- Photo re Manta Ray of Hope
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
How Fudai, Japan Defied The Tsunami Devastation
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/13/fudai-japan-tsunami-_n_861534.html?mid=5719
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Anyone for dolphin sandwich? The worrying rise of 'bushmeat of the sea' as fishermen also serve up seals and walruses
By Lee Moran
They may be man's best underwater friend but more dolphins are being killed for food than ever before.The eating of sea mammals - including seals, sea lions and walruses - is becoming increasingly popular in poor nations across the world.
Fishermen struggling to make ends meet, because of a fall in coastal fish catches, are being forced to turn to the more meaty alternatives.
Tasty: More dolphins are being eaten across the world than ever before, a study has revealed
He said: 'This is essentially a bushmeat problem. It is now clear that human consumption of marine mammals is geographically widespread, taxonomically diverse, and often of uncertain sustainability.'
Mr Robards, who worked alongside Randall Reeves of the Okapi Wildlife Associates in Quebec, published his findings in the journal Biological Conservation.
They found that the number of countries admitting to consuming marine mammals has risen since 1981 from 107 to 125, and that a total of 87 species have been eaten.
In demand: Sea Lions are also being eaten more than ever before
The pair added: 'Our review highlights an escalation in utilisation of small cetaceans caught in conjunction with fishing activities since 1970, a form of fishing-up-the-food-chain.
'Where consumption relates to food security and poverty, we found evidence of deliberate killing of animals caught both deliberately and accidentally in fishing gear.'
The study also outlined how popular the eating of marine mammals is in North American.
It said most of it occurred in Alaska and Canada, by Native Americans, who eat bowhead and grey whales, beluga whales, seals, sea lions and walruses.
At work: Fishermen are being forced to catch more sea mammals because of decline in the global fish supplies
They said the increased killing of marine mammals, especially that of dolphins and porpoises intentionally killed after capture in fishing nets — can be partly explained by the proliferation of modern synthetic nets.
The global decline of fish catches, combined with population growth, poverty and hunger for meat, has also driven the trend.
They added: 'Consequently, there is a conservation imperative to reduce human-caused mortality of marine mammals in the many areas where proper assessment is lacking and governance is inadequate.'
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Whale imports into Australia were 'covertly authorised'
- The Daily Telegraph
- December 28, 2011
- 4 comments
DESPITE decades of protests against whaling, the importation of whale products into Australia was covertly authorised for "scientific research", an investigation has found.
Since 2005, four companies have been granted two-year permits to import fresh whale products including blood, according to federal government documents obtained under Freedom of Information.The unspecified products, including from humpback and right whales, are limited to 20g or 20ml at each time for "laboratory" use.
However, activists want a public register to identify what research the products are being used for and if it is to assist endangered species.
Greens MLC Mark Parnell said more information about the importation should be publicly available.
"We know that Japan's so-called scientific whaling is a front for illegal commercial whaling and I think most Australians would hate to think that we were criticising other countries' commercial whaling while at the same time importing materials that come from that same immoral trade," he said.
Details of the importation were obtained from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, which would not reveal the nature of the research for which they were destined.
A department spokesman said it was very unlikely the companies involved would consent to "commercial-in-confidence" material being released to the public.
Environment Minister Tony Burke, who oversees the Australian campaign against Japanese whaling, said none of the approvals were granted by the current government.
"This is the first I've heard of it. I'll look into it," he said.
The importers were allowed to source the whale products from any country, including from Japan.
Greenpeace spokesperson James Lorenz said the government should reveal all species of whale which were subject to the import approval, especially those that were endangered.
"It is unusual that the humpback and right whale are identified but no details about the others," he said.
Government institutions such as the SA Museum are given automatic international permits for preserved whale items, allowing them to carry out research to save endangered species.
South Australian Museum curator of mammals Dr Catherine Kemper said it was difficult to identify what research was being carried out given the limited detail released by the department.
"Most genetic research would be preserved in something like alcohol. (It) would not be fresh material," she said.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Experts Link DNA to Dolphin-Human Communications & Remarkable Healing
Puna, Hawaii - Beyond being life's blueprint, DNA plays a powerful role in newly discovered communications between dolphins and humans, according to a team of Cetacean (dolphin and whale) researchers at the Sirius Institute on the Big Island of Hawaii. An ongoing study there shows these marine mammals receive and transmit sound signals capable of affecting the genetic double helix, and using natural biotechnology, dolphins may heal humans swimming near them "sonogenetically."
Puna, Hawaii - Beyond being life's blueprint, DNA plays a powerful role in newly discovered communications between dolphins and humans, according to a team of Cetacean (dolphin and whale) researchers at the Sirius Institute on the Big Island of Hawaii. An ongoing study there shows these marine mammals receive and transmit sound signals capable of affecting the genetic double helix, and using natural biotechnology, dolphins may heal humans swimming near them "sonogenetically."
Human and Dolphin Genomes
Both the human genome (hereditary information encoded in DNA or RNA) and the dolphin genome have been sequenced and show similarities between dolphins and humansRead more at Suite101: Dolphins Offer Genetic Clues in Type 2 Diabetes: New Research Shows These Mammals May Help Develop Treatments | Suite101.com http://elizabeth-batt.suite101.com/dolphins-offer-genetic-clues-in-type-2-diabetes-a204970#ixzz1i5plZH2i
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
A Sea Shepherd supporter prosecuted for an assault on a security man in Wakayama 2011.12.28 02:12
警備男性に暴行 シー・シェパード支援者の男を起訴 和歌山
2011.12.28 02:12
和歌山地検は２７日、クジラ搬送作業の現場に立ち入ろうと警備の男性の胸を突いたとして、暴行罪で、米反捕鯨団体、シー・シェパード（ＳＳ）の支援者で、オランダ国籍のアーウィン・フェルミューレン容疑者（４２）を起訴した。
起訴状などによると、１６日午後０時４０分ごろ、太地町森浦の堤防で、ハナゴンドウクジラの搬送作業の警備にあたっていた同町の男性会社員（２３）に対し、胸を手で突くなどの暴行を加えたとしている。
On Dec 27th, Dutch national Erwin Vermeulen (42), a Sea Shepherd supporter, was charged with assault, by Wakayama District Public Prosecutors Office, for pushing a security man in the chest.
According to the indictment, at around 12:40 on Dec 16th, at a seawall in Moriura, Taiji, Erwin Vermeulen assaulted a local resident (23) employed as a security guard, during the transportation of a Hana Gondo whale (Risso's dolphin), by (among other things) pushing him in the chest. [What other things, is not stated]
起訴状などによると、１６日午後０時４０分ごろ、太地町森浦の堤防で、ハナゴンドウクジラの搬送作業の警備にあたっていた同町の男性会社員（２３）に対し、胸を手で突くなどの暴行を加えたとしている。
On Dec 27th, Dutch national Erwin Vermeulen (42), a Sea Shepherd supporter, was charged with assault, by Wakayama District Public Prosecutors Office, for pushing a security man in the chest.
According to the indictment, at around 12:40 on Dec 16th, at a seawall in Moriura, Taiji, Erwin Vermeulen assaulted a local resident (23) employed as a security guard, during the transportation of a Hana Gondo whale (Risso's dolphin), by (among other things) pushing him in the chest. [What other things, is not stated]
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Whale Meat From Whales of Antartica Whale Sanctuary Sold In Taiji (posted by a fishing co-operative in Taiji)
Whales from the town of Taiji, we sent directly to the table of everybody whale meat directly managed super Taiji fishery. Whale meat  The body-friendly, healthy meat and low-calorie triple threat ● ● High-protein low-fat ●. The whale meat to deliver to everyone, the whale was caught in the Antarctic Ocean scientific whaling, whale meat will deliver a clear criterion Welfare. Please make sure miss the taste of whale meat has been traditionally eaten as a traditional Japanese food culture. |
Fukushima Nuclear Reactor 4 Possibly Collapsing, Say Sources, Mass Evacuations May be Necessary
Natural NewsBy Ethan Huff
December 11, 2011
After enduring many months of total information blackout on the situation, an intelligence source connected with NaturalNews has just informed us that Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor 4 may now on the verge of collapsing, and that mass evacuations in northern Japan could be necessary if such a collapse occurs and is confirmed.
NaturalNews presents this only as a precautionary alert, as we have not yet been about to double or triple confirm this report, but we are actively investigating and will bring you updates in a timely manner.
Reactor 4, you may remember, had been given the silent treatment by the plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), immediately following the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the fragile plant back in March. For weeks, the public was left in the dark about the status of reactor 4′s cooling pools, and about whether or not the reactor’s spent fuel rods were exposed (http://www.naturalnews.com/031758_F…).
It now appears, however, that reactor 4′s cooling tower, which had previously been reported to be leaning and in danger of falling (http://enenews.com/very-very-seriou…), is now following course with its inevitable fate, which is a possible total collapse.
クジラ搬入担当者に暴行容疑 和歌山でオランダ人逮捕
和歌山県太地町のホテル前の町道でホテル関連会社の男性
太地町のイルカ漁を批判的に描いた「ザ・コーヴ」が日本
ホテルはプールにイルカなどを泳がせて客に触れさせてい
Dutchman arrested in Wakayama on charges of violence against whale transport operator
Dec 16th, Taiji, Wakayama: Shingu police arrested a Dutchman, Erwin Vermeulen, 42, on charges of violence, on a public road in front of a hotel in Taiji, when he pushed the chest of a male employe of the hotel with the palm of his hand. Police said he claimed to be a supporter of SS and denied the charges. The employee was not injured.
Since "The Cove", a movie criticising the dolphin hunt in Taiji, was released in Japan last year, members and supporters of Sea Shepherd have been monitoring the hunt in Taiji, but this is the first time an arrest has been made.
The hotel has a pool where customers can touch dolphins. In preparing to move (a?) Risso's Dolphin into the pool, the male employee of a related company had been putting out "no-entry" cones.
和歌山県太地町のホテル前の町道でホテル関連会社の男性
太地町のイルカ漁を批判的に描いた「ザ・コーヴ」が日本
ホテルはプールにイルカなどを泳がせて客に触れさせてい
Dutchman arrested in Wakayama on charges of violence against whale transport operator
Dec 16th, Taiji, Wakayama: Shingu police arrested a Dutchman, Erwin Vermeulen, 42, on charges of violence, on a public road in front of a hotel in Taiji, when he pushed the chest of a male employe of the hotel with the palm of his hand. Police said he claimed to be a supporter of SS and denied the charges. The employee was not injured.
Since "The Cove", a movie criticising the dolphin hunt in Taiji, was released in Japan last year, members and supporters of Sea Shepherd have been monitoring the hunt in Taiji, but this is the first time an arrest has been made.
The hotel has a pool where customers can touch dolphins. In preparing to move (a?) Risso's Dolphin into the pool, the male employee of a related company had been putting out "no-entry" cones.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Dolphin Dies After Jumping onto Concrete Floor at Nagoya Aquarium
According to the aquarium, the accident happened at about 2 p.m. Saturday. Sara, a Pacific white-sided dolphin thought to be about 17 years old, jumped about six to eight meters above the water surface, flew through the air in an arc and landed chest-first on a concrete floor.The dolphin had been living at the aquarium since being captured in 2008 near Taiji (the town from “The Cove”).
A Japanese to English Translation
Traditional whaling birthplace, Kishu Taiji harbor at Valley stores-issue whales, Taiji coastal whaling, whaling in the Kumano-nada, and research whaling in Japanese waters, or through our processing plant in whale products were captured in each case Fresh We. Whale town, Taiji is free from the Japanese government whaling is permitted.
■ ■ Merumaga 〆 Valley Stores
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Merumaga delivers informative and good product stock information. Please use us.
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The historical background of the formation
Harpooning was the whaling method used during that time, but since when a whale dies it goes down to the bottom of the ocean, timing was crucial. So after years later, just before a whale died, 2 ships would come along the side of the whale, and a log was used to connect the 2 ships, and ropes would be used to tie the whale.
Since this harpooning method wasn't very successful at that time, whaling in Kumano ended after 2 years. (This information obtained from "The History of Whaling in Higashimurou Ward, Wakayama Prefecture" published in the 7th year of Showa).
During the 4th year of Genna (1618), Wada Kinwemon Yoriteru, the eldest son of Chubeh Yorimoto, revived his father's whaling business. He employed Yoheiji of Onozaki Bay, Chita Ward in Bishu (Aichi Prefecture) as a "hazashi" (the person in charge of harpooning).
Others outside of Kumano, have also started whaling, as a result, the supply of whales began decreasing gradually.
Wada Kinwemon Yoriteru had three sons, the eldest, Kinwemon Yorioki, the second oldest son, Kakuwemon Yoriharu and the youngest, Jurouwemon (or Hanroku) Yorinao. The eldest son, Kinwemon Yorioki inherited his father's business, but due to illness, the second son , Kakuwemon Yoriharu assisted and ran most of the whaling business. The Kinwemon Whaling Group consisted of 3 smaller whaling groups: Kinwemon Yorioki's group, Kakuwemon Yoriharu's group and Chubeh Yorinori's group.
In the 2nd year of Kambun (1662), the whaling ships became painted, and there were 15 members in the crew, using 8 sets of oars, they were able to run at high speed, the duties of the crew became specialized and more efficient . In the 3rd year of Empou (1675), Kakuwemon became mayor of the Outa area, which consisted of 20 villages around the Taiji Bay and entered into the agreement "The Whale Thrust Law" with mayors of seven other bay areas (Taiji Bay, Moriura Bay, Uragami Bay, Shimosato Bay, Katsuura Bay, Ugui Bay and Miwasaki Bay).
This agreement was to limit indiscriminate whale hunting and settle disputes between rival whaling groups, which had become violent at times, due to the decreasing supply of whales. The supply of White Whales, Sperm Whales and Grey Whales had become limited at that time, but there still was an abundant supply of the Humpback Whales.
One day, Wada Kakuwemon watching a cicada caught in a web of a spider, came up with the idea of using a net to capture whales. So in the 5th year of Empou (1677), Kakuwemon developed the whale method of capturing whales with a net, then harpooning the whale to kill it. Before the whale died, the whale is drawn near the ship and a rope is tied around the whale's nose to prevent the whale from going down after dying. Eventually, other whaling groups withdrew, Kakuwemon Yoriharu continued using the method of using a net to catch whales and he was successful in capturing the humpback whale. In the 3rd year of Tenna (1683), The Kakuwemon Whaling Group captured 91 Humpback Whales, 2 White Whales and 3 Grey Whales and became famous worldwide. Wada Kakuwemon was recognized by the second Kishu clan master, Tokugawa Mitsusada, for his accomplishments in the whaling industry and was granted the family name of Taiji.
of
the Taiji Bay Whaling Office in Japan
During the 11th year of Keicho (1606), Wada Chubeh Yorimoto, the mayor of Taiji, along with Iwemon of Sakai in Senshu (Osaka Prefecture) and Denji of Morozaki Bay in Bishu (Aichi Prefecture), were the first ones to start whaling in Kumano. Harpooning was the whaling method used during that time, but since when a whale dies it goes down to the bottom of the ocean, timing was crucial. So after years later, just before a whale died, 2 ships would come along the side of the whale, and a log was used to connect the 2 ships, and ropes would be used to tie the whale.
Since this harpooning method wasn't very successful at that time, whaling in Kumano ended after 2 years. (This information obtained from "The History of Whaling in Higashimurou Ward, Wakayama Prefecture" published in the 7th year of Showa).
During the 4th year of Genna (1618), Wada Kinwemon Yoriteru, the eldest son of Chubeh Yorimoto, revived his father's whaling business. He employed Yoheiji of Onozaki Bay, Chita Ward in Bishu (Aichi Prefecture) as a "hazashi" (the person in charge of harpooning).
Others outside of Kumano, have also started whaling, as a result, the supply of whales began decreasing gradually.
Wada Kinwemon Yoriteru had three sons, the eldest, Kinwemon Yorioki, the second oldest son, Kakuwemon Yoriharu and the youngest, Jurouwemon (or Hanroku) Yorinao. The eldest son, Kinwemon Yorioki inherited his father's business, but due to illness, the second son , Kakuwemon Yoriharu assisted and ran most of the whaling business. The Kinwemon Whaling Group consisted of 3 smaller whaling groups: Kinwemon Yorioki's group, Kakuwemon Yoriharu's group and Chubeh Yorinori's group.
In the 2nd year of Kambun (1662), the whaling ships became painted, and there were 15 members in the crew, using 8 sets of oars, they were able to run at high speed, the duties of the crew became specialized and more efficient . In the 3rd year of Empou (1675), Kakuwemon became mayor of the Outa area, which consisted of 20 villages around the Taiji Bay and entered into the agreement "The Whale Thrust Law" with mayors of seven other bay areas (Taiji Bay, Moriura Bay, Uragami Bay, Shimosato Bay, Katsuura Bay, Ugui Bay and Miwasaki Bay).
This agreement was to limit indiscriminate whale hunting and settle disputes between rival whaling groups, which had become violent at times, due to the decreasing supply of whales. The supply of White Whales, Sperm Whales and Grey Whales had become limited at that time, but there still was an abundant supply of the Humpback Whales.
One day, Wada Kakuwemon watching a cicada caught in a web of a spider, came up with the idea of using a net to capture whales. So in the 5th year of Empou (1677), Kakuwemon developed the whale method of capturing whales with a net, then harpooning the whale to kill it. Before the whale died, the whale is drawn near the ship and a rope is tied around the whale's nose to prevent the whale from going down after dying. Eventually, other whaling groups withdrew, Kakuwemon Yoriharu continued using the method of using a net to catch whales and he was successful in capturing the humpback whale. In the 3rd year of Tenna (1683), The Kakuwemon Whaling Group captured 91 Humpback Whales, 2 White Whales and 3 Grey Whales and became famous worldwide. Wada Kakuwemon was recognized by the second Kishu clan master, Tokugawa Mitsusada, for his accomplishments in the whaling industry and was granted the family name of Taiji.
News from Taiji Fishery (copied from one of their reports)
 | This season is bad. |  | |||||
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Japanese Police Raid Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians
Sandy McElhaney,
December 18, 2011 - In the wake of the arrest earlier this week of Dutch Citizen and Cove Guardian volunteer Erwin Vermeulen, Sea Shepherd Founder Paul Watson has just now reported on the social media facebook:
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Russian Icebreaker On Race to Rescue Whales
- Analysis by Kieran Mulvaney
The Arctic can be an unforgiving realm, and even its most adept inhabitants at times struggle with the potentially fatal obstacles it places in front of them.
The beluga is a case in point. Like other toothed whales, it uses echolocation, or sonar, to help find its way around; the echolocation of a beluga, however, seems to be particularly finely tuned and adept at finding even the narrowest of cracks and leads in the ice that forms on the sea surface.
Sometimes, however, even that ability is outmatched by the challenges of an Arctic winter. On occasion, ice cover may be so extensive that all the belugas in the area are forced to use the nearest available patch of open water, known as a polynya; as a result, that patch of water can seem positively inundated with bobbing white heads and the exhalation of whale breath. In such cases, the best scenario for the belugas is that other leads open up and they can find their way to food and safety; the worst scenario is that even this oasis either freezes over or becomes a magnet for polar bears, which have been known to take advantage of such circumstances to engage in a kind of feeding frenzy, reaching in and hauling trapped belugas on to the ice.
PHOTOS: Animals at RiskIt is uncertain how often this may happen, but given the extent and hostility of the Arctic, it can be assumed to be not infrequent; however, humans are rarely around to see it happen. There are some records: In Disko Bay, Greenland, at least 1,000 belugas were trapped in 1915, and up to 3,000 in 1955. In 1984, some 3,000 belugas were trapped in Senyavina Strait, off the Bering Sea in late December. A Russian icebreaker, the Moskva, was able to clear a channel through 12-foot thick ice to free the whales in late February. Roughly 2,000 whales escaped, and slightly more than 500 were taken by Native hunters.
In 2006, approximately 250 belugas were similarly threatened by encircling ice near Tuktoyaktuk in Canada's Northwest Territories; many found a way to freedom, but when it became clear that the remaining 50 or so almost certainly would not, local Inuvialuit killed them for food.
Right now, another 100 or so belugas are trapped in far eastern Russia, in the Sinyavinsky Strait off the Bering Sea near the village of Yanrakynnot. According to CNN: "Fishermen reported that the whales were concentrated in two relatively small ice holes, where, for now, they can breathe freely. But the belugas' chance of swimming back to water is slim due to the vast fields of ice over the strait. The whales have little food, and the ice flow is increasing ... They are at risk of rapid exhaustion and, ultimately, death by starvation or suffocation."
The government of the Chukotka Autonomous Region has asked Moscow to send an icebreaker to the region, to cut a path through which the belugas can swim to liberty. But the nearest icebreaker, the Rubin, is two days' steaming away, having just rescued the crew of a Korean cargo ship that ran aground off Chukotka.
Will Russian authorities be able to save the whales? Or will the Arctic have the final say? For the belugas, time is running out.
BLOG: Crowdsourcing Whale Songs
BLOG: Whale and Dolphin Games?
IMAGES:
Photograph of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) in open water in Hudson Bay, Canada, by Ansgar Walk, via Wikimedia Commons.
Beluga whale adults in a breathing hole amidst the pack ice during Spring migration, Chukchi Sea, off shore from the Arctic coastal village of Barrow, Alaska, in 2009. (Steven Kazlowski, Corbis)
Monday, December 12, 2011
New Study Shows Dolphins Talk Like Humans
Dolphins don't whistle, but communicate using a method that's similar to the way humans talkTHE GIST
Dolphins produce sounds much as humans do, and don’t whistle as was previously thought.
All toothed whales probably communicate in a similar way, since they have anatomy comparable to that of dolphins.
The hope is humans will eventually be able to understand and possibly even communicate with dolphins.
Dolphins do not whistle, but instead “talk” to each other using a process very similar to the way that humans communicate, according to a new study.
While many dolphin calls sound like whistles, the study found the sounds are produced by tissue vibrations analogous to the operation of vocal folds by humans and many other land-based animals.
Communicating similar to the way that humans do solves what would otherwise be a major dolphin problem.
“When we or animals are whistling, the tune is defined by the resonance frequency of some air cavity,” said Peter Madsen, lead author of the research appearing in Royal Society Biology Letters.” he problem is that when dolphins dive, their air cavities are compressed due to the increasing ambient pressure, which means that they would produce a higher and higher pitch the deeper they dive if they actually whistle.”
Madsen, a researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences at Aarhus University, and his team studied how dolphins communicate by digitizing and reanalyzing recordings made in 1977 of a 12-year-old male bottlenose dolphin.
The dolphin breathed in a “heliox” mixture consisting of 80 percent helium and 20 percent oxygen — a concoction that causes humans to sound like, as the scientists put it, Donald Duck. The reason is because the mixture has a sound speed that’s 1.74 times higher than normal air. If a person whistles after sucking in helium, the pitch of the tune will then be 1.74 times higher than if he or she whistles after breathing in just air.
“We found that the dolphin does not change pitch when it is producing sound in heliox, which means that its pitch is not defined by the size of its nasal air cavities, and hence that it is not whistling,” Madsen said. “Rather, it makes sound by making connective tissue in the nose vibrate at the frequency it wishes to produce by adjusting the muscular tension and air flow over the tissue.”
“That is the same way that we humans make sound with our vocal cords to speak,” he added.
The researchers believe the finding applies to all toothed whales, since they have similar nasal anatomy and they “all face the same problem of making sound during deep dives.”
In terms of what the dolphins are communicating, it’s known they share information about their identity, helping them to stay connected even while traveling in vast bodies of water.
Acoustics engineer John Stuart Reid and Jack Kassewitz of the organization Speak Dolphin have created an instrument known as the CymaScope that reveals detailed structures within sounds, allowing their architecture to be studied pictorially.
Similar to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, the researchers may then be able to figure out the meaning of dolphin calls. In addition to the whistle-like sounds, dolphins produce chirps and click trains, suggesting they engage in very complex and sophisticated social interactions.
“There is strong evidence that dolphins are able to ‘see’ with sound, much like humans use ultrasound to see an unborn child in the mother’s womb,” Kassewitz said. “The CymaScope provides our first glimpse into what the dolphins might be ‘seeing’ with their sounds.”
He added, “I believe that people around the world would love the opportunity to speak with a dolphin. And I feel certain that dolphins would love the chance to speak with us — if for no other reason than self-preservation.”
Yet another interesting component of the new research is demonstrating how animals can evolve an ability, lose it, and then evolve it again. The land-based ancestors of dolphins likely produced sounds as humans do, lost that skill when they went into water, and then evolved it again, but by “using a completely different anatomy in their noses,” Madsen said.
As for actual whistling, dolphins can be trained to do it, just as humans sometimes whistle for fun, but Madsen doesn’t “think they do it in the wild, because they have evolved a much more effective way to make the same sound.”
*In my "Fish Don't Talk" video, dolphin is talking to me.
*In my "Fish Don't Talk" video, dolphin is talking to me.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
History of the Ninja adapted from "Ninpo: Living and Thinking as a Warrior" © 1988 Jack Hoban
Ninjutsu was created in central Honshu (the largest of the Japanese islands) about eleven hundred years ago. It was developed by mountain-dwelling families in an area not unlike the American Appalachians, where the terrain is rugged and remote. Ninja families were great observers of nature. They felt a close connection to the Earth, similar to the Native Americans, and their lifestyle was one that lived according to the laws of Nature, not against it. Ninja were also very spiritual people, and their beliefs became an integral part of Ninjutsu.
One of the spiritual influences was Shinto, "the way of the kami." Kami is the Japanese word for "god" or "deity." It implies, however, a feeling for a sacred or charismatic force, rather than a being. The early Japanese regarded their whole world: the rivers, mountains, lakes, and trees, to have their own energy and spirit.
One of the spiritual influences was Shinto, "the way of the kami." Kami is the Japanese word for "god" or "deity." It implies, however, a feeling for a sacred or charismatic force, rather than a being. The early Japanese regarded their whole world: the rivers, mountains, lakes, and trees, to have their own energy and spirit.
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