By Michelle Martinek, RJD Intern On Thursday, March 27 we welcomed a group of beloved friends and benefactors, Advancement, aboard the ship Diver’s Paradise for a day of fun, good food, and of course shark tagging. The weather was chilly yet invigorating. As the last remnants of sleep left my eyes, we reached our nearby […]
by Lindsay Jennings, RJD Intern Whether it is a grouper sandwich, a salmon filet, or a fresh sushi roll, there is a growing demand for seafood on the global menu. Over the past years, there has been an increase in seafood consumption, as an expanding list of marine life is appearing on menus at fast-food […]
By Laura Vander Meiden, RJD Intern I stared at buoy three as it floated further and further away. In my mind there was only one explanation; one of us had mistied a bowline, allowing the buoy to free itself from the weighted drum on the ocean floor eighty feet below. The drum was lost to […]
By Gabi Goodrich, RJD Intern While our mornings may be early to most, it’s at this time of the day that can be the most exciting for our team. This past Friday’s trip with Bonefish-Tarpon Trust was no exception. As we crossed over the bridge onto Key Biscayne, the beauty of the ocean seemed overwhelming. […]
By Heather Alberro, RJD Intern The question of intelligence in animals other than human beings and perhaps some species of primates is a provocative and widely contested one. However, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that cetaceans, the mammalian order that includes whales and dolphins, may possess many of the “intelligence markers” we […]
By Hannah Calich, RJD Graduate Student and Intern Despite not being a morning person, I never seem to have a problem waking up on trip days. This past Saturday was no exception. I was especially excited because this was going to be my first trip with the Our Lady of Lourdes Academy (OLLA) and my […]
By: Patrick Goebel, RJD Intern The bottom of the ocean is a dark and mysterious place. It was first believed that this was a lifeless barren dessert. However, in recent years our understanding of this wasteland has changed. Submersible submarines, baited cameras and core samples have shown that life can survive at these deep depths. […]
By Hannah Armstrong, RJD Intern Global climate change, among other anthropogenic issues, is becoming an increasingly significant threat to the Arctic region of the world. Specifically, higher average temperatures and rapidly disappearing sea ice are of conservation concern for ice-dependent species. Arctic marine mammals are specifically adapted to take advantage of the climatic conditions that […]
By Kyra Hartog, RJD Intern The natural world is changing rapidly in the face of land and coastal development, climate change, fisheries, and other human impacts. With these changes come conservation concerns for the various species that inhabit these areas impacted by human activities. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) […]
By James Keegan, RJD Intern Mesopelagic fish, fish living at depths between 200 and 1000 meters in the ocean, reside in water with very low levels of light. Although they are typically small, mesopelagic fish constitute the largest biomass of fish in the world because of their immense numbers. Previous estimates state that there are […]