Check out all the market squid! I was lucky enough to have the chance to go on a boat trip in search of market squid with Larry Fukuhara, Programs Director at Cabrillo Aquarium and several Cabrillo staff members and volunteers. We left Redondo Beach at 6:00pm and headed straight for Point Vicente and the outskirts… [read more]
Fisher eaters check this out
I have good news for fish eaters. A reader let me know that she buys healthy and sustainable seafood from Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics. After checking out the website, I must say it does appear to be excellent. Vital Choice even has an endorsement from Dr. Andrew Weil, the famous supporter of integrative… [read more]
Possible names for the false killer whale
First, just to be clear in case anyone missed my post yesterday, renaming the false killer whale is just an idea at this point, not a real opportunity. But for the sake of discussion I thought it would be fun to brainstorm some new names. Remember this is brainstorming, so all ideas are acceptable at… [read more]
Update on Hawaii’s false killer whales
For anyone who wants to submit comments to help add Hawaii’s false killer whales to the endangered species list, it’s easy to do, but not obvious to find when you go to the website. So I just wanted to add a few pointers for visiting www.regulations.gov. When you get to the home page there are… [read more]
Help Hawaii’s false killer whales
False killer whales or Pseudorca crassidens are amazing animals that prefer living out in the open ocean in tropical and warm temperate waters. But some populations of false killer whales hang tight near oceanic islands and Hawaii’s false killer whales are one example. One super cool fact that I learned at the American Cetacean Society… [read more]
Writing about the California spiny lobster
Last week, I wrote a cover story for Easy Reader on Dive N’ Surf’s Lobster Mobster contest and lobster fishing in California. This turned into a much bigger story than I originally had planned, but that’s how the writing process often goes. One of the most challenging decisions every writer must face is what information… [read more]
Ocean sunfish holy mola!
What on earth is that? This is a common exclamation upon meeting an ocean sunfish, the craziest looking fish inhabiting the same ocean layers humans frequent. But this peculiar fish sports the coolest scientific name: Mola mola. Possibly Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy who scientifically named thousands of species, suffered a brief nervous tic… [read more]
Sushi lovers beware
Thankfully I never acquired a taste for sushi, it wasn’t common in the Midwest when I was growing up. Because if I actually enjoyed eating it, that would make it much harder to give up now. I’m just trying to be honest that when I say I gave up eating sushi long ago, it really… [read more]
Clymene dolphins
Meet the Clymene dolphin or Stenella clymene! This is a pretty cool looking dolphin, featuring many shades of gray from almost white on the bottom to dark gray on top, plus three shades of medium gray in the middle in a complimentary striped pattern. And if you look closely at the dolphin’s beak in the… [read more]
The rock wrasse
This fish has it made. The small mouth of the rock wrasse or Halichoeres semicinctus usually prevents it from being caught by fishermen! Yet, rock wrasses are able to munch on a diverse diet of crabs, snails and algae, not too shabby small mouth. This is all based on information conveyed by Dr. Milton Love’s… [read more]