100th Post Sharkstravaganza

The more you hang around the internet and read blogs, the more you realize that blogs tend to follow r/K selection theory.  There are r-selected blogs, which spring up, pump out a couple posts, then vanish, and often have authors that just keep making entire…

Squalinkus acanthias

In the fine tradition of Kevin Z’s linkfest posts at Deep Sea News, I’ve designated this link-filled post with a bad pun on a scientific name.  We salty bloggers are classy like that.  Anyway, to make up for my lack of activity lately (it turns…

I am a Dogfish

Well, close enough.  One of my favorite evolutionary concepts is that we humans are but highly derived fish (check out Neil Shubin’s Your Inner Fish sometime to see just how deep and awesomely accurate that statement actually is), and now there is a neat little…

Pittsburgh Rocks

Hey all.  The ECU contingent made it back from Pittsburgh last night and I’ve finally managed to eke out some time to collect my thoughts and recap the week (and what a week it was).  This was my first national AFS meeting, and it was…

New Blargs

The AFS conference has kept me pretty busy so I haven’t been able to post regularly, but I will have a recap up soon.  Until then, check out the two new blogs that have joined the SFS network.  The first is Spawning is Imminent, which…

Beautiful Sunny Pittsburgh

Finally got some downtime to leave this update.  Yesterday we made the 10-hour drive (8 hours normally but we had a 7-person van that could never properly synch up bathroom breaks).  Now myself, Dan, and other members of the AFS crew are at the annual…

Something Nifty

My lab-mate Dan has started blogging about his adventures in otolith microchemistry, river herring, and hockey.  Check his stuff out over at The Endolymph (possibly one of the coolest names for a science blog ever) and encourage him to post often.

Ocean of Pseudoscience: Flipper is a Fraud!

This little bit of pseudoscience is a perfect example of how popular culture can distort our view of how nature works.  Most people are familiar with Flipper, whether it’s the old TV show from the 60’s, the short-lived 90’s reboot featuring Jessica Alba, or the…

Dogfish on Tour: Pittsburgh, PA

Hey all.  I’ve been ridiculously busy lately and it almost slipped my mind to announce my next trip out pimping my research.  This time I’ll be presenting a poster at the AFS annual meeting in sunny Pittsburgh, PA.  For those who saw my poster at…

Ocean of Pseudoscience: “Voracious Beyond Belief”

I’ll write my first epic Ocean of Pseudoscience post by touching on a subject near and dear to my small shark-loving heart, and in fact it’s the focus of my thesis research.  Ask any commercial fisherman (and even some scientists) if spiny dogfish are devouring…