Originally published on EdenKeeper.org Navigating through the icy waters of the Arctic, the Greenpeace ship “Arctic Sunrise” is delivering solar panels to the Inuit community of Clyde River, Nunavut. Delivering solar panels and a team to install the systems for the Clyde River community is Greenpeace’s way of offering a better solution to meet increasing
The oceans are huge carbon sinks for the world. Fish and whales comprise only a tiny part of their overall biomass. Nevertheless, studies have shown that fishing and whaling by humans have altered the ocean’s carbon storage and sequestration capabilities by causing a change in the food chain, or a trophic cascade. As naturalist and
[UPDATED: Jan. 14, 2015; see UPDATE NOTE below] On Monday morning, December 2, an animal rights group called the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) filed a lawsuit in the Supreme court of New York. The goal of the lawsuit — the first of three planned — is to persuade the court that chimpanzees (and other highly
Underwater human noise is a great threat to whales. It disrupts their communication, mating, navigation, and more. Unfortunately, this threatens whale species that are already on the brink of extinction due to whaling. The good news is that whales seem to have the ability to “plug their ears” and block out man-made noises. Well,
A new sensory organ has been discovered in rorqual whales. The discovery may help explain the great success of their ‘lunge-feeding method’. Rorqual whales are a subgroup of baleen whales that includes blue, fin, minke, and humpback whales. They are known for their enormous size, and an accordion-like layer of blubber extending from their snout
In April, as tsunami warnings hit the Indonesian and Sri Lankan coasts, sea-watching photographer and filmmaker Andrew Sutton of Britain was off the southern tip of Sri Lanka. He and his crew were watching and photographing whales who suddenly and completely vanished. The humans on the boat were not aware of why and were
Editor’s Note: I just received the following press release from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society—looks like some positive developments in the fight to stop the killing of endangered whales: Judge vows to examine the legality of ICR’s whaling operations February 20, 2012- Seattle, Washington– A Seattle district court has denied a preliminary injunction in
“A truly joint effort” Campbell Plowden describes “one of the craziest weeks in his 14 years with Greenpeace” in The Story Behind the Big Miracle: Operation Breakthrough. He shares with us his work contributing to the meeting of synchronized forces as they merge in a pragmatic action successfully. “In the end, the rescue was truly a joint effort between the Eskimos,
To better keep an eye on Japan’s whaling fleet, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists have taken the advice of its helicopter pilot, Chris Aultman, and created battery-powered drones to follow the hunting ships. The drones, launched from the Steve Irwin every day, can go 300km (190 miles) and “uses GPS co-ordinates and provides both
If you haven’t run across this news yet, it’s pretty disheartening… a lot of disaster relief funds given to Japan to help it recover from the terrible tsunami and nuclear disasters that slammed it in March are reportedly being used to support the country’s whaling operations, something which is, by all practical standards, illegal.
1. Activists occupied KFC on two continents last week. More from the Dogwood Alliance: “Colonel Sanders and various woodland creatures made appearances at over 150 KFC restaurants across the country and various locations in Europe to deliver a message, ‘Stop destroying Southern forests for your throwaway packaging.’ The iconic KFC bucket and other KFC
OK, this video of a baby chimp feeding a tiger cub is too cute. Check it out and hear the cute story of how this care-taking came about…
Here are some top animal stories of the week (other than what we’ve covered already). Feel free to drop more stories or videos in the comments below if you have them.
Here is a touching story of a family that decided to help one of the largest creatures on earth that was entangled in a fishing net. Sadly, whales get caught up in things like this often, but without the happy ending.
Top animal videos and stories of the week, in no particular order:
A StumbleUpon friend of mine recently shared a TREMENDOUS article on whales and whale music with me. To put the effect in the simplest and most straightforward terms I can, it has forever transformed my view of whales and it has had a considerable impact on me, in general. I will share the intro with you here, but beyond this intro, the piece delves into a theory as to why they sing proposed by musician, professor, and author David Rothenberg, as well as the research and lives of David and Daniel Opitz, “a deep-sea diver and full-time self-financed filmmaker who made the acclaimed and award-winning film The Humpback Code.”
Well, Russia is one key actor threating grey whales with extinction, but it has also taken a step forward in protecting the critically endangered species. “Companies seeking oil extraction rights to a newly available concession off Russia’s Sakhalin Island will not be permitted to conduct activities while Western gray whales are present,” WWF wrote last week.
Aside from the 73 or so stories we’ve covered in the past week, here are 13 more great green news stories I wanted to highlight (but didn’t have the time to…
Following some strange migratory pattern of its own design, and emitting a plaintive call-song that is never answered, a solitary whale roams the depths of the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The call-song has been tracked through NOAA’s underwater, sound surveillance system since 1989, when a research team out of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute noticed “whale-like” sounds occurring in the 51.75 Hertz band of the radio spectrum. Amongst the scientists who have faithfully tracked the song since, the mystery whale is known as ’52 Hertz’, but popularly, “she” is known as Alice.
If many of these plankton blooms are trending earlier each year, then the seasonal return/growth of the fish population in these areas is gradually becoming “out of sync” with the primary producers in this region. This may mean insufficient food supply to maintain robust fish populations.
In 2006, Arctic hunters shot and killed a strange-looking, white bear. It was strange because the bear had large patches of brown fur in its coat. Subsequent genetic analysis showed that it was in fact a cross between a polar bear and a grizzly bear (making it a “grolar” or “pizzly” bear). Apparently, more grizzlies
Jeremy Bloom of our sister site Red, Green, and Blue reported yesterday on Japanese whalers’ apparent retreat in the middle of this year’s whaling season, and shared the news here on Planetsave as well. It is still unclear if the hunting season is finished or only suspended, but there is strong indication that it is
Good news from the high seas: After repeated run-ins with the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Society that have prevented its whaling fleet from a successful hunt, Japan’s government announced it is suspending whaling, possibly for the rest of the season. Whaling was banned under an international agreement in 1986, but Japan has exploited a loophole in the
Good news from the high seas: After repeated run-ins with the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Society that have prevented its whaling fleet from a successful hunt, Japan’s government announced it is suspending whaling, possibly for the rest of the season. Whaling was banned under an international agreement in 1986, but Japan has exploited a loophole in the
Some top global warming and environmental news from the last day or so: Global Warming & Environmental Politics Time to Put People Ahead of Polluters Over on ecopolitology, Sierra Club’s Michael Brune had a good piece on why it’s time to put people ahead of polluters. Senate 2012 Race & Tea Partiers The conservative right
Following the Japanese governments admission and apology for embezzlement related to Japan’s whaling policy and industry (whaling officials finally acknowledged accepting whale meat ‘gifts’ from the company conducting whale hunts, Kyodo Senpaku), Greenpeace is urging the initiation of an official investigation into this matter. As the ailing and fraudulent ‘scientific’ Japanese whaling fleet conducts a
The following is an action alert I received from Oceana. I get a lot of action alerts like this and while I think they are important and I sign them, I don’t normally include them as posts on here. But from time to time I receive one that I think needs a full re-post. Like
The Sakhalin Energy Investment Company which is part owned by Shell has announced plans to build a third major oil platform in the centre of crucial feeding grounds for the North Pacific grey whale, in the Russian Far East. Considering that Sakhalin already have two major oil platforms in the vicinity and that the North
Seems like you can’t swing a dead…um, strike that. It’s hard to miss the wave of news coverage of late concerning the mysterious die-offs of flocks of birds (in two Southern U.S. states). And then there’s that slightly earlier, mass fish kill (all one species), not far away, coming just a short time before the
I know, you are extremely curious to find out which posts on Planetsave got the most views in 2010. I was too. Here they are, the top 30. Did you read them all? 30. Amazon River (10 Friday Photos) People love pretty pictures, (especially of the Amazon). 29. Top Environmental Organizations in the United States (7 Green
Six months ago two Japanese whaling crew members reported to Australia’s ABC Foreign Affairs program that other crew members were taking whale meat that legally belongs to the Japanese tax payer for personal profit. Today, the Japanese Fishery Agency has admitted to the fact, confirming that they had reprimanded five of its officials for taking
The seasonal loss of ice in the Arctic which scientists believe will eventually lead to ice-free summers could have both beneficial and negative effects for the mammals that have over millennia adapted to life in the cold and harsh environment, according to a new research paper published in the December 15 issue of the journal
Killing off some of the most amazing creatures in the history of the planet, whales, is one of those things we are doing right now that make you really question the intelligence of humans. How can we do such a thing? Calling on humans to be more sensitive creatures but also to realize and protect
In a rare win for protecting the beautiful creatures of the sea and biodiversity as a whole, the small Island nation of Palau is acting big. Yale Environment 360 reports: The Pacific Island nation of Palau has announced the establishment of a 230,000-square-mile marine mammal sanctuary that will protect whales, dolphins, and the endangered dugong
Big recent news in the world of ocean and environmental activism is that Avatar and LOST actress Michelle Rodriguez is going to join the Sea Shepherd crew on its next Antarctic anti-whaling campaign.
Here’s our weekly roundup of environment and wildlife news. Enjoy.
When it comes to highly intelligent sea creatures, dolphins, whales tend to get most of the cerebral credit. But the “lowly” octopus—a popular dish in many Mediterranean cuisines—may be one of the most intelligent creatures in the sea, and is the only invertebrate (animals lacking bones) that has been conclusively shown to use tools…Possessing both a short and longer-term memory capacity, octopuses exhibit a wide range of fascinating behaviors, many of which have led some scientists to describe them as “highly intelligent”.
Smallest whale population in the world is truly on the brink of extinction. The smallest known whale population in the world is down to 30 individuals, only 8 of them being females according to a study released last week.
A controversial new proposal would allow nations (i.e. Japan, Norway and Iceland) to kill endangered whales. Quotas will be based on politics, not science. In 1986, commercial whaling was officially banned by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), an entity established to protect dramatically declining whale stocks. Despite this ban, certain nations, most notably Japan, Norway
“The Obama Administration is backing a deadly deal that would make it legal once again to kill whales for profit. Please call on the President to reverse course,” explains Pierce Brosnan. [social_buttons] Help OO7! To the rescue James Bond! Brosnan is saving the whales and needs our collective help. Assist Pierce and his campaign with
Greenpeace activists blocked a shipment of endangered fin whale meat going from Iceland to Japan via Rotterdam in Holland and sent a request to the Dutch government as well. [social_buttons] On Friday morning, Greenpeace activists sacrificed their Easter holidays in order to help stop the killing and trade of endangered fin whales. Fewer than 50,000
Fishing nets often inadvertantly become entangled around whales, and while that is a crime under the Endangered Species Act, hardly anyone ever faces charges. But one unlucky fisherman has been caught in the act. Robert J. Eldridge Jr. faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted of three felony charges.
Canadian wildlife conservation group the Lifeforce Foundation wrote letter to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to ask that Daisy the porpoise be released from the four-foot-deep wading pool that she has been held inside for the last six months. The harbor porpoise was rescued in August after she washed up on a beach. Experts
Score one for the environment – at least temporarily. Shell Oil announced that it will not be drilling off the Alaskan coast in the Beaufort Sea in 2009 as planned. This decision comes after a November court ruling which determined that Shell had erroneously been given permission to drill without properly assessing the environmental impact
[social_buttons] Anti-whaling activists aboard the Sea Shepherd vessel ‘Steve Irwin’ have covered a whaling ship with a smelly cocktail of rotten butter, methyl cellulose and indelible dye. The unconventional sliming operation was carried out in a bid to intimidate the Japanese whaler, Kaiko Maru, into moving out of Australian Antarctic territorial waters. According to Peter
[social_buttons] The Brazilian government has today signed a federal decree establishing the Brazilian Whale and Dolphin Sanctuary, which will drastically increase protection for all cetacean species along the country’s entire 5,000 mile long coast. According to José Truda Palazzo, Jr., Brazilian Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission, “the initiative sends a clear and powerful message
Greenpeace issued a lengthy statement on their website in an attempt to further distance themselves from Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd yesterday. With an aim at setting the record straight, Greenpeace made the statement out of frustration with what it claims are lies and falsehoods propagated by Watson, compounded by a general public misconception that
Environment groups settled a lawsuit in federal court today with the US Coast Guard, which agreed to abide by the Endangered Species Act which requires that shipping lanes do not put critically endangered Northern Atlantic right whales in harm’s way.
