Issue 1
Alaska’s Polar bear: Lessons in Persistence
Think Earth is published under licensed from National Wildlife Federation, USA
Contents
18
14
04
Features 14 Lessons In Persistence
NWF Executive Staff Larry J. Schweiger President & Chief Executive Officer Jaime Berman Matyas Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Dulce Gomez-Zormelo Chief Financial Officer Board of Directors Stephen Allinger Chair Deborah Spalding Chair Elect David Carruth, Kathleen Hadley, Paul Beaudette Vice Chairs
After spending 13 years capturing images of Alaskhan polar bears, a dedicated photographer has learned many secrets of animals’ lives and danger they face
08 Are Other Animals Aware Of Death? Wildlife studies are giving scientists reason to believe that humans may not be alone in recognizing the finality of dying
18 Mecury Falling As the U.S. prepares to implement new rules on coal-plant emissions, the dangerous pollutant is accumulating in more habitats and harming more wildlife than anyone previously thought
Departments
Directors: Gregor S. Bailar, Brian Bashore, Tahlia Bear, Jenny Brock, Clark Bullard, Alison Byers, Shelley H. Cohen, Sharon Darnov, John Thomas Grant, Monty Halcomb, David L. Hargett, Mark Heckert, Bill Houston, David Langhorst, Jerry Little, Chris Nook, Gloria Reuben, Dianne Dillon-Ridgley, Kent Salazar, Truman Semans, Leslie Shad, Gregory J. Smith, Mary Van Kerrebrook, Lise Van Susteren, Beatrice Busch von Gontard, Bruce Wallace, Nicole Wood, Julia Reed Zaic
04 Singapore’s Natural Heritage
NWF Regional Centers Headquarters: Reston, Virginia Field Offices: Anchorage, Alaska; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; Annapolis, Maryland; Missoula, Montana; Montpelier, Vermont; Seattle, Washington; Washington, D.C.
13 Earthly Numbers
Editorial Staff (Singapore) Dr. Henry Toi Chiew Lai Peng Jason Ong
The Wild Shores of Singapore
06 World’s Natural Heritage
Bermuda’s Born-Again Petrels
11 Think Earth Heroes
Jane Goodall Speaks For The Chimpanzees
12 Character Counts
Faithfulness - The Story of Hachiko
21 Viewpoints
Conservation versus Convenience
22 Think to Do 24 Finding Humour 26 Last Think
Material in this issue may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without permission from the publisher by contacting (email). In Singapore, contact Nurture Craft Pte Ltd, 39B Jalan Peminpin 03-02, Singapore 577184 or email info@nurturecraft.com. Cover: Steven Kazlowski; Left: Steven Kazlowski; Top Right: Warren Williams; Bottom Right: Ria Tan, wildshores.blogspot.com
Singapore’s Natural Heritage
THE WILD SHORES
By Ria Tan www.wildsingapore.com
OF SINGAPORE Close encounters with wild dolphins, otters, dugongs and sea turtles, right here in Singapore.
Dolphin Sightings Wild dolphins are regularly sighted in our waters. Just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there. If you spot one share your sighting with Singapore Wild Marine Mammal Survey (SWiMMS), a programme to study and track sightings of marine mammals including dugongs.
meadows. Dugongs eat only sea-grasses and therefore are sometimes called sea cows! They leave a typical feeding trail in the meadows; we have seen fresh trails on Chek Jawa, mainland shores like Changi,
Otters are more regularly seen than dolphins because these lively animals come to shore where people are. Otters are often seen at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, all along the northern shoreline from Woodlands Park to Punggol and Changi, on Pulau Ubin and at Chek Jawa, and even at Tuas! My most exciting encounter was with this young one at Pulau Semakau! OtterWatch is a programme to monitor sightings of and to study our wild otters.
Delightful Dugongs Although dugongs themselves are rarely seen, their signs are often encountered on our sea-grass
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Ria Tan, www.wildsingapore.com (2)
Otterly Fabulous
and meadows in the south like Pulau Semakau, Cyrene Reef and other submerged reefs.
Sea Turtles
Turtles: N. Sivasothi, Dept. Biological Sciences, NUS
Dolphins: Neo Mei Lin, Experimental Marine Ecology Laboratory, NUS
In May 2006, baby Hawksbill sea turtles were spotted hatching on the East Coast. Baby turtles naturally head for the sea when they first hatch, guided by moonlight over the water which tells them were the sea is. Unfortunately, the lights of urban Singapore distracted them, and volunteers had to be rapidly dispatched to help rescue the lost turtles and send them back where they belonged. You can read more about the turtle hatchling rescue at East Coast Park on the habitatnews blog. In fact, sea turtles which nest in Malaysia actually live in our Southern Islands! One was seen near
Sentosa during a study to tag Hawksbill turtles with satellite transmitters. This has been a brief introduction to our shores. Natural and Wild Places in Singapore provides much more interesting and fascinating information. These are just a few of the amazing animals (and marine plants) that live in Singapore waters! And YOU can make a difference for our shores! Just join any of the many guided activities on our shores, from walks to dives. Come for shore talks and other events. These are updated daily on the Wild Happenings in Singapore blog. Get weekly updates by subscribing to the blog. Or join any of the many volunteer opportunities here: Make a Difference for Nature in Singapore. Get updates emailed to you by subscribing to feeds from the Wild Singapore Daily News Blog which features news, blog updates and volunteer opportunities.
Links and Additional Reading 15 Fabulous Facts about Singapore Shores
wildfilms.blogspot.sg/2007/10/15-fabulous-facts-about-singapore.html
Habitatnews blog
habitatnews.nus.edu.sg
Make a Difference for Nature in Singapore
www.wildsingapore.com/vol/index.html
Natural and Wild Places in Singapore
www.wildsingapore.com/places
Neo Mei Lin’s Blog
psychedelic-nature.blogspot.sg
Otter Watch
www.facebook.com/OtterWatch
SWiMMS
www.tmsi.nus.edu.sg/mmrl/swimmsmap.htm
Wild Facts about Dolphins
www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/mammals/sousa.htm
Wild Facts about Dugongs
www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/mammals/dugong.htm
Wild Facts about Otters
www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/mammals/perspicillata.htm
Wild Facts about Sea Turtles
www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/reptilia/seaturtle.htm
Wild Happenings in Singapore Blog
wildsingaporehappenings.blogspot.sg/
Wild Singapore
www.wildsingapore.com
Wild Singapore Daily News Blog
wildsingaporenews.blogspot.sg/
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World’s Natural Heritage By Michael lipske
BERMUDA’S BORN-AGAIN PETRELS
Jeremy Madeiros
The island’s official national bird had been considered extinct for almost 400 years, a result of the species’ contact with man. Conservationists are now racing against time to build up new populations.
The Bermuda Petrel or cahow (above), native only to the Bermuda Islands, was nearly wiped out by European settlers.
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xtinction is forever, right? As in gone, dead, kaput. Thank goodness no one told the oncevanished Bermuda petrel. Not that the seabird’s disappearing act was unconvincing. First encountered by Spanish sailors in the 1500s, the mariners thought the bird’s eerie, night-time courtship calls were the shrieks of devils. The petrels then may have numbered almost half a million birds, all native to the Bermuda Islands, now a British territory in the Atlantic Ocean about 1,046 kilometres east of North Carolina in the US. After that maiden contact with European seafarers, it went downhill for the bird. Pigs, unloaded on Bermuda as food for shipwrecked Spanish sailors, quickly destroyed most of the petrel population, rooting up their underground
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nests and eating eggs, chicks and even adults. When English colonists arrived in 1609, they brought the petrel a new name - cahow - suggestive of the bird’s nocturnal cry. They also brought dogs, cats and rats that feasted on the remaining petrels. By the 1620s, the cahow had gone extinct. Or so it seemed. Then a lone petrel turned up on the island in 1906, and others in 1935 and 1941. Scientists soon launched a search for the species’ Bermuda nesting habitat. In 1951, they found 17 nesting pairs, producing a total of only seven or eight chicks yearly, hunkered down on four rocky islets. More than 300 years after it dropped off the radar, the Bermuda petrel turned out to be only almost extinct. That was the good news. The bad news was that the bird’s entire nesting
on Nonsuch since 1620, an event Madeiros calls “probably the best part of my whole career.” Another milestone was reached in 2012, when the petrel population climbed to 101 nesting pairs, including 13 on Nonsuch. A record total of 58 chicks fledged successfully to sea, seven of them from the new Nonsuch colony. “We’ve been able to dance a bit of a jig with that, for sure,” Madeiros says. Despite such success, the cahow remains in grave danger from hurricanes and the effects of climate change because most of its population remains on the forlorn rocks. “On Bermuda, sea level is rising at three times the rate it once occurred,” says NWF President Larry Schweiger, who toured the birds’ nesting sites with Maderios not long ago. “That’s why the work to establish a cahow nesting population on higher ground is so crucial to the species’ future. It’s a striking example of what conservationists and wildlife now have to go through when backed into a corner from climate change.”
Chris Burville
habitat consisted of those four “god-awful little rocks,” says Jeremy Madeiros, senior terrestrial conservation officer with Bermuda’s Department of Conservation Services, who since 2001 has directed efforts to save the territory’s official bird. Petrel pairs are mated for life and rear a single chick per nesting season, normally in deep burrows the adults dig using beaks and feet. But on the limestone islets where they were rediscovered there was little soil; the birds were nesting in rock crevices. Madeiros constructed artificial burrows, using concrete to stabilize each nest site against the huge waves that break over the rocks during hurricanes. With the man-made burrows, the petrels slowly began increasing. But because the islets are so small (totalling just 9,712 m2) and so storm-battered, it soon became clear that if the critically-endangered species was to have a real chance at recovery, the Bermuda petrel needed more territory. Beginning in 2004, Madeiros started taking petrel chicks born on the rocks and relocating them to nearby Nonsuch Island, a protected, 68,800 m2 nature reserve and historical cahow-breeding site that provides higher elevation, forest cover and a deep soil layer. Madeiros parked each chick in one of the two dozen artificial burrows he had dug on Nonsuch and, like a proper petrel parent, reared them on squid and anchovies. In due time, the fledglings flew off to sea. Bermuda petrels visit land only to nest, spending most of their lives ranging across the North Atlantic from the coastal United States and Canada to waters off Western Europe. The birds begin breeding at three to five years old, usually returning to nest on the individual islands on which they fledged. It was one thing to rear young petrels on Nonsuch. But how could Madeiros get them to return to the island as adults? “We had to cheat,” he says, referring to a solar-powered, weatherproof sound system he installed adjacent to the Nonsuch petrel burrows. In autumn, when adult petrels return to Bermuda after their wanderings at sea, they are guided by a recorded broadcast of the same weird courtship cries that terrified Spanish sailors. “The calls from the speakers encouraged the birds that had returned to land to start prospecting for nests, and sure enough they started occupying the artificial burrows that were closest to the speakers,” Madeiros says. Madeiros’s labours have begun paying off. In 2009, a petrel pair produced the first chick hatched
Biologist Jeremy Madeiros holds a hatchling from one of the nests he established on Nonsuch island to help the birdss recover.
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Featured
ARE OTHER ANIMALS
AWARE OF DEATH?
Karen McComb
Wildlife studies are giving scientists reason to believe that humans may not be alone in recognizing the finality of dying.
Elephants in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park linger over the bones of their dead. Biologists have been compiling an increasing body of evidence indicating that some non-human species, including elephants and chimpanzees, have an awareness of death.
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eath. It’s been called the great equalizer, putting prince and pauper on par. It is permanent and sorrowful, which may explain why human cultures across the globe have produced elaborate rituals for dealing with it. From Egypt’s ancient pyramids to Incan mummies to the modern funeral home, abundant evidence exists to show that humans hold a special regard for death and the dead. A similar attitude toward the dead is not as clear in other species. In the early 1970s, anthropologist Ernest Becker wrote in his Pulitzer Prize–winning book ‘Denial of Death’ that non-human animals know nothing about dying: “The knowledge of
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death is reflective and conceptual, and animals are spared it.”
The Evidence For But today, thanks to scientists investigating the origins of human behaviour in non-human species, Becker’s view is becoming outdated. A growing body of evidence suggests that at least some species recognize death’s special nature. “I believe we are now justified in thinking that chimpanzees have some kind of awareness of death,” says psychologist James Anderson of Scotland’s University of Stirling, who has been studying chimp responses to the dying.
In one case, chimpanzees in a Stirling safari park reacted to the demise of an elderly female with behaviours that included tending to the dying chimp and, later, avoiding the place where the death occurred. The dead chimp’s daughter also conducted what Anderson calls a “vigil”, staying by the body the night the older female died. “They have at least some understanding of the irreversibility of the transition from being alive to being dead,” he says.
By Roger Di Silvestro
Lifeonwhite/PhotoDune
The Evidence Against Hints of a special reaction toward the dead appear in other species, but their significance remains elusive. Elephants commonly linger over the bones - especially tusks - of their kind, becoming agitated and touching the remains with trunks and feet, which bear sensitive receptors. Crows and ravens sometimes gather around but rarely touch their dead, though they quickly eat the dead of other species. Orcas and bottlenose dolphins may try to keep dead calves at the surface of the sea, as if giving them a chance to breathe. Quite possibly, none of these behaviours means that the animal is “aware” of death. A dolphin trying to keep a dead baby afloat may even suggest a lack of
such awareness. Teresa Iglesias, a biologist at the University of California–Davis, studies how western scrubjays gather in shrieking groups of 2 to 10 around dead birds of their own or other species. “The calls attract other scrub-jays, and they either join in calling or watch silently in the trees,” she says. “Gatherings, which last from a few seconds to 45 minutes, don’t necessarily mean the birds understand death,” Iglesias says. Perhaps these gatherings fulfil another purpose: Seeing a dead bird and its surroundings may give jays (and perhaps crows and ravens) clues about risks to avoid. Even if long-lived creatures as intelligent as elephants and chimpanzees do recognize that the dead are gone for good, they may not recognize that death eventually will come for all, a knowledge that may be solely human. Anderson says, “Pining or grieving for a dead relative or friend is possible without any knowledge of death.” An important point, because if some species share our painful awareness of the permanent loss mortality brings, then death may be a greater equalizer than anyone previously suspected.
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Think Earth Heroes
David S. Holloway/Getty Images
Jane Goodall Speaks for the Chimpanzees
J
ane Goodall spent nearly 50 years of her life studying chimpanzees. In her years of research, she observed the behavior of the chimps, and how they related one to another. She imparted the knowledge gained through lectures and founding organisations which aimed to teach others how to better care for animals, particularly chimps, and protect these animals from extinction. Jane’s contributions are best summed up in her statement: “The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.” Background and education Jane Goodall was born in 1934 in London, England. She trained to be a secretary after high school as she knew that that would be her ticket to a job anywhere in the world. She later became a secretary to the famous anthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey and assisted him in his ape research in Africa. Though her works and findings became known throughout the world, she realised that most scientists would not take her findings seriously because she did not have a
college degree. Through the recommendation of Dr. Louis Leakey, Goodall became a doctoral student in Cambridge University in England and graduated with a Ph.D in 1965. Her growing passion for wildlife Jane’s interest and love for animals was evident from a young age. On her second birthday, her father gave her a stuffed toy chimpanzee. She named it Jubilee and it has since remained one of her prized possessions. Jane’s curiosity about animal behavior also began early - she once watched silently, without moving, for five hours to observe a hen laying an egg. She also fed her curiosity with books about wildlife in Africa. By the age of 7, Jane set her heart on going to Africa one day to see the amazing wild animals. At 12, she started a four-member club called Alligator Society and even created the Alligator Society Magazine. At the age of 23, her dream came true. She traveled to Kenya, Africa and there, she met the famous anthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey where she became his secretary. She helped him in his research about apes – their habits, relationships, families, friendships and enemies, as well as their ability to think and solve problems. Her findings assisted him in making comparison between them and humans. Her Contributions Jane Goodall recorded her findings meticulously and had with them wrote many books and articles and gave lectures all over the world. Here are some of the other things she did: • In 1966, Goodall shot doses of polio vaccine into bananas and gave them to chimps during the polio epidemic protecting many of them from the disease that killed 4 chimps and caused paralysis in some. • In 1975, Goodall worked with government officials and wrote letters to help free the hostages kidnapped by terrorist who ravaged the Gombe Camp where she did her research. • In 1987, she visited labs where chimps were used for research and made sure that they were treated humanely. • In 1991, Goodall met 16 Tanzanian teenagers and started the program called Roots and Shoots to address problems about pollutions, deforestation and survival of wildlife. This program has now expanded to 111 countries.
Do You Know?
Dr Goodall was in Singapore twice. Once in Aug 2009 and again in June 2012 There is a Jane Goodall Institute in Singapore? (http://janegoodall.org.sg/)
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Character Counts
Faithfulness - The Story of Hachiko After Hachiko’s death, several movies were made about the life of Hachiko. One of the more famous movie was titled “Hachi – a dog’s tale”. This movie was an American adaptation of the story of Hachiko. It was released in 2009 starring Richard Gere as an American professor who adopted an Akita dog and named him Hachiko.
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n 1924, Professor Ueno, a professor of agriculture at the University of Tokyo adopted a golden brown Akita dog named Hachiko. As part of the daily routine, Hachiko would meet the professor at the Shibuya train station when he finished work at the university. The duo would walk back to their home. Unfortunately about a year later the professor died suddenly from a brain haemorrhage. Hachiko did not know that. The dog continued to return to the station every day at the same time to wait for his master. As Hachiko continued his routine, people who frequent the station began noticing the dog. Some began to remember that he had an owner and subsequently realised the owner had died. Hachiko behaved well, he did not give any trouble to the people around the station and he faithfully waited for his owner, the professor to return. Hachiko returned to the same spot day after day. Soon people began to care for Hachiko, feeding him and trying to take care of him. This went on for almost 10 years! Over that time many newspapers wrote about him and his faithfulness had become well known all over Japan. Hachiko became an icon. In April 1934, a bronze statue was erected at Shibuya station to honour Hachiko. On 8 March 1935, Hachiko died.
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The Akita is a large sized dog originating from the northern regions of Japan. There are two known variety of Akitas: a Japanese breed and an American breed. The Akita has a short thick coat and is a handsome looking dog. It is a strong, hardy and independent dog and is not very friendly with strangers but affectionate with its adopted family members.
Lifeonwhite/PhotoDune
Keith Tsuji/Getty Images
About Akita breed of dogs
Singapore’s own Hachiko? In 2012, a dog, Labrador breed, was found in Jurong East Street 31 waiting for its owner. This dog turned up day after day. No one knew why the dog returned to the same place every day. As more people began to notice the dog a local newspaper vendor took pity on him and started to care for him, feeding him daily. Soon a good hearted animal lover by the name of Mr Teo, having ascertained that no one was going to take the dog home decided to adopt him. The new owner, Mr Teo took him to a vet for health check and a groomer before adopting him. Lucky dog!
Earthly Numbers
2.589 kilogram. This is the weight recorded in the Guinness Word Record of the largest egg laid by an ostrich on a farm in Sweden on 17 May 2008. The weight of this egg is equivalent to the weight of 52 medium sized chicken eggs put together!
56.7
°C
This temperature was recorded on 10 July 1913 at Greenland Ranch in Death Valley, California in the US. During that week, the temperature was above 540C for 5 consecutive days! One can easily cook a steak medium rare for just 2-3 min per side with this temperature!
561 metres. This is the height of the mega tsunami that occurred at Lituya Bay, Alaska in 1958. It is the highest and largest wave ever recorded. It happened after a large 8.3 magnitude of earthquake hit Fairweather Fault. This earthquake triggered a landslide that caused 30 miliion cubic metres of rock and ice to fall into the narrow inlet of Lituya Bay, a fjord located at Fairweather Fault. The sudden displacement of water then resulted in the huge wave. 3,000
fruits are found in the rainforests. People around the world make use of only about 200 of them. However, the indigenous people make use of over 2000 of them! How incredible!
From Top: iCLIPART; Monicelllo/PhotoDune; Jonnysek/Photo Dune
100,000
squared kilometer of Artic ice is melting daily. This is about the size of 140 Singapore put together! Quoting a statement made by a Greenpeace spokesman, “Data shows us that the frozen north is teetering on the brink. The level of ice ‘has remained far below average’ and appears to be getting thinner, leaving it more vulnerable to future melting. The consequences of further rapid ice loss at the top of the world are of profound importance to the whole planet. This is not a warning we can afford to ignore.”
80,000,000,000
aluminum drink cans are used every year world wide. It takes 80 – 100 years for an aluminum can to decompose in a landfill. However if we recycle a used can, it can be used as a new can in as short as 60 days. The energy we save by recycling a single aluminium can is powerful enough to allow you watch TV for 3 hours!
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Featured
LESSONS IN PERSIST Text and Photographs By Steven Kazlowski
After spending 13 years capturing images of Alaskan polar bears, a dedicated photographer has learned many secrets of these intrepid animals and the dangers they face.
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TENCE
Shrinking Habitats Huge tracts of ice, like the one this polar bear is crossing, have traditionally served as the species’ summer habitat. In 2007, when this photo was taken, daytime temperatures were just below 0°C. Loss of sea ice was so great I had to travel in a motorboat hundreds of miles up and down the coast before finding this bear on the outer reaches of Camden Bay, off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the only place polar bears den in the United States.
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Tenacity in the Face of Change This bear (above) was traveling from ice floe to ice floe in waters about 10 miles off the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, hunting seals, when I took its photo from a boat. Their adaptability is remarkable: polar bears did not evolve to swim across huge expanses of open water, but loss of sea ice to climate change is now forcing them to do so. Many drown. In 2011, a collared female swam 426 miles in nine days with her young cub, losing 22 percent of her body weight in a search for ice. The cub died. Continued loss of ice from a warming climate and the push for oil development in Arctic waters and along the coast could be disastrous for polar bears.
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hen I decided to become a wildlife photographer nearly 20 years ago, I found both the solitude and the animals I was looking for in the Alaskan Arctic. During my first six years there I saw many other native species but I hadn’t encountered polar bears. I didn’t plan on photographing these animals, yet I have now spent more than 13 years capturing images of them in their natural habitat. I first photographed polar bears around an Iñupiat Eskimo village
of 300 residents on the eastern Alaskan Arctic coast. Along the coast I would see polar bears swimming up like crocodiles from every direction and emerging from the water as huge, lumbering land animals. They would feed on a whale carcass, play and curiously check me out. At the end of the fall season, as the ocean froze over, it was time for them to move on. It was at that point that I got hooked on the bears. In the years since I have spent thousands of hours watching polar bears.
Human Perseverance in the Face of Adversity
To explore the rest of Alaska’s Arctic coast, I needed to learn how to get around on the ice. I received unexpected help from people who had for generations spent their lives on it: the Iñupiat. They welcomed me into their communities, and I began hunting with them. In the process I learned how to live in minus 45°C temperatures and how to use drifting snow as a compass: In parts of that country, the wind blows in a certain direction most of the time, so you usually know which way is which.
Clannish Behaviour The two 9-month-old cubs in this image are testing their skills by playing. Often I have seen mothers and other young females playing with and watching cubs of other mothers. The bears act like a nomadic clan, coming together when food is localised and spreading apart when it is dispersed. Cubs can spend up to three years with their mothers, but it appears to me that offspring often interact with their mothers throughout their lifetimes. 16
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Luck: When Opportunity Meets Preparation I took this photo (above) 13 years ago. I had one last frame available when this opportunity arose. For this reason, and because of the image’s light and composition as well as the cub’s pose with a strip of whale baleen, this has always been one of my favourite images.
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teven Kazlowski combines his passion for wildlife photography with a degree in marine biology to record and show how climate change and industrialisation are affecting the Arctic in general, and jeopardising polar bears in particular. He travels around the United States conducting educational outreach on polar bears and Arctic environments. His goal is to create awareness and promote conservation of natural environments by making striking images that connect people to places and animals. He still spends more than six months a year photographing the Alaskan Arctic.
Resilience When Coping With Potential Disaster These animals never fail to inspire me. This 2010 image shows an adult sow that had a broken back leg when she showed up in 2009 looking extremely skinny. She left in fall 2009 with the ice, extremely full from the remains of a whale. The following summer she returned with the two yearling cubs in the photo and then reappeared in fall 2011 with the same cubs. She might not have fared so well had she broken a front leg. Polar bears sometimes lie outside a seal hole and use front paws to grab a seal coming up for air. When polar bears swim, they use front paws as power and back legs as rudders.
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Featured
MERCURY’S EFFECTS ON THE FOOD CHAIN
Jeff Haller (Keyhole Photo / Corbis)
By Paul Tolmé
As the US prepares to implement new rules on coal-plant emissions, recent studies reveal that a dangerous pollutant is accumulating in more habitats and harming more wildlife than anyone previously thought
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ocated in the middle of scenic Lake George in upstate New York, tiny Dome Island would seem an unlikely location for mercury contamination. The 16-acre preserve is a gem of conservation where songbirds flitter among old trees. It has never been inhabited, and there is no indication it has ever been logged. In 2006, however, researchers discovered that some of the island’s songbirds have among the highest mercury levels of any forest songbirds in the US Northeast. That startling news was followed in 2011 by research showing the island’s spiders also had elevated mercury levels. Dome Island highlights a continuing and growing threat to wildlife: airborne mercury pollution. Coal-fired power plants are the leading sources of mercury in the United States, belching more than 50 tons of the neurotoxin annually. Much of the
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mercury falls near the source, but some flows into the atmosphere and drifts long distances, falling back to Earth in rain, snow and as dry particulates. This problem of “atmospheric deposition” of mercury is a global dilemma but is particularly acute downwind of coal-burning epicentres. A flood of new data shows that atmospheric deposition of mercury is affecting more lands and waters, and harming more wildlife, than previously known. Mercury, which can adversely alter the neurological and reproductive systems of humans and wildlife, has long been known to contaminate freshwater lakes, fish and fish-eating birds, including loons and eagles. A recent study by scientists and other researchers confirmed this problem, showing that common loons with elevated mercury levels produced significantly fewer chicks. Until recently, however, terrestrial species that do not eat
fish were thought to be safe. In 2005, that perception changed when researchers documented mercury in Bicknell’s thrushes, terrestrial birds that inhabit mountaintops in the Northeast. The ground-breaking discovery jump-started an inquiry into mercury levels in other songbird species.
Results of Study on Mercury Levels
The resulting data, published in 2011, shows: • Wetland birds in mercury hot spots are highly prone to contamination. That’s because water, especially water acidified by air pollution, speeds up the process through which bacteria convert inorganic mercury from coal into its organic, poisonous cousin, methyl-mercury. • Wetlands, bogs, coastal marshes, even foggy mountaintops and forest floors are all incubators for methyl-mercury. Insects
Right: Anthony Cusumano; Far Right: Bob Chauncey
and invertebrates in these moist habitats feed on plant debris containing the substance, allowing it to enter the terrestrial food web. Larger insects and spiders eat the smaller insects, and songbirds eat the toxic insects and spiders. At each step up the food chain, the mercury becomes more concentrated, a process known as bio-magnification. • Saltmarsh sparrows and rusty blackbirds, species of high conservation concern, show the highest contamination levels. The sparrows breed in coastal wetlands, feeding on spiders, flies and amphipods. Researchers worry that methyl-mercury could hamper the birds’ ability to choose safe nesting sites. • Even trace amounts of methylmercury not previously considered dangerous can harm reproduction. Carolina wrens with 1.2 parts per million of methyl-mercury in their blood showed reduced nesting success of 20 percent, according to a 2011 study. The birds’ prey includes spiders, which contain some of the invertebrate world’s highest-recorded levels of the pollutant. Researchers believe songbirds with feeding habits similar to Carolina wrens will have comparable rates of
In a remote area of New York, scientists unexpectedly found extremely high levels of mercury in birds and their prey. Researchers suspect that the pollutant flows into this region in emissions from coal-plant smokestacks far away.
reproductive failure. • Songbirds aren’t alone in facing the threat of mercury poisoning. Bats, already stressed by whitenose syndrome and facing population declines, consume huge quantities of insects during their long lifespans, allowing them to accumulate lots of mercury.
Coal-Fired power plants
This data is arriving as the United States prepares to implement long-overdue regulations on coal-fired power plants. No one can say for sure where Dome Island’s mercury originated, but atmospheric deposition is the prime suspect. Conservationists
hope the new findings will help push forward a comprehensive national mercury policy in the US that, for the first time, will target coal power plants. One such regulation requires power plants to reduce their mercury output by 90 percent from late-2011 to 2016. US regulations alone, however, will not solve the problem. Coal is the cheap fuel of choice for much of the developing world. China is erecting new coal power plants at a rapid pace. Some of the mercury emitted in Asia rises into the atmosphere and feeds a growing global mercury cloud, depositing the neurotoxin in completely new locations around the world. Hoping to stem this problem, the United Nations Environment Programme will attempt to ratify an international mercury treaty in 2013.
Gerrit Vyn (Animals Animals)
Coal Problem Mercury problem
Endangered Indiana bats (above) accumulate high mercury levels in their systems from eating vast numbers of insects.
The mercury problem is essentially a coal problem. Burning coal fuels a host of environmental ills, from climate change to acid rain, smog and habitat loss, at great cost to human health and wildlife. Scientists say we have the technology: the real question is not how to transition from coal to a power system that utilizes cleaner, renewable sources and technologies, but implementing the technology. Only then will the Dome Island songbirds be safe.
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Viewpoints
Conservation versus Convenience
E
ksong
arlier this year, the Ministry of Transport announced plans for a major MRT line running from Changi to the Jurong Industrial Estate. Targeted to be completed by 2030, the 50km Cross Island Line (CRL) will be Singapore’s longest train line. Providing commuters with an alternative for East-West travel to the current East-West line, CRL also connects to all other major lines to serve as a key transfer line. Therefore, the CRL will relieve load on several of the existing lines. As unveiled, the CRL passes through the southern section of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR), as it goes from Sin Ming to Bukit Timah. One particular concern is the fate of primary forest remnants that the CRL will traverse if built as presented. Already, less than 0.2% of the lowland rainforest that originally covered most of Singapore remains. In addition, the stream systems through which the CRL passes are especially vulnerable. Though these habitats are currently protected as part of a Nature Reserve, they are nonetheless now threatened.
Students’ view In Singapore we do not have much land and therefore the Nature Reserve is precious to us. But when I think about the history of human development, it is unavoidable to have some damage to nature. So my view is that it is acceptable to build the line across the Nature Reserve. Zhang Dewen, Class 2/1 Clementi Woods Secondary School I think that the Cross Island Line must be rerouted in order to protect the habitats of the Nature Reserve such as the animals and rare species living in it. I request that the Transport Ministry reconsider their decision so that our next generation could also enjoy what we have. Even though the Cross Island Line increases our convenience, we should do it responsibly. Tiwari Aman, Class 2/2 Clementi Woods Secondary School I think that although they are trying to improve Singapore’s transport system, they need to think of the natural ecosystem in Singapore. By building this train line, it will affect Singapore’s
diminishing forests. I think it would be better if they rerouted the train line so that we can continue to enjoy what little is left of our nature reserve, otherwise we have to go elsewhere to enjoy it. Esther Tan, Class 2/1 Clementi Woods Secondary School The Cross Island Line should be rerouted as it would destroy the Nature Reserve in Singapore. Singapore has only this tiny bit of green left and our environment is already being polluted. We should protect it instead of destroying it. Protecting the environment is an important worldwide issue. Nicole Lam, Class 2/1 Clementi Woods Secondary School I think it is a good idea to have the Cross Island Line so that in the future, there will be more train lines so that people can travel more easily from one place to another. Even though it will destroy the natural habitat, but due to Singapore’s population growth, this will solve transport problems. Than Sin Mui, Class 2/1 Clementi Woods Secondary School
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Think to Do 1. How is the gender of the turtle hatchlings determined? 2. Why are Doves often used to as a symbol of marriage? 3. What is the meaning of Hachiko in Japanese? 4. Can you guess this juxtapoz that are related to persistence? A
B
5. Planning goes a long way.
6. What is the fear of death called? A Claustrophobia B Necrophobia C Arachnophobia 7. Which of the world monuments does not preserve someone who had died? A The Leaning Tower of Pisa B Taj Mahal C Westminster Abbey 8. Washoe was the first chimp to learn human sign language. How many signs did she learn in 6 years? A 5 B 150 C 1000 22
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Think Earth August
CROSSWORD
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12 www.CrosswordWeaver.com
ACROSS ACROSS 1. material that is burned to
that or is power burned to produce 1 material produce heat heat or power 6. death 6 7.death a heavy silvery-white heavy metal that is 7 ametal thatsilvery-white is liquid at ordinary temperature liquid at ordinary temperature 9. regions around the Pole theNorth North Pole 9 regions around stayawake awake to to keep to to stay keepwatch watch 10 10. sheetofoffloating floating ice ice sheet 11 11. 12. clearing of forests or trees trees 12 clearing of forests or
DOWN DOWN 2. widespread of an infectious of anatinfectious 2 widespread disease in a community a disease in a community at a particular time particular time 3. practise of farming loss of the to move 3 4. loss of the abilityability to move 5. a 4combustible black rocktofound loss of the ability move mainly in underground deposits 5 a combustible black rock found and widely as a fuel mainlyused in underground deposits 8. a substance used to stimulate the and widely used as a fuel production of antibodies used to stimulate the 8 a substance production of antibodies
Answer 1. The gender of the hatchlings is determined by the temperature of the sand during incubation. A higher temperature will result in female hatchlings. 2. Doves, like Petrels are monogamous birds. These birds pair up and stay together to raise their young. Unlike other birds that stay together for a season, these birds stay together for years.
3. ‘Hachi’ in Japanese means 8, which is the birth order of the dog. ‘Ko’ means duke or prince. 4. A Far-sighted, B Hanging tough 6. B Necrophobia 7. A The Leaning Tower of Pisa 8. B 150 signs
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This week’s puzzle: August Solution:
F U E L C P M O R T A L I T A D L E M E V I A R C T I C C C V I G I L F N D E F O R E S T
A P G A Y R R I A C L R C U R Y L S T I U S R L O E A T I O N
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Finding Humour A man took his 7 year old son to the zoo. They had a good time observing he animals. The father was proud that his son could name the animals. When they approached the elephant enclosure the son suddenly yelled “Dad, this is a frickin elephant”. The father was shocked and embarrassed. “What did you say son?” “It’s a frickin elephant.” The son repeated. The father went on to lecture his son about his language and how he should not learn these words from his friends in school. After the lecture, his son pointed to the signboard which read “A F R I C A N E L E P H A N T”
A student was telling his classmate that his goldfish could do break dance on the carpet. “Cool man, can I see it?” the classmate asked. “No he could only do it for 30 seconds, then he died”.
A team of animals were playing football. They were divided into 2 teams, small animals and big animals. During the first half the big animals scored 5 goals, during the second half, the centipede playing for the little animals scored 7 goals. After the game, the little rabbit from the little animals team asked the centipede why he didn’t play in the first half. The centipede answered “I was busy putting on my shoes”.
Overheard in the train “I am trying to find a good time to tell my dog that he is adopted”.
iCLIPART (6)
A lawyer went hunting and shot a duck. Unfortunately the duck fell into a farmer’s backyard. The lawyer quietly sneaked over the fence and tried to retrieve the duck. Suddenly the farmer showed up with a shot gun and said “You are trespassing on my property.” The lawyer argued, “But you are threatening me with a deadly weapon, I can sue you for that.” The farmer then said, “Well we can settle it right here with the 3 kick rule.” “What’s that?” the lawyer asked. “The 3 kick rule goes like this, we take turns to give each other 3 kicks, whoever gives up first loses” explains the farmer.
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The lawyer agreed, seeing how he was stronger and younger. The farmer said he will kick first and proceeded to give the lawyer a kick in the shin. The lawyer fell onto the ground and writhed in pain. While he was still on the ground, the farmer kicked him in the butt and the lawyer bent backwards with a scream, finally the farmer landed one on the lawyer’s chin which caused the lawyer to almost black out. After a while, the lawyer got up on his feet and steadied himself. He then said “Now is my turn!” Upon which the farmer promptly replied “I give up”.
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