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Eleven workers, from the factories and farms to the highways and supermarkets, tell how they got themselves — and us — through a catastrophic year. 
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Four families whose relatives were among the 34 people killed in a fire aboard the dive boat Conception are suing the vessel's owners.
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The fire that swept the Conception was too intense to save any of the passengers trapped below, crew members said.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Something unusual happened here. The repeated references to the speed/surprising nature of the discovery of the flames is concerning. Initially the confused media reports and social media kerfffle pointed to some kind of galley or cooking accident, often referencing propane or some kind of explosion.
As the days have passed, this rapid bursting of the ship on fire seems the more consistent narrative. Things are pointing more towards a huge fire beginning below decks not in the galley per se. Again, this is all speculation but something like a LiPO battery fire seems more likely at this point. The lack of a centralized fire alarm is pretty concerning, however.
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Multiple people have been rescued after a boat caught fire off Santa Cruz Island early Monday morning.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Back in my Santa Barbara days, I went on several day trips on the Conception and other Truth Aquatics vessels out of Santa Barbara Harbor. Very sad news; it seems as if most or all of the passengers were below decks and likely perished in this disaster just off of Platts Harbor on Santa Cruz Islands north shore.
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A boat is arriving in Ventura Harbor, wrapping up a trip from the Channel Islands which was more than 20 million years in the making. As Santa Barbara
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It’s been nearly three years since an oil pipeline ruptured in Santa Barbara County, coating seven miles of beaches with crude oil and killing dolphins, birds and sea lions. Via PIRatE Lab
Shemzheru Tenkawur's curator insight,
December 9, 2020 10:45 AM
I heard about this in my environmental science class while doing a reading. Although, I am for its closing i'm not for us paying for it when corporations where the ones that put it up and destroyed the environment further with their competition mentalities.
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In coming decades many oil and gas platforms will have to be retired. Rather than being dismantled, they could be given a new lease of life as artificial reefs, helping industry and the environment.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
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KCLU’s Lance Orozco reports researchers at universities in Long Beach and Thousand Oaks are working on projects to learn more about the Great White population off the Central and South Coasts.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
A nice update story discussing our current understanding of great white sharks off our Ventura Coastline.
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Officials announced Wednesday that Channel Islands foxes may be ready to come off the list of endangered species.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Excellent work. Oh what you can do when you have a closed system, with a single, clear stressor in an ecosystem that has not been utterly destroyed.
It is important to have these success stories to hold up as examples of what is possible.
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It’s an environmental success story on the islands off our coastline which has left even biologists involved in the project surprised.
It’s a story we first told you about last week. Efforts to save the rare Island Fox have been so successful, researchers are moving to remove them from the endangered species list.
KCLU’s Lance Orozco has the story behind the story, explaining how they made a long shot effort work.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
A fantastic summary of the efforts to recover endangered species on our California Channel Islands. This is shaping-up to become a classic example of ecosystem interactions, food web dynamics, invasive species, and novel pollutants (environmental estrogens).
Click the "MP3 Island Fox Recovery" link to hear the story.
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BELLE CHASSE — As the Gulf of Mexico creeps closer and closer to New Orleans, the forested wetlands in between provides a crucial storm buffer between …
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Our second piece from last week's Louisiana newspapers. This great piece from the Advocate provides an excellent overview of the course I have been teaching for the past seven years.
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The Navy and Marine Corps identified the location of the amphibious assault vehicle that sank off the coast of San Clemente Island last week using a remotely operated search and rescue system. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard ships and aircraft had been searching for the vehicle and seven missing Marines and one sailor since …
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The boat fire rocked the small, tight-knit diving community in Southern California. Many have formed friendships bound by a passion for ocean exploring.
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Scary To Some, Bats Are Key Part Of Region's Ecosystem; Population Study Underway In Channel Islands
One of the common symbols of Halloween is a bat. But, researchers who study the tiny and often feared mammals say they get a bad rap. Jason Miller is a Cal
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It’s been nearly three years since an oil pipeline ruptured in Santa Barbara County, coating seven miles of beaches with crude oil and killing dolphins, birds and sea lions.
Shemzheru Tenkawur's curator insight,
December 9, 2020 10:45 AM
I heard about this in my environmental science class while doing a reading. Although, I am for its closing i'm not for us paying for it when corporations where the ones that put it up and destroyed the environment further with their competition mentalities.
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A health advisory on the Dungeness and rock crab has been lifted along parts of the California coast in time for the new year, allowing some residents to feast on the crustaceans without fear of poisoning, state Public Health Department officials said Thursday. California Department of Public Health officials continued to monitor crabs along those waters. Crabs south of the specified latitude are safe, but officials warned people to avoid eating the internal organs and not to use cooking water for preparing other dishes. Poisoning symptoms can arrive anywhere from 30 minutes to one day after eating the crabs, and include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache and dizziness in mild cases. Officials said the most severe cases can result in trouble breathing, confusion, disorientation, cardiovascular instability, seizures, excessive bronchial secretions, permanent loss of short-term memory, coma or death.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Dungeness crabs from San Luis Obispo south are now deemed safe to eat and so our section of the state has resumed crabbing for the first time this season.
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The National Park Service is planning to construct a permanent replacement pier that protects sensitive archeological resources while providing a safe, accessible, efficient, and sustainable access point for visitors and park staff at Scorpion Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island. The existing Scorpion pier is a flatbed railcar that was installed as a temporary pier in 2000 and is rapidly deteriorating due to wave action and saltwater. It has been closed numerous times due to weather hazards, wave damage, and to perform required repair and maintenance activities. Additionally, the pier cannot be used by park or concession boats during very low tides because of inadequate water depth.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
The National Park Service is trying to figure out how to replace a deteriorating pier which is the most heavily used landing spot in the Channel Islands. A flatbed railcar was installed as a temporary pier to create Scorpion Anchorage, on Santa Cruz Island in 2000. More than 50,000 people rely on the pier for island access annually. Waves and salt water have damaged the structure, which now requires frequent maintenance, and often has to be closed during low tides. The Park Service has released a draft environmental impact report with two proposals, which both call for the new structure to be longer, and higher. One calls for replacing it at its current location, which would require some coastal armoring to protect the coastline, and pier access road. The second proposal calls for moving it 150 feet south, which would mean less coastal armoring. The Park Service is accepting comments on the environmental review for the next two months
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From
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Marine biologists worry that certain species won't survive the shifts in sea acidity that climate change brings. But research on sea grasses along California's coast suggest marine preserves can help.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Good stuff here about the potential value of Marine Protected Areas beyond what they were originally intended for (fish protection). That is great. But there is also a bit of wishful thinking here and at least a smidgeon of researchers following the grant money (with the new big dollars in ocean acidification).
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liforniaOver the last two decades, the conservancy that owns nine-tenths of this island has shot, trapped and shipped out thousands of goats, pigs and bison that were literally eating away the island.
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It all started in 2007, after a fateful call to Executive Director of The Woodlands Conservancy Katie Brasted from Brenda Puckett of Hands of Hope in Belle Chasse.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
One of two recent overviews of our work to help restore coastal Louisiana, this one from the Times-Picayune. Check out the audio slideshow embedded at the start of the story from about four years ago.
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