Ecology

On the 15th anniversary of a million-gallon oil spill that damaged the coastline of Puerto Rico, NOAA and partner organizations are celebrating the purchase of 152 acres to expand a coastal reserve near one of the areas hardest hit by the spill.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program announced today the funding of 15 grants totaling more than $2.2 million through the jointly managed Coral Reef Conservation Fund (Coral Fund). The grants will help prevent further negative impacts to coral reefs by educating local communities and improving management effectiveness.

A larger facility to focus on Great Lakes issues opened today following a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) in Pittsfield Township, Mich.

NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are seeking public comment on a restoration plan to repair and improve shoreline and habitats of the Delaware River damaged by a vessel oil spill in 2004.

U.S. commercial and recreational fishing generated more than $185 billion in sales and supported more than two million jobs in 2006, according to a new economic report released by NOAA's Fisheries Service.

Juliana P. Blackwell has been named the new director of NOAA’s Office of National Geodetic Survey where she will oversee NOAA's responsibilities for the nation's spatial reference system. She is the first woman to head the nation's oldest federal science agency which was established by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807 as the Survey of the Coast.

NOAA’s Fisheries Service and its rescue team partners attempted a disentanglement of a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale earlier today.

Hine Mizushima, a Vancouver based illustrator/animator who makes great squid art and amazing They Might Be Giants videos, recently posted a wonderful “Beware of Giant Squid” holiday card that she made two years ago. The next time you walk by a public Christmas Tree you might think of the happy giant squid that lurks below the surface.

illustration by Hine Mizushima

The Dapperstache has released The Periodic Table of Awesomements and we were excited to see Giant Squid listed as Awesoment #60.

A tentacled salute to David R. for the tip!

image via The Dapperstache

“The Squid vs. The Whale”, is a really cool new Threadless T-Shirt design by Brandon Ancone depicting the age old battle between the giant squid and sperm whale.

illustration by Brandon Ancone

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, home of The Colossal Squid Exhibition, has a really cool “Build a Squid” interactive page on their website.

See Previously: Colossal Squid Thawed & Dissected in New Zealand

A tentacled salute to Davina for the tip!

image via Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

“A Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare” by Jeremy Butterfield

A free giant squid has been posted on Craigslist.

A tentacled salute to Scott Munson for the tip!

Reports are surfacing on how climate change, specifically the rise in carbon dioxide, may affect Jumbo Squid (BBC) and Humboldt Squid (Guardian).

The researchers say the squid is very vulnerable as a result of the combination of three factors: sea temperature rises; acidification; and the existing lack of oxygen in the deep ocean.

A tentacled salute to mikl-em and Violet Blue for the tip!

As well as allowing squid to escape under cover of darkness, their ink may serve as a warning signal to other squid

Nearly five miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean, scientists have found highly social groups of fish