A look back at 2012

It's New Year's Eve and, with 2013 bearing down on us, I thought it would be fun to look back at the top 10 posts from 2012!

10. I got a fever...

I'm really glad to revisit this post. I mean, who doesn't love a Christopher Walken reference, am I right? Plus the opportunity to learn a little bit more about chitin, which makes up the second most abundant biomass on Earth, was too good to pass up.

9. Aging crabs

a snow crab brain!

I'd like to think that this post was so popular because of the awesome snow crab brain picture, but I'm pretty sure it got a lot of hits from my proud parents since it was the first post after my successful defense. Thanks Mom and Dad!

8. Boo!

I learned about the not-so-small ghost fishing problem we have here in Alaska at the Marine Science Symposium and shared the info with you. You guys must have been impressed by either (A) the number of derelict pots estimated out in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea or (B) my Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon.

 ghost fishing! (yuck-yuck-yuck)

7. O is for opilio

I'm not surprised this post was up there: learning the difference between my dear sweet snow crabs Chionoecetes opilio and the red-eyed Tanner crabs Chionoecetes bairdi is probably the most important thing you'll learn all year. Or ever.

6. Waiter, there's a crab in my bivalve: part 2

a pea crab

Do you know what's more fun than finding a mussel in your mussel shell? Finding a pea crab in your mussel shell! I haven't found one yet, but I'm not giving up hope. (This post was "part 2" because I was drawn to the pea crab phenomenon by looking up recipes of mussels or clams stuffed with crab meat, which in itself was inspired by the shellback crab. My mind: it's a strange, happy, crabby place!)

5. 4 for the price of 1!

Insulamon palawanense aka the most beautiful crab!

New species are always exciting to find, especially when we start thinking we know everything about this planet. So four species blew my mind, and yours, apparently. (I also liked the picture of I. porculum, but that's because I'm a ham. Haha!)

4. Bah-Ram-Ewe

Does anyone else love animals with common names referring to other animals? Because I sure do, and the sheep crab is no exception!

a sheep crab with a sea hare

3. Why is this turtle so unhappy?

If you haven't read this post, do yourself a favor and click the link. This poor turtle's story is... just ridiculous.

2. How to prepare and cook Dungeness crab

This post is pretty self-explanatory and was inspired by an Alaska Marine Science Symposium talk on paralytic shellfish poisoning (and Gordon Ramsay, in a roundabout way). I eat a lot of Dungies so I wanted to both learn more about PSP and share the information with you.

1. What's ocean acidification?

Look at you, nerds! The top post from 2012 was a chemistry lesson on ocean acidification! I've never been so proud of my readership as I am at this moment!

my cartoon on carbon dioxide uptake and how that affects the ocean's chemistry

Thank you for reading Snow Crab Love and

have a Happy New Year!