The Blue Planet, broadcast in 2001, was the first natural history series to comprehensively showcase the life that teems within our oceans. Then in 2017, its follow-up created a phenomenon known as the ‘Blue Planet effect’. British universities reported an increase in applications for marine biology courses, and the series helped spark a movement against single-use plastic – which […]
Tag: natural history
Storm-petrel breeding in the Atacama desert
Seabirds, especially pelagic species, are more threatened than most other bird groups with similar numbers of species. Among them,Storm-petrels (family Hydrobatidae) are diverse and widespread in the Pacific Ocean.Markham’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma markhami) is common in the Humboldt Current, including pelagic and coastal waters of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile between 18°N and 30°S. Only a couple […]
Free-tailed funnel cloud (reprint from June 2011)
When Doppler radar first arrived in the area known affectionately to Texans as the Hill Country, the local television station meteorologists were understandably eager to show off the weather forecasting capabilities of their newest toy. Unfortunately, they got off to a less than impressive start. Night after night that summer, evening thunderstorms were forecast but […]