The Catholic Spelunker. noun.
1. a column specializing in curious exploration of fun stuff and Catholic geekery
2. a source of helpful tools and resources for living a great life
3. a bunch of stuff Dominick Albano thinks is cool

You know how Pope Francis is all about the environment?

He talks about it a lot, wrote Laudato Si, and he just hosted the Synod for the Amazon, where environmental issues were a major concern.

I came across this cool resource that I think anyone can poke around on and find fun and informative: Ocearch.org.

The organization is all about the health, balance and abundance of our oceans, but their research tool is what I really find interesting. When you visit ocearch.org, you find a world map with thousands of tagged sharks, whales, dolphins, and sea turtles.

You can see these animals’ names, pictures, locations, travel paths and more. It’s a blast. Visit the site and see if you can find Sawtooth, a blue shark last seen swimming around the center of the Atlantic Ocean. Or Lal, a sea turtle who has been cruising between the Bahamas and Naples, FL.

Seeing all this marine life helps put the environmental issues into perspective. It reminds me that God gave dominion to us over even the fish in the sea and we Ocearch.org have a responsibility towards creation.

And speaking of our responsibility as stewards, this new tool helps you get perspective on just how wealthy you are.

A new tool from Bloomberg is designed to give a wealth score on a scale from -2 to 11, with -2 representing a subsistence farmer, and 11 being Bill Gates. Check it out by searching “Bloomberg net worth wealth number.”

Based on your net worth, the score gives you an idea of what you can reasonably afford and where you fit on the global economic scale.

A few reflections on that:

1) There’s a reason Jesus says that man can’t serve God and money.

2) I don’t need more money, despite how often it feels that way.

3) I have a lot to be grateful for.

4) God’s given me a lot of tools to help make the world a better place. I don’t have to be a millionaire to do it.

Check out your score and see how a change in perspective might help you see your financial position differently.

I’m always on the hunt for a good and healthy snack.

Enter Zach, a Type 1 diabetic who recently graduated high school and couldn’t eat a bag of chips without having to give himself an insulin shot. He and his best friend, Nick, decided to try to create a tasty, protein-based, chip replacement. Two years later, they founded Quevos.

Their chip has an egg-white base – the first of its kind. Their company, with only eight employees and two years in business, has a current revenue of $400,000! Check out quevos.com to give them a try for yourself.

I hope you have enjoyed yourself, learned a little something, and maybe even found a new go-to snack. Thanks for reading, and happy spelunking!