Hi - We're going to get passionate about the environment; so, grab a beverage, take your shoes off, sit down and get comfy. If global warming is an interest of yours - add your comments, subscribe to the feed and/or become a follower. Don't forget to check out the ads to the right side of the column. There is some very interesting material to be had there. Read, comment, enjoy!!!
Oil slick from blowout during drilling off Australia. Photo: Chris Twomey, courtesy of WA Today, taken from SkyTruth. Loads of info on the spill here.
The leaking oil well in the Timor Sea is now officially a major environmental disaster, spanning at least 15,000 km2 (9320 mi2) and threatening marine wildlife, including whales and dolphins.
The well blew out on August 21, so as of September 11, 2009, it's been spewing oil for 21 days (click here for a web-counter tracking this spill). That would mean an estimated 2,646,000 gallons have been spilled so far.
Conservation groups continue to express concern about the giant slick, saying the entire area is ecologically significant. It is described as being part of an "ocean super highway" for migrating animals between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Some populations are known to migrate through this region on their way to South East Asian waters. At least 20 different species of whales and dolphins probably use the area, including sperm whales, common dolphins, pygmy blues, and humpback whales.
The image seared into most of our minds are the images of oil-soaked seabirds washing onto beaches disoriented and helpless. When their feathers become clogged with oil, they lose their ability to insulate the bird from the cold and wet; prevent the bird from flying; hinder their ability to remain on the top of the water; and, they can become disoriented and drown.
Birds will constantly preen their feathers until they are squeaky clean - a trait that kills oil-soaked birds. By preening in a desperate effort to remove the oil, they ingest the toxic compounds in the oil and die.
Furred mammal face the same predicament - their fur protects them in much the same way as a bird's feathers do. Whales and dolphins use their blubber layer for insulation; and are not affected in this way. However this does not mean that they are not affected by oil spills.
Ingestion and inhalation may occur when animals are in close or direct contact with a spill. The large baleen whales can suffer from oiling of their baleen. Ingestion through prey and damage to the food web are also possibilities.
“Crude and other oils are mixtures of a great many organic compounds many of which are toxic, and animals can ingest oil-derived compounds either directly from the water or with their food. Poisonous vapours can also be inhaled and especially as the more volatile components evaporate into the air from freshly spilled oil” said Mark Simmonds, WDCS International Director of Science.
“Regrettably, whales and dolphins are unlikely to avoid oils spills and the more extensive the spill, the greater the encounter rate is likely to be. There will also be chronic effects of oil entering food-chains. Much of this is going to happen far away from the human eye and if whales or dolphins are killed or otherwise affected, we are unlikely to be witness to this. All of this further explains the need to keep fossil fuel plants out of important wildlife areas.”
Opportunistic observational research of wild animals has shown that the bottlenose dolphins observed during a fresh spill could detect slick and mousse oils; but, did not react to lighter sheen oil. Groups hesitated and milled about undecidedly when they encountered slick oil, eventually diving under small patches; but, continuing through extensive areas.
A recent whale survey, supported by the Wilderness Society and Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures, recorded 162 humpback whales in 102 separate pods south west of the spill area. A local whale researcher said this was just a snapshot, a tiny amount, of the number of whales that aggregate in this area to feed and give birth.
“This situation is dire and cetacean populations will come through this as the losers. This offshore spill is unlikely to result in animal bodies floating to shore, but the potential of impact must be assumed acted upon, rather than waiting for visible evidence” said Margi Prideaux, WDCS.
This is not an uncommon sight in the area I live in if you know where to go.
Several weeks ago I wrote a blog about the 9 million salmon missing from British Columbia, Canada's, annual salmon run. Scientists were mystified as to what could have happened to this many salmon. Where did they go? What happened to them?
Another source of great speculation was how this might affect the grizzly bears who depend on the salmon to provide the much-needed fat and protein so crucial if they are to survive hibernation.
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” First, 9 million salmon fail to show up for the annual salmon run. Now, the grizzlies seem to be disappearing and traditional knowledge attributes this to the bears starving to death because of the salmon run that wasn’t.
Reports from conservationists, salmon-stream walkers and ecotourism guides all along British Columbia's wild central coast are reporting that the lack of a salmon run this year has triggered widespread hunger and death from starvation in the black and grizzly bear populations. These guides are on the front-line in reporting this disaster that is so new biologists have not had a chance to document it. No one knows yet what impact the decline in the bear population will have on other species and the ecosystem.
“I've never experienced anything like this. There has been a huge drop in the number of bears we see,” said Doug Neasloss, a bear-viewing guide with the Kitasoo-Xaixais tribes in Klemtu, about 180 kilometres south of Kitimat. We are very lucky to have large indigenous native populations who have lived off the land for centuries gaining invaluable natural knowledge that allowed them to identify this crisis from the beginning.
Mr. Neasloss said in recent weeks that he and other guides have visited 16 rivers where they usually encounter groups of bear feeding on spawning salmon.
“I've been doing this for 11 years and this is the worst I've seen it,” he said. “Last year on the Mussel River, I saw 27 bears. This year it's six. That's an indication of what it's like everywhere.”
He said on another river last fall, he saw 12 black bears and three spirit bears, rare black bears with white fur. “This year, there are three black bears and no white bears,” he said.
Photo: Kermode or Spirit bear. Photo courtesy Marni Grossman
Mr. Neasloss points out that for several years salmon runs have been in decline in the area; but, last year was particularly bad. “I've never seen bears hungry in the fall before, but last year, they were starving,” he said. “I noticed in the spring there weren't as many bears coming out; but, I felt it was premature to jump to any conclusions. … but now there just aren't any bears. It's scary. I think a lot are dead. I think they died in their dens [last winter],” he said.
Ian McAllister, Conservation Director of Pacific Wild, (great, great website!!) a non-profit conservation group on Denny Island, near Bella Bella, said he's heard similar reports.
“I've talked to stream walkers [who monitor salmon runs] who have been out for a month and have yet to see any bears,” he said. “There are just no bears showing up. I hear that from every stream walker on the coast.”
Mr. McAllister said it used to be easy to visit salmon streams in the Great Bear Rainforest, a large area of protected forest on the central coast, and see 20 to 30 bears a day feasting on salmon. “Now you go out there and there are zero bears. The reports are coming in from Terrace to Cape Caution … the bears are gone,” he said.
The Great Bear Rainforest is a global ecological treasure. It is home to 1,000-year-old western red cedars, trees as tall as 30-storey buildings and the rare white Kermode bear--or “Spirit” Bear. This dazzling coastal forest stretches from Bute Inlet on B.C.’s south coast to the Alaskan border to the north. Covering 6.4 million hectares, the Great Bear Rainforest represents 25 percent of the earth’s remaining ancient coastal temperate rainforests.
“And we haven't seen any cubs with mothers. That's the most alarming part of this,” Mr. McAllister said. So not only are the bears dying in their dens during hibernation; but, no cubs are being born to replace those that die. No one knows where this will go or how it will end. Or if they are, they could conceivably starve to death in the den if their mothers have died and they are unable to nurse.
Mr. McAllister said the problem is that chum salmon runs in the area have collapsed. While there are strong runs of pink salmon into rivers on the central coast, chum, which are much bigger fish that spawn later in the year, are the key food item for bears preparing for hibernation. The salmon are vital for the bears to build up their fat reserves that will carry them through the winter. Without an adequate supply of big salmon late in the year, bears do not have enough fat to survive the winter in their dens.
“The lack of salmon last fall, coupled with a long, cold winter, is what's at the root of this,” Mr. McAllister said.
“River systems that in the past had 50,000 to 60,000 chum have now got 10 fish,” he said. “The chum runs have been fished out. We've seen the biological extinction of a [salmon] species, and now we're seeing the impact on bears.”
There have been calls on the government to close all chum-salmon fisheries and to cancel the fall grizzly hunt. While the hunt has always been controversial; it is felt the bears won't be able to withstand this additional onslaught in their weakened conditions. Unfortunately, the government did not listen and the hunt has started.
The worst salmon disaster this year has been on the Fraser River, on the south coast, where 10.6 million sockeye were expected, but only about 1.6 million returned.
“The collapse of the Fraser sockeye and now the north-coast chum salmon runs is leading to ecological collapse of our coast ecosystems,” said Mr. McAllister.
The West coast of the USA is undergoing a strange phenomena - hundreds of pelicans have been falling from the sky like huge feathered hailstones crashing into cars, boats and anything else that may be in the way. Some are inevitably killed during their freefall to earth and/or sudden landing.
If they are lucky enough to escape death, weak, disoriented birds can be found huddling in people's yards or other urban areas. They are so disoriented they allow rescuers to walk right up and capture them. They make no effort to escape.
More than 100 have been rescued along the California coast, according to the International Bird Rescue Research Center in San Pedro. This is not an insignificant number and could be a harbinger of things to come.
Rescuers are wondering whether the illness is caused by a virus, or even by contaminants washed into the ocean after recent fires across Southern California. Strangely, many of the birds have swollen feet. No one is quite sure what this means yet.
Photo courtesy Wikipedia
Bird-rescue workers say that dead or disoriented pelicans have been found from southern Oregon to Baja California, Mexico.
"These birds are on the freeway, getting run over," said Jay Holcomb, executive director of the rescue center in San Pedro. "A bunch we've seen have been hit. They've been landing on yards five miles inland. When some of the people have captured them in parking lots, they just sit in the corner. They just go pick them up."
"Maybe the weather has been particularly difficult on them," said Heather Nevill, a veterinarian tracking the problem for the International Bird Rescue Research Center. "Maybe the fish stocks are particularly low. It might be more than one thing, all coming together at once."
Veterinarians and volunteers are nursing many pelicans back to health; but, this is expensive and can't be done for all of them.
However, the questions still remain: What is causing this? What, if anything, can be done to curtail this?
There has been such an amazing amount of information revealed in the last little while regarding animal discoveries that it’s hard to keep up. The number of new species discovered recently has overwhelmed scientists. Changes in animal behaviour, adaptations to climate changes, and increases in some species' numbers have alarmed scientists.
Another newsworthy creature has emerged that is reminiscent of sci-fi movies. What makes this creature newsworthy is the number of live specimens that have been found recently. In what could be a cross between "The Body Snatchers" and "Alien", this tiny creature is being found alive more and more often causing concern in the scientific world.
This alien-like creature survives by eating the tongue of its host and then attaching itself inside the mouth in place of the tongue. The sea-dwelling carnivore attacks a fish, burrows into it and then slowly eats its tongue. Unbelievably, the fish doesn’t seem to suffer any ill effects, beside the loss of its tongue, and seems to manage very well with its new tongue.
Photo courtesy BBC. This isopod was found in a weaver fish.
Photo courtesy Wikipedia. This is the underside of a giant isopod - a larger variety of the type found in the weaver fish.
While the isopod, a kind of louse, has been known to exist for a while now, discoveries of live specimens are rare. This type of isopod is cousin to the land-bound woodlouse.
In a news article, the BBC reports that "Fishermen near the Minquiers - islands under the jurisdiction of Jersey - found the isopod, a type of louse, inside a weaver fish."
The Bailiwick of Jersey is off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes the nearly uninhabited islands of the Minquiers, Écréhous, the Pierres de Lecq and other rocks and reefs.
Marine researcher Paul Chambers, from the Société Jersiaise, was one of the fishing party that discovered the parasite and eventually identified the find.
He said, “I struggled for weeks to find an identification for this thing until, quite by chance I stumbled across something that looked similar in a Victorian journal.”
Experts at the University of Southampton not only were able to confirm that the creature was an isopod, they were also able to confirm that there had been several sightings of them in Cornwall in 1996.
Chambers said he was surprised to find the isopod away from the Mediterranean Sea. Isopods are normally about 2cm (1in) long and live in fish, surviving on the animal's blood, in warm waters.
Cut-away side view showing parasite in situ
One of the fishermen described the discovery as: "Really quite large, really quite hideous - if you turn it over its got dozens of these really sharp, nasty claws underneath and I thought 'that's a bit of a nasty beast'."
The isopod is harmless to humans except for the fact that it has a nasty temper: "It doesn't affect humans other than if you do actually come across a live one and try and pick it up - they are quite vicious, they will deliver a good nip."
Here's a very short video of the deep sea isopod - the larger and much more well-known cousin of the one found in the weaver fish.
Deep Sea Isopods (Bathynomus giganteus) are gigantic isopods that live on the sea floor in certain parts of the world, including the Gulf of Mexico. They have an oblong body, four sets of jaws and very large compound eyes. At maturity, they can grow up to 18 inches in length and weight up to three pounds. They live at depths 1,200 feet or greater.
However, in Northern Taiwan and other areas, the deep-sea isopods are not uncommon at seaside restaurants, served boiled and bisected with a clean lateral slice. The white meat, similar to crab or lobster in texture, is then easily removed.
I have several more strange happenings of nature to come. Stay tuned!
A fungus that's potentially deadly for frogs has been found in ponds on Prince Edward Island. Prince Edward Island is one of Canada’s scenic jewels – a rugged little island with a beauty carved by nature. (Couldn't resist a little plug for one of my favourite provinces.) Unfortunately, PEI (Prince Edward Island) is not the only place to be hit by the fungal frog-killer, Chytrid. It is just the latest in a long string of places to fall victim to this disease.
Already Golden frogs are extinct; up to 1/3 of the world’s frog species are under threat of extinction; and, 50% of all frog species are in serious trouble.
This crisis began in the 1980s and scientists are saying this has the potential to be the largest mass extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. Surely, a fungus can’t be responsible for all this devastation, can it? Think again…
Chytrid is an infection that is causing problems for frog populations around the world. The fungus, which lives in the skin of the frog, is causing 200 species of frogs to either severely decline or become extinct.
This summer, a team of researchers swabbed 114 frogs at 18 ponds across the island. Unfortunately, over 50% of those swabbed tested positive for chytrid. "Some of the frogs actually go into spasms, sort of like having a seizure," Maria Forzan, a wildlife pathologist with the Canadian Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre, told CBC News last week. She added, "They lose weight very quickly and; within three or four days, basically they're dead."
To date, the fungus is not killing many frogs on PEI. Most of the ponds tested were found to be infected; but, amazingly only one dead frog was found. The frog was severely infected and the team suspect that’s what killed it.
"The fungus doesn't like temperatures that are too hot or too cold, so it might be that the weather will actually work in the favour of the frogs, at least in the Maritimes," said Forzan.
Forzan and a team of biologists from UPEI (University of Prince Edward Island) plan to continue their research in order to determine what damage the fungus is causing the island frogs. Chytrid poses no threat to humans, Forzan hastens to add.
She hopes that the public will help stop the spread of the fungus on the island ponds by taking preventative measures such as: disinfecting their boots after every pond visit; not moving frogs from one pond to the other; and, disinfecting any equipment used, such as nets, after each pond visit.
These pears are no tricks of nature. A Chinese farmer has perfected the art of growing pears in a baby-shaped mould to develop these amazing baby-shaped pears.
Strange fruit: The baby-shaped pears are created inside a mould.
These pears could be available in the UK very shortly. These pears are designed to resemble young child; but, personally I can see more than a vague resemblance to Buddha.
Farmer Gao Xianzhang spent six years perfecting his idea, which involves growing each fruit for a certain amount of time inside individual moulds.
These pears sell for a whopping £5 ($8.28 US ); but, people in his home village of Hexia, in northern China's Hebei province, have been snapping them up as if they were free.
Hanging around: Farmer Gao Xianzhang checks on his pears.
He said: 'People seem to think they are cute or lucky and will buy them as soon as they're off the tree.' He has grown 10,000 of the pears this season and is planning to export them to Britain as well as the rest of Europe.
Luckily for Mr Gao, he should have no problem getting his irregular-shaped fruit past EU officials.
In July, wonky-shaped fruit and vegetables (curvy cucumbers, knobbly carrots, twisty turnips and such) returned to European supermarket shelves thanks to the abolition of EU rules on the size and shape of 36 types of fruit and vegetables.
For 20 years, EU-wide marketing standards encouraged only the finest-looking produce to reach shops. While this may have improved the aesthetic value of the produce, it prevented alot of nutritious but "deformed" produce from reaching the people. I, for one, am glad to see it repealed.
I thought I would remind my loyal readers that there are links on the right-hand side of the page that help others at no cost to you.
Cause2.com and thehungersite.com are "click to donate" sites. aidtocildren.com and freerice.com are word games. For every correct answer you donate a very small amount of rice to the third world.
All four sites are excellent ways to help others without it costing anything. I try to visit at least one site a day. Every little bit helps.
If any of you know about other sites that help those in need, please let me know and I will establish a link to it.
I feel the world would be a better place if we all felt a responsibility to help others less fortunate than us. Our efforts don't have to be large or newsworthy - consistent small donations add up in time.
Please click.
Seventy-five things you can compost; but, possibly thought you couldn't.
From the Kitchen
1.Coffee grounds and filters 2.Tea bags 3.Used paper napkins 4.Pizza boxes, ripped into smaller pieces 5.Paper bags, either ripped or balled up 6.The crumbs you sweep off of the counters and floors 7.Plain cooked pasta 8.Plain cooked rice 9.Stale bread 10.Paper towel rolls 11.Stale saltine crackers 12.Stale cereal 13.Used paper plates (as long as they don't have a waxy coating) 14.Cellophane bags (be sure it's really Cellophane and not just clear plastic—there's a difference.) 15.Nut shells (except for walnut shells, which can be toxic to plants) 16.Old herbs and spices 17.Stale pretzels 18.Pizza crusts 19.Cereal boxes (tear them into smaller pieces first) 20.Wine corks 21.Moldy cheese 22.Melted ice cream 23.Old jelly, jam, or preserves 24.Stale beer and wine 25.Paper egg cartons 26.Toothpicks 27.Bamboo skewers 28.Paper cupcake or muffin cups
From the Bathroom
29.Used facial tissues 30.Hair from your hairbrush 31.Toilet paper rolls 32.Old loofahs 33.Nail clippings 34.Urine 35.100% Cotton cotton balls 36.Cotton swabs made from 100% cotton and cardboard (not plastic) sticks
Personal Items
37.Cardboard tampon applicators 38.Latex condoms
From the Laundry Room
39.Dryer lint 40.Old/stained cotton clothing—rip or cut it into smaller pieces 41.Old wool clothing—rip or cut it into smaller pieces
From the Office
42.Bills and other documents you've shredded 43.Envelopes (minus the plastic window) 44.Pencil shavings 45.Sticky notes 46.Business cards (as long as they're not glossy) 47.Receipts
Around the House
48.Contents of your vacuum cleaner bag or canister 49.Newspapers (shredded or torn into smaller pieces) 50.Subscription cards from magazines 51.Leaves trimmed from houseplants 52.Dead houseplants and their soil 53.Flowers from floral arrangements 54.Natural potpourri 55.Used matches 56.Ashes from the fireplace, barbecue grill, or outdoor fire pit
Party and Holiday Supplies
57.Wrapping paper rolls 58.Paper table cloths 59.Crepe paper streamers 60.Latex balloons 61.Raffia 62.Excelsior 63.Jack o' Lanterns 64.Those hay bales you used as part of your outdoor fall decor 65.Natural holiday wreaths 66.Your Christmas tree. Chop it up with some pruners first (or use a wood chipper, if you have one...) 67.Evergreen garlands
Pet-Related
68.Fur from the dog or cat brush 69.Droppings and bedding from your rabbit/gerbil/hamsters, etc. 70.Newspaper/droppings from the bottom of the bird cage 71.Feathers 72.Alfalfa hay or pellets (usually fed to rabbits) 73.Rawhide dog chews 74.Fish food 75.Dry dog or cat food
The crater of the extinct volcano Mount Bosavi, on the New Guinea mainland. Photograph: Ulla Lohmann/BBC
In a lost world in a remote volcanic crater on the Pacific island of Papua, New Guinea, scientists have discovered fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures that have rocked the scientific world.
The Bosavi woolly rat had no fear of humans when it was discovered. Photograph: Jonny Keeling/BBC
A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua, New Guinea found an unbelievable 40+ previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored the pristine jungle habitat. This unusual habitat has remained unchanged by man or nature since it last erupted more than 200,000 years ago. Due to the location of the volcano, life has evolved in isolation causing new species to evolve. And evolve it has. The crater of Mount Bosavi is teeming with life.
The emerald green disc on the tail feather of the king bird of paradise which are used in a courtship ritual. Photograph: Ulla Lohmann/BBC
In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world.
The discoveries are being seen as fresh evidence of the richness of the world's rainforests. The explorers hope their finds will add weight to calls for international action to prevent the demise of similar ecosystems. They said Papua New Guinea's rainforest is currently being destroyed at the rate of 3.5% a year.
"It was mind-blowing to be there and it is clearly time we pulled our finger out and decided these habitats are worth us saving," said Dr George McGavin who headed the expedition.
A jungle spider camouflaged as lichen. There are thought to be more than 5m species of insect and spiders yet to be found in the world's jungles.Photograph: Ulla Lohmann/BBC
The team of biologists included experts from Oxford University, the London Zoo and the Smithsonian Institution. This team is believed to be the first scientists to enter the mountainous Bosavi crater. Joining them were members of the BBC Natural History Unit filming the expedition for a three-part documentary.
They found the three-kilometre wide crater populated by spectacular birds of paradise and other undiscovered species. In the absence of big cats and monkeys, which are found in the remote jungles of the Amazon and Sumatra, the main predators are giant monitor lizards. Kangaroos have evolved to live in trees while new species include a camouflaged gecko, a fanged frog and a fish called the Henamo grunter. The grunter was so named because it makes grunting noises from its swim bladder.
A hairy caterpillar found in the rainforest. Photograph: Ulla Lohmann/BBC
"These discoveries are really significant," said Steve Backshall, a climber and naturalist who became so friendly with the never-before seen Bosavi silky cuscus, a marsupial that lives up trees and feeds on fruits and leaves, that it sat on his shoulder.
"The world is getting an awful lot smaller and it is getting very hard to find places that are so far off the beaten track."
A video showing some of the biodiversity of Papua, New Guinea.
Click here and go about one-third of the way down the page to hear the audio Of Steve Backshall describing the adventure.
I'm fortunate to have several passions in my life. I am absolutely an eco-nut. I am always trying to find new ways to reduce, reuse, recycle. We, as a species, have done more harm to this planet in the short time we have been here, than any other catastrophe or happening ever has. It's up to us to fix it.
I care about the environment whether it is as small as a single cell or as large as the universe.
I adore creativity and think we can all do more with much less. This earth has enough resources for us all to live comfortably if we all learn to share. Wasn't that a lesson we were supposed to learn in kindergarten?
I also love the bizarre, unusual, the weird and the strange. Be prepared for the odd "different" blog.
Oil slick from blowout during drilling off Australia. Photo: Chris Twomey, courtesy of WA Today, taken from SkyTruth. Loads of info on the spill here.
Photos courtesy: Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society 
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