nytimes
Originally Posted on November 27, 2016
Dave Taft runs a charming, informative seires in the New York Times - NYC Nature. It runs many sundays in the Metroplitan Section - I make it a point to flip through, hoping for the latest.
Dave's writing is always vivid, today I could feel the healthy glow of post Thanksgiving, outdoors, cool, almost cold sunny day - near the great Atlantic.
He also includes locations where sightings are likely, local to NYC. I am sure there is a small corps of denizens who frequently follow his lead and go out in search - just for the love of it.
Each of these essays are short, all dedicated to the natural world #EI Recommended #OurAmazingWorld
This weeks article includes this, one of those wonders of nature:
"Like other goldenrods, seaside goldenrod hosts a number of insect parasites that lay eggs in the plant’s living stems. As the stem dries in winter, it swells to encase the developing larvae in woody protection. This valuable food source is enormously attractive to overwintering insectivorous birds like downy woodpeckers, which can be observed far from their familiar woodland homes, hammering at the dried goldenrod stems and disturbing the peace behind the dunes, while foraging for a winter meal."
Cycles like this: seaside goldenrod, parasitic larvae, downwoodpecker - always just outside our ken, right? Perhaps miraculous is the wrong word, but doe me it glimmers.
#Climate #EI Recommended #OurAmazingWorld #Local #NYC #NYTimes
Originally Posted on July 13, 2016
This weekend the Times carried a wonderful article by Ricard Schiffman. It starts with this:
“In less distance out to sea than the average New Yorker’s commute home,” he said, “there is likely a whale singing at this very moment.”
The article is full of insight into the life (and predicament) of whales, action, action heroes; and contains a great many resources all working on behalf of the Environment. Highly recommended:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/nyregion/the-great-new-york-whale-census.html
Surprisingly, at least seven species of whales travel through the waters off NYC. Including "the blue whale, and one of the most endangered creatures on earth".
"As to why so many whales are passing through New York’s waters — and which of them live in the metropolitan area year-round — even whale experts are at something of a loss."
To get the sense of purpose and adventure, I refer you to Mr Schiffman's article, it's a really good read. The article contains a vivid, brief history of whaling in the New York region going all the way back to 1640, and the terrible toll it took on the whales as that industry became increasingly mechanized.
Here is why this whale listening and census project is so exciting to us, at Earth Initiative:
"Critically, scientists will be tracking how close whales venture to New York’s crowded shipping lanes, and they hope to send out alerts to mariners, through the Coast Guard and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, urging them to slow down when the animals are nearby."
I find myself very encouraged to read of the coordination, dedication, technolgy and resolve that is being brought to this effort. Tip o' the cap.
Here, I want to catalog the amazing set of Organizations and People who have come together to conduct the largest-ever survey of New York’s whales.
The Wildlife Conservation Society
The parent organization for the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, see below
The Woods Hole Oceanagraphic Institute
Mark Baumgartner, a marine ecologist at Woods Hole and a director of the New York whale project. Mark expressed this project goal re gill nets and other "fixed gear" used by fisherman and a peril to whales, is to use the information generated to: "designate areas where we don’t allow fishermen to set fixed gear". Amen
EOM Offshore - who worked in tandem w WHOI to moor a listening buoy into the waters off Fire Island. "It will monitor whale calls within the New York Bight, the wedge of continental shelf that lies between the South Shore of Long Island and the New Jersey coast."
There is a WHOI website dedicated to tracking the project: Autonomous Real-time Marine Mammal Detections
New York Aquarium in Coney Island
Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, the director of the Ocean Giants program
International Whaling Commission
The IWC banned whaling in 1986, providing hope for the whales
Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation
Kimberly Durham, their rescue program director, reports in the article that "2015 was the worst year yet for whale mortality in the area" - upping the urgency
National Marine Fisheries Service a service of NOAA, the National Oceanograpic and Atmospheric Association
The article notes that Boston has been listening for whales since 2008. Based on that data, "The National Marine Fisheries Service has mandated that ships slow to 10 knots in coastal areas frequented by whales to prevent collisions."
Alternative Marine Technologies
Robert Kunkel, the President of AMT, tells Mr Schiffman, for his article: it was in the interest of the shipping industry to comply. “Hitting a whale is creating a problem for the shipowner, too,” he said. “He has to see if he has propeller damage or hull damage.”
United Nations Environment Program
By now we are all aware of the problems that Ocean noise can pose to whales, who communicate with each sonically, over great distance. The UNEP issued a report, cited in Mr Schiffman's article that "Human-generated underwater noise doubled every 10 years during the last half of the 20th century"
Stunning right?
This revived my sympathy for the whales, made me a bit more hopeful for we humans. A lot to marvel at and admire above
#Climate #Whales #WHOI #WildlifeConservation #NYC #NYTimes FacebookTwitterLinkedInShare
On the singular worst day of an otherwise abysmal Presidency for Donald Trump, I posted an invitation to Trump supporters:
What was that about her emails and the chants of lock her up? I think it’s high time for any Trumpers and GOPers with any decency to admit their error of supporting such a corrupt person and campaign.
But alas, we live in two different political universes in this country. I'm not sure that Trumpers even knew to what I was referring. If Trumpers were watching Fox News or reading their website, what happened today may not have been fully communicated to them. I'm sure we can say something similar about the rest of conservative media.
The newspapers of record in the United States reported on the abundantly clear implications of Michael Cohen's acceptance of guilt in a plea deal and Paul Manafort's guilty on 8 charges verdict.
The headlines say it all and speak the truth about the main happenings of the day: Michael Cohen, the President's personal attorney for many years, implicated the President in breaking campaign finance laws to pay off a porn star and a playboy model with whom he had affairs. The question which the analysis of the news rightly asks, is what steps are next. We have a President implicated in a crime of a guilty plea in federal court. What steps do prosecutors now take? Can they indict a sitting President? Do they refer to Congress for impeachment? Do they wait until the Presidency is over to indict?
---As an aside, the absolute and complete hypocrisy of the Religious Right is stunning for accepting such breaking of laws in order to cover up what they believe moral sins to which they have held other politicians, in particular Democratic politicians, to account. You don't want to hear from these folks ever again on issues of morality as they have ceded whatever limited moral standing they may have had at the feet of a corrupt and corrupting President.
CNN reported the news in a similar vein in the evening yet again making clear in the headlines that Michael Cohen implicated his former boss in his guilty plea:
Fox News on the other hand buried both of those stories below the fold in order to talk about the Tibbetts story:
This is the parallel universe in which conservatives choose to reside. While Mollie Tibbetts disappearance and murder was certainly newsworthy, was it more so than the President of the United States being implicated in a crime? I even tuned into Tucker for a few minutes to hear more about the Mollie Tibbetts story and about Trump's campaign rally in West Virginia. When people lament about our divided politics it is not both sides doing the same thing.
Perhaps it is unfair of me to expect that Trump supporters come forward to say that they made a mistake given the growing number of convicted felons around Trump in his inner circle and his campaign. Their media consumption affirms false narratives and shifts narratives away that may be harmful to the President or the conservative cause, shielding the more impressionable from the truth.
For most of us, the meaning of this day is not lost. The President was implicated in a crime, a crime that helped him become President. If there is justice to be served, he certainly be impeached. Furthermore, I would argue that because this crime is directly related to him becoming President, he should be indicted. Likewise for any Russia collusion if and more likely when that comes into the open.
Trump ruins everything he touches including many of the lives of those who work for him. He is now doing the same with the Presidency and we must have the political will to save the institution by ridding ourselves of this corrupt, indecent occupant who came to position through corrupt means.
#trump #trumpers #trumprussia #michaelcohen #paulmanafort #foxnews #washingtonpost #nytimes #cnn #media #mainstreammedia