Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with marine

Photoshop or just a funny angle?

tiamat — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:46:24 -0800

This image of "A Mexican marine stands guard as 7000 Kg of seized marijuana are incinerated at the naval base in Guaymas, Sonora state, Mexico. seems way out of whack. Big gun, small marine... make it make sense... I'm not exactly a gun nut but I'm didn't think there was a rifle with grenade launcher quite that large... what am I missing?

Is there someone in Santa Cruz who can fix my Marine Head?

Ekidnagrrl17 — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:24:16 -0800

My Sailboat is in Santa Cruz harbor, I have been having issues with my marine head. Does anyone know someone I could have come out and look at it?

The Few. The Proud. The... Students?

Tamanna — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:57:35 -0800

Help me write a realistic transition to civilian life for my US Marine. (longer, clearer explanation inside) I'm writing a story in which the main character is a captain in the USMC, an OIF vet. She spent three years in Iraq, and now she's back in the US getting her law degree at UCLA under the military's Legal Education Program.

All my research on transition throws up tips on coping *professionally*- how to hunt for a job, how to write a resume, that sort of thing. My question is, what are the challenges she's going to face personally after moving to LA? Like, having issues adjusting to interaction that isn't between her and her CO/subordinates, or feeling 'naked' without her weapon because AFAIK UCLA doesn't allow students to carry guns even if they're active-duty servicememembers.

She does have kind of a support system (her brother also lives in LA, and her roommate is an FBI agent) but there's nothing like the 'military family' feel I'm told is common in the bases.

I'd love both general suggestions and more specific anecdotes- as a non-military non-American, I'm thoroughly lost. Thanks in advance!

Latin Filter: What does "Per Vomer Et Gladius" mean?

xotis — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:02:14 -0800

Latin Filter: What does "Per Vomer Et Gladius" mean? In this image what does Per Vomer Et Gladius mean?

Also, if anyone can give me more details on the meaning of the design in the image, I'd love to hear it.

Background: my employer facilitated a volunteer event with the MWSS 471 Marines today, and I was given a medallion with the insignia above at the end of it. I should have asked one of the Marines about it at the time, but I was in a rush to catch the bus.

Thanks!

Help me start my first marine aquarium

jeffmshaw — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:51:09 -0800

I'm thinking of buying a used saltwater aquarium, with fish included. What am I getting myself into that I should be aware of? What should I read to prepare myself for routine maintenance? I've always wanted a marine aquarium, but in my preliminary reading the set-up seems expensive and onerous, so I never pursued it. I've just moved into a new place, and in searching for furniture I find this on Craigslist. It comes with fish, including a clownfish, so the set-up would be minimal, and I'd just be looking at maintenance.

The price is right, and the timing seems right, too. I'm going out to look at the tank this week. What should I know before then? What specific issues, if any, are associated with buying a used tank? How does maintenance for a marine tank differ from the freshwater tanks I've had in the past?

Links to resources are welcomed, as are your own experiences. Thanks!

Arrrgh! Here be radio...

phrontist — Thu, 17 May 2007 21:01:04 -0800

What is the legal status of offshore (maritime, international waters) broadcasting in the United States? Is there a stateside equivalent of the Marine Offenses Act? What steps would the United States take to hamper the operations of such a broadcaster?

How to set up a cold saltwater Pacific NW tank for my school?

arnicae — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 13:29:28 -0800

Since it sounds like we have some aquarists in our midst, can anyone make any suggestions about a cold marine tank I'm interested in setting up for my class?? I live in the Pacific NW, and dive there when I can't get anywhere warmer (brr! not for the faint-hearted). The specimens I see there are pretty fantastic, not as colorful but just as interesting as their tropical brethren.

There is one heck of a lot of information on the net about people setting up tropical saltwater tanks, and not so much about people interested in setting up coldwater tanks, though everyone seems to agree that I'm crazy to consider it.

I'm interested in a tank that would contain tidepool specimens (collecting only legal ones, of course), that is, animals that do well in the more moderate temperatures and have survived exposure to sun, etc. I'm hoping that might mean I could omit a chiller, which is more than this teacher can afford. Any thoughts on that?

Would the various inverts do ok with that- hermit crabs, starfish, anenomes? (I know the stars might go after the hermits, but I'm hoping that feeding them well will make them lazy enough to leave them alone)

Any recommendations on how to stock the tank? The pet store keeps trying to sell me live sand and rock, sourced from the tropics. Won't sticking that in a coolish tank kill it? Any reason to use live rock/sand regardless?

I'm on a real budget here, at least until I can show the school how beneficial this will be. Any recommendations on what I need, what I can do without, etc? Thanks in advance!

What are the Marine Corps Daily Dozen

annabkr — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 12:12:20 -0800

I would like to know what some of these Marine Corps calisthenic exercises are. These are the USMC's "daily dozen:"
1. Side straddle hops (jumping jacks)
2. Marine Corps Push-ups
3. Cherry pickers
4. Rowing Exercise
5. Side Benders
6. Flutter Kicks
7. Toe Touchers
8. Crunches
9. Trunk Twisters
10. In-Place Double Time
11. Standing Leg Lifts
12. “Six Inches” (Lying leg-lifts)

I get jumping jacks, push ups, flutter kicks, crunches - what about the rest of them? Has anybody tried using these as a workout routine (in or out of the USMC)? Any advice?

A Marine who went to war, how to publish his letters?

Atreides — Mon, 29 May 2006 07:34:03 -0800

What steps should one take to see published the letters their grandfather wrote during the Second World War? In the past couple years, I've taken an extreme interest in searching for family history. This has primarily been as simple as spelunking in my parents' attic, where boxes have been placed and eventually forgotten. As for my grandfather, he was part of a marine detachment on the U.S.S. Montpelier CL-57 in the Pacific theater of the Second World War. During the war, he began a correspondence with the woman who was to eventually become his wife. In the process, he chronicled his experience and also the romance that resulted in him proposing to her on his last leave home during the war.

Tragically, this marriage ended when she died from complications of childbirth four years later. It was thought that he had burned all the letters when he remarried, as a sign of fidelity to his new wife. Thus, it was a terrific discovery to find more than a hundred of these letters in our attic, which had been saved by the first wife's mother and eventually had made it to my father. There are also six letters that she wrote to him (the rest must of have been destroyed).

The individuals involved came from farming backgrounds in Appalachia in the southwest part of Virginia and had full high school educations (a first for both families). Thus, their words are elegant and witty, and also retain a sort of down home sense of humor that makes them quite fun to read. Not to mention, their romance is doubly sweet and heartbreaking with the knowledge that it was to end suddenly not long after.

My father, the only son of the two, has told me he would be happy to see them in a published form, and so I would like to take up the task to see if I can accomplish the goal. I see it as a way to honor my grandfather, whom I loved dearly, and the grandmother I never had the chance to meet. From an economic sense, if such a publication could make any money, I'd direct it to the restoration of my grandmother's home, a 200 year old farm house that her family had lived in for generations.

As for the publishing, while I'm aware of some of the self publishing sites online, like Lulu.com, I have had no experience with them. And I can easily say that I know next to nothing about the traditional publishing houses. I do know that about ten years ago there was a wartime diary that was published," Pacific War Diary, 1942 - 1945: The Secret Diary of an American Sailor," by James Fahey. Fahey actually served on the same ship as my grandfather, so I'm curious if the presence of this book would help or hurt my own chances at the task.

I appreciate all and any advice, my thanks in advance.

T.E.D. tugboats?

flabdablet — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 23:53:58 -0800

Anybody know anything about WWII British tug boats? I'm looking for information about T.E.D. tugs, made in Britain during WWII, and my Google-fu is failing me badly. Can some kind soul point me to web resources?

The T.E.D. was a generic design, and tugs of that design were built by about 14 different engineering companies. If you can point me to web resources identifying these, or to pages mentioning specific tugs of this class, I'd be grateful.

Marine traffic control filter: How many vessels are out on the water right now, and where are they?

dino terror — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 19:29:40 -0800

Marine traffic control filter: How many vessels are out on the water right now, and where are they in general? I remember seeing an animation of air traffic for a day over the US and was pretty amazed. Assuming there isnt something similar for global marine traffic, Im curious how many transport ships, cruise ships, military ships etc there are out on the water at any given time, and are there certain paths they all take or are there ships wandering all over the oceans? Extra points for charts showing suspected pirate patrol areas.

Trivia Trip to Washington DC

Miko — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 06:57:48 -0800

MuseumGeeksinDCFilter: Looking for offbeat, trivia-intensive experiences in Washington, DC for a group of maritime history museum geeks. Special Exhibit inside. Every year, I travel with a group of museum professionals on a research trip. Most of us work for a maritime history museum, although there is some crossover into general history, academia, and music. We try to pick a destination where we can learn things that are applicable to our interpretation of American maritime history, general American history, and/or current marine science issues and policy.

Some things we've done in the past: Visited new vessels under construction; crawled around the USS Constitution; visited a fish processing plant; spent 2 days on Nantucket looking at the sperm whale skeleton and learning whaling history and geology; gone to commercial fishing docks and taken tours of scalloping gear; poked around the old Whaling Church in New Bedford.

So we're headed to DC in March, and we have some itinerary items already - an insider tour at Smithsonian Natural History, probably some time at American history as well. We have 3 days, and will no doubt make the rounds of the usual suspects - monuments and the Mall. But then, what? If you know of any locations / businesses/ nonprofits that a bunch of boat geeks and history geeks would find exceptionally cool, I'd love to start suggesting some more off-the-beaten-path ideas. Extra points if it involves boats, fish, Mark Twain, or Moby-Dick.

And especially if any MeFites are, or know of, museum people or others who might be able to give us a special access type of experience -- we would be forever in your debt, and happy to return the favor. Thanks.

UK Educational Marine Life?

humuhumu — Wed, 14 Jan 2004 03:14:04 -0800

Finding more than Nemo: aided by innumerable viewings of Finding Nemo and the Little Mermaid, my three-year old's fascination with the aquatic world continues, fuelled by a lovely trip to the small-ish but very impressive Mote Marine Laboratory while in Florida a few months ago. However: we're in the UK, where - despite being surrounded by water - good quality aquariums seem rather thin on the ground (sic). Can anyone recommend good places of this kind (educational, subjects well looked after)? Is the London Aquarium good?