Welcome to the 35th edition of Carnival of the Blue, a monthly compilation of the best ocean blogging.  First and foremost, I would like to share an announcement from GrrlScientist about a new twitter feed (SciNatBlogs) that announces science, environment, nature and medical blog carnivals to the public.

Of Winds and Water shares their first sailing trip with us, which is chock full of little tidbits of sailing information.

Jill, a nomadic field biologist, shares some of her photography of critters in the tide pools of Patrick’s Point State Park in California.  Wanderin’ Weeta, who also usually shares photographs with us, is sharing a video of skeleton shrimp this time around.

Sometimes a picture is worth more than 1,000 words.  A timely picture helped NEAQ researchers determine a calf’s gender, and will ultimately help with future conservation efforts for the entire North Atlantic right whale population.

Members of NEAQ’s Marine Animal Rescue Team were literally up to their knees in mud while assisting with a mass dolphin stranding in Cape Cod.  Read the post to learn about the stresses involved for both cetaceans and rescuers during a stranding.

In “Won’t They Think of the Poor Bone-Eating Worms?” Kevin Z (of Deep Sea News) writes, “The troubling aspect to me is the general idea sinking things to the deep-sea is a great way to solve problems. Out of sight, out of mind right?”.  The Saipan Blogger feels the same way, and wants to stop an ocean litter bug “artist” before he gets a chance to dump a giant “art” sculpture in his backyard, the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

Can pink flamingos and a burping cow help turn the tide for ocean wildlife threatened by climate change and ocean wildlife? The answer may lie in Monterey Bay Aquarium’s new special exhibition, Hot Pink Flamingos: Stories of Hope in a Changing Sea.

New research shows evidence that male pipefish prefer larger females, and will abort the embryos from less attractive females.  It seems like no matter the species, the men go for the pretty ladies…

What do Popeye and deep-sea fishy pigeons have in common?  Spinach, of course!

Miriam, of The Oyster’s Garter Deep Sea News, shares a list of dolphins in science fiction.  [Complete with comments regarding some interspecies lovin'.]

On a more serious dolphin-related note, both Southern Fried Science and Deep Sea News wrote about The Cove this month.  Amy tackles mercury poisoning and dolphins, which Kevin touches on in his review of The Cove.

Water Words That Work asked what went wrong in gaining stricter protections for the Atlantic bluefin tuna, and looked at how the ocean community’s environmental communications efforts compare to other conservation organizations.

Oceana shared a series of video dispatches from the CITES meeting in Doha, Qatar, the results of which are summed up in The Bitter End.

Submit your posts for next month’s carnival, through the Blog Carnival Submission Form or directly to dotoftheblue @ gmail . com.  Next month’s carnival will be hosted by Christie at Observations of a Nerd.

Numerous apologies for the hiatus in blogging, and the delay in posting this edition. Without further ado, I give you, Carnival of the Blue.

No Back Bone

• Wanderin’ Weeta features some wonderful macro photography, as always.  Life in a tank is always full of surprises, and a new find in a salt-water aquarium was the inspiration for the lesson on zooids, accompanied by the COOLEST photos!  Tanks are a great way to observe nature’s little wonders, like how Hermit Rex goes shopping for a new home.  What a wonderful thing to see in photo-essay form!
• Eric over at The Other 95% presents the results of a poll on which card to feature from the  Ocean Bloggers Oceans in the Classroom Initiative.  And the winner is……the Iceland Scallop!  Learn a little bit about their biology, range or fisheries, or simply learn how to cook their relatives. YUM.
• Cephalopodcast participated in the 3rd Annual International Cephalopod Awareness Days, October 8-10th, which includes Octopus Day, Nautilus Night and Squid Day/Cuttlefish Day (also known as Squidturday).  Learn about cephalopods, the history of Cephalopod Awareness Day and why you should celebrate.

Feathery Friends

• As part of the Marine Life Series at Daily Kos you can learn about one of my favorite shorebirds, the Red Knot, and how the fate of the horseshoe crab population in Delaware Bay is intricately linked to the fate of these tiny birds.
• 10,000 Birds features another type of sandpiper, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, in part one of a six part series.  Great conservation post!

Salty Science

• Kevin Zelnio of Deep Sea News breaks the news to us….size matters.  Well, sieve size at least.  Is it better to follow the crowd or bust out on your own when choosing the proper sieve size for your study?  Size matters when estimating biomass!  Dr. M, the other half of Deep Sea News, presents us with a lesson in biogeography in The Origins of Deep-Sea Fauna.
• Christie, normally of Observations of a Nerd, wrote a small novel post over at scientificblogging.com entitled Busting Marine Myths: Sharks DO Get Cancer! Take the time to read this longer piece, as it is a MUST-read, especially for those interested in shark conservation.  I remember when the “sharks don’t get cancer” craze came out in the 90s when my grandmother had cancer, and this fallacy has led to the demise of millions of sharks.

Crazy for Conservation

• Known for their frequent criticism of Sea Shepherd, Southern Fried Science takes a look at what makes a good conservation organization.  Enter the Sea Turtle Restoration Project (STRP), a 20-years-in-the-making conservation organization that started with one specific goal in Mexico and has now affected change across the globe.  It boils down to methodology and it’s true what they say– you do catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
• Outreach really is vital to conservation and the dissemination of science.  Scientists need to thing broader in terms of broader impacts.  As of late, severeal expeditions have been getting the “Yet Another Scientist Getting Broader Impacts Right” award from Rick of Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets, and the New England Aquarium-Woods Hole-Conservation International 3-week research expedition to the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is no exception.  Check out the Phoenix Islands Expedition: Q&A!
• Happy Birthday to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!  The aquarium’s blog, Sea Notes, commemorates 25 years of conservation.  Congratulations, and keep up the good work!

While on vacation, Wanderin’ Weeta sends us a postcard from Vancouver Island, which shows a beautiful underwater garden beneath the Powell River wharf.  There’s nothing like a little rest and relaxation, especially when everyone’s quiet except the gulls.

If you’re wondering where you should travel this summer, you could go to California to check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s new gallery about ocean acidification, but be sure to read their post Climate Watch on their blog Sea Notes in the meantime.

Mark Powell, father of Carnival of the Blue and blogfish, tells us that Wal-mart is the green leader, again. So if you need to buy a few last-minute purchases for your trip, you can now check out the broad sustainability information on product labels!

Although tourists can be obnoxious, as Christie of Observations of a Nerd points out, they may also be the solution for how to accidentally stopping whaling.

On the topic of vacation, The Saipan Blogger just returned from a 10 day expedition to the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument!  He just wrote about some legislation pending in the U.S. Congress that would weaken some of the protections of the  monument , and take out the area with the most productivity and biodiversity.  If the Senate and President Obama agree to the new legislation already passed by the House, then the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument could then become home to Uracas Floating Hotel.

Now that we are in the realm of the deep, Rick MacPherson of Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, & Sunsets pointed out the deep irony of deep sea vent research ethics.  There’s just something fishy about “research ethics developed for deep vent research knowing that extractive mining interests (who are also heavily funding the research) are right around the corner,” as Rick puts it.  Don’t forget to read The Southern Fried Scientist’s post on responsible research at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and beyond!

Peter Etnoyer, of Deep Sea News, asks if you can have your coral and eat it, too? Ah, the difficulties in demonstrating sea star predation on deep-sea corals…

As we are in the midst of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, I urge you to check out David Shiffman’s interview with Discovery Channel’s Paul Gasek over at Southern Fried Science. It’s very insightful as to the motivations behind Shark Week these days.

Last but certainly not least, if all this time at sea has you dying for some freshwater, Caspar Henderson, of The Book of Barely Imagined Beings,  wonders if conservationists can save the Ganges River Dolphin from the same fate of it’s cousin the Yangtze River Dolphin as he sings the Brahmaputra blues.

Sorry folks, I know I have been neglecting the blog a bit recently.  Anyway…it’s carnival time!!!

Get your submissions for Circus of the Spineless #41 to the Southern Fried Scientist by July 30th.

….and now, even more importantly (sorry Andrew!), don’t forget to send me your submissions for Carnival of the Blue #27 by August 2nd.

In case you missed it, go check out Andrew’s awesome “fresh off the plane from Okinawa”-inspired Sashimi Edition from last month–and don’t forget to check back here on August 3rd for the latest edition!

Purposely delayed to coincide with World Oceans Day, Carnival of the Blue #25 is now live over at Blogfish!   It’s the best ocean posts from the past month, from the best ocean bloggers, and presented by the big, bad, carnival-daddy himself, Mark Powell.  Seriously, go check it out…

Today Christie and I went to the Museum of Natural History.  We saw an exhibit on bodies and learned 5 interesting facts about the human skeleton that we never knew! Not only did BioRob2006 teach us that, but also taught us what happens when we get old.  Christie really liked Geoff’s human evolution and frameshift mutation explanation, saying that it was a “very interesting hypothesis about human departure from apes.”

In the next hall, there was a copy of The Primate Diaries.  The open page said something about how unicolonial ants pose challenge to “selfish gene” theory. Beside it was a Denim and Tweed wall plaque, illustrating how ants trim trees for more living space. The end of the hall had a big sign by Hoxful Monsters, showing a new tree of life, which suggests that the nervous system evolved only once in animal history.

We walked down to The History Cellar and saw Charles Darwin’s letters, in which Darwin reacts to a bad review of The Origin of Species.  The man standing next to us, who we later learned was Adam Goldstein, said, “Give the old man a break and let’s stop it with ‘Darwinism’.”

We then went to see the new movie at the museum, Three New Species Discovered–in the Stratosphere! GrrlScientist had suggested we go see it before she met up with us, saying “”Wow, THREE new bacterial species in the stratosphere! Where will we find new life next? Perhaps the Moon? Mars?”

Towards the end of our museum visit, GrrlScientist joined us and shared some insight and photos from her own research into the evolution and biogeography of the lories, which are parrots native to the islands of the South Pacific Ocean. Apparently dead birds do tell tales!

After we left the museum, GrrlScientist, Christie and I walked through Central Park, and we looked at all the birds that have returned for spring.  GrrlScientist told me, “human eyes speak volumes to birds, and that the birds will try to hide from our gaze.”  ”Ha!” I told her.  ”That may be cool, but I know something even more interesting.  Did you know birds can dance?”

We continued our walk through the park, and saw The White Sepulchre holding a sign that was only three words long, but by his account, was the best argument against Creationism ever devised.  It said “Serpents can’t talk.”

Afterwards, I met a few friends for drinks.  Andrew Bernadin suggested that I order endorphins on the rocks.  While we were sipping away, he told me about the plasticity of human nature, and that mating strategies are variable and influenced by culture.  While discussing male dominance, he quoted Franz de Waal and said “for males, this is an all-or-nothing game; rank determines who will sow his seed far and wide and who will not sow his seed at all.”  I told him that I recently read in The Primate Diaries that the importance of female choice is overlooked in chimpanzees. When we began talking about monogamy, Anna shared something really interesting–in birds, the more monogamous the species, the bigger the brain! Zen Faulkes said that this may not be the same case with humans, and told us about a recent study he read, the author theorizes that if you’re monogamous, you have a large brain to cheat. Jennifurret, decided to end the debate and reminded us of the diversity of mating strategies in the world.

As we left the bar, I was glad to be out in the warm air that came with May.  After all, I only just read in The Spittoon that researchers tie variation in cancer gene to winter temperatures.

We walked over to the Metamagician and the Hellfire Club, where we listened to Jerry Coyne on science organisations and accommodationism.  Afterwards, Jennifurret talked about the problems with some universities and teaching evolution in colleges.  Maybe we should tell the universities to hire The Southern Fried Scientist, who gets really excited by clear cases of convergent evolution. I bet he could do a better job of teaching evolution!

Oh crap! Is that the time??? Now it’s too late to go catch the Carnival of Evolution!  I guess I’ll have to catch it next month, over at Deep Sea News.