September 5, 2009 - CNN is reporting the recent sighting of up to 5 sharks near Monomoy Island, within 1 mile of Lighthouse Beach in Chatham. Greg Skormal, a shark expert for Massachusetts' Division of Marine Fisheries, made one confirmed and four possible sightings of large sharks, possibly great whites, yesterday. Seals are a preferred food of large sharks and thousands of them live in the waters around Monomoy Island and the entrance to Chatham Harbor. In response to the sightings the Chatham Bars Inn has posted signs with information and has been telling guests to be careful. The town of Chatham says it will close beaches immediately if a shark is seen nearby. Here's the full story from CNN.

With its large seal population shark sightings are a regular occurrence around Monomoy. Less often sharks are seen near beaches to the north. This year, as in years past, MoreBeach has received unconfirmed reports of shark sightings as far north as Eastham. These sightings did not seem newsworthy. When it comes to sharks there's a fine line between genuine news and fear mongering. It should not be news that sharks swim in the ocean or that they eat seals. However, when CNN reports on shark sightings, it is news. According to the International Shark Attack File Summary for 2008 there were 59 unprovoked shark attacks on humans worldwide last year, with 32 taking place in Florida. This continues an annual decline in attacks since 2000. Last year 4 people were killed in unprovoked attacks, two in Mexico, one in Australia and one in California. Massachusetts has recorded only four shark attacks since 1670, two of which have been fatal. The last fatal shark attack in Massachusetts occurred in 1936 in Buzzards Bay.

July 27, 2009 - Princess Cruise's 2,670 passenger Sapphire Princess docked in Vancouver last Saturday with a dead 70' fin whale wedged onto the bulb at the bottom of its bow. The ship's crew was unaware it had struck the whale until the ship was in port. Cruise ships travel in specified shipping lanes. The bulb helps to break the bow's entry into the water and reduces fuel consumption. The whale may have entered the shipping lanes in pursuit of food. Here's a video.

July 22, 2009 - Launched last week, New England Aquarium’s Live Blue Initiative enables people to make a public commitment to an environmentally conscious lifestyle. When you visit the website you are directed to an area of the ocean and a specific spot within that area. That spot (lat/long coordinates are the spot's ID)"belong" to you. You are then directed to write why and how you "live blue." You can check out the spots other people have selected as well.

Marcy S. from Cleveland, OH lives blue because she’s worried about climate change. Her coordinates: 73° 58’ 16” S // 170° 51’ 34” E. TKolua from Sheldon, VT lives blue because the ocean holds more mystery to life than we’ll ever know. His coordinates: 30° 53 51”N // 81° 10 1” W. Albatross37, from Boston, lives blue because the ocean is a place of refuge and out of respect for the life it holds. Her coordinates: 6° 22’ 25” S // 170° 26’ 31” W.

Those who join the Live Blue Initiative are not required to make financial contributions, but they may choose to do so while on the site. They may also purchase t-shirts with their Live Blue coordinates inscribed across the front. Check out the site at LiveBlueInitiative.org

On the home page of the Live Blue Initiative, visitors are given a global view through a rotating, 3D earth. There are 10 areas where the New England Aquarium is currently engaged in conservation efforts that the Live Blue user can explore, from the Phoenix Islands, to the Bay of Fundy and the Bahamas. A series of clicks presents users with a unique view of the habitat and facts about the marine life and conservation efforts in the area. The final zoom takes users to an interactive map where they can select their plot as well as view others’ plots and read their “I Live Blue” statements.

Once a visitor selects a plot he is able to login and see how the initiative has grown, what additional actions the Aquarium has participated in since his last visit and take additional steps to share the experience with more people. The Live Blue Initiative site connects participants through Facebook and Twitter, instantly declaring one’s commitment to Live Blue through existing social networks. The idea is to help Live Blue Initiative followers share their commitment with friends and to spread the Live Blue message one click, one “friend,” one tweet at a time.

The Live Blue Initiative is the result of a creative collaboration between Boston based ad agency Mullen and the New England Aquarium.

July 21, 2009 - He is called Lonesome George and is the last known Pinta Island Tortoise. For over a decade scientists have been trying to get him to mate with females of related species. On Monday five eggs in perfect condition were found in his pen. Those eggs are now in an incubator. Galapagos tortoises were among the creatures Charles Darwin studied while on the voyage of the HMS Beagle. Here's the full story from Reuters.