Wind Turbine Threat To Migration Stopped

Natural History Wanderings

Press Release from American Bird Conservancy – Home

Camp Perry Wind Turbine Project Halted Following Threat to Sue and Petition Campaign
Groups Laud Government's Decision to Reconsider Project in Key Migratory Corridor

 

(Washington, D.C., January 29, 2014) One of several wind turbine projects planned for the shores of Lake Erie, in one of the greatest bird migration corridors in the Western Hemisphere, has been halted following submission of a letter of intent to sue from American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO). The two groups had vigorously opposed the project due to its exceptionally high risk to federally protected wildlife.

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New York wants to get rid of swans because swans are jerks

Grist

Did you hear the one about the ugly duckling who grew up to be a beautiful, graceful, complete asshat invasive species that threatens not only people and other birds but also commercial air travel? Well, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has, which is why it wants to get rid of the state’s 2,200 mute swans in the next 12 years.

Oh, sure, swans are beautiful — at least that’s what you’ve been told to believe — but they’re also the worst kind of arrogant mutated dinosaur. They attack people, hurt other birds, destroy fish and waterfowl habitats by eating underwater vegetation, threaten passenger jets, and if they could open their beaks wide enough they’d eat you and everyone you love. So the conservation department wants to classify them as a “prohibited invasive species” — mute swans were imported in the 19th century — and start bumping them off.

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Fukushima disaster and fish

Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video is called Radioactive Fish, Pacific Ocean, Fukushima Leaking MORE Radiation update 7/11/13.

By Dr. David Suzuki, EcoWatch:

Filling in the gaps on Fukushima radiation and its effects on fish

January 29, 2014

An Internet search turns up an astounding number of pages about radiation from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown that followed an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. But it’s difficult to find credible information.

One reason is that government monitoring of radiation and its effects on fish stocks appears to be limited. According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, “No U.S. government or international agency is monitoring the spread of low levels of radiation from Fukushima along the West Coast of North America and around the Hawaiian Islands.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s most recent food testing, which includes seafood, appears to be from June 2012. Its website states, “FDA…

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MARINE DEBRIS? NO THANKS! 10 FACTS FROM NOAA

ROLLING HARBOUR ABACO

Ten Things You Should Know About Marine Debris

Monkseal being rescued from marine debris

Our waterways are littered with stuff that doesn’t belong in them. Plastic bags, cigarette butts, fishing nets, sunken vessels, glass bottles, abandoned crab traps…the list is endless. Some of this marine debris comes from human activity at sea, and some of it makes its way into our waterways from land.

While we know that marine debris is bad for the environment, harms wildlife, and threatens human health and navigation, there is much we don’t know. How much marine debris is in our environment? How long does it last? How harmful is it to natural resources or human health and safety? How long does it take to break down in the water? The NOAA Marine Debris Program is finding answers to these questions.

1. It doesn’t stay put

While a lot of debris sinks, much also floats. Once…

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Heavy rain keeps all 12 dolphin killing boats in port today. There will be no hunting. January 30, 2014 in Taji, Japan.

See PETA’s Latest Super Bowl Ad (Warning: Fowl Language) | PETA’s Blog | PETA

Life or Lunch?

The TV networks have been notably, um, unenthusiastic about running PETA’s Super Bowl ads, so this year PETA is planning to take its message directly to the players and fans by placing billboards in the teams’ hometowns of New York and Boston as well as Indianapolis, which is hosting the game, making an irreverent plea for people to put down the chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday.

 
Chickens © iStockphoto.com/Sunnybeach

Why Worry About Wings?

It’s estimated that some 600 million chickens are killed for the wings consumed just during the Super Bowl. Yikes! And that’s after the abuse they all suffered through on factory farms.

Not only is this wing-eating obsession cruel, it also shows a lack of imagination. After all, there are so many mouth-watering alternatives to the old same-old same-old. For vegan game-day treats that will satisfy the most ravenous sports fan, check out…

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Ocean acidification leaving fish in the dark: study

Ocean acidification

Increasing carbon dioxide in the world’s oceans could hamper fishes’ eyesight, slowing their reaction times and leaving them vulnerable to predators or unable to hunt, new research has shown.

Experts say it adds to the existing evidence that ocean acidification will be bad for marine ecosystems and possibly fisheries.

Ocean acidification is one of the effects of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels, which is also increasing global temperatures.

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Hero the calf is back on his feet after being fitted with prosthetic legs

Another Day, Another Slaughter: 65 Striped Dolphins Killed in the Cove

Climate change is killing baby penguins

The Extinction Protocol

January 30, 2014 – SOUTH AMERICA — Climate change means more extreme weather and baby penguins are paying the price with their lives, said a pair of long-term studies out Wednesday. Soaking rainstorms and unusual heat have killed vast numbers of young Magellanic penguins at the bottom tip of South America, said one of the papers published in the journal PLOS ONE. “It’s the first long-term study to show climate change having a major impact on chick survival and reproductive success,” said lead author Dee Boersma, a biology professor at the University of Washington. Over the course of 27 years, an average of 65 percent of chicks died annually, said the study. About 40 percent starved, while climate change was blamed for killing an average of seven percent of chicks per year. However, climate change killed 43 and 50 percent of all new chicks in two extreme weather years. The…

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