Rehabilitated Penguins Released in South America
October 13, 2008
Ready, get set, go! On Oct 4th, after months of rehabilitation, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) released 372 Magellanic penguins in Brazil. Watch as they find their way back to the ocean:
The International Fund for Animal Welfare works to improve the welfare of wild and domestic animals throughout the world by reducing commercial exploitation of animals, protecting wildlife habitats, and assisting animals in distress. IFAW works around the world to rescue animals in harm’s way and to provide shelter and care for orphaned, injured, or mistreated animals, including stranded sea mammals and birds affected by oil spills.
Sweet! The Dutch Build the World’s First Solar Speedboat
May 30, 2008
Oh, how I love basking in the sunshine, smelling the salty air and dipping a foot into the water while relaxing on a boat. Too bad motor boats are really not good for the environment – they’re noisy, they use a lot of energy and leak oil. Then I saw this: the world’s first solar powered speedboat. Drrooooollll.
From gizmag:
Electricity and water: we usually do everything we can to keep the two apart, but it seems the electric engine revolution is moving through the boating world as well. And when you’re out on the water enjoying a speedboat, what more appropriate power source is there than the sun? The Czeers MK1 prototype solar speedboat is a 30-knot photovoltaic dream in delicious shades of carbon fiber Carbon fiber , solar cell and lush orange leather. Solar boats for environmental warriors eh? Next thing you’ll be telling us they’re making wind-powered ones.
The Czeers MK1 prototype is, as far as its Dutch creators are concerned, the world’s first solar speedboat. The Delft Technical University Solarboat Team built the original platform as an entry in the 2006 Nuon Frisian Solar challenge, which it easily won – and in the process, attracted serious investment power from Rabobank to get a full scale test boat built.
The resulting test boat, made from 100% carbon fiber inlaid with leather trim, photovoltaic cells on almost all horizontal surfaces and an LCD touch-screen control system, launched at the Millionaire Fair in 2007, and has since proven itself up to 30 knots on the water.
We are really looking forward to being rich ass green media tycoons. We’ll have a whole fleet of these babies. They won’t have leather trim though (yuck!). Seriously though, this thing is pretty sweet. No oil, no fumes, no engine noise. If you’re wondering about the cost, let’s put it this way: there’s a reason the LCD touch-screen system was launched at the Millionaire Fair.
You can check out a video of it in action on YouTube, complete with a weirdly inappropriate song choice (Aphex Twin).
Drastic Plastic: From Floating Plastic Crap to Toxic Food Chain Bomb
April 3, 2008
We all know that plastic waste in our oceans is a big threat for entanglement and digestion to sea-life and ocean-dependent creatures. It goes without saying, but, hell, let’s do it anyhow, that this is just another pathetic example of how human consumption and selfish disregard is dramatically affecting the world around us. And this in itself really sucks. Big time.
But just in case the visible plastic waste that is circulating the waterways of the world wasn’t enough to swallow, turns out the no-see-um plastic is chipping in to ruin the planet as well. You see, as non-biodegradable plastics are s-l-o-w-l-y broken down by the sun, they break up into smaller pieces, attracting and collecting toxins and poisonous residues along the way. (This is where you shake your head in shame, realizing that as a lean, mean, full-service polluting machine, we not only throw throw the plastic into the oceans, but the poisons that stick to the plastic as well. ‘Attaboy!)
The risk that these small, toxic-covered plastic bits will then be consumed by ocean-dwelling organisms is quite significant. And once inside the little critters, digestive enzymes take over and increase the risk that the toxicity will then be absorbed.
“Now there’s the potential for those chemicals to be released to those marine organisms if they then eat the plastic.” – Dr. Richard Thompson of the University of Plymouth
It doesn’t take much to run through your own mental food chain map before you realize that the threat is real. Talk about a serious bummer.
Source [BBC News]
Flickr photo credit [jschneid]
Bush 0 Whales 1, Federal Court Rules Against Use of Navy Sonar
March 4, 2008
President George Bush got smacked down by Johnny Law this week when a federal court over-ruled a White House exemption allowing the U.S. Navy to use whale-damaging sonar. According to the court decision, Navy ships can’t use sonar within 12 nautical miles of California, must turn it off when whales are spotted and avoid places where they live.
I’m not sure they have quite thought this thru. Whales are sea mammals. Therefore they live in the sea. Therefore the ENTIRE sea is out of bounds for Navy vessels?
We think this is a remarkable development and we will be looking forward to seeing a case in court on behalf of the Leopard Gecko (Iraq desert) and the Steppe Eagle (Afghanistan).
In fact, we hope in future armed conflicts will have to consider the full Environmental Impacts from the start.
“Sorry George,” says Condy “there is a rare newt in Tehran. We’ll just have to relocate the war someplace else”.
Link [Terra Daily]
