Seanet blogger shirks responsibility

The SEANET blogger has just returned from a whirlwind trip to Cape Cod, including a day’s worth of frolicking on First Encounter beach in Eastham, better known to Seanetters as WB_04, patrolled by Mary and Steve Gulrich. I didn’t note any serious looking dead bird seekers during my visit, so I guess the Gulriches and I were not destined to cross paths this time. But SEANET does hope to get down to the Cape sometime soon to visit all our excellent volunteers out there. Perhaps in the Fall when all those hateful tourists have skipped town at last.

The pale carcasses of human tourists litter First Encounter Beach (WB_04) on Cape Cod.

As if a Cape vacation were not enough, the shiftless SEANET blogger will now depart for a week and a half’s worth of vacationing in Maine. Thus, there will be no blog post next week. 

But the good news is, after next week, the SEANET blogger will have exhausted all her maternity leave and vacation time, and will again lower her nose to the blogging grindstone to keep you all informed of the latest news regarding seabirds, SEANET and the coastal environment generally. See you all then, and until then, walk on Seanetters!

SEANET Blog joins the Nature Blog Network

In an effort to increase SEANET’s exposure and inform the world of the great work you Seanetters are doing, the SEANET Blog has joined the ranks of 892 other nature related blogs on the Nature Blog Network. Eagle-eyed readers may already have noticed the link to the Network in the sidebar of the SEANET blog under “Affiliates.” The network ranks all of its 893 blogs based on readership, and the SEANET blog is currently rated 187th! Not bad for an upstart blog about dead birds. SEANET needs your help to further boost our stats, so tell all your friends, family, acquaintances, and the like about the blog, and tell them to check it often to send us flying up the charts.

SEANET encourages you to check out the Network’s other blogs; there’s great stuff in there on birds, bugs, travel, conservation, anything you might need to winnow away some idle time, or to reduce your productivity at work. Enjoy!

Research Expedition to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The projected route of the SEAPLEX project aboard the New Horizon

Our earlier post on the massive, swirling accumulation of junk out in the Pacific Ocean generated a good deal of interest from you readers. So here is a chance for you to follow the activities of a research vessel setting out specifically to investigate the garbage patch. The New Horizon, a Scripps Oceanographic vessel, is heading for the becalmed spot at the center of the North Pacific Gyre. The map shown here illustrates the ship’s planned route. The vessel is aiming for the windless “doldrums” at the gyre’s center (seen as a white spot on the image below, showing the wind strength out over the Pacific). The project, called SEAPLEX, seeks to apply rigorous science to the garbage patch, about which surprisingly little is really known. In particular, the researchers want to investigate the effects of plastic debris on organisms lower in the food chain like plankton and small fish or invertebrates. You can follow the expedition via their blog at http://seaplexscience.com. Very cool stuff, so check it out!

Average wind speeds over the Pacific. The garbage patch is at the center, in the windless white spot.