Plants and Animals

The Yangtze River dolphin is considered functionally extinct. The species of freshwater dolphin, also known as the baiji, had not been sighted since September 2004 despite extensive surveys. On August 19, 2007 a large white animal was filmed in … [Read more...] about Dolphins Still in the Yangtze River – or Not?

Nearly one year after Iceland resumed commercial whaling, the country has decided to not issue new whale hunting quotas until market demand increases and gets an export license from Japan. “Iceland's fisheries minister, Einar K. Guofinnsson, told … [Read more...] about Commercial whaling ends in Iceland and starts in Africa? A Note from Ann Novek

Why would a fungus want or need to create light? According to the Wet Tropics Management Authority, no one knows why many species use bioluminescence, but across its incredible evolutionary history, in circumstances of such windlessness, the fungi … [Read more...] about The evolutionary power of persuasion

In a recent whaling thread Andy Ottaway, director of the anti-whaling NGO, Campaign Whale, wrote “If whaling can’t be conducted humanely , it should not be conducted at all”. There is a real unwillingness to address the issue of aboriginal whale … [Read more...] about Giving the Narwhals a Voice: A Note from Ann Novek

In the whaling countries, Norway, Japan and Iceland, whaling and whale watching exists side by side. In Norway the whale watching industry is focused on sperm whales and killer whales and whale watching doesn’t happen near minke whale hunting … [Read more...] about Can Whaling and Whale Watching Coexist? A Note from Ann Novek

Japanese officials have publicly condemned the eating of dolphin meat especially in school lunches due to mercury contamination: “We tested some samples purchased at the Gyokyo supermarket in Taiji and Super Center Okuwa in the nearby city of Shingu … [Read more...] about Toxic Dolphins: A Note from Ann Novek