Friday Photo Blogging

I don't know who "Steve took it" is but he takes some amazing photographs. Make sure to visit his Flickr page and take a look at all of them.

Photo used under a Creative Commons License

California Drought

Gov. Arnold Shwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in California due to the past three years of drought and the likely fourth year to come. A good reminder that even though it has been raining for what seems like everyday this month that we still need a lot more water.

The governor signed the proclamation Friday. Among other steps, it directs state agencies to provide assistance for affected communities and businesses.

The move encourages urban water agencies to reduce water use by 20 percent and says mandatory conservation is an option if other measures are insufficient.

Schwarzenegger called the drought a crisis as severe as an earthquake or wildfire.

Photo by Flickr user Jason-Morrison used under a Creative Commons License.

More Barreleye Fish of Monterey Bay

Another article and more information on the awesome barreleye fish on Monterey Bay

Fish with See-through Head

This is a pretty awesome looking fish courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

h/t Ryan G.

Congratulations Cate!

Cate Whalen, a good friend of the store from back in her Cafe Rouge days was named by the SF Chronicle as one of the 5 best bartenders in the Bay Area. And if you know the Bay Area well, you know we take our drinks and our bartenders very seriously.

Three years behind the buzzing bar at Berkeley's Cesar infused her with a deep knowledge of wine and spirits. "I started to appreciate the culture of sharing that with food," she says.

Then it was out of the frying pan into Slanted Door's fire, where she spent three hectic years under Thad Vogler (see this page, above), whose recent gigs include Beretta and Oakland's Camino.

"Thad has the most integrity in the choices he makes - in who makes the spirit and how it's made and how it's consumed as well," says Whalen. She paid attention.

After such fast-paced stints, Pizzaiolo, with its tiny seven-seat bar and a wine-friendly rustic Italian menu, might seem an odd next step. A little like finding a fortified Italian wine, rum and an herbal Cognac-based liqueur in the same cocktail (see recipe). But Whalen makes a convincing case.

I will refrain from posting pictures of her passed out at home plate at an EBV sloshball tournament and post this beautiful cocktail photo instead :)

Photo by Flickr user Jeremy Brooks used under a Creative Commons License

Ha!

Anti-science creationists often tout a list of somewhere around 200 Ph.D's who do not believe in evolution. To fight back the National Center for Science Education put together a list of 200 scientists who accept evolution. The kick is every one of them is named Steve or Stephanie. Well, they just added their 1000 Steve, a way too coincidental Prof. Steve Darwin of Tulane University.

But seriously this should tell one something about the consensus around the acceptance of evolution as a valid scientific theory. There are 5 times as many Dr. Steve's (and Stephanie's) that believe in evolution than Dr. "Shouldn't Really be a Scientists" that don't.

Animal Rescue Training

I do not know a lot about Noah's Wish but they are having a 2-day in-field training for volunteers and the community in Dublin, Ca. on March 7th & 8th.

According to their website:

Since we were established in 2002, we have been there to support animals during disasters. For example, we responded to:
-Katrina and the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
-Lake Tahoe fires.
-Southern California fires.
-Iowa Floods and many others.

Sounds like a great cause so head on over and sign up if you have the time to help some needy animals.

Sustainable Food

A really interesting history of Niman Ranch meat and where it goes from here now that it is owned and controlled by a large Chicago Company and the founder will no longer eat it's products.

Photo by Flickr user revolute used under a Creative Commons License.

Mystery Solved

The mystery deaths of hundreds of seabirds in Monterey Bay was a normally non-toxic algae.

But after water testing, the researchers found no indication of excess oil, pesticides, acids or commercial products that might have caused the foam and gooey coating on the birds. All told, 207 birds were found dead and 550 were stranded.

Then the slime disappeared.

Now, the "mystery spill" has been solved. It wasn't the Cosco Busan oil spill in nearby San Francisco Bay or a controversial aerial pesticide spraying along the Central Coast. It was harmless-looking foam from an ordinarily nontoxic algal bloom churned up by November waves, according to a study coming out in PLoS ONE on Monday.

This unassuming foam looks like "if you beat egg whites into a meringue and sprinkle a little dirt in with it," study co-author Kudela tells ScientificAmerican.com. Although the protein-rich froth didn't contain toxins, it acted as a surfactant, which lowers the surface tension of water—especially where it comes into contact with oil. This disabled the natural water-repellent coating on the feathers of floating loons, grebes, northern fulmars and other birds in the bay, soaking them through and rendering them susceptible to the chilly autumn Pacific water.

Borneo Monster Snake

This one is new to me! There was a sighting of the mysterious Nabau snake, a 100-foot snake living in the rivers of Borneo. Like any good Cryptozoological sighting there is a grainy photo to go along with it.

An aerial photograph that appears to show a gigantic snake swimming along the remote waterway has emerged, sparking great concern among local communities.

But it is not clear whether the photograph is genuine, or a clever piece of photo-editing. Some suggested the 'snake' was in fact a log or a speed boat and others complained the colour of the river in the photo was too dark.

The most common theory is that the photo has been manipulated on a computer.

The image has even stumped the New Straits Times newspaper in Kuala Lumpur, which suggested readers decide for themselves.

However, on the banks of the river, villagers are convinced of the massive serpent's existence and have even given it a name, Nabau, after an ancient sea serpent which can transform itself into the shapes of different animals.

Shark attacks down due to the economy?

Interesting theory and while I imagine it will be hard to prove, but makes common sense.

Shark attacks are on the decline due to the current economic downturn, a biologist speculated today.

In 2008, attacks worldwide dipped to their lowest level in five years, a sign that Americans may be forgoing vacation trips to the beach, said ichthyologist George Burgess of the University of Florida.

Burgess is the director of the International Shark Attack File, a compilation of all known shark attacks that is administered by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History, on the UF campus.

The total number of shark attacks declined from 71 in 2007 to 59 in 2008, the fewest since 2003, when there were 57, said Burgess, who works at the museum.

"I can’t help but think that contributing to that reduction may have been the reticence of some people to take holidays and go to the beach for economic reasons," Burgess said. "We noticed similar declines during the recession that followed the events of 2001, despite the fact that human populations continued to rise."

Photo by Flickr user g-na used under a Creative Commons License

Friday Photo Blogging

San Gabriel Mountains Slender Salamander
Batrachoseps gabrieli
Found in my garden in Aptos, California

Desert Wildflower Outlook

Looks like this year may end up being another decent year with the rain the desert just got this past week.

Here is a great website for tracking flowers in the California Desert. If anyone knows of any others please pass them on.

Also any book reviews out there for Introduction to California Desert Wildflowers (California Natural History Guides)

Photo from EBV Desert Trip 2008 by myself

CA Salmon News Gets Worse

Looks like we may be headed to another closure of the salmon season here in California. I would imagine the lack of rain until now really hurt things too.

A record-low number of chinook salmon returned to rivers in California's Central Valley last year, indicating that severe restrictions on salmon fishing are likely again this year, federal regulators say.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council reported that in 2008 a total of 66,264 natural and hatchery chinook or "king" salmon adults were estimated to have returned to the Sacramento River basin to spawn, the lowest estimate on record.

The council uses the estimates to determine if it should recommend limits on commercial and recreational fishing.

Photo by Flickr user stu_spivack used under a Creative Commons License

Friday Photo Blogging

Boa manditra
previously known as Sanzinia madagascariensis

American's Don't like Science

Very disconcerting but I don't know what else to take away from this graph. This is proven as much as you can prove something in science. There is no doubt among honest scientists that evolution occurs. Hell we can even see it happening in real-time in virus and bacteria (anti-biotic resistance anyone?)

See the Gallup Poll for details.

It has been all over the news lately but it has been confirmed that the 1998 Lancet study showing a link between autism and vaccines was faked. Yep, fabricated data and all. Hope you are proud of yourself Dr. Andrew Wakefield. I say bring him up on Murder charges.

For a good run-down see this balloonjuice post.

Photo by Flickr user Andres Rueda used under a Creative Commons License

Happy Birthday Darwin!

One of the Fathers of Modern Biology Charles Darwin was born 200 years ago today. The exact same day as Abraham Lincoln so Happy Birthday to the President too.

More Darwin related posts when I return from a Darwin Birthday Party.

Photo by Flickr user Colin Purrington used under a Creative Commons License.

The End of the Salamander?

Salamander species in the tropics are seeing massive declines in their population numbers. Speculation is that Global Climate Change is playing a role.

Silent and secretive creatures, salamanders are just as quietly falling off the map in tropical forests throughout Central America, a new study says.

Two common species surveyed in the 1970s in cloud forests of southern Mexico and Guatemala are extinct, and several others have plummeted in number, researchers say.

Sorry no pictures of tropical salamanders in my photo album or that I see on creativecommons.org

Stelephant

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Friday Photo Blogging

UCSC_-3383.jpg
Originally uploaded by kirklandj

Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica - Yellow-eyed Ensatina
Taken on the University of California, Santa Cruz Campus

Pink Iguana

Congratulations you are now your own species!

A new species of Galápagos iguana has scientists tickled pink.

The pink iguana, named after its salmon-colored skin, lives only on the Wolf volcano on the island of Isabela.

Charles Darwin did not visit the volcano on his travels to the Ecuadorian island chains in the 1830s, so the creature remained undiscovered until 1986, when it was spotted by park rangers. Only now has it been recognized as its own species.

New Colombian Amphibians

Reports of new species from Colombia's rainforest. (Pretty pictures in link)

The salamander looks like a tropical version of our Slender Salamander.

Are you smarter than a Chinese 2nd grader?

Leap Frog test.

It is not very easy. Took me quite some time after doing the exact same thing multiple times in a row thinking it was some new strategy. I think I got it on my 8th try.

Via long time customer Michael B.

Some Good News

Dept of Interior Sec. Salazar announced today that last minutes Bush Admin. leases on National land in Utah would be canceled.

More than 100,000 acres of Utah wilderness will be protected from oil and gas drilling after the Department of Interior announced today that it will cancel 77 leases issued under the Bush administration. This is among the first actions taken by the Obama administration to protect America’s wild lands. Since December, a coalition of environmental groups – led by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), Earthjustice, and the Wilderness Society – have been working to protect these public lands. In December, the coalition filed suit to stop the leasing, and, in January, Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of the U.S. District Court granted a temporary restraining order preventing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from moving forward with these leases.

“I see this announcement as a sign that after eight long years of rapacious greed and backdoor dealings, our government is returning a sense of balance to the way it manages our lands," said Robert Redford, an NRDC trustee. "American citizens once again have a say in the fate of their public lands, which in this case happen to be some of the last pristine places on earth.”

Photo by Flickr user John Purkis used under a Creative Common License

Titanoboa Cerrejonensis

A fossil GIANT snake was found in Colombia ...

Never mind the 40-foot snake that menaced Jennifer Lopez in the 1997 movie "Anaconda." Not even Hollywood could match a new discovery from the ancient world. Fossils from northeastern Colombia reveal the biggest snake ever discovered: a behemoth that stretched 42 to 45 feet long, reaching more than 2,500 pounds.

"This thing weighs more than a bison and is longer than a city bus," enthused snake expert Jack Conrad of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who was familiar with the find.

"It could easily eat something the size of a cow. A human would just be toast immediately."

Pretty impressive that a snake that heavy could exist. Imagine the muscles needed to move it around.