Here I am again, hoping to be a genuine influence.  Each & every animal has its own unique role.  Orangutans are forest gardeners, doing their essential work in seed dispersal.  They are friendly & appealing in so many ways.  Yet they give birth to only 1 newborn every 3 to 7 years.  Even without additional threats, this shows how hard it is for them to recover from an endangered stage.  But concerned groups also need to stop the trade & trafficking in them, among other problems.  As for tigers, 2022 is fast approaching, by which date professionals hoped to double tiger numbers.  Are they making it?  But saving the central Sumatran rainforest sounds like a highly magnitudinous issue.  Five heartlands are found in Sumatra.  Sumatra’s an island, but I’m sure enough work is done to ensure that no tiger is ever, ever, ever an island when it comes to experiencing the best of support?  Please everybody, animal professional or not, we must all work together in behalf of endangered species like those orangutans & those tigers.

 

The Abalone

Whether it is an animal you can easily look at and admire or whether it is an animal inside a shell they are all needed and deserve to be protected.  The white abalone should never have been caught and sold at such a rate that it is now endangered.  The word endangered creates concern no matter what animal or creature I am reading about.  The abalone is a mollusk and mollusks are important in ecological communities.   The white and black abalone are both listed as endangered and attention needs to be given.  I am glad that innovative work is being done to reduce poaching.  Any animal even as small as a snail has an important function.  I was so interested to learn about the mollusks having a foot which is useful and strong.  The foot helps them to navigate through water and to attach to rocks.  I hope the interest in these unique creatures and knowing of their ecological importance is motive to be concerned and do something to help in conservation efforts.

 The Continental Shelf

I was surprised in many ways and dismayed at how the continental shelf has even been a source of anything negative. The continental shelf is so important and I know that whales and sea turtles can sometimes be seen in the shelf areas as they follow migration routes.  This makes me wonder about stranding.  But that is not what I have read and so I don’t know what all has happened.  There was a time pollution and overfishing devastated some animals to near extinction.  I am glad that people have made measures to correct damages but I still think this is something important to keep in mind as we go along because it is so basic.  Mostly shallow water has been the site of so much study and monitoring and even serious problems.  We all need to know what is going on and if it has happened before we can and should always remember not to let the terrible problems happen again.  The continental shelf is the first place at which someone would stop in if they were to take a trip through the oceanic basin and because serious problems devasted some animals to near extinction I feel it is very important to think about.  I would like devastation to these animals never happen again anywhere.

Whale Sharks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The whale shark was so named because of its size being as large as some species of whales and that they have filter feeders as the baleen whale. Although there is no good estimate of its global population it is considered endangered due to the need for protection from some countries as China capturing and commercializing them. We need to remember and respect the uniqueness of the whale shark especially when we consider how many creatures are endangered.  Please everyone if you are able to help please act in donating to conservation organizations as the MafiaIsland Whale Shark Conservation and the World Wildlife Fund which are dedicated to protecting them so their population can be stabilized and negative impacts will be controlled. 

Indiana Bat

 

Although the Indiana Bat has been endangered for many long years I understand that it is difficult to tell it apart from other bats. But all bats are important. Respect for wetlands and other aspects of the environment is of such value to the bat habitat. I want to share 10 tips to help bats that were shared with me:

1)Don’t use pesticides in your garden or around your home for they are dangerous both to bats and the insects bats feed on. Not only can the toxins in pesticides be dangerous to bats, but they also kill the insects that bats feed on.

2)Unless they pose a hazard, leave dead or dying trees around your home instead because many types of bats use dead trees to roost in.

3)Protect streams and wetlands around your property because they often provide valuable habitat for bats.

4)If you come across a bat on the ground or on an outside wall of your home, report it to your local wildlife officials, or contact a wildlife rehabber.

5)If a bat makes it into your house, there are safe, humane ways to convince them to leave. You can ask a professional for help.

6)You can also give a bat a house of its own.

7) Do not disturb hibernating bats because doing so may force them to use up the fat reserves they need to survive through the winter.

8)It seems obvious, but, stay out of caves that have been closed.  They are usually closed to reduce the spread of disease to bats.

9)Spread the truth about bats. The more people understand about how important bats are, the more support we can gather for protecting them and their habitats.

10)Support organizations like Defenders that work to protect bats and their habitats

 

Help Save the Bees

The decline of the bee population has gone way too far.  There are misconceptions about how bees are good for the environment and people are not as aware so it is important to understand more of what is happening to them so we can help and protect them. There are fewer and fewer good places for bees to land.  I read that technicians are trying to use robots to spread pollen with tiny arms.  If they are resorting to such things there must really be a big problem and I want to help make sure there are less misconceptions and more things done that help bees and the environment.  Someone shared an article with me that gave 8 suggestions on how we can help the bee population and I would like to share them with you:

1)  Plant bee friendly plants.  Pollen is a provider of needed protein for the larvae and nectar is needed to make honey.

2)  Support local Beekeepers in buying their honey and products.

3)  Avoid using pesticides for they are harmful to bees.

4)  Keep a water supply for the bees available, even if it is just setting out a bowl of water.

5)  Sponsor a hive

6)  Protect swarms.  If you see a swarm call authorities who will take them to a safe place.

7)  Spread awareness to others

8)  Start you own hive

I love whales

Now that I have been blogging for so long I would choose to talk about whales.  I am not focusing on a particular type.  I may not need to describe how it feels to worry about endangered animals and how such worry may impress any part of the body.  I may not need to describe it but I do know there is work to do.  Not everything happens quickly.  Right whales still are endangered.  In Canada the bowlhead whales were heavily exploited and the numbers there are not yet known. They do not have a good sense of their numbers yet and that is something that should be considered. Just because there are organizations helping and we don’t know how easy things are to create change.  We don’t know how easily certain aspects will increase.  Therefore anyone who has ability to help in any way please do so. The more we know about whales the more we will know how to protect them.  Whales are beautiful creatures and the humpback whale song is strange but beautiful.  We need these animals to stay with us forever.

Bengal Tiger

 

I have read many articles that scared me regarding the future of the Bengal Tiger.

I can’t believe it took until 1969 for people to start working to help save the tigers.  I still find many things frightening and I hope whoever reads this will feel the urgency to do something to help them.  It is just tragic for people to have thought the tiger and so many other animals around them an enemy or something to sell.  All animals, great and small, are special.  I am grateful that we can enjoy seeing them in zoos that do their best to put them in native-like environments.

At one time the tiger was considered to be a “man-eater” and so was considered an enemy that should be killed.  Others believed tigers had medical benefits and were killed for that purpose as well.  The Bengal tiger population has been reduced in large part due to their natural environment being taken over with agriculture and road construction which in turn reduced its availability to find prey.  At the beginning of the 20^th century there was thought to be around 100,000 tigers.  Between 1900 and 1972 the Bengal tiger population dropped from 40-50,000 to under 2,000.  Three of the tiger subspecies has vanished---the Bali, Caspian and Javan.  In 1969 authorities began to realize the scope of this decline and measures were put in place to prevent the tiger from completely dying out.  The death decline has slowed thanks to a conservation program that created protected habitats.  The Bengal tiger is the most numerous of the tiger species and now around 4,000 can be found.  However, they are certain to be extinct in 10 years if the conservation practices are not successful.

Some interesting facts:

The Bengal Tiger is found in parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Burma.

The Bengal Tiger is the second largest of all living tiger subspecies.

Male tigers can weigh from 450-550 pounds and females can weigh as much as 310 pounds.

They have orange coats and stripes that can vary in color from brown to black.  Most tigers have over 100 stripes.  Each striping pattern is unique to each tiger, similar to the uniqueness of  human fingerprints.

Tigers are excellent swimmers.

The World Wildlife Fund has posted some interesting information about the endangered fin whale.

Next to the blue whale, the fin whale is the second largest mammal in the world. They are nicknamed the “razorback” because of a ridge along their back that is found behind their dorsal fin. Another distinct feature of the fin whale is that their lower right jaw is white whereas the lower left jaw is black.

They are an endangered species because of commercial whaling that severely reduced their population as well as being threatened by loss of habitat, toxic waste and effects of climate change

Although warnings and regulations have been put in place to put a stop to commercial whaling, it still is a threat. 

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the body charged with regulating whaling so they would appreciate support. The WWF (World Wildlife Fund) works to make the IWC more effective in reducing threats to whales as well.

Iceland is one of the major countries who have undermined the effectiveness of these regulations. The U.S. and other IWC member countries have tried for years to persuade Iceland to end its commercial whaling activities.

It ought to cause a twinge and a shudder to read about what is happening to the humphead  wrasse.  There is an urgent need to become more aware of this.  I hope you will find more reasons to learn more about them and also increase your understanding and loving the environment.

The humphead wrasse can grow to over six feet long, making it a huge coral reef fish. It has a prominent bulge on its forehead, hence the name humphead. Some of them live to be over 30 years old. They search the coral reefs for filling their diet of hard shelled prey such as mollusks, starfish, or crustaceans.  Their diet includes several toxic species, such as sea hares, boxfish and the crown-of-thorns starfish which  is known to destroy coral reefs,  marking one  good reason why conservation of the humphead wrasse is so important.

The main threat to the humphead wrasse is over fishing.   The species is much sought after, particularly for  the restaurant industry.

One way of catching the humphead wrasse alive is to stun it with a poisonous substance like cyanide. The poison is sprayed into the fish’s habitat.  In trying to protect itself the wrasse often hides in a crevice or hole in the coral and becomes sluggish as the poison takes hold. This makes it easy for the fishermen to capture it but often the coral reef is broken away in the process.   Consequently, their habitat is also threatened.  It is estimated that a quarter of the world’s coral reefs are irreparably damaged and that another two thirds are under threat. In addition to the loss of habitat affecting their numbers, the humphead wrasse takes several years to reach sexual maturity, so the over  fishing has a devastating effect on the population as well.

The World Conservation Union's (IUCN) Groupers and Wrasses Specialist Group is working to collect this all-important data and to raise awareness of the issues involved throughout the region. The species is partially protected in areas of Australia, the Philippines, the Maldives and Palau. Government  and other groups are working to protect the humphead wrasse.  I hope that this information causes a very strong desire for all to help.  It does for me.

Sei Whale

Earlier in the year was whale awareness day and I decided to increase awareness of another type of whale.  It ought to be a matter of concern that only 1/3 of the Sei Whale population is alive since the whaling boom of the late 1800's and early 1900's.  If the world would follow the laws and care about marine life there would be more.

The Sei Whale is a baleen whale.  It is one of the fastest, reaching speeds up to 30-50 mph for short spans.  They are found in all the major oceans of the world, but prefer moderate temperate to warm waters over cold.

Their life span is 50-70 years.

The threats to their species come from commercialized fishing  that threatens their food supply and also where they can collide with large ships and boats and get tangled in fishing gear.  Water pollution, oil spills, toxic chemicals and garbage also are major threats.

The International Whaling Commission is the primary agency that watches and protects this species.  It is also important that consumers only buy seafood that is certified by the MSC (Marine
Stewardship Council) that sets the standards for sustainable fishing.

Blue Whale

Hello, my name is Janna.  I truly love all animals and wildlife, and have always wanted to make a difference in the world in trying to protect and save them.  Yet my heart tilts in a special way towards marine life, so that back when I was in elementary school, in music class I tried to persist in always saying, “My name is Miss Porpoise”.  Being blind, deaf and unable to walk makes it difficult to be as involved and active as I would like in their conservation so I decided to start a blog to educate and encourage others to do so as well. There is strength and power in numbers.  I would like to start with the Blue Whale.

ABOUT THE BLUE WHALE

Blue whales are the largest animals to have lived on Earth, larger than dinosaurs. They can grow to 100 feet long, which is the same as about 3 school buses and weigh up to 200 tons, the same as 33 elephants. Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant. Their hearts, as much as an automobile. 

 Blue whales, which weigh as much as 33 elephants, must eat 4 tons of krill a day. They eat krill, very tiny shrimp like animals, eating up to 4 tons a day by gulping large volumes of water and then letting it back out its mouth through its baleen bristles which hold in the krill while the water goes out.

Blue whales are one of the loudest animals. They give off moans and pulses to communicate that can be heard more than 500 miles away.

They live to be 80-90 years old.  Their age is determined by counting the layers of ear wax.

They were hunted so much in the 1900s by whalers seeking whale oil that they nearly became extinct. They finally came under protection with the 1966 International Whaling Commission, but they still have a way to go to rebuild their population to regard them out of danger.    Words could never encompass the damage of pollution, which majorly threatens our pricelessly dear blue whales. And climate change threatens their population as well because it affects their prey.

We can help by donating to the Great Whale Conservancy: http://www.greatwhaleconservancy.org/

or to Save the Whales at:

 https://savethewhales.org/

and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society at

https://seashepherd.org/