Dispatches E-News: Underwater Blizzards, We Won’t Leave Our Dead Behind & One Brilliant Woman (11/29/17)

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VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Underwater Blizzards

The Gulf of Mexico contains a dazzling array of tiny animals including bacteria, algae, and jellyfish. When they die, they mix with decaying plant material and fecal matter to form white fluffy bits that slowly fall toward the seafloor. This phenomenon is known as “marine snow” and it forms the food web for the deep ocean.

After the Deepwater Horizon spill, wherever the currents took the oil, gently falling marine snow suddenly turned into a blizzard as it mixed with oil and dispersants. The seafloor was covered with an area of oiled sediments the size of Delaware. Research scientists at Texas A&M University in Galveston are investigating the interaction between marine snow, oil, and dispersants. Their first challenge was to create marine snow in the laboratory.

[WATCH HERE]


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PODCAST OF THE WEEK
GulfCast: We Won’t Leave Our Dead Behind

The United Houma Nation depends upon the bounty provided by the coastal waters and bayous of Louisiana. Their principal chief, Thomas Dardar, Jr., shares the struggles the tribe has faced to preserve their ancestral way of life after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

[LISTEN HERE]


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PHOTO OF THE WEEK
How One Brilliant Woman Mapped the Ocean Floor’s Secrets

She is one of the most underappreciated scientists in the history of the earth sciences.

Though Marie Tharp was a geologist whose work contributed to the ultimate acceptance and success of the plate-tectonic theory, her legacy has garnered little recognition—and most of it has been for her cartographic endeavors.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Gilbert.

[DISCOVER MORE]


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Dispatches from the Gulf 1: Science • Community • Recovery
In the years after Deepwater Horizon – the biggest oil spill in U.S. history – a global team of scientists is working together to understand its environmental impact on humans, wildlife, and the ecosystem with the ultimate goal of learning how to better cope with future oil spills.
Click here to watch the trailer.

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Dispatches from the Gulf 2: Research • Innovation • Discovery
Experience remarkable stories from the unprecedented scientific mission to comprehensively study the impact of Deepwater Horizon and find new ways to ease the devastation. Includes the never-before-documented drama of bottlenose dolphins struggling to survive, and the capture of one of the world’s largest predatory sharks.
Click here to watch the trailer.

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Get Free DVDs
DVDs of Dispatches 1, Dispatches 2 and Dispatches Short Videos (2 Discs) are available free of charge to educators, librarians, homeschoolers, and community activists.
Click here to fill out a DVD request form.

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Stream the Short Videos and the Documentaries
Dispatches short videos featuring human interest stories and exploring cutting-edge scientific case studies are available on YouTube.
If you would like to stream the full documentaries online or in digital format, send an e-mail request to screenscope@screenscope.com.

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Listen to the Podcast
GulfCastthe Dispatches From The Gulf podcast — is available on the following platforms:
iTunes
SoundCloud
TuneIn

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Host a Screening
Host a Dispatches screening at schools, libraries, universities, science centers, museums, community centers, or environmental organizations — especially around the anniversary of Deepwater Horizon (April 2018). Guest speakers and panelists can be arranged.
Click here to fill out a Screening request form.

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Educational Materials
Supporting Dispatches educational materials including leaders’ guides, lesson plans, transcripts, posters, and student resources are available for download.
Click here to access.

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Mensajes del Golfo de México
A Spanish subtitled version of Dispatches 1 is available via streaming or DVD.
Send an e-mail request to screenscope@screenscope.com.

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Access the Archive
Click here to access the Dispatches From The Gulf newsletter archive.


Dispatches is made possible by a generous grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI).
Additional funding provided by the Wallace Genetic Foundation and the Farvue Foundation.


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