Shark Attacks on Humans

The plethora of shark attacks along the Carolina Coast this summer has spawned headlines across the country and, I assume, around the globe;...

Climate Change & Human Migration

We humans evolved about 130,000 years ago in East Africa; at that time, the last of the Pleistocene's warm interglacial periods was unde...

Geologic History of Cuba

As the Atlantic Ocean began to open, some 160 million years ago (MYA), the North and South American Plates were forced westward, a tectonic ...

Caving to Big Oil

Despite the ecological disaster wrought by the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, five years ago, the effects of which have ...

Axial Seamount, Iceland & Hawaii

Oceanic volcanic islands develop above mantle hotspots or along mid oceanic ridges where the sea floor is spreading.  The Hawaiian Ridge i...

Reassurance from SeaWorld

Facing a public backlash arising from a trainer's tragic death and accusations stemming from a highly publicized documentary, SeaWorld h...

The Nature of Fjords

Fjords are steep-walled, U-shaped, glacial-carved coastal valleys.  Especially common along the rocky coasts of Norway, Iceland, Greenland, ...

Zealandia

Zealandia is a long, relatively narrow fragment of continental crust that split from Antarctica early in the Cretaceous Period (about 120 mi...

Geology of Vanuatu Archipelago

This past week, the Vanuatu Archipelago of the southwestern Pacific Ocean has been in the news due to massive destruction wrought by Typhoon...

Minke Whales

Relatively common and widespread, minkes are small baleen whales that are represented by three species: the northern (true) minke, a circump...

Geologic History of Trinidad & Tobago

The islands of Trinidad and Tobago lie offshore the coast of northeastern Venezuela, at the southern end of the Lesser Antilles chain.  Unli...

Least Terns

Easily identified by their small size, yellow bill, buoyant flight and quick, sharp dives for fish, least terns are permanent residents of S...

More Visitors on the Bay

Two more bird species turned up on Sarasota Bay this morning.  A common loon, down from the lakes of Alaska, Canada or the northernmost U.S....

The Java Sea

Recently in the news due to the crash of Air Asia Flight 8501, the Java Sea is the southern section of a vast shallow sea that extends south...

Winter Beach

The beach on Longboat Key, Florida, is not especially wide or scenic.  Nevertheless, it attracts an excellent variety of migrant and residen...

Gonzalo rakes Bermuda

Forty million years ago, Bermuda, 640 miles ESE of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, was part of a volcanic island chain that towered above the...

West from Perce

Following our tour of Bonaventure Island, we headed west on Route 132, hugging the north shore of Chaleur Bay.We soon crossed the lowlands o...

Bonaventure Island National Park

Following a 24-hour delay due to rain and high winds, we climbed onto a crowded tour boat to Bonaventure Island National Park, off Perce, Qu...

Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins

On our last day at Forillon National Park, the winds had subsided and both Gaspe Bay and the Gulf of St. Lawrence were relatively calm.  We ...

Forillon's Spectacular Vistas

This morning, as yesterday's cold front pushed out to sea, bright, chilly sunshine bathed the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula and strong nort...