Thursday, January 27, 2011

Saving South African Penguins (Video) "No one wants a world without penguins!"

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African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus)
The only penguin species that breeds in Africa


Saving South African Penguins

The African Penguin population has dropped from an estimated 1 million to an estimated 80 thousand. That's a 92% decline in about 100 years. At this rate of population decrease, there will be few, if any, African Penguins left in the wild in a matter of decades. The California Academy of Sciences and zoos across North America have developed a species survival plan to maintain a genetically viable population of the penguins in captivity.

The African Penguin is also known as the "jackass penguin" for its call that sounds amazingly like a donkey. Both climate change and commercial fishing are considered the two main factors for the precipitous drop in the population. Brooke Weinstein, a biologist with the California Academy of Sciences, says, "If they were to become extinct in the wild, we work to make sure we do have a healthy population in captivity so we can look into reintroducing if conditions were to improve. I don't think it's too late, but I do think it's really imperative that people do make the kind of changes that we need to make. No one wants a world without penguins."

Reuters "Saving South African Penguins" Biologists are racing to save the South African penguin. A genetically diverse population is being kept in captivity in hopes that one day commercial fishing and climate change can be controlled enough for the birds to survive in the wild.




African Penguins on the Beach




About the California Academy of Sciences

The California Academy of Sciences is a multifaceted scientific institution committed to leading-edge research, to educational outreach, and to finding new and innovative ways to engage and inspire the public.

The Academy's mission - to explore, explain and protect the natural world - extends to all corners of the institution; from a research expedition in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, to a teacher training program in a California classroom, to an interactive game on the museum exhibit floor.


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Saturday, January 15, 2011

How Smart Are Dolphins? (Video) *Meet Tanner & his amazing ability*

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Tanner the Dolphin
Born at the Dolphin Research Center in March 2002, is the son of Santini and A.J. He is the youngest baby dolphin to start target pole training at just three weeks old. Tanner is a regular participant in research projects as well as Dolphin Encounter and other programs


How Smart Are Dolphins? Meet Tanner & His Amazing Ability

Tanner the 8-year old bottlenose dolphin has proven to be very intelligent. He can find and retrieve rings by echolocation, with cups over his eyes. However, "dolphin smarts go way beyond ring retrieval". Emily Guarino, Tanner's trainer, says, "Monkey see, monkey do - that's a myth. It turns out the animal best able to imitate, other than humans, is the dolphins."

In another study, Tanner was paired with another dolphin, a male named Kibby. Tanner was given the hand gesture that means "imitate" and then his eyes were covered with cups. Kibby was then signaled to do a specific behavior. Kibby waved his tail and Tanner, not being able to see, "imitates him perfectly".  The behaviors are all pre-taught, such as splashing the water or running the lagoon. "But with his eyes blindfolded, Tanner has no idea which behavior Kibby is doing. How does Tanner do it? Maybe it's his sonar or he is picking up the characteristic sound made by the behavior."

"Researchers say the dolphins' cognitive ability to understand what it means to imitate and then carry it out is amazing." Kelly Jaakkola, Director of Research at the Dolphin Research Center, notes "That shows a kind of problem-solving flexibility that we haven't seen anywhere else." During the actual research project, Tanner successfully imitated the behaviors more than 58% of the time. This rules out luck or chance.

CNN "Dolphin See, Dolphin Do" Just how smart is a dolphin? CNN's John Zarrella introduces you to Tanner and his amazing ability.




Dolphin Research Center, Marathon, Florida
The Dolphin Research Center (DRC) is a not-for-profit education and research facility, home to a family of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions. Over half of our family was born at the Center, while the other members either have come to us from other facilities, or were collected long ago by other management.


Dolphin Research Center Blog
Twenty-five years of Teaching, Learning, Caring for marine mammals and the environment we share.


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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

African Highway Threatens Serengeti & The Great Migration (Video) *7th worldwide wonder in peril*

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African Elephant: Mother & Child on the African Serengeti


African Highway Threatens Serengeti & The Great Migration
"7th Worldwide Wonder" in Peril

A 33-mile highway through the African Serengeti is threatening a huge, pristine ecosystem, critics say. The Serengeti, in Masai, means "endless plains" and there is a huge 5,700 square mile park in northern Tanzania where a commercial truck road is planned. Will the animal inhabitants  of the Serengeti end up as roadkill? Will the Great Migration of wildebeests, zebras, elephants, gazelles, et. al. be disrupted? Will truck cargo introduce foreign plants? Will a highway enable easier and more poaching? Conservationists say "yes" and that the impact of the road will be disastrous on the Serengeti ecosystem.

The Great Migration on the Serengeti is the greatest remaining migration of land mammals on Earth. The Tanzanian government has already placed markers for road contractors across Serengeti National Park, where the highway is planned. The reason, the profit motive, for this commercial highway may surprise you.

Why a road across the Serengeti? For cell phones and hybrid car batteries? Yes! Lake Victoria to the west of the Serengeti has rare earth metals that are used in electronics, especially cell phones, and hybrid car batteries. The sea port to ship the metals is to the east of the Serengeti. Hence, a road across this ecosystem would connect Lake Victoria metals to a seaport to be shipped to China to manufacture cell phones and then on to the rest of the world, including the USA. The economically poor Tanzania has found a buyer, China, of its natural resources. The commercial highway across the Serengeti gets the Tanzanian product to the Chinese buyer and on to the Global consumer, including Americans.

MSNBC "Mysterious Road Threatens Great Migration" A controversial development project in Tanzania may be putting one of the last pristine environments on earth in danger. NBC's Richard Engel reports.



Sunrise on the African Serengeti with the iconic Acacia tree


The Serengeti
Tanzania National Parks photo extolling the "7th worldwide wonder"


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