Mother's Day 2012

Animal Mothers

        We celebrate Mother's Day every year to show our appreciation and gratitude towards our mothers for all the hard work they do every day to take care of us. Less noticed by us is how extraordinary animal mothers are in taking care of their offspring, and the extremes to which they will go to ensure their young's safety.
        There are countless examples of extreme mothers in the natural world, and there are a few that come to mind automatically. Lionesses band together in nursery-like groups in order to better protect their cubs, for when the pride is taken over by a new male he will kill the old male's cubs so the females will go back into heat. This will enable the new male to start his own bloodline in the pride, but regardless of who the father is the mothers will fight savagely against the larger aggressors to save her cubs. Polar bears give birth during the winter months in hibernation, and sometimes have to feed their cubs milk even though the mother has not eaten herself in many months. Salmon travel by instinct against river currents for miles to the spawning ground, where they themselves had been born. Against all odds, most survive the journey and of those survivors most will die after the spawning is complete, giving the ultimate sacrifice for the next generation. Probably the most incredible, chimpanzees are such socially oriented creatures that they will adopt orphan chimps and raise them as their own. These mothers seem to recognize that the survival of their young, regardless of the father or if it is even their own, is essential in the continuation of their species.

        A few weeks ago, I witnessed a mother and her ducklings in a courtyard between two buildings. Apparently, the mother Mallard had nested there, and has been doing so for years now. The building staff were aware of this situation, and provided crushed corn and fresh water for the ducks, although they should be able to find everything they need in the underbrush of the courtyard.
        I spoke to one of those staff members as he was refilling the fresh water tubs, and he said that there was no need to disturb the nest and attempt to move the ducklings until needed. Usually, they wait until the ducklings are 4 weeks old, and then a group of 5 to 7 adults help shuffle the family out of the courtyard and down to the nearby lake, where the youngsters can grow up on their own in their natural habitat. Below are pictures I took of the group when I got the chance.

This is a paper which was taped to the courtyard entrance. I think this notice was an excellent idea, so visitors know that there are ducks present, and how the local staff are taking care of them. 

This is a view of the mother duck with some of her babies. The nest is behind her by about twelve feet in a bush, and there is a path in the vines that allows the group to enter and exit their home. 

The staff members placed the plastic tub in the courtyard and made sure it was filled with fresh water. Here, you can see some of the ducklings already expressing their instinctive desire to swim. 

        "From the crawling ant to the leaping antelope" ("The Lion King", 1994), every mother raises her children a little differently. Some are more distant, such as spiders, who produce hundreds of young at a time, or sharks, who will sometimes attempt to eat their young after birth. These are more like clockmakers, who simply set life into motion and let natural selection take it from there. Others are more invested, such as kangaroos, who as marsupials carry in a stomach pouch their joey until fully weaned, or rhinoceroses, who have an 18 month gestation period. We as humans would fall into the latter category for the most part, since in general we house and feed our young until they go to college and move out on their own.

        An excellent website that reports on newly made moms is www.zooborns.com. They are either sought after by, or seek out themselves zoos and aquariums around the world which have just acquired new animal babies to their collection. I felt a need to make a shout-out to their site because it offers an excellent bridge between people who may not be the biggest animal lovers but can appreciate an adorable baby (animal) picture, and the cute accounts of young wildlife. Plus, I find the site so enjoyable, that I made ZooBorns my homepage.

EARTH DAY 2012

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!

      I love that there is an international official holiday dedicated to the celebration of our Earth and its health. Although I think people should be more aware of environmental issues year-round, having such an event as Earth Day allows people who may not usually be exposed to those issues to be enlightened and learn better ways to extrapolate "Earth Day practices" ----such as recycling, planting trees, and picking up litter---- to other parts of their calendar.

The History
     The idea of Earth Day came to founder Gaylord Nelson, at the time a US Senator of Wisconsin, after witnessing the devastating 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a "national teach-in on the environment" to the national media.
      As a result, on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
      Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. "It was a gamble," Gaylord recalled, "but it worked."
      Much like 1970, Earth Day 2010 came at a time of great challenge for the environmental community. Climate change deniers, well-fundedoil lobbyists, reticent politicians, a disinterested public, and a divided environmental community all contributed to a strong narrative that overshadowed the cause of progress and change. In spite of the challenge, for its 40th anniversary, Earth Day Network reestablished Earth Day as a powerful focal point around which people could demonstrate their commitment. Earth Day Network brought 225,000 people to the National Mall for a Climate Rally and launched an international, 1-million tree planting initiative with Avatar director James Cameron and tripled its online base to over 900,000 community members.
     The fight for a clean environment continues in a climate of increasing urgency, as the ravages of climate change become more manifest every day. We invite everyone to be a part of Earth Day and help write many more victories and successes to Earth Day's history. Discover energy you didn't know you had. Feel it rumble through the grassroots under your feet and the technology at your fingers. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come.

A Day of Adventure
      There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day. We could recycle more and reduce the amount of energy we use (which also saves us money, as an added incentive). We could also reuse things that break, such as if a pot shatters we could use the pieces to make a mosaic picture frame, or if a pair of jeans gets ripped we could use it to make doll clothes or a chic denim pocketbook.
      For one thing, the way I celebrated Earth Day was fun and interesting. As my first organized event as the Environmental Commissioner for my college dorm, I hosted a Clean Our Lakes initiative, where we walked around the two lakes on campus wearing latex gloves and carrying garbage bags, picking up litter as we went. I set up this event because our lakes are absolutely stunning and yet I had always noticed litter whenever I visited. Even though I expected to find a substantial amount of litter today, I was not prepared for the shear multitude of trash per square foot. It is one thing to walk past litter and think "It is terrible that someone would leave their trash on the ground; someone should pick it up", but it is another thing to actually go through with the task of picking up the litter you come across.

      The funny thing, was that when my friend and I were picking up litter around the lakes, one of the resident Canadian geese came over to see what we were doing and began to follow us. I thought it was cute that s/he was swimming alongside us in the lake while we were on shore cleaning up, but when the goose left the water we calmly kept on walking. S/he seemed bent on bothering us, and when s/he caught up to us (I had stopped to take a picture of a box turtle), s/he hissed to let us know we were unwelcome. We kept picking up litter, but now with one eye on the goose trailing us, and ears aware to other signs of geese activity.

A picture of me picking up litter by Saint Mary's Lake. If I look awkward, it is because I was in the midst of a large Canadian goose posse and was wary of an ambush. Photos (this and above) taken by my friend on my camera. 

      No matter what you do to celebrate Earth Day, it should be something that you find fun and that fits with your lifestyle. If you enjoy what you do, then you are more likely to be good at it and to do it well.  On a side note, I also put bird seed outside my window for the local birds every Saturday, so as an extra Earth Day treat, I put more out today. I may blog about them soon, as soon as I can catch better pictures of them. 

      Earth Day is a special time to celebrate and protect our planet. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, there has been success but there is still much more to do. We can all help in many ways: picking up litter, planting trees, and saving energy.

The Bridge to Russia

My Universal Essay


      During my sophomore year of high school, I participated in the Russian Exchange Program offered at my school. Based on a worksheet I filled out describing my likes and dislikes, I was assigned a partner from a high school in Moscow. In November, she came to visit us in New York, where she would come with me to school and go site seeing with the rest of the Russian group during the day. Then in April, I went to Moscow and spent two weeks with her, going to school with her, and site seeing with my American group during the day. For a few days towards the end of her time here, her group went on a trip to Washington D.C., and while there my group and I went on a trip to Saint Petersburg for a few days. 
      It was such a great once in a lifetime experience for me, and I am so glad I did it. I enjoyed it so much, I wrote about it in one of the CommonApp essays that I sent to all the colleges I applied to. I pasted it below for you to read, and I think it does a better job explaining the program and what it means to me than I could in my previous paragraph:

     It is spring of my sophomore year, and I am spending two weeks with my Russian exchange partner, Masha Leonenko. I arrive at an airport, board a plane with my fellows classmates, and disembark at another airport. I wave goodbye to my family in New York, and wave hello to Masha’s family in Moscow. I leave my country behind and enter a new one, but I am to learn that while scenery and culture might change, people are constant.

I am surrounded by people different than me, but none are aliens. On my way to school with Masha, I notice, regardless of whether it is Tretyakovski Station or Grand Central Station, people pack into trains like sardines. Students in school put their jackets away in their lockers and spend the day in their designated classes. There are classes that Masha likes and classes that she does not, just as there are classes that I like and classes that I do not. I discuss the math problems on the board with my fellow American classmates also on the exchange, I listen along during History class, and I watch “The Great Gatsby” in English class. 

At night when I see the Russian production of “Monte Cristo”, it strikes the same spiritual chords as Broadway’s “The Phantom of the Opera”. I am proficient in Russian, but not fluent. However, when watching the Moscow production of “Monte Cristo”, the language barrier does not hinder the experience in the least. The emotions and tensions of the moment shine through the acting, voices, stage directions, and other visual cues. When my eyes close and I hear the music, am I in New York or Moscow?

When the wind blows, it still sends shivers down my spine. When it snows, it is still cold to my touch. The stunning museums I visit and my host family’s hospitality melt all stereotypes away. If I misbehave, I am not sent to a gulag labor camp. The KGB are not having me followed, and the Communists are not brainwashing me while I sleep. On Masha’s windowsill a rose blooms, and on her rug the ginger cat----Musya----plays with string. 

We are two different people living on opposite ends of the globe; Masha Leonenko and I have many differences. She is used to snowy days and city nights, whereas I am used to leafy days and cozy nights. She lives with the remnants of a controlled society but an evolving freedom and I with the spirit of a great society and beacon of freedom. She has blond hair and blue eyes, and I brown hair and brown eyes. She has a cat, and I have two dogs. Masha is an only child, while I am one of four. 

Even so, Masha Leonenko and I are mirror images. Our basis for joining the exchange program is the same; our love for culture and exploration through experiencing other languages, places and people. 

Russia and America are not the same; no two countries are. Each has their own blend of unique cultural characteristics. During our time together, Masha and I celebrate our differences, and they do not inhibit the growth of our friendship. This program is not a culture clash, but a culture mesh. My time in Russia teaches me that regardless of our national identities, we are all human. We are the same while we are different.

This is of me and a Russian man on Arbat (a strip of cobble stone streets with venders, restaurants, and shops), Moscow. He drew a magnificent charcoal sketch of me, which I am holding in the photo and still have hanging in my New York bedroom. 

This is of Masha Leonenko, my classmate's Russian partner, my classmate, and me (from left to right). We are on a tank featured in a War World II memorial park near Masha's flat. Another Russian student is taking the photo. 

      While it may not make sense why I included this on a blog which is supposed to be primarily about animals, no matter what interest we have in this world, I believe it is important to broaden our horizons to encompass the entire globe in our thought processes. Through the internet and phone services, the world is becoming an increasingly smaller place; in order to care about one another and the animals that live in other parts of the world, we must strive to learn about and respect other cultures, especially if doing so pulls us out of our comfort zone. 

Regulating Heat in the Cold

Keeping Warm in the Arctic

      On the plane a few weeks ago, I was watching the "Coastal Seas" episode of the Blue Planet series, and they mentioned ways in which warm blooded animals maintain their body temperature while living in such cold habitats, such as the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. Then in my General Biology class, we have been learning about homeostasis and how animals physiologically maintain a balance within their bodies. Since a good amount of information from both sources overlap, I am going to describe those animals through what I have learned from both experiences.

      Walruses, when they first emerge on land to breed every year, their skin is a ghostly white. This is because they are warm blooded animals, and to conserve heat in a very cold ocean, must keep their blood concentrated in the core of their bodies. On land their outer vessels dilate, which turns their skin from white to pink. Then they can molt their skin by rubbing themselves against rocks, and no longer need to expend energy maintaining their body tempterature. In fact, conserving heat may be the main reason why so many sea dwelling mammals are forced to return to land each year.
      Elephant seals have really big noses (as you can see by the sketch of mine I have provided for you below), and I wondered why. Perhaps it serves to increase surface area within the nasal canal so the seal loses less heat and moisture to the surrounding environment. The elephant seal does live in the Antarctic Ocean, the coldest ocean in the world, so maintaining its body temperature would be a crucial aspect of its daily life.

      Not just in large nosed animals such as elephant seals, but with all endotherms (or animals which regulate their body temperature by producing heat metabolically or by using active mechanisms of heat loss), heat exchangers in the nasal passages are an excellent way to conserve both heat and moisture. During inspiration --while breathing in--, the air is warmed and saturated with water by evaporating water from the nose. Incoming air is warmed and humidified, thus cooling the nose. During expiration --while breathing out--, air is cool and loses water by condensation, which wets the nasal passage. Outgoing air is cooled and loses water, wetting the nose.
      Thus, you regain some of the water and heat that you lost when exhaling. However, it is not perfect because you will always lose some heat and water. Some water is recovered during exhalation by condensation on the cool surfaces of the nasal mucosa. Therefore, the longer and thinner the nasal passages, the more recovery. This would explain why elephant seals have such large nasal passages, but the fact that only the males have such large noses suggests there is sexual appeal behind that large nose, such as a bird's bright plumage or a lion's mane.


Lizards of the Sea: Galapagos Marine Iguana

      Cape Douglas in the West Galapagos is completely unprotected from the massive waves of the Pacific Ocean and is one of the roughest coasts in the world. The marine iguanas that live there are the only sea faring lizards, and they only eat seaweed.
      The local crabs over time have become flattened, which minimizes the effect of the waves on their balance. The iguanas have also adapted, but instead of shells they sport huge claws to grip to the rocks. Their diet is the ultimate "fast food", since they only have a few seconds to take a few mouthfuls of seaweed before the next breaker comes pounding in.
      While the females only feed on the rocks, the males will sometimes swim and dive to reach the weed. He can go as deep as ten meters, which is a desirable ability since there beyond the destructive waves are the best stores of seaweed. However, still being cold blooded, they need to return to land within ten minutes or so to warm up again in the sun. The males are bigger and thus more able to conserve their body temperature for a longer period of time, which might explain why only the males dive for food but not the smaller females.
      Some ectotherms (animals whose body temperature are determined primarily by external sources of heat), such as the marine iguana, regulate the blood flow to the skin. The Galapagos marine iguanas do this in order to alter their heating and cooling rates. As soon as the iguana enters the ocean, it begins to cool and its heart rate drops rapidly when it is cooling. However, when it leaves the ocean to bask on the hot rocks, the iguana's heart rate rises rapidly. The rate at which the iguana's body temperature warms is greater than the rate at which it cools, which is highly beneficial because it means the lizard can function for longer bouts of time under the waves and will have a shorter time needed for recovery between those bouts.
      The control of blood flow to the skin can be an important adaptation for an ectotherm such as the marine iguana (a reptile) of the Galapagos archipelago. The Galapagos are volcanic islands that lie on the equator but are bathed by cold ocean currents. The iguanas bask on hot black lava rocks on the shore, then enter the cold ocean water to feed on seaweed. When the iguanas are feeding, they cool to the temperature of the sea. This cooling lowers their metabolism, making them slower, more vulnerable to predators, and incapable of efficient digestion. They therefore alternate between feeding in the cold sea and basking on the hot rocks. It is advantageous for iguanas to retain body heat as long as possible when basking. They can accomplish these changes in heat transfer rates by changing their heart rate and the rate of blood flow to their skin.  

I did not take this picture, but found it on a Google Image search for "marine iguana". I chose this one because I liked how it showed the iguana basking with its head up high to increase the impact sunlight has on its body, and it included the local crabs and water in the background. 

      As a side note, just because I find these Galapagos marine iguanas so interesting, since the rocky shore is unsuitable to lay their eggs, the iguanas must journey inland to find a more suitable spot. The females lay their eggs in burrows to hatch from, and so they need soft sand. Although it is easy to escape danger in rocky crevices on the shore, on open sand inland they are extremely exposed to predators. Even so, if caught in the unrelenting talons of a Galapagos hawk, these lizards won't give up without a struggle.

SHELL OIL: Corrupted and Tainted

      I am writing this post because I received an email from the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental organization which strives to systematically and ambitiously use biological data, legal expertise, and the citizen petition provision of the powerful Endangered Species Act to obtain sweeping, legally binding new protections for animals, plants, and their habitats, which said that the Shell Oil Company sued the Center and 12 other environmental groups. Shell Oil is suing because the Center has stopped every offshore drilling proposal in the Arctic since 2007. Shell knows the Center for Biological Diversity is effective, and so it is trying to push it aside with an intimidating attack.
      Shell's suit does not only seek to ensure it can drill for oil this summer. It is also trying to get the Center for Biological Diversity to pay for Shell's legal fees. These will likely run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Shell game appears to be an attempt to shut down free speech, so it can push through dangerous new drilling in the fragile Arctic ecosystem.
      The Center for Biological Diversity needs help to defeat this obnoxious, anti-free-speech lawsuit, so please donate to the Center for Biological Diversity's Emergency Legal Defense Fund today. Because of this emergency, a generous Center supporter has agreed to match all donations if the Center can raise $50,000. Because I am a college student and do not have much on my hands to donate, the least I can do is spread the word. The best way to understand who to side with on this issue is to look at the history of both organizations, and whichever is more consistently respectful of both human and environmental well-being should be supported.

      Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company ("oil major") of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Shell Oil Company, including its consolidated companies and its share in equity companies, is one of America’s largest oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers. It also holds 80% of an exploration firm called Pecten that explores and drills in various offshore locations including the oil basin nearDouala, Cameroon in cooperation with the French government-owned Elf Aquitaine (now Total). 
      In 1997, Shell and Texaco entered into two refining/marketing joint ventures. One combined their midwestern and western operations and was known as Equilon. The other, known as Motiva, combined the eastern and gulf coast operations of Shell Oil and Star Enterprise, itself a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Texaco.^[6] After Texaco merged with Chevron in 2001, Shell purchased Texaco's shares in the joint ventures.^[7] In 2002, Shell began converting these Texaco stations to the Shell brand, a process that was to be completed by June 2004 and was called "the largest retail re-branding initiative in American business history."
      Until the mid 1980s Shell’s business in the United States was substantially independent, with its stock (“Shell Oil”) traded on the NYSE and with little direct involvement from the Group’s central office in The Hague, Netherlands. In 1984, Dutch Royal Shell made a bid to purchase those shares of Shell Oil Company it did not own (around 30%) and despite some opposition from some minority shareholders which led to a court case, Shell succeeded in the buy-out for a sum of $5.7 billion.^[9]

Environmental

Storage tanks and towers at Shell Puget Sound Refinery, Anacortes, Washington

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Notice of Violation to Shell Oil Company for its infringements of the Clean Air Act at a bulk petroleum terminal the company owned in Bridgeport, Connecticut, prior to October 1, 1998. According to the report, Shell loaded a total of 28.4 million gallons of gasoline onto barges without required vapor recovery equipment on seven days in 1997 resulting in 56 tons of uncontrolled volatile organic compoundemissions. During the investigation, the EPA found that Shell built an additional loading bay in 1995 without permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection. Bridgeport’s facility had been recorded to produce average of about 170 tons of volatile organic compounds per year.^[11] However, this modification has the potential of production 30 tons per year more of the pollution emissions.^[12]

Shell Puget Sound Refinery, Anacortes, Washington, was fined $291,000 from 2006 to 2010 for violations of the Clean Air Act making it the second most-fined violator in the Pacific Northwest. As of 2011, it was listed as "high priority violator" since 2008.^[13][14]

In 2008, a lawsuit was filed against Shell Oil Company for alleged Clean Air Act violation. Shell Deer Park facility, 20 miles east of Houston, was the nation’s eighth-largest oil refinery and one of the world’s largest petrochemical producers. The facility was also the second largest source of air pollution in Harris County, which ranked among the lowest in the nation in several measures of air quality.^{[News 1]} According to Sierra Club and Environment Texas, analysis of Shell’s reports to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, air pollutants released at Deer Park since 2003 exceeded the EPA's emissions limits.^[15]

Shell, working with Philips, implemented efforts to reduce the impact of its operations on the millions of migratory birds that encounter the North Sea drilling operations.^[16][17]

Polybutylene lawsuit

From 1978 to 1995, Shell Oil produced polybutylene pipes, which corrodes when exposed to chlorine. A class action lawsuit was filed in 1995 against Shell Oil when the polybutylene pipes caused flooding in many households in the US and Canada.^[20] The settlement required Shell Oil to pay for the re-installation of piping for millions of houses for claims filed through May 2009.^[21]

Nigerian settlement

Main article: Wiwa family lawsuits against Shell

Author Ken Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic Nigerian minority whose hometown, Ogoniland, in the Niger Deltahas been targeted for crude oil extraction since the 1950s and which has suffered extreme and unremediated environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate oil waste dumping. Saro-Wiwa, initially as spokesperson, and then as President, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), led a nonviolent campaign against environmental degradation of the land and natural waters ofOgoniland by the operations of multinational oil companies, especially Shell.^{[citation needed]}

At the peak of his non-violent campaign, Saro-Wiwa and the other members of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People were arrested, hastily tried by a special military tribunal, and hanged in 1995 by the Nigerian military government of General Sani Abacha, all on charges widely viewed as entirely politically motivated and completely unfounded. Their executions provoked international outrage and resulted in Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations.

Shell has been brought on trial in New York with the accusation of having collaborated with the military executions, and in June 2009, it settled out of court for US $15 million to bring the case to an end. Ben Amunwa, director of the Remember Saro-Wiwa organization, said that "No multinational company settles out of court for $15.5 million due to "humanitarian" or "compassionate" impulses.... The real reason why Shell settled is because the evidence compiled by the plaintiffs, was damning enough to force an out of court settlement."^[22]

In February 2012,^{[dated info]} the US Supreme Court will hear arguments in a similar case filed by Esther Kiobel, widow of an anti-Shell activist, against Royal Dutch Shell may proceed through the US court system.^[23]

      In light of the facts on its corrupt history, Shell Oil cannot be trusted. Not only does it have a track record for knowingly polluting the environment in order to save a quick buck, but it also seems to have a complete disregard for the well-being of the people who fight against it. The old mob boss saying, "if you're not with us, you're against us," comes to mind when Shell settled for $15.5 million to hush up the evidence compiled by plaintiffs, which enhances the idea that Shell might have been involved in the hasty trial and execution of non-violent activist Saro-Wiwa, among others.
      On the other hand, the Center for Biological Diversity's history is less violent and more civil in its motives:

      The Center for Biological Diversity was founded beneath the ancient ponderosa pines of New Mexico’s Gila wilderness, where Kierán Suckling, Peter Galvin, and Todd Schulke met while surveying owls for the U.S. Forest Service. All three were in their early twenties, with a passion for wild places; Kierán was a doctoral student in philosophy, Peter was training in conservation biology, and Todd had a background running outdoor-education programs for high-risk kids. When their surveys turned up a rare Mexican spotted owl nest in an old-growth tree, and they found out that same tree was part of a vast area slated to be razed in a massive timber sale, they took their findings to the local Forest Service manager. The Forest Service had been entrusted with shielding sensitive species from harm, but it soon became clear the agency was more invested in its relationship with big timber than in its commitment to the public to protect forest wildlife. The timber sale would go forward, in violation of the Service’s own rules.

      The three young men promptly took the story to a local paper.

      In the end, that big old tree never fell to the chainsaws, and Kierán, Peter and Todd becamepersonae non gratae at the Forest Service. Along with Dr. Robin Silver, an emergency room doctor, nature photographer, and grassroots advocate who had written an Endangered Species Act petition to protect the Mexican spotted owl — and joined by a growing group of other activists as word of mouth spread — they formed the group that would eventually be known as the Center for Biological Diversity. Tackling cattle-grazing abuses on the public lands where they lived, they leveraged protection for species like the southwestern willow flycatcher into orders to remove cows from hundreds of miles of vulnerable desert streams; with their campaigns to protect goshawks and owls, they shut down major timber operations throughout Arizona and New Mexico and brought an end to large-scale industrial logging in the heritage public lansds of the arid Southwest.

      And that was just for starters.
      With each passing year the Center has expanded its territory, which now extends to the protection of species throughout the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and international regions as remote as the North and South poles. As our range grew, and first tens, then hundreds of species gained protection as a result of our groundbreaking petitions, lawsuits, policy advocacy, and outreach to media, we went from living and working on a shoestring to having offices around the country — from relying on donated time from pro bono attorneys at large firms to building a full-time staff of dozens of prominent environmental lawyers and scientists who work exclusively on our campaigns to save species and the places they need to survive. 
      We’re now fighting a growing number of national and worldwide threats to biodiversity, from the overarching global problems of overpopulation and climate change to intensifying domestic sources of species endangerment, such as off-road vehicle excess. Based on our unparalleled record of legal successes — 93 percent of our lawsuits result in favorable outcomes — we’ve developed a unique negotiating position with both government agencies and private corporations, enabling us, at times, to secure broad protections for species and habitat without the threat of litigation. Now in our twenty-first year, we look forward to a future of continued expansion, creativity, and no-holds-barred action on behalf of the world’s most critically endangered animals and plants.

      In the need to spread the word on this issue as quickly as possible, the background on Shell Oil was taken from Wikipedia, and the background on the Center for Biological Diversity was taken from their website.
      Shell Oil is unjustly suing the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Center needs all the help we can give it in order to fight back strong. This is not the first time Shell has gone after environmentalists, and it will not be the last. As long as there are big companies stuffing their pockets with money tainted by pollution, there will be environmentalist activists there to stop them.
      So please, help the Center of Biological Diversity stand against Shell's strong-arm tactics, and at least help spread the word through your own blogs, facebook pages, and by word of mouth on this issue. The Center needs to raise $50,000 to secure the matching pledge so they can defeat Shell's attack on it, free speech, and the Arctic wilderness.
     While Shell is aggressively suing the Center, it is telling the Supreme Court that environmentalists should be prohibited from suing it. Do not let Shell's hypocrisy stand! Stop Shell's Strong-Arm Tactics!

UPDATE:

      After writing this post, I emailed a contact at the Center of Biological Diversity asking if there was anything I could add to this blog to make my presentation of the Shell Oil suit as accurate as possible. Since the Center is busy and thus does not have time to read my post, the response I received included two articles and Shell's complaint for my reference. The links given to me are offered below, and will provide a deeper understanding on the issue. 

Shell Files Pre-Emptive Offshore Drilling Lawsuit by Dan Joling of ABC News

To Avoid Last-Minute Suit, Shell Asks U.S. Court to Rule by Clifford Krauss of The New York Times

Shell's complaint against the Center 

    

An Experience with Jeff Corwin

Note: I would just like to elaborate on the previous two posts before moving on to other topics.

      "Animals: Why Should We Keep Them, and How?" was written in my junior year of high school to fulfill a research paper assignment for my AP Language & Composition class. We were told to pick a world issue, describe it, and then state ways in which we could solve that issue. Judging by my chosen issue of endangered species, I guess you can tell the wildlife conservationists early.
      For this assignment, I made my Dad drive me to the Bronx Zoo one Saturday morning to witness a book reading and signing from Jeff Corwin. Jeff Corwin is a worldwide acclaimed wildlife conservationist and television host. He won an Emmy Award for Animal Planet's "The Jeff Corwin Experience", which reaches 13 million viewers in the United States and is viewed in more than 70 countries around the world. He is well-known for producing the documentary and book 100 Heartbeats, where he displays an urgent portrait of wildlife that is suffering in silence and teetering on the brink of extinction. Corwin is imperative when discussing the power of entertainment, because he educates his audience on animals by bringing the wilderness to our living rooms, providing the importance of animal preservation through his humorous and vibrant personality.
      I longed to meet Jeff Corwin so badly because his input on the endangered species issue would be prized in my paper, and I had watched his show with my older brother when we were little. After Jeff Corwin did a select reading from his new children's fiction book, Your Backyard is Wild!, he answered some questions from the crowd and I took notes on his responses. Let's see if I can translate my own notes into understandable sentences:
      Jeff Corwin began as a conservationist-naturalist with reptiles and amphibians because of his first experience with a garter snake. He was visiting his grandparents' house when he was 6 years old, and when he saw something scaly and strange in the wood pile, he grabbed it. It turned out to be a garter snake, and it grabbed him right back. He staggered into the house looking for the adults, with the snake hanging from his arm by its mouth. However, when they wanted to take the snake away and put it outside, he didn't want them to. When asked why not, Jeff gestured to the snake and said, "Because I love it."
      Jeff has been on television shows spreading the word on animals and their importance in our world for nearly 15 years. He and his team of colleagues have collected everything from skins to feces to venom while studying and following snakes. He has encountered rare species of sea snakes, and he has discovered the largest anaconda while in Venesuela. And Jeff Corwin has loved every minute of it.
      When questioned on his pets, he admitted that instead of "snakes hanging from the chandelier and crocodiles in the bathtub", he has one living cat and one helping the tree int he backyard grow. This is all that he wants, because Jeff says nontraditional animals do not make good pets. People are often misinformed on how to properly care for wild pets, and so the animals are often abandoned or otherwise mistreated. Therefore, we should limit exotic animals as pets.
      Jeff Corwin also mentioned that since we were on the topic of pets, he believes we should buy our pets from pounds in order to promote disapproval of puppy mills and the mistreatment of animals by pet stores.
      Corwin told the crowd how when he was young he volunteered at a wildlife center near his house. They would take in hurt animals, help them heal, and then release them back into their habitat when they were ready. He said that even after nearly thirty years, he still remembers when he took care of a falcon. He grew exceptionally attached to the falcon, and remembered how hard it was to let the great bird of prey back into the wild. But he let the falcon go nonetheless, because he knew it was the right thing to do.
      At the end of his time onstage, Jeff Corwin took his place at a table to the side of the stage, where he took a while to do a book signing. My Dad bought me two of his books, Your Backyard is Wild! and A Wild Life: the authorized biography while I held my spot in line. While Mr. Corwin was signing my books, I asked him, "What can we do to help endangered species?"
      I shifted to the side of the table so the long line behind me could snap pictures of Jeff while he answered my question.
      Jeff Corwin told me the best way to help endangered species is to protect their habitats, because animals cannot survive without the specific territories they require. He said that we should react to the environmental issues around us, get involved in our local nature (through wildlife centers, zoos, parks, etc.), and be proactive in any way we can that benefits all species. The advice Jeff Corwin left me with was that we should try to lower our levels of consumption, because everything we do effects nature, and it is our choice whether that effect will be positive of negative.
      Mr. Corwin probably thought I was a little strange, scribbling everything he had to say on my little pad. Nonetheless, it was inspiring to meet one of my childhood heros (not to mention my older brother was super jealous of me). What Jeff Corwin said about us getting involved in the wildlife around us inspired me to apply to be a volunteer at the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, NY. A year and a half later, I am still volunteering there whenever I can while in town. In the course of my conservationist career, it would be a dream come true if given the opportunity to work with Jeff Corwin, or better yet, if he came to me for professional advice.

A picture of me with Jeff Corwin in the background (in the orange long sleeved shirt). The guy immediately to Corwin's right was a member of the Bronx Zoo staff. My Dad was the photographer.

A better picture of Jeff Corwin; acquired from the internet. He is with an elephant, and although I do not know much else about this photo, I'm assuming the location is somewhere in Africa. It is one of my favorite pictures of him (and I have a shirt that matches his). 

      "Lions, People, and Their Prey" was a research paper written for my History class last semester. I was researching the state of the Tanzanian people, the lion population surrounding Serengeti National Park, and the interconnectedness of them with the prey populations. I originally just wanted to include this paper, and not "Animals: Why Keep Them, and How?", but since I used information on lion behavior from the first one in the second one, I felt obligated to post both. In the end, I'm glad I did, because posting the older one gave me the chance to relate my experience with Jeff Corwin.


A link to the article mentioned in both papers, "The Truth About Lions" by Abigail Tucker, is listed below for your curiosity. It is one of my favorite articles featuring animal discoveries.

Smithsonian's "The Truth About Lions"