We watched last night as our favorite backstroker-slash-ocean lover, Aaron Peirsol, won his fourth Olympic gold medal and set a world record of 52.54 seconds in the 100-meter backstroke, which made him the first man since Roland Matthes of East Germany in 1968 and 1972 to win back-to-back 100 backstroke titles at the Games, according to the New York Times' report.
It was an exciting race. The first 50 meters saw Aaron lagging behind in lane two, but after his flip and a fierce kick off the wall, he surged ahead. The commentators roared.
On Thursday I wrote about our latest victory in the seafood contamination campaign -- Costco has agreed to post the FDA's warnings about mercury in seafood.
The Washington Post's consumer blog, The Checkout, wrote about the Costco victory this morning.
Sick of all the doping scandals in cycling? Check out Tour de Turtles instead.
A Supersized Victory! Costco, the wholesaler whose buy-in-bulk warehouses make some swoon and others swear, has committed to warn its customers about mercury contamination in fish. Costco will post the FDA's mercury advice on signs at seafood counters in all its stores.
ABC News aired a segment today about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (aka the North Pacific Gyre) -- I've heard a lot about the swirling mass of trash, but these are the first actual images I've seen. Check it out -- and sign our plastics pledge if you haven't already.
In 1970 - the same year that saw the birth of Earth Day - a simple but comprehensive Act was signed into law that would forever alter the federal regulatory process. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) established a national policy to protect the environment, calling for government agencies to consider environmental impacts in all decisions that it made.
Ok, I can't resist -- one more seafood post today.
The EPA has a new web site, Fish Kids, to teach kids about mercury in seafood. There are animated games and stories that drive home the lessons to watch out for mercury.
My favorite part? It's all about the adventures of the Fisher family... which happens to be the last name of yours truly.
As promised on Monday, a post devoted to Taras Grescoe’s Bottomfeeder, which I just finished reading.
I’ve heard Grescoe called the “Michael Pollan for the oceans,” and I think that designation is pretty accurate. They are both compelling writers -- Pollan deals with the land and how it feeds us (and how we treat it in return), and Grescoe does the same for the oceans.
It appears that jellyfish have invaded not just the oceans but the media, too.
Last week I told you about our marine scientist Margot Stiles' cameo on the CBS Early Show to talk about the jellyfish invasion. They aired a longer version of the story Sunday evening -- check it out. They included quite a bit of footage from our European office of jellyfish and our roving catamaran, the Ranger.
