Elephant Bonding; how touching

Two male elephants entwine trunks in friendship and mutual trust.

In the matriarchal world of elephants, males are known as mostly independent sorts. Females maintain close, lifelong family ties, while bulls tend to wander off solo, at times banding with another male or more loosely with groups of them.

Or do they? During a six-year study in Namibia’s Etosha National Park, Stanford University behavioral ecologist Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell observed for the first time intense, long-lasting bonds among a dozen or so bulls—a tight-knit group of teenagers, adults, and seniors up to 55 dubbed the Boys’ Club. Older males serve as mentors and mediators for younger ones, enforcing a strict social hierarchy, keeping underlings in line when rowdiness erupts as hormones rage.

In drought-prone Namibia, rank becomes most rigid when water is scarcest. “In dry years the strict pecking order they establish benefits all of them,” O’Connell-Rodwell says. “Everyone knows their place.” That means young bulls supplicate more frequently to their elders—and peace is maintained while everyone gets to drink.

—Hannah Bloch

Learn more about wildlife on the new Nat Geo Wild network. Visit: http://natgeowild.com

R U ready for fun & sun?

Not until you Shop @ Ocean Beach.

Carefully considered casual clothing and much more, including our personal shopper’s “best of” selections from NOVICA.

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Sadly I report that my team did not get the National Park Service contract to provide high-speed catamaran service to Dry Tortugas. [ read about it from the NPS]

Dry Tortugas from Space

Recently the National Park Service re-issued a ten year contract to provide high-speed ferry service from Key West, FL to Fort Jefferson at The Dry Tortugas. In the next 60-days Congress will be asked to approve the contract, but they should take another look. http://keysnews.com/node/20390

Click the image for full screen. Image was requested by Captain Ghidoni and was taken by the Int’l Space Station.

The Keys from higher

In this specific case it seems remarkable the incumbent was awarded another ten years. Public outcry locally is well documented. http://keysnews.com/node/20390 The public is overwhelmingly negative because Key West locals know the history.

Does it serve the community for this large entity to grab yet another long-term contract in such a small town? The incumbent operates in several cities. In tough times which of their operations will suffer first? Maybe the smallest, least significant  - Key West? This is exactly why we feel our smaller footprint could do it better, faster, cheaper.

Are we disappointed?  You bet, it has been a long, long, competitive process with 18-months of delays, but they are the better company.

We carry forward the experience and we fully support the decision of the National Park Service. If you get to Key West; plan a day for Fort Jefferson.

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Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis on a long cold night must have freaked out Ancient Man.

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When do you use recur in stead of reoccur? Recur means - to repeat or reappear periodically, like a actor in a Recurring Roll. Reoccur - is a more random occurrence and less controlled. A Reoccurring Dream or nightmare can’t be scheduled. While the words recur, recurring, and recurrence are more often used, the words are subtly and distinctly different…

Do the Northern Lights recur or reoccur? Geomagnetic storms that ignite auroras happen more often during the months around the equinoxes; from September to October and from March to April, so Auroras recur.  And that is excellent.

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I agree with personal responsibility at home and especially while on vacation. Travelers tend to think they don’t need to be too concerned or bothered when that is exactly when they should; visiting sensitive environments. Liter and carelessness are inexcusable human diseases cured with care and mindfulness.

Simple; don’t litter.

We live on a dynamic planet. Earth changes will happen as they have for millennium. These changes should not be exploited by politicians who selfishly combine eco-emotions with issues of personal responsibility. Fjords for example happened because of Earth changes and no politician can change the weather.

But we can all influence others to be conscience of the environment. Be realistic steward and others will follow your good example.

via Blog Action Day: Climate Change. We can make the difference « eXplorer.

Madrid — The Oceana Ranger catamaran is equipped with a robot that has dived down to 500 meters depth to film species that are rarely spotted, or have never even been seen, in the Canarian archipelago.

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The goal of the expedition is to identify areas that should be turned into marine protected areas. Only 2.7% of the EU’s marine surface area is protected, but the United Nations calls for 10%.

Oceana has found around a dozen species in the Canary Islands whose existence in the archipelago was unknown until now. Glass and rock sponges, ball, white and black coral, and armored searobin are some of the species that have been found. A wide variety of rare species, or species for which hardly any biological information is known, were also able to be filmed live, including channeled rockfish, anglerfish, silver and pink gallo fish, fan coral, bathyal sea fans, Venus fly-trap anemones, and lollipops sponges.

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Help protect deep water coral, from North Carolina to Florida, from destructive fishing methods including trawls, bottom long-lines and dredges.  This collection of deepwater coral is one of the largest deep reef ecosystems in the world!

[caption id="attachment_617" align="alignright" width="281" caption="Corals are in danger. You can help."][/caption]

But it can’t survive without NOAA’s effort to regulate the fishing industry through cooperation, and that can’t happen without help from caring residents of planet Earth. This isn’t a crazy scheme to stop all fishing, that would be ridiculous.  Click the image for a closer look.

It’s easy; click this link and send the formatted note to our leaders.

http://takeaction.oceana.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25222

Want to see more coral? Get our DVD at hd2o.tv

Kind regards,

Paul

sub titled: Get your fat white ass outside of the cage with that hand full of chum for a real shark thrill!

Video Podcast - While researching the Hawaiian monk seal for a potential documentary with NOAA I stumbled on the ugly exploitation of sharks in the region. It is shocking to realize with all the research on sharks shark tours are becoming an even MORE popular visitor attraction. A recent scuba-moron to Oahu’s North Shore called it ‘exhilarating’. With an attitude, “I just wanted to do it once.” They headed for the hotel with a small polite group of Native Hawaiians on their heels. They were explaining to the fat backsides that Hawaiians consider the shark to be ancestral Gods. Feeding them for entertainment is disrespectful to their culture. Heck, it’s disrespectful to all things in the Ocean, in food chain and the ecological balance. Hawaiians and Hawley alike want the operators to stop.

To be clear: There is nothing wrong, in fact it is smart to use a shark cage. It is very wrong when a dive operator is feeding sharks for people in a cage.

[caption id="attachment_582" align="alignright" width="280" caption="No food today? Let's head to the beach for a bite."][/caption]

Surfers and environmentalists fear the tours will teach sharks to associate people with food. When the sharks don’t find tourists in the little ‘happy meal’ steel cage what do you think will happen next?  While the tourists watch the news from the Lazy Boy some surfer or diver will be missing a limb. The sad part is sharks don’t even like the taste of human, but when confused and taunted the shark will snap and strike at anything.

Sharks sit at the APEX of the World Food Chain. Sharks will gather in areas of tour feeding. The additional shark population will also create great competition for natural prey and cause stress or deplete other marine life in the process.  But that’s of little concern to the impatient tourist who wants a rush right now.  Want a rush? Go down without a cage, see how a shark reacts to a hand full of chum.  Oh, that isn’t as pleasurable? The disrespect may seem temporary by the ‘only once’ gang o’ fools but the damage lives on long after the thrill is gone.

Joe Pavsek, owner of North Shore Shark Adventures, said, “If you read the law, you’ll understand that I’m not breaking any laws.”  (Dhaaaa, why am I an idiot?)  Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Joe Pavsek then revealed this jewel, “We don’t have to feed the sharks. We do it for the customers.” That’s why Joe is an idiot. What would be wrong with the anticipation that you might be lucky and see a shark? Not stimulating enough for an over-stimulated couch potato. The same potatos think they are great athletes because of their dozens of hours with a video game.

More than 400 Hawaiian residents packed a town hall meeting and successfully launched the anti-shark tour movement. State lawmakers have vowed to draft legislation to shut down the tours. Listen to world renowned underwater photographer Stephen Frink has to say about the state of this magical animal.

 

 Legendary Photographer Stephen Frink on Sharks: Play Now | Play in Popup

For the record: Federal law clearly prohibits feeding sharks 200 miles off Hawaii to include the Pacific territories and Samoa. The only exceptions are made for fishermen who harvest them for food, and scientific research for the benefit of the shark.

Ever hear of unintended consequences? Joe is dead wrong and needs to be stopped before someone innocent is declared dead right.

It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature!

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PodCast # 008 is about another predator. Why? Because the web is good for bringing quick hits, shock value, what I call “kick-in-the-ass” content. Suddenly here comes HD2O.tv underwater video where everything is soooo sloooow, or is it.

• Ocean Fun Fact: Did you know the baracuba can swim at speeds reaching 30 MPH? Take a look at this Great Barracuda he’s hunter and predator they may follow divers, as they do larger fish, in the hopes of scavenging remains.

About this shot: As quickly as I got “ICE” to turn the camera this cuda snapped up a small fish near his leg.  Look closely; the minnow is in his teeth as he turns off to eat what remains.

Good thing barracuda don’t like the taste of humans?  You bet! because he sees us long before we see him. We’d have no chance, so remember ” Do No Harm” in hopes that no harm come to you or your fingers which could be gone in a second if you mess with this magnificent animal in his domain!

Remember: these clips are HD so they are large.  I recommend using the ‘pop-up player’ and they may take a moment to start.  For best viewing jump over the iTunes and subscribe to our HD Podcast! For absolute best viewing get the DVD from our store here, Or we send a barracuda to your home for a little visit.

BEST PRODUCTS Media Guide - HD2O™ - The Keys DVD. Being recognized by this guide published by Orca Communications has opened our market to mothers.  That’s right, parents of young children.  Not only is it calming for the kids, but also helps set the mood for ‘big people time’.  I like these people just because of the whale. Click the logo to see their review of hd2o.

Creating A Romantic Hotel Room | Traveling Mamas. Here is a mention from a recent online article.  We couldn’t agree more.

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Google Maps Enhance Ocean Images - WSJ.com.  Good news for Ocean lovers, Google Inc. added imagery for the ocean floor to its popular 3-D mapping service Google Earth, which allows users to browse satellite images of the Earth’s terrain.

Google executives announced the enhancements at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, highlighting partners ranging from the U.S. Navy to National Geographic. The partners contributed data and tools to make the multiyear project possible.

LAS VEGAS, NV–(FreePress - February 2, 2009) - hd2o cameraflyer Joe “ICE” Berg, is on assignment to capture the Manatee.

A date and time will be determined by weather (daily conditions of the atmosphere in terms of temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, and moisture), weather will determine whether (or not) ICE (the cameraflyer, not the weather condition) can get the shot (with a camera not a weapon). Any questions?   What’s a Manatee? <<Look it up link<<< or click on this handsome fellow below.  “Hey Manatee, why the long face?”

On assignment with HD2O

“We are speaking with local experts, seeking out the best ways to approach the animals without stressing them.”  ICE has a great presence with animals; they are somewhat comfortable around him. Perhaps it is his comfort level in their environment that sets the animals at ease?

But this post is about iTunes and a 30-second Barracuda clip posted there. You can watch it right now with the pop-up player, but for the best viewing experience I suggest viewing our HD2O PodCast withTunes. Check it out, Sign up, because Manatee clips are coming soon.

Do you want to see this guy’s video? Playing with our cameraflyer? (of course you do)

HD2O -  PodCast 007

The clip features a predator, the Barracuda! This animal is easy to find and fun to shoot because they don’t fear of man.  Our cameraflyer and crew were drifting to the end of a dive. The group (seen in this clip) was exploring the other side of the reef. Do you think they checked-out the ‘chops’ on this Great Barracuda?He was lurking under the ledge to duck out of the strong current, but barracuda rarely bother with humans, thank God.  This one is way more interested in its reflection in the camera, watch as he checks himself out in good light for our camera. One swish of that powerful tail and he can go from Zero to 30 mph instantly!  Click the in-line links for more detailed reading on the remarkable barracuda.

Next in the series on predators:

Podcast 008 Lunchtime with a Great Barracuda up close and personal.  Clear and visible in HD, you will see a fish he just caught as he calmly swims away. Stay tuned.

tip: Have you tried our flog search?  Just type a word of interest, Ocean stuff such as ‘tug boat’ or ’shark’ or HD topics like ‘color’ and see all related posts.  Also try the tag cloud, filled with popular keywords from published articles.

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