Catalogue Number: EGM-095
Oil on canvas (30x40”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2018. Phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea near Cape Nordkinn, Norway (within the Arctic Circle) by Envisat, 17 Aug 2011.
Interpretation of red tide based on a photograph from the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Center, New Zealand. Noctiluca scintillans is a marine dinoflagellate species distributed worldwide that can exist in a green or red form, depending on the pigmentation in its vacuoles which is geographically dependent. Catalogue number EGM-217; Oil on canvas (36x48”)©Eugene G. Maurakis Ph.D. 2021.
Catalogue Number: EGM-179
Oil on canvas (12x12”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D., 2021
Karenia brevis (dinoflagellate in Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean shore, and Gulf Stream north to Delaware) causes neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP) in humans who eat shellfish containing brevetoxins produced by the dinoflagellate. NSP can cause slurred speech, dizziness, nausea, parathesis of lips, mouth, and tongue, vomiting, ataxia, and in some, partial paralysis and respiratory distress. Brevitoxins are not destroyed by cooking or freezing shellfish.
Catalogue Number: EGM-177
Oil on canvas (48 x48”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D., 2021. Interpretation of harmful algal bloom based on Copernicus satellite image in Marmara Sea.
The frequency and intensity of harmful algal blooms (HAB) are escalating in seas and oceans globally due to climate change and other factors such as increased nutrient inputs (nitrogen and phosphorus) from human activities. HAB are primarily composed of dinoflagellates (single-celled organisms with two flagella) common in marine and estuarine environments. Many HAB contain natural toxins that cause a variety of poisonings in humans (e.g. diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, paralytic shellfish poisoning, and ciguatera poisoning).
Catalogue Number: EGM-180
Oil on canvas (12x12”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2021
Pyrodinium bahamense (an equatorial dinoflagellate) causes paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in humans who eat shellfish containing saxitoxins produced by this dinoflagellate. PSP causes nausea, vomiting, parathesias (tingling and pricking sensations), coordination loss, speech defects, and death. Saxitoxins are not destroyed by cooking or freezing shellfish.
Catalogue Number: EGM-094
Oil on canvas (30x40”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2018. Phytoplankton bloom in the North Sea imaged by Landsat 8 on 5 May 2018.
Catalogue Number: EGM-181
Oil on canvas (12x12”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D., 2021
Gambierdiscus toxicus (an equatorial dinoflagellate) contain the toxin ciguatoxin which causes ciguatera poisoning in humans who eat fishes high on the food chain (barracuda, moray eel, grouper, amberjack, sea bass, sturgeon, parrot fish, surgeonfish, red snapper among others). Ciguatera poisoning presents as diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness, itchiness, numbness, weakness, and sensitivity to hot and cold. Ciguatoxin is not destroyed by cooking or freezing.
Catalogue Number: EGM-178
Oil on canvas (12x12”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D., 2021
Dinophysis toxicus (distributed globally) and related dinoflagellates can cause diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) in humans who eat shellfish containing with okadaic acid produced by the dinoflagellate. DSP causes diarrhea (most common), nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Okadaic toxin is not destroyed by cooking or freezing shellfish.
Interpretation of a 2013 NASA satellite image of thermal mixing of an area of Gulf Stream waters. White and lighter colors represent the warmest waters; magenta and blue are cooler waters. Catalogue number EGM-216; oil on canvas (48"x38"), ©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2022.
Catalogue Number: EGM-084
Oil on canvas (24x24”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2016. Heat vulnerability map within census blocks, combined % tree canopy, % impervious surface, % families in poverty, and amount of warming during a heat wave in Richmond, VA, USA in July 2017.
Catalogue Number: EGM-069
Oil on canvas (24x24”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2016. Boreas, God of the North Wind, attempts in vain to halt the melting Arctic sea ice, which has declined steadily from 1979-2015 (National Snow & Ice Data Center, 2016). Arctic sea ice is now declining at a rate of 13.4 percent per decade, relative to the 1981 to 2010 average. Adapted from a 5th century Athenian red-figure pelike.
Catalogue Number: EGM-066
Oil on canvas (24x24”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2016. Νηρηΐδες (one of the 50 Nereides sea nymphs) is symbolic of all beauty of the sea. The marine Living Planet Index, an indicator of the state of global biological biodiversity, declined 39% between 1970-2010. Coral reefs, the world’s most diverse marine ecosystem, are projected to disappear by 2050. Since 2014, coral reefs decreased by 33% due to high sea temperatures and coral bleaching (NOAA, 2016). Adapted from 5th century Athenian red figure vase painting.
Catalogue Number: EGM-064
Oil on canvas (24x24”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2016. Poseidon, armed with his trident and boulder, fights back ocean acidification intruding the realm of the sacred. Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves in ocean waters and forms acid, thus changing the ocean chemistry, and reducing the pH of the oceans. The oceans absorb about 22 million tons of carbon dioxide every day, which is 33% (one-third) of the total carbon dioxide emissions of 6,870 million metric tons created by humans in 2014 (USEPA, 2014). For the past 300 million years, the pH of the oceans has been about 8.2 (slightly basic). Over the past two centuries, ocean pH has decreased to 8.1, a 25% increase in the acidity of seawaters (NGS, 2016). Adapted from a 5th century Athenian red figure vase painting.
Catalogue Number: EGM-063
Oil on canvas (24x24”)© by Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2016. Τρίτων (Triton), uses his conch shell trumpet to calm the seas and still the waves. In this oil on canvas, Triton is depicted to blow back the rising sea level in vain. From 1960-2015, sea level at Sewell’s Point in Norfolk, Virginia has risen 9.94 inches, prompting rapid responses by the City of Norfolk (NOAA, 2016; USEPA, 2016) to address the average 10.3 inch global sea level rise predicted by 2025. Adapted from 4th century BCE Paestan red figure krater.
Catalogue Number: EGM-071
Oil on canvas (24x24”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D., 2016. Artemis is goddess of the wilderness, wild animals, and hunting. Habitat loss is responsible for 91 % of all threatened plant species, and is impacting 86% of all threatened animals. About 45 % of original forests on Earth have disappeared mostly in the last 100 years. Recent climate change is threatening the extinction of 25% of terrestrial species over the next 35 years. Adapted from a 4th century Athenian red figure vase painting.
Catalogue Number: EGM-062
Oil on canvas (24x24”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2016. Νέμεσις (Nemesis), the spirit of divine retribution for those who display arrogant behaviors before the gods has her arm around Τύχη (Tyche), protector of a particular place or person from birth to death, as she points to the West. Θάνατος (Thanatos), the personified spirit of non-violent death, removes the dead from the Western World in which 40 % of the 56+ million human deaths each year in the world are caused by air, soil, and water pollution (Pimentel et al., 2007), and where 1,176 environmental activists have been murdered from 2002-2015 (Holmes, 2016). Adapted from a 6th century BCE Athenian red figure calyx crater, and a 5th century Athenian red figure vase painting.
Catalogue Number: EGM-070
Oil on canvas (24x24”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2016. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, justice, ethics, courage, strength, a calm temperament, and inspiration. The Western World has decimated the ecological ethic, abused the environmental ethic, all the while violating the environmental justice among all peoples of the world. Calm temperament (ήρεμη ιδιοσυγκρασία), courage and strength (Θάρρος and Θύναμη), and wisdom (Σοφία) remain the primary weapons that the human condition, as envisaged through the virtues of Athena, have left to combat the Western world’s own self-destructive manner. Adapted from a 5th century Athenian red figure vase painting.
Catalogue Number: EGM-067
Oil on canvas (24x24”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2016. Eλπίς (Elpis, goddess of hope) and Νίκη (Nike, goddess of victory) depict the hope in which the human species can become victorious in a sustainable relationship with the natural world. Adapted from a 4th century Apulian red figure loutrophoros and a 5th century Athenian red-figure Nolan amphora.
Catalogue Number: EGM-061
Oil on canvas (24x24”)©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D. 2016. Ζεύς (Zeus), king of the gods and god of the sky and weather, law and order, destiny and fate, and kingship, struggles to rescue the natural world. Adapted from a 5th century Athenian red-figure amphora.
“Respect and protect the natural world” a global plea in unison in 15 languages. Especial appreciation to friends and colleagues who enthusiastically provided translations. Catalogue number EGM-218, Oil on canvas (48"x48"), ©Eugene G. Maurakis, Ph.D., 2024.