this program may just be our national icon – the bald eagle. While there have been many important conservation laws in the U.S. since the mid-1800’s, the ESA set a new standard  with its robust protections for plant and animal species alike, as well as their environments. This law built upon the important foundations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which provided crucial protections for all marine mammals, regardless of conservation status. The ESA has had some amendments over the years, most notably in 1982 and 1988. In ’82 an amendment was introduced to allow for captive breeding and reintroduction programs to help regrow threatened and endangered species. This was huge for zoo and aquarium conservation programs and was a catalyst for a much-needed shift from an entertainment focus to one of education and environmental protections in the field. In ’88 an amendment requiring stricter monitoring of recovered species as well as candidate species was introduced. This helped monitor the progress of species that had gone through conservation and provided a priority system for the species awaiting listing. This amendment also introduced emergency listing, which provided immediate protections for a limited time period.

ACS 15th Annual Conference

Wow! What a weekend! I spent 5 days in the Monterey Bay area of California for the American Cetacean Society’s conference. For anyone who doesn’t know what a cetacean is, it is any whale, dolphin or porpoise species. While many things revolved around cetaceans, there was a strong message of hope and conservation throughout the weekend, in a time when many of us needed it most. Simply being able to spend time in Santa Cruz was great, but being able to attend this conference helped confirm my path in marine biology.

To start off, I was taken around Santa Cruz to see surfers, great beaches and, of course, marine mammals! We saw California Sea Lions off the pier, then en route to the conference, we saw Sea Otters feeding in Elkhorn Slough. For me, this was enough to make the trip, but the fun had only just begun! I went on a tour Moss Landing Marine Labs and found in the right place, a continuation of my education might be for me after all. With such a large interest in Sea Otters, it is only natural that a place with otters swimming outside the window renewed my motivation. I would have loved to spend a full day here, but we continued on to the conference opening festivities. The opening speaker, Nancy Black, presented an incredible photo history of the changes in cetacean distribution and abundances in Monterey Bay. She talked about the changes that she has observed in the last 30 years as a whale watch tour operator in the Bay. The entire time I was captivated by the beauty in her photos and in the creatures they represented. Seeing how much one small area has changed in a short time of 30 years was a really great way to help put worldwide changes into perspective. As the night ended, we had a rather interesting performance, intended for children, about conservation and ocean awareness. After all that, I was exhausted!

What’s the big deal with Ocean Acidification?

Now I’m going to go a little more chemical than biological today, but it’s for a very important reason. When I first learned about Ocean Acidification (OA), I was in an environmental oceanography class. Here I learned about the impacts of OA, but not the chemistry behind it. I became so interested in this chemistry that I set out to do some research and get a better understanding. What I found was alarming, exciting and confusing all at the same time. But this is such an important topic in conservation that I felt I needed to share!

Species Spotlight: Reef Triggerfish

Sorry it’s been a while, I’ve been busy trying to figure out how to showcase different organisms on the blog and this is what I came up with. The species spotlight. I wanted to be able to share a little bit about any random animal I thought of or was interested in so here it is. Be on the lookout for future species spotlights, but for today we have a very unique fish. One of my favorite fish to see out snorkeling is the reef triggerfish, or the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a as it’s known in Hawai’ian. These distinct fish, Humu’s for short, have some crazy characteristics including a blue lip, harsh coloring blocking and a distinct triangular section on their body. This unique fish has become the state fish of Hawai’i due to its cultural and environmental prevalence.

Sea Otters: the cutest keystone species

A Southern Sea Otter gives birth to a newborn pup in the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Great Tide Pool

Sea otters are one of my absolute favorite animals for many reasons; they’re cute, interesting, and important! One of the most important roles of a sea otter is as a keystone species. A keystone species is one that plays a particularly important role in its environment. They are usually, but not always, predators. Without these species, their environment would be radically different or might not exist. As these animals are removed from their habitats, all the other organisms in the community can feel the effects. A prime example of a keystone species is the endangered sea otter.

Clownfish: a disappearing act?

Imagine a world with no Nemo. It seems impossible, right? However, the clownfish, popularized by the movie Finding Nemo, could face difficulties in development and growth, if climate change continuous as expected. Scientists have recently found a connection between the ocean phenomenon known as ocean acidification and the clownfish’s brain to grow correctly in a larval, or very young, stage. As the acidity in the ocean increases, many organisms will face challenges, but could it be possible that the beloved fish could disappear from the ocean?

Let’s Break it Down

Biology. It’s all around us. The science of life is seemingly unavoidable, as we are just that, living creatures. But why do we need the “breakdown”? Biology can be confusing. I know first hand, as a biologist. While I primarily study life from the ocean, I think it is important for everyone to understand the biology basics.