Coolest dive mask around-augmented reality

Think your local dive sites are boring? Try an augmented reality mask that can overlay virtual additions to your boring underwater excursions.

Sad there's no big fish? No worries, augment the reef by adding some extra large virtual fish. Want to see an octopus but aren't finding any? Virtual cephalopods galore can make your dives worthwhile.

If only I could augment the temperature of Puget Sound, and get it up to a more reasonable 60F from my last few outings at 45F.

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Making fishing safer for birds

Birds are fond of fish, and industrial fishing has a nasty habit of snaring them with nets and lines. That shiny sardine hooked on a longline looks like dinner to an albatross. In the U.S., there are a number of programs meant to stop fishing boats from killing these 'protected species' and groups like WWF work around the globe on technological fixes that make fishing gear safer. Some fixes are easier than others, like hanging streamers off lines that act as scarecrows.

If this new FAO release is to be believed (and since it doesn't link to any underlying documentation, blogfish remains slightly skeptical) Chile has done a remarkable job, reducing the number of seabirds killed from 1600 to zero in only four years. Impressive. This due to a voluntary U.N. agreement called the International Plan of Action on Seabirds, or IPOA-Seabirds, for short. Now it's time to translate those improvements in hook and line fisheries to trawl and net fisheries.

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If it weren't for you meddling kids...

Two teenagers in NYC discovered that some of the fish they'd bought were not as advertised. They collected 60 pieces of fish and sent them off to the Fish Barcode of Life project at the University of Guelph. One quarter of the identifiable samples were mislabeled, including Atlantic redfish sold as red snapper and tilapia sold as "white tuna" sushi. "White tuna" seems to be the new catchall term at U.S. sushi bars, including both albacore (my favorite, and a legitimate tuna) as well as escolar, which is not a tuna and a fish that some people would likely avoid if they knew what they were ordering, as its high oil content can be difficult to digest.

In all cases, the mislabeled fish were marketed as a more expensive, better known fish, which seems to imply it's not just a simple error. It's tough to know where the misleading began -- the buyer at the dock, the manager at the processing plant, the grocery supplier, or the chef? When popular items grow scarce and expensive, there's a strong incentive to counterfeit, be it fish or Dior handbags.

The NYC samples were part of a larger study on mislabeling published this week in Food Research International. The same trend held true for the full 90 sample set: about 25% were mislabeled. I like that both of the girls involved mention only a passing interest in science per se, rather they just like asking questions and finding out the answers. Add a little research funding to that curiosity and DIY spirit, and I should have a Fish Barcode App on my iPhone in the next year.

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