Rice's Whales Critically Endangered Species Status

Hello, welcome and good day!

OK folks, so the heavy news today is that the United States’ oiling and gassing activities have yet again been endangering another endangered species. Rice’s whales in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s coast. A Rice’s whale you may ask? Some of you may not have heard of this whale before because they were only recognized in 2021 as their own distinct species, a subspecies of the Byrde’s whale. The species is named after Dale W. Rice, the marine biologist who recognized this population of whales was likely distinct from other Byrde’s whales in a 1965 report, which wasn’t confirmed until decades later after careful DNA, skull, and vocalization analyses. Now it turns out, there are maybe only 51 individual whales of this entire species remaining, making it critically endangered. The death of a single female breeding whale could be catastrophic for the entire species. It’s one of the rarest marine animals in the world and it is facing high extinction threats.

Due to increased US oil pursuits, Rice’s whales have become at higher risk of getting smashed to pieces by oil vessels since they spend most of their time near the surface at night. Additional risks: underwater vessel noises disrupt whale communication and navigation. Plus, the uptick risk of oil spills, climate change, plastic trash entanglements, microplastics, habitat degradation, chemical pollution, etc. etc. The 2010 BP oil spill killed over 22% of their population. 

 

Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei) – public domain image via NOAA Fisheries.

Environmental groups’ proposed protections include vessel speed limits, maintaining safe distances, and restricting nighttime travel. As expected, oil companies and political faces opposed these measures in the name of the economy. Over 100 scientists stated that if things don’t change, this will be the first whale species humans blast into extinction land.

Why is this all important? One, it would be a disgrace if we smashed these whales into extinction. Two, whales are majestic, inspire awe and connection to nature. They’re in myths, stories and art. An extinction of the Rice’s whale would be a reminder of our increasing disconnection from nature. It could lead to decline of biodiversity, overgrowth of harmful species, and collapse of fisheries. This could create less reliable seafood and economic loss for fishing communities. Rice’s whales play a key role in pulling CO₂ out of the atmosphere, so that could mean increased climate instability. These whales are like canaries in an ocean coal mine. Their presence indicates a relatively balanced eco system. If they become extinct, it suggests that human pressures have overwhelmed even the most resilient marine species, which could mean other species are next. Failure to protect Rice’s whales would reflect that we care more about our short-term monies over long-term wellbeing. It would increase our sense of grief, anxiety, and sense of helplessness over ecological loss. It would diminish our sense of trust in institutions and in our own sense of personal agency to make any sort of difference. It could diminish our sense of wonder, awe and belonging on this earth.

What the heck can we do about a Rice’s whale in the Gulf of Mexico not getting grinded into tiny bits by an oil vessel backed by a multibillion-dollar business? First and foremost, we need to take a good look deep inside ourselves at our value systems. The current situation reflects that humanity values the wallet bulge inside our pocket more than an entire species of whale. It reflects we don’t want to be inconvenienced by having to change habits like slowing down our boat speeds or not vesseling around at night. It reflects our utter disconnection from nature.

My sense is that we need to love nature, love that Rice’s whale like our life depends on it. Because ultimately it does. We need to summon that innate connection we have with nature and let it matter more than oil. More than gold watches. We’ve been hiding inside our sterile houses hunched over our computers, tvs and various devices sucking our lives away. It’s essential we nurture that connection to nature. Luckily, simply being with nature does the trick. Whether it’s going on a hike. Getting our hands in the dirt. Watching bumble bees buzzing around flowers. Growing a tomato or a potato. Picking a berry. Whatever it takes to fall in love with nature again. Anything we can do to connect with it. That’s the heartbeat of the issue.  

Obviously, this whole thing is bigger than our individual effort, no matter how hard we look inside our hearts. Or how many potatoes we grow. It makes sense why we’d throw up our hands into helplessness. But our collective efforts do count. We can pick one thing and start from the ground up. Every little bit helps.

-        Small shifts:

o   Reduce plastic use (100% the lowest hanging fruit every time)

o   Recycle less, reuse more: reuse jars, repurpose old containers, repair things instead of tossing

o   Buy lettuce at a farmer’s market instead of the normal plastic box lettuce

o   Buy sustainable seafood [salmon share link]

o   Choose canoeing over motorboating

 

-        Activism steps:

o   Talk about this with one person this week, share a story (this one?) or write your own and share it

o   Sign petition to protect Rice’s whales [link] or the Gulf

o   Support organizations working to enforce the Endangered Species Act and know how to channel our support strategically

§  Earthjustice: legal defenders of endangered species

§  Defendersof Wildlife: litigation and policy work

§  TheNature Conservancy: land protection and habitat restoration

§  Centerfor Biological Diversity: legal advocacy, species listing petitions, habitat protection

§  HealthyGulf: protecting the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem

o   Vote for politicians who prioritize environmental justice, biodiversity, clean energy over fossil fuel extraction

o   Email your representative and ask them to protect marine wildlife and reduce offshore oil development

The more we care and connect with nature at an individual level and eventually at a collective level, the more we can help the Rice’s whale. I do not want to be part of the story where humans make the first whale species ever to go extinct, where I didn’t even try to help. One step I want to add to my rhythm is to check out a farmer’s market and buy a vegetable not wrapped in saran wrap. And I signed a petition.

 

Public domain via NOAA Fisheries

Happy World Environment Day!

Hello, welcome and good day!

I’ve been wanting to get back to these hot topics for years now. More than ever, I want to put out a little optimism. And where better to have hope than with our endangered species and animal buddies?

June 5 has been designated as World Environment Day. In 1972 the United Nations launched the first major conference on environmental issues June 5 in Stockholm, Sweden, originally called the Conference on the Human Environment. Over the last 53 years, the hope has been to create a platform to preserve and enhance the environment and take action on issues like consumption, waste, toxic chemicals and climate change. The Republic of Korea is hosting the event this year and the 2025 spotlight is on ending plastic pollution.

Here’s the bugaboo: our willy-nilly consumption of plastic water bottles and cereal bags sets the stage for our sea turtle, seabird and whale buddies to choke down plastic floaters or get tangled up in the six-pack rings and strings from party trash. Breeding and feeding grounds are degrading for our endangered buddies in habitats like coral reefs, wetlands and forests due to the mounds of plastic dumped into the planet that end up leaking into these sensitive places. Incinerating the plastic as is typically done turbo-speeds greenhouse gases into a climate change predicament. Also, there’s the nonsense of the plastics leaking into the soil, water, food chains and whatnot, riddling our brains with plastic. Plastic trash is not just floating around the ocean. It’s floating around inside you. And inside me.  We too are degrading due to plastic, not unlike the wetlands.

Gross, right? Don’t panic. We can take steps. I think it’s mostly going to come down to policy and our collective insistence that manufacturers who defecate out the plastic take it back from consumers and transform it without dumpster firing our environment. Where we can hit the ground is from the angle of supply and demand. Like bring our own water bottle, travel mug, or cloth bag. Dialogue is another way to make progress. Let’s talk about trash, baby. Let’s talk about you and me. Let’s talk about plastic riddling our brains. And also buying in bulk at low-waste shopping systems. Use glass, aluminum, and paper products whenever we can. Pick one plastic-elimination option for the month and see how it integrates. I’m going to try to start bringing my own glass takeout box for leftovers. Shout out to Algramo in Chile. A company that puts machines in convenience stores where customers can refill their shampoo, laundry detergent, and other liquid essentials without having to buy and trash a new plastic bottle into the ocean every single time. Saludos a Chile y Algramo.

Full disclosure: I am still trying my damndest to ween off the plastic teat. Mission incomplete. And still trying.

Over and out.

Britt

Photo by Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash

Photo by Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash

African Elephants Poached Like a Common Egg

Sometimes when you think you couldn’t possibly get more disappointed, you simply can. Apparently, 35,000 elephants are getting poached each year since 2010. At this rate, elephants will go extinct in the next 100 years. Are you serious? Yes, dead serious. Over the last 40 years, more than 600,000 elephants have been poached in Africa. This dramatic loss is creating countless baby orphans and breaking up entire elephant societies. They cannot sustain themselves at this rate.  

We all know that the trading ivory is illegal. Has been since 1989. But the thing is, it’s only gotten far worse since then. It’s now turned into this cluster of organized crime, forged documents, shoot outs, smuggling, and other nasty schemes.  Millions of dollars are in this black market business so there are few things low life people wouldn’t do for that kind of cash.

This demand is so deeply rooted in traditions and status of some Asian cultures, that it’s hardly possible to begin to think of a single idea about how to end this.  Maybe we need to start an Ivory Sucks campaign to nip the Worst Trend in the World Ever in the bud. I mean wearing teeth is far grosser than wearing cat hair on your jacket. Teeth/tusks/whatever. Don’t sport it, ancient art or fresh out of the face. Don’t do any of it. It’s gross. It’s selfish. It’s damaging. Are we cave people? I don’t even think the cave people were as dirty as we are today.  Honestly, these savages should just poach ivory out of their own face. Enough said. I need to stop myself before this gets too mean to post.

Over and out.

Britt

 via {Flickr, by Ed Yourdon}

Legit Sources

BBC

CBS

Victoria Falls Guide

Washington Post

PBS

Argentina, Let Arturo Go

Come on, Argentina. Isn’t it a little bit embarrassing and gross that you are holding a 29 year old polar bear captive in 100°F weather in your zoo? I thought the polar bear in the San Diego zoo had it bad.

Over 237,000 people have already signed a petition to have Arturo sent to the Polar Bear Conservation Center in Canada. Motherland basically. But get this, the director of the Argentinian zoo actually said that it would be “unsafe” to move him in his old age. Come again? Unsafe? Really? Are you truly concerned about the safety of Arturo? Suddenly, I feel like I’m missing something. Two years ago, didn’t Arturo’s cage buddy die in that same cramped, concrete enclosure? And now Arturo is all alone and expressing signs of loneliness and distress / living in unsafe conditions. If you want to keep him safe, build him a safe environment, give him what he needs or let the experts in the Arctic take it from here and save you from even more embarrassment. Maybe you don’t have a concept of what polar bears are, but  crying out loud, just say “Thank you Canada” and let our bear buddy go. He’ll have a better life. 

Over and out. 

Britt

Arturo, dubbed World's Saddest Animal {via Yahoo News}

Happy World Ranger Day!

Hello, welcome and good day!

I must admit that I did not know we have a World Ranger Day. But I am so glad we do. Trailblazed by the International Ranger Federation in 1992, every July 31, World Ranger Day is a day to celebrate and appreciate the rangers who risk their lives every day to protect wildlife and habitats from poaching and other threats. Rangers are our most precious allies in protecting wildlife, as they are out on the front lines and are generally under-equipped and under-paid. Rangers are up against terrorist organizations, rebel and militia groups who are extremely financed and often use machine guns, rocket launchers, helicopters and other military equipment for their dirty poaching operations. Big $$ in the black market for animal parts. People are so weird what they do with parts.

Pretty dark. Seriously though, these bad ass rangers are truly an asset to our wildlife and our world. This would be a very different place if we didn’t have these fighters out in the trenches. Sadly, over 1000 park rangers have been killed in 35 countries over the last 10 years. Their job is no joke. Thank you rangers who risk your life and those who gave it. No doubt this world would be 10,000 leagues under an even bigger mess without you. Know that you are needed. Know that you are appreciated. Know that you are important. Prince William wrote a little thank you. Props, Prince.  Thank you. Gracias. Grazzi. Asante. Спасибо. I am so glad you are fighting the good fight.

Thanks for swinging by. Good day and good night.

Over and out.

Britt

Honor Roll - those known to have died in the line of duty over the last 12 months.

via {International Ranger Federation}

Loophole Policy on Killing Endangered Species. Yes. It's true.

Hello, welcome and good day!

I want to tip my hat to all the fighters out there who are bringing attention to the US Department of Justice for allowing hunters/any person who kills endangered animals to go unpunished. Yes, amazingly, there is a 15 year old loophole called McKittrick policy that prevents criminal prosecution against people who kill endangered species. This includes grizzly bears, Mexican wolves, California condors, etc. RIP little buddies. Don’t know about your mind, but my mind is blown. Shame on you Department of Justice. Shame. On. You.

I read the LA Times article U.S. sued over policy on killing endangered wildlife by Julie Cart last night and was inspired to start this thing. I truly believe it is important to have a dialog about these issues. Ignoring the issue is no doubt, the absolute worst thing we can do about this. It is critical Friends that we are aware about these problems. Because not only is it an issue in Africa, Asia, the Arctic, but it’s a problem where I live, it’s a problem where you live, it is a problem where everybody lives.

Thank you Julie Cart for writing this article and getting it in the LA Times and now it is plastered around the internet. Thank you WildEarth Guardians and New Mexico Wilderness Alliance for standing up to the Justice Department since our little buddies can’t do it themselves. Best of luck to you and I hope you burry that McKittrick policy deep.

Thank you for swinging by. Come back for more updates on this issue and other endangered species info.

Images via {photobucket}