The Search for Zombie Crabs: The 2015 Chesapeake Bay Parasite Project

This is a guest post by Monaca Noble, a biologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s Marina Invasions Laboratory. For the last 10 years, Ms. Noble has worked on issues related to the transport of marine species in ballast water and the introduced parasite Loxothylacus panopaei. This June, 49 enthusiastic volunteers came out to search … Read more “The Search for Zombie Crabs: The 2015 Chesapeake Bay Parasite Project”

Categories: Biology, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water

Citizen scientist divers help track the success of artificial reefs.

  This is a guest post by Michael Bear Citizen Science Project Director at Ocean Sanctuaries.  In this post, he describes a citizen science led effort to catalog marine life living in and around the HMCS Yukon. In 2000, the Yukon was transformed into an artificial reef as part of San Diego’s  marine conservation effort.   In 2000, … Read more “Citizen scientist divers help track the success of artificial reefs.”

Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water

Jellywatch: Observing Blobs for Marine Ecology

Turn your beach visit into marine ecology research on worldwide jellyfish populations. Looking for more summertime citizen science projects? Find them here. Between 2012 and 2013, power plants in Israel, Sweden, Scotland, Japan, and the U.S. were shut down unexpectedly, all for the same reason: jellyfish. Blooms of jellyfish abundantly swarmed in coastal waters and clogged … Read more “Jellywatch: Observing Blobs for Marine Ecology”

Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water