#Kens Reef

[cheekedupwhiteboy]

The situation in Florida and around the globe has some coral scientists confronting a dark reality: Coral restoration, which started as a noble endeavor back when humans weren’t this far down the road of climate breakdown, is bearing little fruit. It has failed to keep up with wave after wave of loss, yet remains the bulk of what’s being done to help ailing reefs. And scientists in the field are scrambling to figure out what comes next, with no clear consensus. “What we were doing 10 years ago was working, and it was the strategy that we could do at the time, but things are changing fast. This year, in particular, should have been a wake-up call to everybody,” said Ken Nedimyer, who founded CRF in 2007 but left in 2017 to start another outfit called Reef Renewal USA. “What we were doing and are doing is not going to work. We��ve got to do something different.” “To rinse and repeat,” he added, “the results are going to be exactly the same, which is failure.” [...]

When it comes to the threat of human-caused climate change, the world’s fragile reefs are often described as the canary in the coal mine. “If the coal mine is the Keys, the canary is dead,” said Bill Precht, a veteran coral scientist based in Miami. Even before last summer, upwards of 90% of coral on Florida’s reef had vanished due to warming temperatures, pollution and sediment runoff, disease outbreaks — stony coral tissue loss being the worst of them — and other threats. Coverage of stony corals, those that build hard skeletons and are the foundation of Florida’s 350-mile reef, was around just 2%, down from historical levels of 30% to 40%.

[reasonsforhope]

"Discarded shells from restaurants and hotels are being used to restore damaged oyster ecosystems, promote biodiversity and lower pollution in the city’s bays...

Nestled in between the South China Sea and the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong has been seen historically as an oyster hotspot. “They have been supporting our livelihood since ancient times,” says Anniqa Law Chung-kiu, a project manager at the Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Hong Kong. “Both oysters and their shells are treasures to humans.”

Over the past five decades, however, the city’s sprawling urban development, water pollution, as well as the over-harvesting and frequent seafloor dredging by the lime industry – which uses the crushed shells to make construction material – have destroyed Hong Kong’s oyster habitats and made the waters less hospitable for biodiversity.

The more oyster colonies falter, the worse the problem gets: oysters are filter feeders and purify water by gobbling up impurities. Just one Hong Kong oyster can filter up to 200 litres of water a day, more than any other known oyster species. But decades of rapid industrialisation have largely halted their water-purifying services.

The depletion of Hong Kong’s natural oyster reefs also affects the ability of local farmers to sustainably cultivate their oysters in a healthy environment, denting the reputation of the city’s 700-year oyster farming tradition, designated by Unesco as an “intangible cultural heritage”.

Inhabitants of the coast feel abandoned, says Ken Cheng Wai-kwan, the community leader of Ha Pak Nai on Hong Kong’s Deep Bay, facing the commercial city of Shenzhen in China. “This place is forgotten,” Cheng says. “Oysters have been rooted here for over 400 years. I ask the question: do we want to lose it, or not?”

A group of activists and scientists are taking up the challenge by collecting discarded oyster shells and recycling them to rebuild some of the reefs that have been destroyed and forgotten in the hope the oysters may make a comeback. They’ve selected locations around the island where data they’ve collected suggests ecosystems still have the potential to be rebooted, and there are still enough oyster larvae to recolonise and repopulate reefs. Ideally, this will have a positive effect on local biodiversity as a whole, and farming communities.

Farmers from Ha Pak Nai were among the first to hand over their discarded shells to the TNC team for recycling. Law’s team works with eight oyster farmers from Deep Bay to recycle up to 10 tonnes of shells every year [over 22,000 pounds]. They collect an average of 870kg every week [over 1,900 pounds] from 12 hotels, supermarkets, clubhouses and seafood restaurants in the city, including some of its most fashionable establishments. About 80 tonnes of shells [over 176,000 pounds] have been recycled since the project began in 2020.

Restaurants will soon be further incentivised to recycle the shells when Hong Kong introduces a new fee for waste removal – something that is routine in many countries, but only became law in Hong Kong in July and remains controversial...

Preliminary data shows some of the restored reefs have started to increase the levels of biodiversity, but more research is needed to determine to what extent they are contributing to the filtering of the water, says Law.

Scientists from the City University of Hong Kong are also looking to use oyster shells to increase biodiversity on the city’s concrete seawalls. They hope to provide tiny, wet shelter spots around the seawall in which organisms can find refuge during low tide.

“It’s a form of soft engineering, like a nature-based solution,” says Charlene Lai, a research assistant on the team."

-via The Guardian, December 22, 2023

[extinct-fish]

Splatoon x Persona Weapon assignments for the various teams:

Note: These are approximations based on weapon choice. I tried to pick weapons that were similar to their actual weapons. I've also colorcoded it for convenience. weapons all range from every splatoon game, though a good chunk from Splat3

SEES:

Makoto/Minato - Octobrush

Kotone - Splatana Stamper

Junpei - Splat Roller

Mitsuru - Kensha Splatana (Alt. Order Splatana, since the Kensha weapon isn't here... sadge)

Akihiko - Dark Tetra Dualies

Yukari - Wellstring V

Shinjiro - GOLD DYNAMO Roller (heavy-af weapon)

Ken - Snipewrite 5B (long range, can hold 5 shots)

Fuuka - Splatterscope

Aigis is technically a walking Nautilus 47

Koromaru can't participate directly, but if he could, he'd have a small fry buddy

OTHERS:

STREGA - Order dualies (Jin), Order Slosher (Chidori), Jet Squelcher (Takaya)

Nyx/Nyx Avatar - DYNAMO ROLLER too, mainly because massive fuck

Ryoji - E-Liter

Ikutsuki - Undercover Brella

Investigation Team:

Yu - Charcoal Decavitator (very OP)

Yosuke - Order Dualies, Nouveau Dapple Dualies

Chie - Glooga dualies (slow shots, but powerful hits)

Yukiko - Reef LUX 450

Kanji - Dynamo Roller

Rise - Eliter Scope

Teddie - Splatana Wiper

Naoto - .52 Gal.

OTHERS:

Nanako - too young, but she would wield a Trislosher

Dojima - N-Zap '85

Adachi - .96 Gal

Phantom Thieves of Hearts: (Parentheses = based on gun)

Akiren/Joker - Kensha Dualies (Can also use Dread Wringer for shits n' giggles)

Morgana/Mona - Order Octobrush (Alt. Order Blaster)

Ryuji/Skull - Painbrush (Alt. Range Blaster)

Ann/Panther - Bloblobber (Alt. Aerospray)

Yusuke/Fox - Mint Decavitator (Alt. Recycled Brella 24Mk I)

Makoto/Queen - Dreadwringer (Alt. L-3 Nozzlenose)

Futaba/Oracle - Z+F Splatterscope

Haru/Noir - Dynamo Roller (Alternatively, Nautilus 47)

Goro Akechi/Crow - Charcoal Decavitator (Alt. Jet Squelcher)

Sumire/Violet - Squiffer

Sophia/Sophie - Dualies (alt. S-Blast '92)

Zenkichi/Wolf - Hero Roller Replica (alt. Squelcher Dualies)

Others:

Sojiro - Undercover Brella

Iwai - Hydra Splatling. Though, he's the weapons dealer, so he can do whatever he wants. He would deffo use a Hydra Splatling tho

If you think these weapons aren't right, gimme suggestions! I'm open to them!

Wall of tags incoming.

[harmonic-depths-official]

Welcome to Harmonic Depths, a Project Sekai fandub.

We plan on dubbing the main stories and events, card stories, memes, and maybe even fan comics and stories!

We are currently looking for video editors, audio mixers/engineers, story translators, and npc voice actors. If you're interested, come check out the Discord server

Our lovely vas are

Miku: Miyuki/Yuki, she/her ( @miyukihamaki )

Rin: Rissa, she/her

Len: open

Luka: Luka, he/it/they ( @thesillyluka on tumblr and @lukatheirohakinnie#0000 on discord)

MEIKO: Emma, she/he/they ( @acemarkey here and dramaticegotist on twt)

KAITO: Turgize (TurgizeVA on Twitter, speaking)

Ichika: Peachy, it/shark ( @zebrashork )

Saki: Reef, she/her @reefieo

Honami: Pasta, he/him @femboy-luigi

Shiho: Solar, she/they ( SolariaNights )

Minori: Ace, any pronouns

Haruka: Beryl Morgan, she/her

Airi: Epi/Yuu, he/mew/it ( @gakukaiyaoi here and sayonarapurin on twt)

Shizuku: open

Kohane: Luna, she/her

An: Bee

Akito: Lee ( @xlynchiex @batty-voice @getwonderhoyd )

Toya: Dylan

Tsukasa: Nic, he/him

Emu: KOKORO, she/they ( @wonderhoysayitnow )

Nene: yuefuwa, she/her (Yue on Youtube)

Rui: speaking open, Pasta ( @femboy-luigi ) for singing currently

Kanade: Caelus, they/he

Mafuyu: Zephyrine, she/lyric ( @zephyrine-tale )

Ena: Lee, he/they ( @junebird9 )

Mizuki: Lou, he/him ( @sivler @sivlerr )

Iori: Lou, he/him ( @sivler @sivlerr )

Mio: Ewen (pikolore on Twitter)

Nanamin: Pasta, he/him ( @femboy-luigi )

Ken: Turgize (TurgizeVA on Twitter)

Taiga: Nic, he/him

Asahi: Emma, she/he/they ( @acemarkey here and dramaticegotist on twt)

Mrs Asahina: Lee ( @xlynchiex @batty-voice @getwonderhoyd )

[plasticfashiondotpng]

Favorite Color - Orange

Cave Club Roarelai Saber Tooth Purse

Barbie BMR1959 Ken Orange Sneakers

Monster High Catacombs Playset Candelabra

Barbie Floral Snap Shut Boots

Monster High G3 Torelai Stripe Phone

Monster High Ghouls Getaway Meowlody Fish Necklace

Monster High Great Scarrier Reef Posea Crab

Rainbow High Michelle St Charles Makeup Compact

Bratz Study Abroad Yasmin Crop Jacket

[elementalgod-aj]

Anthro Allies Remastered (Part 1)

Reuploading the Anthro Allies but this time in group pictures.

first things first from Humble beginnings of evolution

Porifera

Domb (Barrel Sponge)

Squeeze (Yellow Tube Sponge)

Wud (Blue Comb Sponge)

Ctenophore

Nee-Ko (Cigar Comb Jelly)

Ken-Po (Arctic Comb Jelly)

Dede (Glower Comb Jelly)

Placozoa

Yas (Trichoplex)

Xenacoelomorpha

Xenaco (Xenoturbella Japonica)

Cnidarians (Note This picture doesn't show the actual sizes of Lavey and Zoralia who are much larger)

Zoralia (Hard Coral Reef)

Pansy (Sea Pansy)

Fan (Sea Fan)

Whip (Sa Whip)

Pan (Sea pan)

Nieo (Magnificent Sea Anemone)

Divide (Aggregating Sea Anemone)

Lavey (Giant Siphonophore)

Addison (Sea Nettle Jellyfish)

Chionex (Box Jelly)

Next

(For More Information About The Earthdemons, Neo demons, The Anthro allies , the O'Kong family and more of theses characters as well as updates please visit the @the-earthdemon-hub for more)

[sketchnote]

Higher Power from Kurt Andrew Schneider on Vimeo.

When a storm causes a citywide blackout, a scrap collector sees an opportunity that could turn his luck around.

Starring - Kevin Conway

Directed and Edited by Kurt Andrew Schneider Written by Reef Oldberg & Kurt Andrew Schneider

Executive Producers - Taj Critchlow & Fuliane Petikyan Produced by Reef Oldberg, Faylyn Johnson & Kurt Andrew Schneider

Cinematographer & Co-Producer - Sam Davis Production Designer - Ryann Kearney Original Score by David Chapdelaine

1st AC - Jeff Vanderpool 2nd AC/Loader - Jonathan Patterson Boom Operator and Mixer - Andre Bottesi Gaffer - Dave St. George Key Grip - Blake Brown PA - Maverick Kelly & Caleb Joye BTS Photographer - Sydney Jordan

Colorist - Sam Gilling VFX - Esteban Malean & Ben Webber Sound Design - Gabe Sayre Title & Credit Design - Louis Celano Closing Theme - “River of Youth” by Colyer

Special Thanks: Karis Schneider Rick and Kathy Schneider Rick Rice Ken Schutt Kimmel Scrap Fela Stratton Camera Kodak Atlanta Rayka Zehtabchi Craigslist

[uncleweed]

Nanao Sakaki (1923-2008) was not a Kyoto writer, but a wandering poet who belonged to everywhere and nowhere.  By all accounts he led a remarkable life and wrote remarkable poems.  Some folks in Kyoto had the pleasure to know him, particularly Ken Rodgers who accompanied him on a tour to Australia.  Thanks to Ken for supplying the piece below by Robert Lee, which first appeared in the Kyoto Journal.

***************************** Extracted from Robert Lee’s tribute to Nanao Sakaki ‘Transnational Poet Wanderer’ in Kyoto Journal, no. 78, p.127ff;

There was the first meeting with Snyder and Ginsberg in Kyoto in 1963 and then Snyder’s invitation to him to visit America in 1968 (California and the West Coast of mountain and ocean, Manhattan and Greenwich Village). Subsequent visits include poetry readings with Waldman, Ginsberg, and others, notably at Naropa in 1981. In June 1988 he asked Ginsberg, Snyder, McClure and Waldman for help in raising money to protect the blue coral reef in Ishigaki-jima against becoming a new airport landing-strip. Their poetry reading in San Francisco served as publicity and a fund-raiser. Sakaki’s message to this Beat consortium he included in his Japanese collection CHIKYU B (1989), with a translation into English under the title “Save Shiraho’s Coral Reef” in Nanao or Never (“this Kamikaze project” he calls the planned landing strip).

In an interview with Trevor Carolan, Sakaki explained very succinctly what kind of Zen he adheres to: “ Most Zen is uninteresting to me …It’s too linked to the samurai tradition – to militarism. This is where Alan Watts and I disagreed: he didn’t fully understand how the samurai class with whom he associated Zen were in fact deeply Confucian: they were concerned with power. The Zen I’m interested in is China’s Tang dynasty variant with teachers like Lin Chi. This was non-intellectual. It came from farmers—so simple. Someone became enlightened, others talked to him, learned and were told, Now you go there and teach; you go here, etc. When Japan tried to study this it was hopeless, the emperor sent scholars, but with their high-flown language and ideas they couldn’t understand.” (Nanao or Never).

************************

The following is taken from this webpage: http://www.cuke.com/dchad/writ/Japan%20stories/here%20and%20nanao.html

Nanao’s reputation spread and in the sixties when Allen Ginsberg went to Kyoto to visit Gary Snyder, they were told they had to meet Nanao so they did and they all became fast friends and they invited him to go to America which he did. He spent about ten years in America – in San Francisco and New Mexico and in the mountains and desserts. A friend of mine who knows Nanao says that Nanao walked from New York to California and back and forth a number of times and up to Alaska and so forth. All the walking stories I’ve heard about Nanao seem to me to add up to more miles than one could cover in a lifetime. But whatever he’s walked, it’s been one whole heck of a lot.

Folks at the SF Zen Center got to know Nanao because he never had a place of his own or any money so one of the communal houses near Zen Center would take him in as an honored guest. But he just wrote poetry and philosophized and didn’t tend to do the dishes so, after a while, he’d be passed on to another Zen Center house or hippy commune. And he’d write poetry and publish books and go to events like be-ins and concerts. He didn’t always get his way. Kyokes in Kyoto was working at an environmental center on Yoshida mountain by the Yoshida shrine on the West side of the city – the same place where landscaper and Nanao buddy Sogyu is now. They were running a little hostel there a few years ago at quite reasonable rates and Nanao showed up and wanted a room for free and thought his name would do for legal tender but she said he’d have to pay like everyone else so he went off and found somewhere else.

“His poems were not written by hand or head, but with the feet. These poems have been sat into existence, walked into existence, to be left here as traces of a life lived for living…” Gary Snyder, Foreword, Break the Mirror

If you have time to chatter Read books If you have time to read Walk into mountain, desert and ocean If you have time to walk sing songs and dance If you have time to dance Sit quietly, you Happy Lucky Idiot [ Kyoto, 1966]

[aquariuminfobureau]

The marine fishkeeping hobby has existed for quite a long time, but the modern reef aquarium only exists because of recent, technological innovations. These inventions were only available and affordable from the later 1990s, or even later than that, and brought with them a shift in saltwater aquarium retail. Nowadays the emphasis has long been on gardening live corals, and small, colorful fishes such as the chromis, the cardinalfishes, and the dottybacks. Such aquaria were much more difficult in earlier decades of the hobby, and the emphasis was instead on much larger fishes.

One book representing the era, is Marine Tropical Fish, an entry in the Bartholomew Pet Care Series, which is penned by one Ken Dunham, was first printed in 1977 before seeing reprints in the following decade. From the perspective of the modern marine aquarist, much would appear to be missing. Not only most of the ornamental, sessile invertebrates, but also entire clades of fishes that are so ubiquitous in reef tanks today.

Not uniquely for British aquarium books as late as the 1990s, the text or only features mention of tropical species, but also indigenous marine fauna, such as small blennies and gobies. The author tells us when to collect them from the wild shore, so as to avoid overcrowded beaches. In fact the reason there isn't much of a coldwater.marinr aquarium trade, is because our room temperatures get too high, and the small water volumes in our aquariums are not large enough to buffer their ectothermic denizens from overheating. Native marine tanks are fascinating and subtly beautiful, but require either an expensive or DIY chilling system, unless they are positioned in a space where the air temperature is consistently low enough. One also needs to know beforehand, enough of the biology of the organisms that are being collected. For they have different temperature tolerances, substrate preferences, and feeding habits.

Brackish natural waters are defined by their sub-marine salinity, but their salt content qualifies them as saltwater all the same, and many brackish fishes that live in estuaries, actually belong to a marine faunal component in those admixed habitats. Not all fishes found in estuaries can or should be kept in 100% or nearly 100% seawater. But those sea fishes that can live permanently in estuaries, are robust species in the aquarium. The author represents these fishes with the target bass, which is one of the grunters, and a scat species.

Nowadays the damselfishes are not often traded, apart from the charming clownfishes and the small, gregarious planktivores. On the whole, the other damselfishes are considered too pugnacious to cohabit with other small reef fishes, often having boisterous, territorial natures similar to those of many freshwater cichlids. In the past this strangely added to their appeal, for they could hold their own against fishes larger than themselves. I should also add that, although it's not often remarked upon, a number of damselfishes are now known to consume coral tissues.

In the 1970s to 1990s the seahorses and other pipefish were regarded as difficult to care for, despite being widely traded for their popular appeal. For some reason they had a reputation for being difficult to feed in the home aquarium, not least as requiring feedings of live prey. This is nonsense, members of this clade happily accept defrosted items as they are blown by the current through the water. They certainly do not need to consume tiny live fishes, and they are remarkably easy in our tanks, even using the more limited range of aquarium technology that was already around in 1977.

The pages on wrasse demo strate quite well the shifting focus of the saltwater hobby. Nowadays aquarists will presumably think of small, reef safe species, such as flasher wrasse, pyjama wrasse, and canary wrasse. But this is an artifact of the boom in coral aquariums. In past decades such small wrasse, however beautiful or intriguing, were not usually labelled with any accuracy when they were retailed.

The focus back then was almost entirely on big, bold wrasse species, and unfortunately on the cleaner fishes of the genus Labroides, especially the iconic L. dimidiatus. Cleaner wrasse do not ship very well and usually have short lifespans on arrival, though they are not otherwise jard to care for, and should not be avoided in a long term captive can be rehomed. Nowadays the export of these wrasse is rightly regarded as unethical, but in those days these fish were exported as a staple of the aquarium trade, and most of them tragically died after purchase.

Triggerfishes and similarly sized fishes, such as big angelfishes, are nowadays regarded as quite a niche interest. But in the past big, personable fish were much more often seen in dealers tanks one reason they declined in popularity is that they are not 'reef safe' with the spectrum of organisms, most aquarists want in their tanks. Before home coral gardens became the standard in saltwater aquariums, this was not really a concern. People would start a saltwater aquarium just to have one or two large, often colorful and vividly patterned fish in a large aquarium.

The disadvantage of using illustrations by traditional artists, rather than photographs, is that the reference images can be less than precise. Of course this isn't inherent to hiring artists, but in this book some people should have done their homework better. The image is supposedly of a long-spined or diademid sea urchin, but does not look like most people would draw them. It's just a generic image of a sea urchin, despite the labelling. Sea urchins with sharp spines are quite well defended from predator attack, and in the early days of the tropical marine hobby, they were the most commonly encountered algae grazers, after the tangs and blennies. And imports of neither blennies nor sea urchins were usually labelled with any serious effort - 'assorted blenny', 'assorted sea urchin'.

Strange as it might seem, corals were not a focus of the early trade in reef organisms. Again they were poorly labelled, and tended not to survive very long after arrival at retail. The care requirements of different corals and anemones, were very poorly understood even by marine biologists in the 1970s, and printed information in the hobbyist literature, the ded to be quite vague. Incidentally the featured picture of a sea anemone, does not even slightly resemble Stoichactis sp. or the carpet anemones.

Tiger cowries are infrequently imported these days, and the most often imported snails are surely algivorous top snails, small conches, ceriths, and small, scavenging whelks. In the past these animals were rarely or never imported, not least because many of them are not vividly colored, or of impressive size. But the beautiful tiger cowries fit the bill, and was often traded as an algae eater. In fact this species does not consume algae at all, it actually eats sessile animals, and it usually starved in home tanks.

Between 1977 and 2024, nearly half of a century has passed. In that time new technologies have become affordable as 'kit', and scientific knowledge of reef life has improved and reached ordinary aquarists. But the availability of commercial aquarium technologies developed and popularised in the USA, created not only a boom but slso a shift in consumer demand. It was a true revolution in the aquarium industry.

[rebelbyrdie]

2024 Ficlet Day

Ficlet 7 or 8?

Warehouse 13

This was an idea I had to fix Warehouse 13 and was inspired by Jaime Murray's portrayl of the Black Fairy on OUAT

No Harm Ever Came From Reading A Book

Helena, Jake and Adelaide lived a normal life in a normal town in Wisconsin. They had a nice home in a nice neighborhood where nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. Or so most people assumed.

Helena G Wells was not most people. She was H.G. Wells: writer, inventor, Warehouse Agent and much more. She had left it behind her, all of it. The good and the bad. She was now just a criminologist

at a mundane crime lab in Wisconsin and she was very and wonderfully happy. Who needed endless wonders when they could have Wisconsin?

At the moment she had a long list of things to do: including laundry, marketing and picking Adelaide up from her Ken-Po lessons. She had to give a deposition for a pending case and Jake wanted to look over

comparison for car insurance.. All perfectly normal, modern and sensible activities. Activities that were apart of the life she had chosen for herself.

If she turned her head after every curly-headed brunette or held her breathe at even erant text message that

was her own business. She had let that part of her life-and everyone that came with it go. Damn her

heart, it always overwhelmed her logical head.

***

Myka Bening has been many things up to and including a Secret Service Agent and she took pride in

that. At the moment, however, she didn't look or particuarly feel like a highly trained federal agent. In

fact she didn't even think she was registered on the flight as a member of law enfocement.

Of course, she doubted that anyone would beleive a sun-burnt, frizzy-haired brunette

in a rainbow "Say Yes Down-Under?" tee-shirt was a federal agent. Not that her partner had

fared much better wardrobe-wise but he thought his kangaroo-patterned bowling shirt was cool. She worked with an over-grown child. Their luggage had been lost, well destroyed really. Her Tesla was now a permanent part of the Great Barrier Reef and her one suit of clothing that had not been “lost” had been covered in well, it was better not to think too much about what she'd been covered in.

The artifact deactivated, bagged and tagged was safe in her carry-on (a very ugly lime green backpack) under her knees.-where it had been for the entire trans-pacific flight. A flight that had her and an almost six foot tall man child shoved into coach-on the asile. Pete's video game baterieshad died 3 hours into the 18 hour flight and Marley and Me wasn���t a film option. A bored Pete was an annoying Pete. So Myka was doing her best to ignore him. Myka had her noise-cancelling headphones on but no music-She sat in blissful artificial silence, blockingout the crying baby and Pete's snones. She tried to focus on blocking the stale re-circulated air and the salty-unwashed-body BO of the surfer bro on her left.

In that void of stimuli,she felt the gnaw of heartache that she usually had no problem compartmentalizing and ignoring. She grabbed at her chest and her fingers searched for something (a locket) that

was not there. It was an unconscious habit she had picked upfrom a woman that she was trying to forget.

When she closed her eyes, though, Helena's face was there and Myka ached. In a World of endless wonder, who had time for love?

[rusocialpod]

Healing the Ocean With a Garden of Coral Coral are the backbone of the whole tropical ecosystem and if they disappear we’re in a lot of trouble says Ken Nedimeyer, founder of the Coral Restoration Foundation. The pseudo-farmer has spent a lot of time in the water and has seen too many coral die, so he plants coral in an offshore nursery near the Florida Keys and replants them on reefs. SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/vR6Acb Follow us behind the scenes on Instagram: http://goo.gl/2KABeX Make our acquaintance on Facebook: http://goo.gl/Vn0XIZ Give us a shout on Twitter: http://goo.gl/sY1GLY Visit our world directly: http://www.greatbigstory.com Great Big Story is a video network dedicated to the untold, overlooked & flat-out amazing. Humans are capable of incredible things & we're here to tell their stories. When a rocket lands in your backyard, you get in.

[la-appel-du-vide]

11•24•23 - Black Friday 🖤

Black Friday is quite honestly one of my favorite days of the year, thanks to Kena and Jackie letting me join them so many years ago. Usually I am just there to go with the flow, and shop where they want to shop, but this year, Ken and I had a real goal. Thanks to B getting me overly obsessed with vinyl records, I now believe I have to have every exclusive record and color, and so when Olivia Rodrigo announced a secret song version of Guts, available only on Black Friday Record Store Day, it became a must have for me, and Ken too. Not only is it so cool to have all four secret songs on one record, but the record also has an etched butterfly art on it! We knew each record store would only have a few copies, so we were planning to get there super early and wait it out. We decided to go to Lavender Vinyl around 2, because once it hits 8 AM, they give out tickets that let you keep your spot in line, and go take a break until you open at 10. But last minute, Gray Whale announced that in addition to those Olivia records, they also found some SIGNED Folklore CD's! I don't have anything signed by Taylor, and Folklore is one of my favorite albums of all time! So we reluctantly made the decision to switch out to Gray Whale. The downside was that they don't give out tickets, so we just had to sit and wait until 10 AM.

We arrived just after 2, and there was no one else there. We were able to sit in the car until around 4:30, when the next person arrived. From then on, we had to brave the cold and sit out on the sidewalk. It was freezing, dark, and so boring. Kena took a nap for awhile and I listened to my audiobook. At 5, I ran next door to Starbucks to get us breakfast, since neither one of us was feeling that great. Other than that, we just sat there. It didn't take long for a line to wrap around the entire building.

The hours dragged on, and I was ready to be done. B brought some additional blankets and hot chocolates to us around 8, and that helped. And from then on, we played some rounds of Uno until opening.

I loved the way Gray Whale handled it though. They let just Kena and I in first, since we were first in line, and gave us as much time as we felt we needed to peruse the Black Friday items and pick what we wanted, before letting the next people in. It was so peaceful and calm, and it should always be that way. We both got signed Folklore, Olivia Rodrigo, and the new Sia Christmas EP. I also got a copy of Cape Elizabeth by Noah Kahan for Mikayla's Christmas present, since she loves him and this was an RSD exclusive, that is so beautiful like an ocean. I picked up a fat stack of records for B as well, including the Diamond Collection by Post Malone and the Beach Boys Christmas.

Basically, we walked out with a whole HAUL. And I have no regrets. It was fun to walk past everyone in line, knowing we got all the things we wanted, and they just didn't get there early enough haha. Plus, I was just so happy to be warm again.

We met up with Jackie and Marilyn after to hit Target, and then stop for our traditional lunch at Chick-fil-A. We also went to the mall for Bath and Body Works, and then made a run down to the Centerville Target where we picked up mini-brand books that we ordered. We have all seen them online, and wanted to get some ourselves! Each ball has four mini books, but it's always a surprise which ones you'll get. We opened them together to compare, and my favorite of mine was Colleen Hoover's Reminders of Him. They're all really cute though.

Kena and I also made stops at Barnes and Noble and PetCo after Jackie and Marilyn were done for the day, so yeah, we shopped until we dropped. I wanted to go home and just take a nap, but the day was FAR from over. I had to drop Kena off and then run to Brayden's family Thanksgiving, which I was quite late too. But the food was great, again with the mashed potatoes and gravy, but also green bean casserole! Reef was there, which made things a bit more chaotic, but we got through it. He is hard to keep calm when he's on a leash, but other puppies aren't haha. Who could blame him?

And once that was done, I had to run to my mom's little birthday celebration. We had cupcakes and ice cream, and let her open her gift, which was a family photo session from my siblings and I. I think she's excited, other than the getting ready for photos process haha. But other than the weddings, we haven't had family photos taken in so long.

Dad also planned an entire girls day for my sisters, my mom and I the next day as his gift to her, and the whole day was a surprise to her. We took her to breakfast, and then took her on a shopping spree. I think she had a good time, and we all did too. She picked out a new Christmas door mat, some towels, the Charlie Brown Christmas record, some books, a sweater, a pair of boots, some perfume... she killed it. So again, almost two full days of shopping!

And Saturday's outing with mom was followed by seeing Elf at Hale Centre Theater with Brayden's parents and sister. It was cute, and had some original funny parts, but overall, I wish they would have stayed true to the movie plot, and it's so hard to live up to haha. But still fun!

There's nothing like a completely full, busy, magical, fun Thanksgiving weekend to get you right into the Christmas spirit!

[shewhoeatssand]

kaneki ken saltwater reef aquascape

[esoutherngolf]

Audubon International Announces Black Desert Resort Partnership

Audubon International – the environmentally focused non-profit organization offering members numerous certifications and conservation initiatives to protect the areas where we all live, work and play – welcomes Black Desert Resort, a sustainability-driven golf, lodging, recreation and residential community near St. George, Utah, as a registered member of its Audubon International Signature Sanctuary Program. Over the coming months, Black Desert will work closely with Audubon International’s team of environmental specialists to formulate a plan to earn property-wide designation as a Platinum Certified Signature Sanctuary, starting with its 19-hole championship golf course. The late Tom Weiskopf’s final design, which winds through a tableau of red rocks and black lava fields, opened to rave reviews in May 2023. The course will host an annual PGA Tour event starting in September 2024 and an LPGA event starting in 2025. Reef Capital Partners, the investment firm behind Black Desert, put environmental sustainability at the center of its development plan from day one, with an eye toward eventually achieving Signature Sanctuary Platinum Certification for the entire property. “We are thrilled to welcome Black Desert as the first Signature Sanctuary Platinum enrollee in the state of Utah, and one of the first in America,” said Christine Kane, Audubon International’s CEO. “As the development takes shape on some of the West’s most ecologically diverse and visually stunning landscapes, we will partner with them to create a lasting and groundbreaking model of environmental stewardship on all fronts — golf course, resort, retail and residential.” Troon Golf, led by Superintendent Ken Yates, manages the course, overseeing its maintenance and maturation and crucial protocols like water use, turf selection, and coverage. Black Desert’s 150-room eco-hotel is set to open in fall 2024, with Golf Village, Family Village and Boardwalk complexes to follow. The long-term plan envisions the potential for up to 1,000 homes. “We’re doing hotel, the golf course and the other home development sites, all at the same time,” said Yates. All irrigation comes from gray water sources to save water on Black Desert’s 75 acres of turf. Fairways will use bentgrass, which eliminates the need to overseed or apply too many chemical fertilizers. “It’s more of a permanent turf solution,” said Yates. “Now we have grasses that can handle our hot summers and cold winters.” This light-on-the-land ethic will continue throughout the entire project, including the hotel and other structural elements, starting with a low-voltage Power Over Ethernet system and an advanced regenerative media filter system for water savings. “From the golf course standpoint, we look to be as sustainable as we can be. And Audubon International has shown a track record of assisting with that. That’s really what our partnership is about,” said Ross Laubscher, executive director of construction and Agronomy for Reef Capital. “We’re looking for them to help us develop a product that all can be proud of, that shows we’re environmentally conscious and that the product is sustainable years from now.” Reef Capital has also enlisted Dr. Joseph Platt as director of environmental affairs to look after the vast natural areas of the 600-acre property. With Audubon International’s direction, he will work with staff and faculty from nearby Utah Tech University to initiate research and monitoring programs. “Projects such as Black Desert can be created in an environmentally sensitive or in a heavy-handed way,” said Dr. Platt. “The difference is time, money and vision. Black Desert has chosen to invest resources in preserving hundreds of acres of natural areas, reducing water and power requirements, and developing ways to educate the public about our environmental resolve. By partnering with Audubon International, we will ensure our commitment to the environment grows and matures with Black Desert.” For more information about Black Desert Resort, visit blackdesertresort.com.   Read the full article

[pdj-france]

Des fragments de corail Elkhorn sauvés de pépinières océaniques en surchauffe reposent dans une eau plus froide au Keys Marine Laboratory. NOAAArmés de brosses à récurer, de jeunes plongeurs se sont rendus dans les eaux de l'Alligator Reef de Floride fin juillet pour tenter d'aider les coraux qui luttent pour survivre à l'extraordinaire vague de chaleur marine de 2023. Ils ont minutieusement gratté les algues nuisibles et les prédateurs qui empiètent sur les fragments de corne de cerf, sous la supervision et la formation de stagiaires d'Islamorada Conservation and Restoration Education, ou I.CARE. Normalement, les plongeurs bénévoles d'I.CARE transplanteraient des coraux dans les eaux au large des Keys de Floride à cette période de l'année, dans le cadre d'un effort national pour restaurer le récif de Floride. Mais cette année, tout va à l'envers. Bien que la température de l'eau augmentait dans les Florida Keys, des scientifiques d'universités, des groupes de restauration des récifs coralliens et des agences gouvernementales ont lancé un effort héroïque pour sauver les coraux. Des plongeurs ont été dans l'eau tous les jours, collectant des milliers de coraux dans des pépinières océaniques le long du récif des Keys de Floride et les déplaçant vers des eaux plus froides et dans des réservoirs géants sur terre. Le scientifique marin Ken Nedimyer et son équipe de Reef Renewal USA ont déplacé toute une pépinière d'arbres coralliens des eaux peu profondes au large de Tavernier vers une zone de 60 pieds de profondeur et de 2 degrés Fahrenheit (1,1 Celsius) plus fraîche. Même là, les températures tournaient autour de 85 à 86 F (30 C). Le scientifique marin Ken Nedimyer recueille des fragments de corail corne d'élan encore sains pour les déplacer. La structure arborescente protège les coraux des algues nocives. Reef Renewal États-Unis Leurs efforts font partie d'une intervention d'urgence d'une ampleur jamais vue auparavant en Floride. Le récif de Floride – un arc de près de 350 milles le long des Florida Keys qui est crucial pour l'habitat des poissons, la protection contre les tempêtes côtières et l'économie locale – a démarré à connaître des températures océaniques record en juin 2023, des semaines plus tôt que prévu. La chaleur continue a déclenché un blanchissement corallien généralisé au large de la Floride en particulier, mais aussi au-delà. À la mi-août, un blanchissement des coraux avait été signalé aux Bahamas, à Cuba, au Mexique, au Belize, au Salvador, au Costa Rica, au Panama et en Colombie, ainsi qu'à Porto Rico et dans les îles Vierges américaines. Ceci est particulièrement dévastateur car certains des récifs coralliens restants les plus sains se trouvent dans le sud des Caraïbes. Les chercheurs craignent de voir le sixième blanchissement massif des coraux des Caraïbes depuis 1995 et le troisième au cours des 12 dernières années, et la chaleur devrait se poursuivre. Un monticule de corail blanchi sur le site de surveillance de Cheeca Rocks dans le sanctuaire marin national des Keys de Floride qui avait été précédemment étiqueté montre le squelette de corail. AOML de la NOAA Bien que les coraux peuvent se remettre d'un blanchissement massif, de longues périodes de chaleur élevée peuvent les affaiblir et les rendre vulnérables aux maladies qui peuvent finalement les tuer. C'est ce que les scientifiques et les volontaires se sont efforcés d'éviter. Le battement de coeur du récif Le récif de Floride a lutté pendant des années sous la pression de la surpêche, des maladies, des tempêtes et du réchauffement climatique qui ont décimé ses coraux vivants. Un effort massif de restauration des coraux - la mission de la National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration : Iconic Reef - est en cours depuis 2019 pour restaurer le récif avec des coraux transplantés, en particulier ceux qui résistent le mieux à la hausse des températures.

Mais même les greffes de coraux les plus résistantes sont désormais menacées. Les plongeurs impliqués dans la mission de la NOAA : Iconic Reef montrent comment les coraux cornes de cerf et cornes d'élan sont transplantés pour aider le récif de Floride à se rétablir. Les coraux constructeurs de récifs sont les espèces fondatrices des eaux tropicales peu profondes grâce à leur relation symbiotique unique avec les algues microscopiques dans leurs tissus. Pendant la journée, ces algues effectuent la photosynthèse, produisant à la fois de la nourriture et de l'oxygène pour l'animal corallien. La nuit, les polypes coralliens se nourrissent de plancton, fournissant des nutriments à leurs algues. Le résultat de cette relation symbiotique est la capacité du corail à bâtir un squelette de carbonate de calcium et des récifs qui abritent près de 25 % de toute la vie marine. Toutefois, les coraux sont très sensibles à la température, et la chaleur extrême de l'océan au large du sud de la Floride, avec certaines zones de récifs atteignant des températures dans les années 90, les a soumis à un stress extraordinaire. Un corail cerveau boulder, Colpophyllia natans, avant et après le blanchiment pendant la vague de chaleur marine de 2014 dans les Florida Keys. Photos de Michael Childress et Kylie Smith Quand les coraux deviennent trop chauds, ils expulsent leurs algues symbiotiques. Les coraux apparaissent blancs - blanchis - car leur squelette carbonaté apparaît à travers leur tissu clair dépourvu de cellules d'algues colorées. Les coraux peuvent récupérer de nouveaux symbiotes algaux si les conditions de l'eau reviennent à la normale en quelques semaines. Toutefois, l'augmentation des températures mondiales due aux effets des émissions de gaz à effet de serre provenant des activités humaines provoque des périodes de blanchissement des coraux plus longues et plus fréquentes à travers le monde, ce qui suscite des inquiétudes pour l'avenir des récifs coralliens. Une unité MASH pour les coraux Cette année, les Florida Keys ont atteint un niveau d'alerte 2, indiquant un risque extrême de blanchiment, environ six semaines plus tôt que la normale. Les premières alertes et prévisions du réseau de surveillance des récifs coralliens de la NOAA ont donné aux scientifiques le temps de commencer à préparer les laboratoires et l'équipement, à suivre les emplacements et l'intensité de la chaleur marine croissante et, surtout, à recruter des volontaires. La température maximale de surface de la mer de cette année (graphique du haut) et les semaines de chauffage en degrés (graphique du bas), une mesure du stress thermique accumulé, sont les plus élevées depuis le début de la tenue des registres. Adapté de NOAA Au Keys Marine Laboratory, des scientifiques et des volontaires formés ont déposé des milliers de fragments de corail collectés dans des pépinières offshore menacées par la chaleur. La directrice Cindy Lewis a évoqué les réservoirs géants du laboratoire comme ressemblant à "une unité MASH pour les coraux". Des volontaires là-bas et dans d'autres laboratoires de Floride nourriront à la main les minuscules créatures pour les maintenir en vie jusqu'à ce que les eaux de Floride se refroidissent à nouveau et qu'elles puissent être renvoyées dans l'océan et éventuellement transplantées sur le récif. Les degrés-semaines de chauffage sont une mesure du stress thermique accumulé au cours des 12 semaines précédentes. À 4 degrés Celsius-semaines (7,2 semaines Fahrenheit), les coraux subissent un stress qui a la capacité de entraîner un blanchissement. Au-dessus de 8 semaines C (14,4 semaines F), ils sont susceptibles de subir un blanchiment. Montre NOAA Coral Reef Protéger les coraux encore dans l'océan I.CARE a lancé un autre type d'intervention d'urgence.

La co-fondatrice d'I.CARE, Kylie Smith, écologiste des récifs coralliens et ancienne étudiante en sciences marines, a découvert il y a quelques années que les greffes de corail avec de grandes quantités d'algues charnues autour d'elles étaient plus susceptibles de blanchir pendant les périodes de température élevée. L'élimination de ces algues peut donner aux coraux une meilleure chance de survie. Les jeunes membres de Diving With a Purpose assistent à une session de formation et à une plongée d'entretien des coraux avec l'équipe d'éducation à la conservation et à la restauration d'Islamorada à Islamorada, en Floride. I.CARE Le groupe de Smith travaille généralement avec des opérateurs de plongée locaux pour former des plongeurs récréatifs afin d'aider à la transplantation et à l'entretien de fragments de corail dans le but de restaurer les récifs d'Islamorada. À l'été 2023, I.CARE a formé des bénévoles, comme les jeunes plongeurs de Diving with a Purpose, pour éliminer les algues et les prédateurs de coraux, tels que les escargots et les vers de feu mangeurs de coraux, afin d'augmenter les chances de survie des coraux. Surveillance des coraux en danger Pour aider à repérer les coraux en difficulté, des plongeurs bénévoles sont par ailleurs formés en tant qu'observateurs de récifs dans le cadre du programme BleachWatch de Mote Marine Lab. Les plongeurs sont depuis longtemps attirés par les récifs des Florida Keys pour leur beauté et leur accessibilité. Le laboratoire les forme à reconnaître les coraux blanchis, malades et morts de différentes espèces, puis à employer un portail en ligne pour soumettre des rapports sur l'eau de Javel dans tout le récif de Floride. Plus il y a d'yeux sur le récif, plus les cartes montrant les zones les plus préoccupantes en matière de blanchissement sont précises. Ian Enochs, écologiste de recherche et responsable du programme de coraux du laboratoire océanographique et météorologique de l'Atlantique de la NOAA, a découvert que tous les coraux de la région de Cheeca Rocks avaient blanchi au 1er août 2023. NOAA AOML Reconstruire le récif Bien que la vague de chaleur marine dans les Keys tuera inévitablement certains coraux, beaucoup d'autres survivront. Grâce à une analyse minutieuse des espèces, des génotypes et des sites de récifs subissant un blanchissement, les scientifiques et les praticiens apprennent des informations précieuses alors qu'ils travaillent à protéger et à reconstruire un récif corallien plus résistant pour l'avenir. C'est ce qui donne de l'espoir à Smith, Lewis, Nedimyer et à des centaines d'autres qui croient que ce récif corallien vaut la peine d'être sauvé. Les bénévoles sont essentiels à l'effort, qu'ils aident à l'entretien des récifs coralliens, signalent le blanchissement ou sensibilisent à ce qui est en jeu si l'humanité ne parvient pas à arrêter le réchauffement de la planète. Ce post a été mis à jour le 18 août 2023, avec des cas de blanchiment signalés dans d'autres pays. Michael Childress ne travaille pas pour, ne consulte pas, ne détient pas d'actions ou ne reçoit de financement d'aucune entreprise ou organisation qui bénéficierait de ce post, et n'a divulgué aucune affiliation pertinente au-delà de sa nomination universitaire. Source

[biglisbonnews]

The Hunt for an Elusive Florida Shipwreck That Killed 41 Enslaved People Carysfort Reef was dark under the new moon. Coral tentacles undulated with the changing tide, while black-tipped sharks patrolled for lobster, twisting their snouts into cracks and crevices. Then, a crash! The hull of the Guerrero ripped through the corals. On impact, its mast snapped, plowing through a hold packed with men, women, and children. As water rushed into the breached hull, screams could be heard across two miles of ocean. Ultimately, 41 of the 561 captive Africans aboard would die on that stormy night in 1827. Nearly 200 years later, those same blue-green waters are now sparkling and calm under the hot sun. A group of mostly African American scuba divers, led by Ken Stewart, chat in excited anticipation as they check their gear. They’ve plunged into the northern Florida Keys’ Biscayne National Park dozens of times before in their search for the remains of the pirate slave ship Guerrero. Finding it would make history: It would be the first wreck of a slave ship in U.S. waters that went down with enslaved people aboard. The clock is ticking, however. This will be one of the group’s final attempts. “I never went to college, you know,” says Stewart, cofounder of Diving With a Purpose (DWP), an African American marine archaeology and conservation nonprofit. “I barely got out of high school. I was not involved with history. But this one story just really stuck with me. It set me on this journey.” Stewart’s odyssey began about 20 years ago, when he first heard about the Guerrero—from me. We connected when I was looking for Black divers to interview for a documentary about the ship and the people it carried. The story instantly captivated him—but it was something two of his young diving students said about the Guerrero that kicked off an epic hunt that would last for decades. At the time, 14-year-old Chris Cannon and his fellow student Marcus Johnson said that they were personally motivated to learn what their ancestors had experienced, but that most teens felt, as Cannon put it, “Knowing about that stuff is really not important in our generation.” His words caught Stewart’s attention and led the master diver to wonder: Would teaching young people their history make a difference in their lives? Fueled by the need to find out—and to find the Guerrero—Stewart teamed with Biscayne National Park archaeologist Brenda Lanzendorf. He created DWP to train Black divers in marine archaeological techniques to ensure they would be involved with documenting it if it was found. And he embarked on a quest to teach his diving students about the African Diaspora and today’s lingering impacts of the Middle Passage, the transatlantic voyage that enslaved Africans were forced to endure. Since then, DWP, later joined by its offshoot Youth Diving With a Purpose, has searched for the Guerrero around the Florida Keys nearly every year. Lanzendorf was a driving force in the early years but died in 2008. In 2017, a National Park Service-funded magnetometer survey conducted in the southern third of the park detected more than 1,000 anomalies. Any of them might be a piece of the Guerrero. Since then, DWP and Biscayne archaeologists have systematically dived on them, and found artifacts such as bar shot and copper spikes, but nothing identifiable to the pirate ship specifically. This summer they’re set to dive on the final 70 anomalies found during the survey. After that, their options will be exhausted. Says Stewart: “We’re closing the chapter on the Guerrero one way or another." The final voyage of the pirate ship Guerrero began somewhere off Africa’s western coast when Captain Jose Gomez and his crew likely kidnapped people already held captive on two other ships. The Guerrero’s destination was Cuba, where auctions of enslaved people were still held. Although slavery was legal at the time, the trade of buying and selling people had been banned by the United States and United Kingdom, and British patrols were on the lookout for illegal slavers. Gomez was nearly home free when Lieutenant Edward Holland, aboard the British schooner HMS Nimble, spotted him. The pursuit was on, heading west through the Straits of Florida. The Guerrero’s copper-plated hull made it one of the fastest ships of its day—but the Nimble, itself a former slave ship, gained ground. A storm pounded both ships with heavy swells and squalls. Darkness fell and a firefight ensued. Then both ships hit the reef. The Nimble’s rudder was destroyed, but the crew was eventually able to free the ship by throwing heavy items overboard. The Guerrero was a total loss. “You can imagine [Holland’s] thinking at the time,” said historian Gail Swanson in a 2003 interview. “His duty was to save the people on the slave ship from a lifetime of slavery in the Cuban fields, [but] he accidentally ran them to their doom in the waters off of Key Largo. And he could do nothing to assist them; his ship could not sail.” It was Swanson, an independent scholar, who years earlier began following a string of evidence in dusty archives that led her to uncover the story of the Guerrero. Without her dedicated detective work, the ship likely would have remained forgotten, and Stewart might never have created DWP and YDWP, which have gained international acclaim. Divers trained by the organizations have documented slave shipwrecks including the São José Paquete D’Africa near Cape Town, and assisted in site surveys such as that of a downed Tuskegee Airmen plane in Lake Huron. But when Stewart began DWP, slave ships and the Middle Passage weren’t popular subjects. “When it comes to archaeology, that type of thing, it's just not sexy. People want Spanish galleons with treasure and that type of thing” says DWP cofounder and lead instructor Erik Denson. “But it’s a history that needs to be told.” The Guerrero is, in many ways, a microcosm of that bigger history—it’s one of the reasons Stewart and his team are so driven to locate the wreck. The brutality of the Middle Passage—when tens of thousands of ships like the Guerrero transported millions of people against their will to the Americas over four centuries—is hard to comprehend in both its immensity and duration. It’s vital to understand, however, because of the way slavery shaped our nation and our communities on every level, from the way being severed from one’s ancestry can affect the descendents of enslaved people on an intuitive level to the fact that many of our most powerful institutions exist because trade in human lives made them possible. “You could almost say that [the Middle Passage] was the most critical factor in terms of this whole brash experiment in colonization succeeding, if that could be called a success,” says historian and artist Dinizulu Gene Tinnie. “Without having this huge unpaid labor force and generator of capital from human trafficking, how would this colonization have ever really taken off?” The hunt for the Guerrero is important, Stewart says, because it’s a chance to get hands-on with a history that might otherwise seem intangible—and also a history that, ironically, is being censored in the very state where divers are searching for the slave ship. While many high schools across the U.S. don't include the Middle Passage in their curriculum, the mostly-teen members of YDWP have been at the forefront of the search for the Guerrero. Twelve high schoolers and college students will be on the final expedition this summer, including three from Cahuita, Costa Rica, where the wrecks of two Danish slave ships have recently been identified. “They ran aground there and the captive Africans made it up to the hills and started a community,” says Stewart. “So they could be their ancestors. But again, it’s not taught in their schools either. So they’re doing the research on their own.” As Stewart knows, there is no guarantee this research project—the hunt for the Guerrero—will locate the wreck. Despite historical accounts that provide an unusually detailed description of where the ship went down, hurricanes can scatter and bury its remnants, and shipworms can eat through any exposed wood. And, as current Biscayne National Park archaeologist Joshua Marano puts it, “The reef itself acts like a giant cheese grater…we typically don’t have that much on the surface.” Marano has worked with YDWP for a decade and remains hopeful that the Guerrero may turn up. “It would be unlikely to find an intact wreck that we don’t know about,” he says. “But it’s not out of the question.” Without an intact ship, it may be more difficult to identify a wreck as the Guerrero. Many historical wrecks are confirmed by the presence of the ship’s bell, which includes its name—an unlikely item for a covert, illegal pirate ship. Because of the length of time that has passed, it’s almost certain they will not find any human remains. It’s more likely that what’s left of the Guerrero will be puzzle pieces that need to be assembled to confirm the ship’s identity: copper sheathing from the hull, cannon balls with the British broad arrow mark, fired or tossed from the Nimble, or, perhaps most compelling of all, shackles. There have been a number of promising discoveries. A few years ago, divers located a type of small cannon called a carronade that was, says Marano, “in the right spot [and] approximately the right [age].” But he determined it was probably from one of the reef’s many other wrecks from the 1820s. “There are literally wrecks on top of each other, and with fragmentary evidence it’s very difficult to determine definitively whether or not you found a site.” Other tantalizing artifacts have been recovered in nearby John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Archaeologist Corey Malcolm and divers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found artifacts from the Guerrero’s era, including an anchor, cast-iron shot, and ballast, but nothing definitive. “If they find something, then we can all compare notes,” says Malcolm, who has collaborated with Stewart and DWP over the years. “We’ll see which site makes sense.” Even if the Guerrero remains undiscovered, the years-long search for it is already a success. DWP’s volunteers have introduced hundreds of young Black men and women to scuba diving, environmental science, and history, including the story of the 41 people who perished aboard the Guerrero, and countless others on other ships of the Middle Passage. “Nobody was really telling their story.” “Nobody was really telling their story, and there’s so many other cases like that,” says Greg Hood. Hood, a sophomore with a double major in aerospace engineering and psychology at Ohio State, started with YDWP when he was 14 and was recently elected its first president. He’ll be on the expedition this summer. “I believe that our work is important, because we can discover those stories and give those people a voice and amplify those stories to the world.” The stories of the 520 survivors of the Guerrero are also being heard. After the wreck, the slave ship captain Gomez hijacked two of the three ships that came to the Guerrero’s rescue, and still managed to sell 398 captives into slavery in Cuba. The other survivors were taken to Key West, then to Jacksonville, where they worked on plantations while awaiting presidential approval to return to Africa. While some of the Guerrero survivors died from disease and exhaustion, 92 of them, including at least one child, eventually set foot on African soil—but not that of their homeland. They were taken to Liberia, like others freed from intercepted slave ships, passing their stories to their descendents. While Stewart still wonders whether teaching young people about their history makes a difference in their lives, the young people who have been diving with his organizations seem to be living proof that yes, it does. Rachel Stewart (no relation), 27, has been with DWP for a decade. After defending her environmental engineering thesis in May, she’ll join the final search for the Guerrero. “I love to dive. I love nature, the experience of being underwater, and then adding this extra component of how I’m being connected to history and my ancestors,” she says. “With everything that’s going on in the craziness of the world, we have to continue to tell these stories.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/slave-ship-guerrero-florida