Putting a face to endangered species

Tlamatcanemiliztli

'Peace' in the Aztec (Nahuatl) language

spoken in Guatemala

That's a mouthful!!!

child in El Barranco Pueblo, Guatemala

www.raisingawanderer.com

I have been reading the news today.

Mistake.

It gets so depressing sometimes!

found at www.funnywallphotos.com

I read the article about mistreated turkeys at the Butterball factories.

Depressing.

You can find more about the investigation here:

www.mercyforanimals.com

I get discouraged about the people that do the mistreating.

What are they thinking?

found at www.Funny-pictures-blog.com

Are they so dulled by life

that they fail to respect life?

What kind of people are these in their homes?

Their families?

Their friends?

found at www.weknowmemes.com

Well, enough about that (heavy sigh).

I am glad that there are organizations like Mercy for Animals who get mad,

fund secret videos

and encourage an active role in being aware about our surroundings,

and the impact that each and every one of us has on the world around us.

'Mother says Eat Your Vegetables'

original Collage Art Doll by inkspired

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

So, about 45 minutes ago

(slow, slow, grrrr...grrrr...)

I decided to publish a blog I have been thinking about for a couple of months.

Endangered Species

On June 19, 2012 the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

gave their latest updates.

This is the world's most widely recognized list of the world's

endangered and threatened species.

Out of almost 64,000 species examined worldwide,

almost a third of them are threatened with extinction.

wow.

Sumatran tiger and cub

Oklahoma City Zoo, 2011

picture credit: Jim Beckel

Did you know that if you are 50 yrs or older,

that before you die (average)

the Sumatran Tiger in the wild will be extinct?

No more beautiful pictures of tigers in the wild....

seeing them in their natural habitats

and free.

That means if I ever have grandchildren

(which I am NOT pressuring my son about)

they will be born into a world with no wild tigers.

heavy sigh

courtesy of Dover

Now, I think if you have read any news other than the sports columns

and the headlines of the day,

you should be aware of the sad struggle of the tiger.

But

I bet you haven't heard of some of these!

I hadn't!

the Hula-painted frog

found at www.ouramazingplanet.com

photo credit: Oz Rittner

Now, I had never heard of the hula-painted frog,

have you?

Not only are they 'endangered',

 but scientists thought they were already extinct!

Yeah, I think that qualifies for 'critically endangered', don't you?!!

I know there are frog-lovers out there,

as my past blogs on frogs are still viewed today.

However, they are not all 'cute'.

The hula-painted frog falls in that 'not-so-cute' category, I think.

Disney's 'The Princess and the Frog'

FROG FACTS:

according to the IUCN's list

41% of amphibian species are threatened.

That's about 41% too many for me!

Now, I understand it is much easier to relate to endangered species such as the Mountain Gorilla, or even the Sumatran Rhino.

They can be kinda' cute!

Critically Endangered Sumatran Rhino with 5 day old baby.

This baby is only the 5th rhino baby born in captivity

in 123 years.

But here are some not-so-cute species on the

critically endangered red list

and

the vulnerable endangered red list.

Oh, and some of them aren't even 'animals'!!

Bi-valve molluscs www.nhm.ac.uk

Thing I learned today:

the multiple of 'mollusc' is 'molluscs'

and 'mollusk' is nowhere to be found!!!

 In Africa 42% of ALL freshwater molluscs

 are globally threatened.

In Europe the percentage is 68%.

I never really thought about molluscs before -

Especially as being endangered!

A bi-valve mollusc actually has an important job to do-

They (and many wetland plants) have

'The Water Filtration Service-persons' job.

What' that?

It means they provide clean water.

Hmmm...now that's something I can understand...

The King Cobra

www.ouramazingplanet.com

photo credit: Bosse Jonsson

Status:

vulnerable

due to loss of habitat,

and

over-exploitation for medicinal purposes

Now, I can't say I even tolerate snakes very well,

but I do know that without snakes

we would have a bunch-a-bunch-a mice, rats,

and other less desirable critters

running all around where we don't want them to be!

Here's another super duper man-helper -

Posted by BuzzFeed, Pinterest 

18% of bats worldwide are threatened.

Bats are very good at being

'Pollinator Supermans'!

They also eat a TON of insects,

like nasty mosquitoes.

Hey, we should all have a bat house or two in our yards,

as free, energy-efficient bug zappers!

Camouflage Grouper

photo credit Stanley Shea

Status:

very vulnerable

due to over-fishing

and loss of habitat

18% of all groupers are threatened

Large reef fish, such as the grouper

feed more than 275 million people.

also

the Giant Australian cuttlefish

photo credit: Roger Hanlon

Of the 1900 species new to the red list

the giant Australian cuttlefish is one of them.

"A sustainable future cannot be achieved without conserving

biological diversity -

animal and plant species,

their habitats and their genes -

not only for nature itself,

but also for all 7 billion people

who depend on it."

- Julia Marton-Lefevre,

director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature

and now for some 'pretty' species -

pink-throated brilliant hummingbird

photo credit: Chris Sloan

status:

vulnerable

Known for pollinating,

the hummingbird family

has 4 species that are now at greater risk of extinction.

Job description:

eat insects

get pollen on your beak,

and distribute pollen to other flowers for pollinating

look pretty

delight children

eat more insects 

a vintage song sheet cover, published in 1906

courtesy of the Indiana Music Libraries

see web site add to the right of my blog

Bird Fun Fact:

One third of the world's food depends on pollination

distributed by birds, bats and other buggies.

This includes 87 of the world's leading food crops.

Well, that's enough

endangered

vulnerable

critically endangered

and

threatened of extinction

that I can have in one day.

I hope you have enjoyed today's blog,

and that perhaps you have learned about a couple of species

that you didn't know about before,

and that you are now thinking,

perhaps,

of what you can do to make our world a better place.

That would just thrill me!

Also, I hope you enjoy the coloring page,

and really great photos!!!!

:0)

Silky Sharks and giving Thanks

Pyong'hwa

Korean for 'Peace'

a painting of North Korea by a North Korean artist

There was news today about the silky shark

and an international co-op committee of sorts

that met to discuss oceanic ecology

and the prevention of species extinction.

Declines of the silky shark have been recently showing up as much as

a 90% drop in populations.

Their findings and new laws you can find out about here:

http://news.yahoo.com/conservation-body-agrees-protect-silky-sharks-104556772.html

http://www.camerasunderwater.info/



So, it's a shark right?

Sharks are bad, right?

'Jaws' taught us that a dead shark is a good shark, right?

So why would I care if there is a decline?

Less sharks to eat people, right?

WRONG!

"When the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and earth must pass

before such a one can be again."

- William Beebe, scientist

silky sharks off Malpelo Island, near Cocos

found at http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/

The silky shark is the second most common shark caught as bycatch.

(The blue shark is the most common.)

So, what's bycatch?

That is all the other sea life that are caught in a fishing net

that is meant for another kind of marine fish.

Like blue tuna.

A favorite food for silky sharks and dolphins.

In centuries past and not so past, the fishermen would just throw the mostly dead

or dead unwanted sea life (fish, mammals, whales, etc.) back in the ocean.

This has caused a large decline in the population of dolphins and whales.

There have been international laws in place for a little while

(thanks to Green Peace and other animal rights groups)

to protect some species of whales, and dolphins.

First time for silky sharks.

a silky shark caught in a net, www.arkive.org

SOME SILKY SHARK FACTS:

A silky shark has a slender, streamlined body and typically grows to 8'2" (2.5 m).

It is called a silky shark because it has a smooth texture of its skin!

Silky sharks are very mobile and migratory.

Individual sharks have been tag-tracked to travel as much as 37 miles per day (60km) and covering distances of up to 832 miles (1,339km).

That's a whole lotta' swimming.

diagram of a silky shark, www.dpi.quld.gov.au

Silky sharks are open ocean sharks and are found from the surface to 660 ft (200m) down, however they do dive to 1,600 ft (500m) or more.

They spend 99% of their time cruising within 10 ft.(50m) of the surface.

They like their water temp at 79 - 86 degrees F (26 - 30 'C).

They hang out over deep water reefs and around islands

for around 82% of their time.

So again, why should we care if they are becoming extinct?

I believe that all things are created by G-d.

We are all connected through our Creator.

If one strand is disturbed, then unbalance occurs.

If G-d made this world complete (which I believe He did)

then losing a species of any kind will create unbalance

and chaos.

Not to mention being incredibly rude to G-d who has given all of this for us to protect and to use wisely.

picture taken off the coast of Cuba

"The loneliness of man is the loneliness of the animal.

We must have one another.

The baboon seeks his troop, the book keeper his busy office,

the buffalo his herd,

the weary bricklayer his fellows at the corner pub,

the herring his schools in the cold North Sea -

all for quite the same reason:

because we cannot survive without one another."

- Robert Ardrey "The Social Contract"

I have gathered quite a bit more info on the silky shark, but this isn't really

a scientific blog, now is it?

Much of the info I have found is from Wikipedia.

What a marvelous source of information!

We should all know however that silky sharks, like many other sharks, are deliberately killed for their fins.

Shark fins are highly valued and a main ingredient in 'shark fin soup'.

Captured sharks are often 'finned' at sea, and the rest of the body

discarded.

Why does this make me think of rhinocerous'?

The American buffalo?

The African elephant?

The black bear?

Each of them have been hunted for only one body part,

the rest is left to die and rot.

Doesn't sound like a very good use of the gifts God has given us.

Silky sharks are also hunted for their meat (sold fresh or dried/salted), skin, and liver oil. The dried shark jaws are sold as curios to tourists in the tropics.

Fins from these silky sharks are traded an estimated

500,000 to 1,500,000 per year.

(That's half of a million to one and a half million for those of you

who don't like to count zeros!)

The Hong Kong fin market represents over half of the global trade.

The silky shark is the 2nd or 3rd most common species auctioned.

a dried shark jaw, www.elasmo-research.org

People, people, people -

we've GOT to get our priorities straight.

You know the next threat to the silky shark?

Sport fishermen and tourists that fish for them.

Is it really worth putting a stuffed shark on your wall,

or a photo of you and a dead shark on your home website

to cause the extinction of a species?

"Teach your children what we have taught our children -

that the earth is our mother.

Whatever befalls the earth,

befalls the sons of the earth....

Earth does not belong to us;

We belong to the earth."

paraphrased from a speech by Chief Seattle

As we enter this time of Thanksgiving for all the bounty we have received from the past year,

let's give a prayer for us all to respect nature.

To thank God for what He has given us.

And yeah, that includes sharks.

http://www.kilkykipevansphotography.photoshelter.com/

and PLEASE,

think twice before you go on a sports fishing adventure,

or you see shark fin soup on a menu,

or 'just picking up mementos' from a vacation.

'There is always hope

when people are forced to listen

to both sides.'

- John Stuart Mill

Thanks for listening to one of my 'rants' about the earth,

and our individual responsibilities to the world around us.

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com/

please post comments here

It really is easy!

Happy Independence Day to Brazil!

Hola!

(pronounced 'o-la', Spanish for Hello)

Christ over the City of Rio de Janeiro

Today is National Independence Day for Brazil.

feliz día de la independencia

I hope I got that right!

I went to a web site that will translate words and phrases from English into Spanish,

and Spanish into English.

You know, you never feel quite confident since you really don't speak the language.

That would be a wicked hacker thing though...

Brazil travel map

www.tropicalnaturetravel.com

I thought we might learn just a little about Brazil today.

The country is famous for it's spectacular waterfalls,

the Amazon River (largest in the world)

The Rio De Janeiro Carnival

the Brazilian Soccer Team

and it's beaches.

Cococabana Beach, Brazil

Following three centuries of rule under Portugal,

Brazil became an independent nation in 1822

and a republic in 1889.

One thing I learned in just browsing about Brazil -

soccer is big.

I mean REALLY BIG!!

Being a non-sports person, I kinda' knew that, but not really?

Now I know!

Brazil will be hosting the World Cup in 2016.

I bet the beaches will be crowded!

Here's a photo of the beach at Rio de Janeiro

without all the soccer fans!

c.1916

The Iguazu Falls are truly impressive. I would like to see them someday.

www.bestourism.com

Here are some interesting facts,

by Claudio Da Silva, July/2011 found at:

http://www.sherwoodinstitute.org/introducing-the-brazil-series/

Brazil holds 53% of the source of fresh water available in South America.

Brazil holds 11.6% of the fresh water surface of the world,

placing it among one of the world giants in terms of internal water.

Brazil has one of the biggest lakes of the planet - Lagoa dos Patos.

92% of households have accessibility to drinking water.

Even with great availability, there is a shortage of drinking water in some places.

Only 37% of households are connected to sewer collection pipelines.

the Amazon river

The rivers of Brazil are responsible for 51% of the water consumption in Brazil.

30 Million inhabitants (out of 150 million) do not receive treated water.

Mr. Da Silva continues:

Sewage is Brazil's #1 threat to itself, and also to the world's oceans.

92% of the Brazil's sewage is launched into rivers and into the sea

without any treatment.

I found this next bit just horrifying:

DAILY Brazil launches 10 billion liters of sewage directly into rives and sea.

Brazil has made some strides -

there is about 10% of the cities adopting some kind of sewage treatment.

wow.

Chapada Diamantina National Park, Brazil

www.carpediemeducation.org

Now for a few 'more fun' facts!

Sao Paulo is the largest city of Brazil,

and is the capital of the state of Sao Paulo.

This city is the seventh largest metro area in the world!!!

Guaraja Beach, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Sao Paulo is quite famous for the tallest buildings in Brazil,

Fashion events, such as Sao Paulo Fashion Week,

and is the most populous city in the Americas!!!

Math quiz - work it out!

Sao Paulo has an area 1,523 square kilometers

and an estimated population of about

11,037,593 people living in the city.

So, how many people is that per square kilometer?

After you figure it out, let me know!

:0)

a woman in Salvador

I like the city's "Motto of Sao Paulo":

"I am not led, I lead"

Cool!

another photo of Iguazu Falls

So, Happy Independence Day, Brazil!

frog, the Amazon

inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com

dominoes@myinkspired.com