What Is a UME?
Although the acronym “UME” sounds rather benign like it could be a new term of technical jargon, it really refers to something very sad. UME stands for “Unusual Mortality Event.” As defined by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a UME…
Although the acronym “UME” sounds rather benign like it could be a new term of technical jargon, it really refers to something very sad. UME stands for “Unusual Mortality Event.” As defined by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a UME…
Marine mammal population health has been in the news a lot lately. Perhaps you heard that marine scientists didn’t see a single baby Atlantic Right Whale during the 2018 calving season. Or maybe you’re aware of the dwindling population of Vaquitas in the Gulf…
Red tide has been wreaking havoc on southwestern Florida - here's what you need to know about the algal issue, what causes it, and what you can do.
Here at GDEP, we prefer to keep matters of marine science apolitical. However, important scientific research, education, and funding comes from some key governmental organizations. Today, for the second year in a row, one of these vital support systems is…
This blog post is written by Cassidy Lord. Dolphins are cute, right? So cute you could jump right in with them? Give them a big hug and maybe a snack for the road? Well...don’t. Human interactions with marine mammals are…
This blog article was written by a guest writer, Jessica Wenclawiak. On March 15, 2000, scientists Ken Balcomb and Diane Claridge walked along the beach in the North Bahamas and quickly became involved in a disturbing event: 17 marine animals,…
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” ~John Muir Many of our GDEP blog pieces to date have featured species-specific information or issues explicitly impacting marine organisms and systems.…
Do dolphins get measles? Not exactly, but the disease that’s been ravaging whale and dolphin populations worldwide, called cetacean morbillivirus (CMV), is in the same family of viruses (Paramyxoviridae) that causes measles in humans. Morbillivirus has strains that affect non-cetacean…
This blog entry highlights Claudia Gleib's article "Death by Killer Algae" in Hakai Magazine. Read the full article at https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/death-killer-algae/. Stumbling upon a beached whale the size of a semi-truck is a startling sight, but not a wholly unusual one…
The vaquita—the “panda of the ocean”—has garnered much attention over the past few years having earned the unfortunate title of most-endangered marine mammal. Vaquitas are small porpoises whose numbers have plunged by 90% in the last 5 years alone. Some…