Thinking Green Thursday (A little early)

Thinking Green is hosted by our friend Michelle.


Let's make it EARTH DAY every day.





And our earth is largely made up of water. And that water is full of wildlife. FISH

Once again, my topic involves Monterey Bay Aquarium's blog, Sea Notes. In today's blog post, Julie Packard reminds us to vote with our dollars, when we purchase sea food. Try to be sure that what we buy is seafood caught or farmed in sustainable ways. It may be difficult to remember, considering the vastness of the oceans, that fish exist in limited numbers. There is not an endless supply. And there is much overfishing and habitat damage and poor management. This causes a threat to the world's food supply, to marine economies, and even to recreation.
Thankfully, the two largest food services in North America, ARAMARK and Compass Group, have long been working with Monterey Bay Aquarium toward sustainable sources. But there are many others who ignore environmental needs. We must try to be aware, and make our purchases accordingly.

Thinking Green Thursday

Thinking Green Thursday is hosted by Michelle, at Rambling Woods. Please join us with your ideas and photos.

Once again, I'm turning to news from Monterey Bay Aquarium's blog, Sea Notes. Not very good news this time. As their headline says, "Once again commerce trumps conservation". The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has rejected a ban on global trade in bluefin tuna. Countries led by Japan claim that they just can't afford to give up this trade. As a probable result, the tuna may well be driven to extinction. It was pointed out, however, that at least the debate and discussion preceding this action has made the public more aware of the situation, so there may be hope for the future.

The second disappointment concerns the polar bear. The United States had requested prohibition of export of bear skins and parts. This too was defeated. Canada is the only country that allows this, and they protested that their economy would be hurt by banning it, and claimed that hunting of these bears was not endangering the species. Actually they are more endangered by global warming than by hunting.

MBA will continue their research of course, as well as their lead in the fight toward conservation.

Photos from the Sea Notes site.

Thinking Green Thursday

Time once again for Thinking Green Thursday, hosted by Michelle.


In posts published on February 18 and 19, the Monterey Bay Aquarium blog, Sea Notes, told us about a tiny new addition to their exhibits. Her name is Kit, and she is an orphaned sea otter.

It is a rare event for the aquarium to place such a young animal on display. There were extenuating circumstances that allowed this to happen. If you follow the link, you will see a delightful, short video of her arrival, and read about the reasons behind this.

Sea Notes is a great blog, with many and varied topics concerning the oceans and bays and the creatures that live within them. Try it. You'll like it.

Thinking Green Thursday

Thinking Green Thursday is always hosted for us by Michelle. Her posts are always timely and contain much very interesting and helpful information.

My post today is on the lighter side, and my source is, once again, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's blog, Sea Notes, both pictures and information. I do love this blog.

When Nature creates a pattern, you will find it recurring over and over again. The perfect example is the strawberry. We are all familiar with the fruit. What we may not be aware of is the fact that the pattern is repeated in such things as mushrooms. This one was found by the blog author during a hike at Point Lobos.

He also tells us of a strawberry crab. I doubt if many - or any - of us have seen this one. He has noted that this photo is courtesy of Ho Ping-Ho at the National Taiwan Ocean University.

I just found these interesting. Hope you do too.
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Have to add to this post. Thanks to Lisa Lakel, at Two Miles High, I have learned that the mushroom pictured above is an amanita muscaria, and is poisonous and hallucinagenic. How about that!

And a couple of people have commented that they have seen or heard of the recently discovered strawberry crab.

Think(ing) Green Thursday

Think(ing) Green Thursday is hosted by Michelle. Please check out her wonderful posts.

I have posted before a little about the effects that our actions on land can have on animal life deep in the ocean. Carbon pollution, which means greenhouse gases that are produced by heating and cooling our houses, running our factories, driving our cars and raising our food, causes the acidification of the waters.

I am happy to say that finally, attention is being paid to this situation, brought to the attention of the Copenhagen conference on climate change, by the Center for Ocean Solutions, comprised of Monterey Bay Aquarium, Stanford University, and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

You may be interested in a video called Acid Test, narrated by Sigourney Weaver. View it when you have a few minutes extra time.



My source is the Sea Notes blog.

Think(ing) Green Thursday

Our friend Michelle is once again hosting Think(ing) Green Thursday for us, and I hope that many of you will consider joining us.

I have been in love with the sea ever since I was a child, and read Elizabeth Enright's "The Sea Is All Around". I have lived near the sea for the past fifty-three years, and would never wish it otherwise. I'm sure we are all aware of how dire the situation is these days for the waters that comprise such a large share of our planet.

I am turning once again to Sea Notes, the blog of Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, for my post today.

Along with so many important considerations that President Obama is undertaking these days, is an Ocean Policy Taskforce. He would like to create a National Ocean Agenda and Policy for United States oceans. Obviously, to accomplish anything in this direction, we need cooperation and collaboration of other nations. For instance, Cuba and Mexico must cooperate with the United States in order to restore health and oversee the declining populations of sharks and sea turtles, and design a management plan, in the Gulf of Mexico. It is hoped that our efforts will inspire cooperation in this direction all around the world.

Also, on November 3rd, Sea Notes reported in an article titled "In Over Our Heads", about an on-going program which interested me very much. It seems that there is also climate change in the sea and that what we do far above, affects what goes on among the sea animals down on the ocean floor. This may be hard for us to imagine, but it is true.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has recently reported that food supplies to 60% of the ocean floor are affected by the amount of carbon captured and held there. MBARI employs a robot they call the Benthic Rover (see picture) programmed to travel along the ocean floor to measure the impact of climate change below the surface.

I am one of so many of us who often grumble about modern technology. But I find this sort of thing truly amazing, and am so grateful that there are people out there using this technology to help restore the health of our environment - land, sea and air.


All pictures in this post from Monterey Bay Aquarium

Think Green Thursday

Time again for Think Green Thursday, thanks to Michelle.

I am wimping out this week. I was sick for several days, and still have not bounced back as I had hoped, so I guess I'm using that as my excuse. Instead of finding a single topic to concentrate on, I am going to refer you to a site that I have used a few times as an excellent source for environmental information.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's blog, Sea Notes, is not only such a source, it is also extremely entertaining, offering stories about many creatures such as sea turtles, otters, sea horses, sharks, dolphins, jellies - whatever you might imagine. It also describes the marvelous ways that the aquarium makes these creatures feel at home within displays for the public, and the staff's research activities.

I believe that by adding Sea Notes to your own reading list might give you a great deal of pleasure. If you choose to look it over, I would suggest, in the spirit of Think Green, that you check out the August 21st entry "Pick Your Poison", the August 22nd "The Hand of Man", and August 24th "Fishing for (Climate) Change. In between, and in earlier posts, you will find pure enjoyment.

Think Green Thursday

Thank you, Michelle, for hosting this meme for us. Think Green Thursday has become one of my favorites.

I am returning once again to the Monterey Bay Aquarium blog, Sea Notes for information for my post. I really think it should be titled: Plastics Are Forever.

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean is an area twice the size of Texas, commonly known now as "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch". It's correct name is the North Pacific Gyre. This huge area of the Pacific is where the motion of the water manages to collect all of the trash we discard on the beaches and from boats into the water. This continues to move the trash, especially plastics, around and around, endlessly.

Our sea birds and animals often eat this trash, either accidentally or mistaking it for an edible morsel. Sadly, more and more are being discovered after they die, with stomachs full of such trash.

There is now a project called Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastics Expedition (SEAPLEX), attempting to address this problem. But wouldn't it be a great idea for anyone living on or near any of our shorelines to volunteer to pick up trash on our beaches? If there is no organized group to do this in your area - how about just walking a beach every so often with a trash bag. Or maybe we could talk to someone in our local government, or with some service group, and suggest an organized effort.

Logo and photo courtest of MBA Sea Notes

Think Green Thursday

Each week Michelle hosts Think Green Thursday for us. We owe her our gratitude and we owe ourselves the enjoyment of reading her blogs.

This week my post is more blue than green. I have been reading Sea Notes, from the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

First, it spoke of carbon pollution's impact on the ocean's chemistry, and asked that we let our senators know that we are concerned about climate change and its effect on ocean wildlife.

You may find many items of interest in Sea Notes if you care to investigate it. I especially enjoyed reading about the little Pacific island of Tuvalu. It is located halfway between Australia and Hawaii. Until the present time, Tuvalu has imported deisel oil from New Zealand as its power supply. Today, in the face of changing conditions, the island is in peril of complete inundation due to the rising sea level. Their national survival depends on changing the thinking and therefore the actions of all nations. To demonstrate their willingness to be the first to change, they have pledged to go completely to solar and wind power by the year 2020. This is expected to cost $20 million. Obviously, it cannot happen without help, which they hope to receive from the U.S. and Italy. Already, the Italian government is funding an $800,000 solar power system at a school on Tuvalu. This tiny island country has been in existence for thousands of years. It is now hoping against hope that through the actions taken at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen, it will have a chance to continue to exist.