Census of Marine Life
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-10-06/census-marine-life
The first global marine census uncovered more than a thousand new species and a huge variety of microbes. Why understanding life in the sea matters for life on land.
Guests
Kevin Wheeler
vice president of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership
Paul Snelgrove
a professor in the Ocean Sciences Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.
Rep. Brian Baird
(D-Washington)
Comments
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I was delighted to hear your show on sea life this morning. I was also delighted to find a fantastic "Seafood WATCH" folding card to put in your wallet that is provided by the Monteray Bay Aquarium, which informs you of what sea food is Best, Good Alternatives, and to Avoid. On the other side it informs you about why it matters, how you make a differnece and where to learn more. I wish more places (especially on the East Coast) would produce such easy to understand and usful document.
Please see www.seafoodwatch.org
A listener asked about the potential for epidemics from the sea. In 1991-1994, 10,000 South Americans died of cholera, a strain apparently spread from the Indian Ocean in the ballast water of ocean-going vessels. A few years ago, the cholera pathogen was even found in the middle of Lake Superior!
This morning's show was very interesting and timely. Unfortunately I couldn't call in or e-mail at the time, but if I had, I would have asked if any of you were familiar with Farley Mowat's book SEA OF SLAUGHTER, published circa 1944.
Mowat felt that any time a new agency head was appointed to oversee a species, the population count of the species AT THAT TIME became THE overall base-line from which to monitor that species. Mowat went back to reports from early explorers, sea captains, and native tribes for their accounts of animal populations. One article states that it took Mowat 5 years to write the book, I after which he was despondent. I just finished reading the 400+ pages. It wasn't an easy read, but is a remarkable account of the devastation wreaked by the human species upon the other residents of this planet.