Last of the Curlews: A Lost Bird's Life

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Eskimo Curlew, Courlis esquimau (Numenius borealis)
March, 1962 on Galveston Island, Texas
Photo by: Don Bleitz, Copyright held by Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, CA

The Eskimo Curlew is a "modern extinction" along with the Passenger Pigeon, Labrador Duck, Carolina Parakeet, et al. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds:

"Until the 1870s, immense flocks of Eskimo Curlews migrating in fall through the Canadian Maritime provinces and New England fattened up on blueberries and fruits of other heathland shrubs before heading south over the Atlantic Ocean to South America. Similarly sized flocks en route north in the spring fed upon grasshoppers and other insects in the Great Plains.

Despite its vast numbers, the Eskimo Curlew population was devastated over just a 20-year period, and was rarely seen after 1890. Now it is almost certainly extinct."

Last of the Curlews: Feral Theatre at TEDxWhitechapel

Last of the Curlews is one of three stories taken from Feral Theatre's award-winning 2012 play, Triptych. It shines a light on historic forces, resurrecting the lost individuals behind larger ecological narratives as it describes the beauty of a disappearing world through the eyes of a bird on the edge of extinction. Flying with the curlew, Feral Theatre performers explore their own experiences of loneliness and love, and the magnitude of chance events. Closely examining an annual cycle in this lost bird's life, the piece questions the adequacy of science in telling the whole story. Dancing through this work are the ghosts of birds and vanishing places, beckoning us to consider what their disappearance means to us.

The company performing at TED are Emily Laurens, Persephone Pearl, Ben MacFadyen and Tom Cook. Shadow puppets made by Emily Laurens, original score composed by Tom Cook. www.feraltheatre.co.uk




Eskimo Curlew, Courlis esquimau (Numenius borealis)
March, 1962 on Galveston Island, Texas
Photo by: Don Bleitz, Copyright held by Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, CA
"The images taken by Bleitz on this day represent the entire photographic record of this species in the wild. More images from this day, including color photos, are held by WFVZ."

"It is not by accident that the pristine wilderness of our planet disappears as the understanding of our own inner wild fades." ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

"The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again." ~ William Beebe

About Feral Theatre

Feral Theatre was founded in 2007 by Emily Laurens, Persephone Pearl and Rachel Porter. We bring exciting performance to both conventional and unconventional spaces, exploring themes and stories with the aim of bridging gaps: between the inner world and the outside world, the ancient and the contemporary, the theatrical and the personal. We want to create vibrant experiences that examine difficult themes such as death, fear, loss and isolation, exploring the possibility of making them bearable and even beautiful. Feral Theatre creates a unique kind of theatre that endeavours to embody and represent the wild parts in each of us: the creative, the aware, the questioning.


Eskimo Curlew Migration Routes


International Union for Conservation of Nature: Conserving Biodiversity
Numenius borealis (Eskimo Curlew)
Status: Critically Endangered
Population Trend: Unknown

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Tracking Giant Anacondas in Brazil!

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Common or Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus)

No matter that Titanoboa the Great (Titanoboa cerrejonensis) is the biggest, baddest, greatest snake that ever lived. Titanoboa is extinct. The anaconda is alive and well in South America, even though a garter snake compared to the long-gone king of snakes. The issue at hand is the anaconda is not such a small fry compared to humans.

The modern anaconda can be longer than 20 feet and weigh over 200 pounds. Therein lies the problem in "human encounters anaconda". This snake is a formidable predator living in and near water for most of its life. Let's go below the surface of a Brazilian river and see for ourselves!

Anacondas: Tracking Elusive Giants in Brazil Legend has it these Amazonian giants drag off children and pets in the night.



Anaconda Swallows a Giant Capybara Whole Never-before-seen footage shot by Juka, an Amazon savannah guide from near Bonito, Brazil.





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Giant Killer Bees Nest Destroyed in Texas

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Africanized honey bees, known colloquially as "killer bees," are some hybrid varieties of the Western honey bee species, (Apis mellifera), produced originally by cross-breeding of the African honey bee (A. m. scutellata), with various European honey bees such as the Italian bee (A. m. ligustica) and the Iberian bee (A. m. iberiensis). The hybrid bees are far more aggressive than any of the various European subspecies. Small swarms of Africanized bees are capable of taking over European honey bee hives by invading the hive and establishing their own queen after killing the European queen. (Wikipedia)

Giant Killer Bee Nest Destroyed in Texas Bee removal experts destroy a massive beehive that contained nearly half a million 'Africanized' killer bees from Brazil. The bees had been threatening a neighborhood in Richardson, Texas. Andrew Tanielian reports.




Africanized honey bees nest

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Global Ecological Footprint: Humanity has exhausted nature's budget for 2012

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The Ecological Footprint

August 22nd Is Earth Overshoot Day: Humanity has exhausted nature’s budget for the year

(Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA, 8-22-12) Humanity has surpassed nature’s budget for the year, and is now operating in overdraft, according to data from Global Footprint Network, an international research organization with offices in California and Europe.

Earth Overshoot Day (from a concept devised by the UK think tank new economics foundation) helps conceptualize the gap between what nature can regenerate, and how much is required to support human activities. Similar to the way a bank statement tracks income against expenditures, Global Footprint Network tracks humanity’s demand for, and supply of, natural resources and ecological services. Global Footprint Network’s calculations show that in just over eight months, we have used up the resources and CO2 sequestration that the planet can sustainably provide this year.

For the rest of the year, we will maintain our ecological deficit by depleting resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

“Nations around the world, and particularly in the south of Europe, have started to painfully experience what it means to spend more money than what they earn,” said Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, President of Global Footprint Network. “The resource pressure is similar to such financial overspending, and can become devastating. As resource deficits get larger, and resource prices remain high, the costs to nations become unbearable.”

Our ecological overspending has become a vicious cycle, in which we draw down more and more principal at the same time our level of consumption, or “spending,” grows. The social and economic costs could be staggering.

“From soaring fossil fuel prices to crippling national debts partly due to rising natural resource prices, our economies are now confronting the reality of years of spending beyond our means,” Dr. Wackernagel said. “If we are to maintain stable societies and productive lives, we can no longer sustain a widening budget gap between what nature is able to provide and how much our infrastructure, economies and lifestyles require.”

For most of human history, humanity has used nature’s services—to build cities and roads, provide food and create products, and absorb the CO2 generated by human activities—at a rate that was well within Earth’s budget. But sometime in the 1970s, we crossed a critical threshold. Human demand began outstripping what the planet could renewably produce, and we went into ecological overshoot.

What is Ecological Overshoot? The video is made available courtesy of the Pachamama Alliance and its Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium.




Global Footprint Network

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New Bird Species Discovered in Colombia: Antioquia Wren

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Antioquia Wren (Thryophilus sernai) Photo by: Carlos Esteban Lara

Antioquia Wren (Thryophilus sernai) This is the first video of Thryophilus sernai taken by Juan D. Ramirez. More information about this species is available in The Auk: Lara et al. 2012: A new species of wren (Troglodytidae) from the dry Cauca River Canyon, northwestern Colombia.



New Bird Discovered in Colombia, Imperiled by Hydroelectric Project (Monga Bay)

In a little-known dry forest in Colombia, scientists have discovered a new species of bird: the Antioquia wren (Thryophilus sernai). First seen in 2010, scientists photographed the new wren and recorded its vocalizations, from which they determined that the wren was brand new to science, according to a new paper in Auk.

"[It took] good ears and, good eyes, both in the correct moment and place," lead author Carlos Esteban Lara with the National University of Colombia told mongabay.com about the discovery. After the initial sighting, Lara and colleagues "started a two-year study of data on natural history, distribution, vocalizations, morphology, and genetic variation."

Found along the Cauca River in Colombia's Ituango municipality, the bird is distinct both in its coloring and song.

However, even as the species is first discovered, it may soon be gone. An increase in mining, tourism infrastructure, and deforestation for agriculture in the region has resulted in widespread habitat loss. Moreover, none of region's dry forest is currently protected. Lara dubs these "critical problems" for the future of the Antioquia wren, but adds that the Pescadero-Ituango hydroelectric project could be the fatal blow.

"This dam will flood the remnant tracts of dry forest in the northern end of the new species' range," says Lara, noting that this is the species' "best forest."

If completed the Pescadero-Ituango will be Colombia's largest dam with an installed capacity of 2,400 megawatts.

Ituango's dry forests are also home to the military macaw (Ara militaris) and the recurve-billed bushbird (Clytoctantes alixii), both of which are threatened (Vulnerable and Endangered respectively) according to the IUCN Red List.

Tropical dry forests are ecosystems that not only receive significantly less moisture than rainforests, but also have evolved to survive annual dry seasons with trees often dropping leaves during drought. Lara says that while tropical rainforests garner the bulk of attention worldwide, tropical dry forests are actually more endangered in Colombia.

"[Dry forest] has only five percent of its originally extension, and there has been growing pressure [to convert remaining forest to] agricultural fields," he says, adding that while rainforests are threatened in Colombia they cover a much wider area than dry forest "which is only known isolated in a few localities of Colombia."

Lara urges more research in Colombia's dry forests as he believes other new species may be hiding in the vanishing ecosystem.


Dry forest and canyons along the Cauca River in Colombia.
The forest in this photo will soon be submerged by the Pescadero-Ituango dam.
Photo by: Carlos Esteban Lara.


Antioquia Wren (Thryophilus sernai) Photo by: Carlos Esteban Lara



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Sea Turtles: Struggle for Survival Against Nature and Humanity

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Sea Turtles of the World

The Survival of the Sea Turtle Watch the miraculous journey of infant sea turtles as these tiny animals run the gauntlet of predators and harsh conditions. Then, in numbers, see how human behavior has made their tough lives even more challenging.

Lesson by Scott Gass, animation by Veronica Wallenberg and Johan Sonestedt




Gulf of Mexico: Kemp's Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii)



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Sacred Earth: Time Lapse Journey Around the World

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King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), Fortuna Bay, South Georgia Island

Terra Sacra Time Lapses - Sacred Earth Around the World An around-the-world time lapse journey celebrating our Sacred Earth. Six years in the making... seven continents... 24 countries. Photographed & Edited by Sean F. White http://www.seanwhite.net. Original score by Roy Milner http://www.roymilner.com.



Sean F. White My life as a filmmaker has been a journey which has blessed me with the privilege of seeing some of the most surreal and timeless places on the planet. These images of our Sacred Earth set to music are my way of sharing some of the magic I’ve experienced along the way...



Terra Sacra Time Lapses is a short film featuring remote landscapes and ancient monuments from around the globe. These images were photographed between 2006-2012 on personal travels and assignments for Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge and Parallax Film Productions.


Djenne Mosque, Djenne, Mali


Mount Fuji, Japan


Machu Picchu, Peru


The Kimberley, Australia

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Living Planet Report 2012: Resource Demand Increasing, Biodiversity Decreasing

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Biodiversity continues to be lost on planet Earth

We may not recognize it, but virtually every decision we make comes with a price to our planet—a small, but not insignificant, withdrawal of the earth’s resources. Added together, these withdrawals represent our environmental footprint.

WWF’s 2012 Living Planet Report highlights the cumulative pressure we are putting on the planet and the resulting decline in the health of our forests, rivers and oceans.

We are living as if we have the resources of an extra planet at our disposal. We’re using 50 percent more resources than the Earth can provide, and unless we change course that number will grow very fast—by 2030, even two planets will not be enough.

The Living Planet Report finds:

• Biodiversity continues to be lost: Populations of species continue to decline, with tropical and freshwater species experiencing the biggest declines.

• The U.S. has the fifth largest ecological footprint in terms of the amount of resources each person annually consumes. We rank only behind Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Denmark in the global rankings of the Ecological Footprint.

• Resource scarcity is already being experienced across the globe, as 2.7 billion people around the world already are forced to cope with water scarcity during at least one month a year.

A View from Space Listen to European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut André Kuipers talk about the health of the planet. Learn more about WWF's 2012 Living Planet Report at http://www.worldwildlife.org/lpr





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OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050: The Consequences of Inaction

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Humanity has witnessed unprecedented growth and prosperity in the past decades, with the size of the world economy more than tripling and population increasing by over 3 billion people since 1970. This growth, however, has been accompanied by environmental pollution and natural resource depletion. The current growth model and the mismanagement of natural assets could ultimately undermine human development.

The OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 asks “What will the next four decades bring?” Based on joint modelling by the OECD and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), it looks forward to the year 2050 to find out what demographic and economic trends might mean for the environment if the world does not adopt more ambitious green policies. It also looks at what policies could change that picture for the better.

This Outlook focuses on four areas: climate change, biodiversity, freshwater and health impacts of pollution. These four key environmental challenges were identified by the previous Environmental Outlook to 2030 (OECD, 2008) as “Red Light” issues requiring urgent attention. Based on model projections, this edition of the Environmental Outlook paints a possible picture of what the environment might look like in 2050. It focuses on four areas which were identified by the previous edition of the Outlook as needing urgent attention: climate change, biodiversity, water, and health and environment.

Water: Balancing Demand By 2050, the world's growing population will use 55% more water in their homes, to grow food, and to produce electricity and manufactured goods. To ensure enough water to meet this demand, we will need to stop wasting it and find new ways to make sure there's enough to go around. For more info visit: www.oecd.org/water





OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050: The Consequences of Inaction The Water Challenge: OECD's Response

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Meet Titanoboa, Monster Prehistoric Snake: Your Worst Nightmare!

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Titanoboa the Great (Titanoboa cerrejonensis)


Meet Titanoboa, Monster Prehistoric Snake: Your Worst Nightmare!

The modern-day King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah), the world's longest venomous snake at up to 18.5 feet, is terrifying enough, rising upwards of 2 meters (6.5 feet) to survey its surroundings. Even though the King Cobra hunts other snakes, an attack by this mighty predator would be horrific consisting either of multiple bites or biting and holding on. Living in and sharing the ecosystem with the mighty King Cobra would result in a state of perpetual alert and mostly likely a continuous subconscious terror, especially avoiding accidentally violating an egg mound area, tenaciously defended by the female.

In the world of the prehistoric Titanoboa, the King Cobra is insignificant, a worm, not even a player. Titanoboa the Great, the mightiest snake that has ever lived on planet Earth, is your worst nightmare! Weighing in at 2,500 pounds (that's 1.25 tons), 49 feet long, and 2+ feet wide, this giant is beyond comprehension. Our feared King Cobra averages 13 pounds, is 10 to 13 feet long, and only inches wide, not even a decent snack for this monster.


Bad day at the prehistoric beach for this crocodile

Titanoboa: Monster Snake Meet Titanoboa: She's longer than a bus, eats crocodiles for breakfast and makes modern anacondas look like a garter snakes.



Titanoboa: Monster Snake (Smithsonian Channel)



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Very Rare Shepherd’s Beaked Whales Sighted, First Video Ever!

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Shepherd’s Beaked Whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi)


Very Rare Shepherd’s Beaked Whales Sighted, First Video Ever! he Australian Antarctic Division team was tracking blue whales off the coast of Victoria state last month when they spotted the reclusive mammals, which are so rarely seen that no population estimates of the species exist. Voyage leader Michael Double said the black and cream-coloured mammals with prominent dolphin-like beaks had been spotted in the wild only a handful of times through history.

According to the Australian environment department, there have only been two previous confirmed sightings - a lone individual in New Zealand and a group of three in Western Australia. They have never been filmed live before.

"These animals are practically entirely known from stranded dead whales, and there haven't been many of them," Double told AFP, calling the footage "unique". "They are an offshore animal, occupying deep water, and when they surface it is only for a very short period of time."

Double said what was remarkable about the sighting was that the whale was previously thought to be a solitary creature, yet was in a pod of 10 to 12. "To find them in a pod is very exciting and will change the guide books. Our two whale experts will now carefully study the footage to work out the whale sizes and so on and prepare a scientific paper." The Shepherd's beaked whale, also known as the Tasman beaked whale, was discovered in 1937 but little is known about them.

Rare Whales Spotted in Bass Strait Scientists hope the sighting of a pod of rare Shepherd's beaked whales will lead to new research into the species.



 Source: Physorg.com and AFP


Shepherd’s Beaked Whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi)
Status: Data Deficient
Shepherd's beaked whales are primarily known from a few dozen strandings, all south of 30°S, around New Zealand, southern Australia, southern South America, the Juan Fernandez Islands, and Tristan de Cunha (Mead 1989).


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The 7 Wonders of Nature (Video, Images) *Provisional winners announced from global voting*

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New 7 Wonders of Nature

7 Wonders of Nature Announced The provisional list of the New 7 Wonders of Nature have been announced by New7Wonders. The global voting is now being checked, validated, and independently verified. The official winners will be announced in early 2012 during the official inauguration ceremonies. It is possible there will be changes between the provisional winners and the confirmed winners.

The provisional winners, in alphabetical order, are:
▲ Amazon (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela)
▲ Halong Bay (Vietnam)
▲ Iguazu Falls (Argentina, Brazil)
▲ Jeju Island (South Korea)
▲ Komodo (Indonesia)
▲ Puerto Princesa Underground River (Philippines)
▲ Table Mountain (South Africa)

The other finalists, in alphabetical order, are:
▲ Angel Falls (Venezuela)
▲ Bay of Fundy (Canada)
▲ Black Forest (Germany)
▲ Bu Tinah Island (United Arab Emirates)
▲ Cliffs of Moher (Ireland)
▲ Dead Sea (Israel, Jordan, Palestine)
▲ El Yunque (Puerto Rico)
▲ Galapagos (Ecuador)
▲ Grand Canyon (United States)
▲ Great Barrier Reef (Australia, Papua New Guinea)
▲ Jeita Grotto (Lebanon)
▲ Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)
▲ Islands of the Maldives (Maldives)
▲ Masurian Lake District (Poland)
▲ Matterhorn/Cervino (Italy, Switzerland)
▲ Milford Sound (New Zealand)
▲ Mud Volcanoes (Azerbaijan)
▲ Sunderbans (Bangladesh, India)
▲ Uluru (Australia)
▲ Vesuvius (Italy)
▲ Yushan (Chinese Taipei)

Announcing the Provisional New7Wonders of Nature The provisional New7Wonders of Nature are, in alphabetical order: Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeju Island, Komodo, Puerto Princesa Underground River, Table Mountain. Here, Bernard Weber, Founder-President of New7Wonders, announces the names of the provisional New7Wonders of Nature at the New7Wonders headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

New7Wonders

A global movement, creating 7 symbols of heritage and nature, becoming part of Global Memory forever.

Amazon (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela)

Halong Bay (Vietnam)

 Iguazu Falls (Argentina, Brazil)

Jeju Island (South Korea)

Komodo (Indonesia)

Puerto Princesa Underground River (Philippines)

Table Mountain (South Africa)

International Union for Conservation of Nature
Conserving Biodiversity

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The Great Ocean Garbage Patches (Videos) *Human trash impacting marine life*

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Pollution on seashores and the open ocean is increasing

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Plastic bags and other human trash are now common in the world's oceans. With the world's population now reaching 7 billion people, up 1 billion in 12 years, the pollution of the world's oceans with human trash intensifies. Dr. Marcus Eriksen, of the 5 Gyres Institute, studies the amount and impact of plastic debris in the ocean. He has traveled to the ocean gyres that trap this debris in a giant garbage patch, an enormous plastic soup. The North Pacific Gyre, or garbage patch, may be the size of Texas. Dr. Bill Van Bonn, of the Marine Mammal Center, adds that he has seen plastic bags in the stomachs of whales, sea lions, and dolphins. Trash is mistaken for food or prey by the creatures in the sea and ingested.

Plastic Bags and the Environment CNN's Amber Lyon examines the effect plastic bags have on the ocean.

Plastics in the Oceans Dr. Marcus Eriksen, was interviewed on 11 Alive News for Earth Day. Eriksen studies plastics in our oceans, and the effects on our water and planet.

World's Ocean Gyres

The 5 Gyres Institute
Our mission is to conduct research and communicate about the global impact of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans and employ strategies to eliminate the accumulation of plastic pollution in the 5 subtropical gyres.

Marine Mammal Center
Our mission is to expand knowledge about marine mammals - their health and that of their ocean environment - and to inspire their global conservation. Our core work is the rescue and rehabilitation of sick and injured marine mammals, supported by state-of-the-art animal care and research facilities, a corps of dedicated volunteers, and an engaged community.

International Union for Conservation of Nature
Conserving Biodiversity

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