Revisiting the Oceans

Hello everyone!

Just thought I'd post a little recap on our Oceanic Blog-A-Thon!

For those reading this who missed the action last week (and where were you?!), Monday June 8th was World Oceans Day! A bunch of us got a little crazy and put together a blogging marathon which personally I very much enjoyed and think was quite successful! We had 24 participating posts with a wide range of view points, from the layman to the scientist, via literature and travels and history and poetry, from ocean lovers in several different countries. I've revisited the participating posts and it seems like we all did quite a bit of travelling in the blogosphere!

So I just wanted to thank all those who participated! And also to ask:

What did you do on World Oceans Day?

I spent a good part of the day reading and enjoying participants' posts while updating the blog here. And I definitely "Wore Blue and Told Two", among others my afternoon student got a full dose of seawater (as did the next day's student) lol! I've updated my "books to read" and "places to visit" from what I saw on people's blogs, and very much enjoyed the documentary video Neolibrarium provided us while I ate my dinner! The only thing missing from my plans was that I had intended to go for a swim in the Mediterranean... but blogging and work kind of got in the way... :p

How 'bout you guys?

Oh and to answer a question I read in one of the comments sections (on LOL's post on dolphins): if not for dolphins Cris (yours truly) would probably still be a biologist, but likely more into tropical rainforests or mountain ecosystems... lol! Dolphins are what first brought me to the sea, but some crazily adventurous parents introduced me to the natural environment and kept me interested thanks to many hikes/walks/camping trips in the desert, jungle and mountains in more countries than I can count! lol!

And to finish off, I thought I'd send you away to another blog, Southern Fried Science, where one of the bloggers is currently sharing thoughts on several marine documentary movies he's getting to see in the Blue Ocean Film Festival in Savannah Georgia (lucky guy!). If you're interested in these films (and some of them are going on my "too watch list, asap"), you can either browse through the blog or follow my quick and easy directions! ;o)

• Summary of the festival's first day here with detailed reviews of A Sea Change (about ocean acidification, biiiiig problem, viewed through a history professor asking scientists across the globe some pointed questions) and A View From Below (doc with amazing footage about a controversial deep sea biologist who finances his research by taking tourists down in his sub) separate.

• Summary of festival day two here, with detailed review of The Cove (about Japanese dolphin hunting... apparently very enthralling, and bloody) separate.

• Summary of the festival's third day here with detailed review of Shark Nicole (a great white that was satellite-tagged and followed by scientists for a few months allowing them to follow her across oceans) and Requiem (a shark documentary about some of the most "dangerous" species if they're really a threat to us and what threatens them) separate.

I don't know about you but I'm going to be on a lookout for these films! :o)