Thursday Mar. 1, 2012

Volume 11 Issue 3

Spring

This has been a remarkably mild winter so far. There is usually ice on the docks and boats at least a few mornings in February. The doves and house finches (right) are beginning to look for nesting spots among the sailboat canvas around the marina.

The Puffy Coot

A small male coot approaches feeding by holding out his wings, making himself appear larger. It is natural for aggressive males to fight over food and try their best to intimidate whoever has the food.

In this case, the coot eventually understands the bizarre scenario of food being handed out for free, and merely comes forward to eat.

The Stingrays

The stingrays continue mating in February, making more opportunities for photography.

Male stingrays bite and grip the body of their female mates during courtship. Male stingray teeth change shape in the mating season to accomodate this. These stingrays do not appear to have bite marks.

Eurasian Coot?

This coot resembles the Caribbean coot more than the Eurasian coot, but is most likely an American coot with a detached or reduced frontal shield. This individual has been here on previous years.

Nuisance Coot

Beaky becomes more angry through the month as this coot arrives in the mornings to steal food. On February 13, Beaky got a good grip on this coot's head and did not let go until he dropped the food. The white spots are from pudding that Beaky was eating. Usually feathers just pull out and the culprit escapes. But not this time.

Beaky's Defeat

The male nuisance coot that had come to the boat to steal Beaky's food every morning finally discovered that if he decided to fight back, he could easily defeat the old crippled coot.

Here the nuisance coot has a beakful of Beaky's feathers.

The enemy coot easily pins Beaky under the water, and Beaky swims away, submerged, and disappears.

Monday squawks in alarm, but is otherwise of no help. In a case like this, a loyal female mate would peck the adversary coot in the head to distract him.

Beaky swims away under the water and disappears, only to arrive on the other side of the dock (below). He stands on the ducks' roost to preen himself alone. Monday joins the enemy coot.

This indicates that it is time to stop feeding the coots at the boat. Fortunately, the winter is almost over.

Stupid Sign of the Month

Any plans for "redevelopment" of the south end of the bay always included demolition of the more than 900 boat slips here. Old marinas are raw material for redevelopment projects that bring cash "contributions" from developers and contractors to the campaign funds of politicians in office. There will never be enough slips in California so long as marina managers can afford to treat their paying tenants like criminals while breaking the law themselves. There's nothing here to make the boat owners happy, and the mayor is unlikely to garner any more votes from such a visit.

News Links You May Have Missed

(I don't make this stuff up!)

Rescuing the Birds Many Hate The New York Times “Tattered and ill, head burrowed into its chest, the pigeon shivered in a building crevice. Its left wing hung lamely."

All in the vibes: Lobsters react to environs, keep other creatures at bay, by shaking their shell Foster's Daily Democrat “You do grow close to your animals, but lobsters are not very nice,..."

Cod stocks still threatened 20 years after end of fishery The Vancouver Sun “The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for both exploiting and conserving fisheries - a "conflict of interest" the panel says needs to be resolved."

Teaching Creationism as Science is Un-American Yahoo News “Sponsors of such bills are trying to create an American Christian theocracy. Governing a nation by religion never works because, by definition, it requires the suspension of rational thought."

TAKE ACTION: Save the California Department of Boating & Waterways Yahoo News “Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed to eliminate the Department of Boating & Waterways (Cal Boating) and transfer its functions to the Department of Parks and Recreation" The state agency that protrays boat owners as gross polluters may continue its work as part of another department.

U.S. ocean fence aims to curb smuggling from Mexico Reuters “SAN DIEGO, California (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are building a steel and concrete barrier 300 feet out into the Pacific Ocean south of San Diego"

Global Warming: Like 'Weather on Steroids' Good Morning America “At a time when a substantial portion of the public and even some local TV meteorologists don't believe human activity is affecting the climate, the scientists say their report draws on the latest research to help clear the air. "

The Birds Swoop Down on Corona del Mar Students Newport Beach Patch “Principal Tim Bryan says birds have left the school seeking solutions ranging from sonic systems to placing spikes on light posts. " ---Just get rid of the school.

Alaska Natives ask EPA to stop threatening their economy the Washington Examiner “Abe Williams and Lisa Reimers of Nuna Resources, an Alaska Native consortium, flew to Washington this week to see Environmental Protection Agency Director Lisa Jackson. They wanted to ask her help ensuring the survival of their Bristol Bay region's Native Alaskan tradition and culture. They got a response as frosty as Alaska in February."

Wild Salmon Numbers Are Dropping, But Science Can Fix It Science 2.0 “While anti-science politicians in Washington, D.C. block science solutions to harvesting more fish, a crucial piece of information about salmon isn't being considered; the numbers without a science solution only look good because of the massive influx of hatchery-raised fish that return to spawn in the wild. Only about ten percent of the fall-run Chinook salmon spawning in California's Mokelumne River are naturally produced wild salmon."

Jerry Brown's budget plan would strip demands, payments from local governments The Sacramento Bee "It remains to be seen if the animal rights activists are going to unleash their dogs on Jerry Brown," he said. "I think they should. Thousands and thousands of animals are put to death needlessly in California who should be put out for adoption." Besides, he said, the amount of money at stake is relatively small.

News From the UK Crow and Magpie Cull

No court proceedings for beating crows to death .onekind.org "A man is seen and filmed entering a cage of twelve crows and rooks and beating seven of the birds to death with a stick, over a period of several minutes. He uses the stick repeatedly to hit the terrified birds across their bodies as they attempt to escape his attack on them, flying over him and clinging to the top corners of the wire cage."

Charity releases footage of Strathspey estate crow killings strathspey-herald "Footage of a gamekeeper killing wild birds with a stick in a cage on an estate in Strathspey has been released by an animal welfare charity."

Wild birds abused by Paul Goddard, Uk Farm Feeds, Glossop, England July 2011 YouTube "Paul Goddard, Managing Director of UK Farm Feeds, throttles and kills dozens of Jackdors and Crows at his pig farm, Peakdale Road, Glossop, near Manchester, England while his wife assists."

Open Letter to Scottish Environment Minister OneKind "Please, add your signature to our Open Letter to the Scottish Environment Minister and help us to remove some of the obstacles that stand in the way of the protection, conservation and welfare of Scotland’s wild birds and animals. "

Unexplained dolphin strandings continue in Mass. Associated Press "There's no good spot on Cape Cod for dolphins to continue this winter's massive and unexplained beachings, but a group of 11 has chosen one of the worst."

DOGS BAKED ALIVE Change.org "Dogs are suffering a hellish death by being baked alive for a 'better flavor', due to extreme release of stress hormone adrenaline."

BIRD SEEN IN COUNTY IS A FIRST Union-Tribune San Diego "julian — For hard-core birders, the alert that went out late last Saturday morning via an “extreme rarity” text message couldn’t have been much more startling. "

Low-Carbon Technologies 'No Quick-Fix': May Not Lessen Global Warming Until Late This Century Science Daily "ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2012) — A drastic switch to low carbon-emitting technologies, such as wind and hydroelectric power, may not yield a reduction in global warming until the latter part of this century, new research suggests."

Leaks: Teaching schoolchildren climate change scepticism 3news.co.nz "Heartland's plans for this year included paying an Energy Department consultant $100,000 to design a curriculum to teach school children that mainstream global warming science is in dispute, even though it's a fact"

The Role of Social Media in Ocean Science and Conservation (Workshop) science-social-media "Social media platforms have made it possible to access and disseminate information quickly, while bypassing gatekeepers common to traditional media."

Scientists Growing a $317,000 Burger abc news "The hamburger won’t be just any ordinary beef patty. The meat will be made in a laboratory, grown from cow stem cells. No animal slaughter required.."

Chikilidae, Legless Amphibian Family, Discovered In India Huffington Post There are too many cases of "nameless extinction," with animals disappearing before they are ever known, he said. "We don't even know what we're losing."

PETA Wants to Kill Your Rescue Pet Huffington Post "What PETA does not tell you however, is that it doesn't much like pets -- which it seems to view as a form of animal slavery. Nor does it tell you that it euthanizes -- kills -- some 85% of the animals it rescues. As an organization, it tends to believe an animal is better dead than living with a human being."

It is Impossible to Put a Price Tag on the BP Oil Spill Settlement Yahoo! News This epic debacle is not over yet...

Pleasure boat fiasco is straw that should sink NOAA leaders Eagle-Tribune "All of these episodes and others detailed in a new report from a federal Inspector General's office might seem apropos of a pleasure cruise company's three-hour tour to or from Gilligan's Island. But they're not, of course — and they're not the least bit funny, either. All are among the wrongful uses and abuses of a boat bought by the law enforcement wing of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

Luxury NOAA undercover boat served as pleasure cruiser The News-Tribune "SEATTLE -- Federal fish cops in Seattle bought a $300,000 luxury boat to spy on whale-watching tours -- but didn't go through an appropriate bidding process, held barbecues onboard, ferried friends and family across Puget Sound to restaurants and resorts, and used the boat for what one visitor called "a pleasure cruise."

The Sailor's Rig Guide

Note: linking to these sites listed above does not constitute an endorsement of any product, services, or information found there.

OutTakes

(Use your mouse cursor to read the titles)

Quote


"True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient 
has no power. Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from 
view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect, 
mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle; a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it."

Milan Kundera (1929 - )

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