Tag Archives: California

California birds and beetles video

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This video, recorded in California in the USA, says about itself:

May 17, 2013

Crystal-clear high-speed video reveals the hidden details of animals in motion. A lumbering scarab beetle turns weightless as it spreads its hidden wings; a hummingbird visits its nest; shorebirds capture prey and swallow it with a quick toss to the back of the throat. Recommended for viewing in high-definition (720p).

Recorded by Andy Johnson, Ben Clock, Shailee Shah and Teresa Pegan on a Macaulay Library student workshop to southern California during March 16–24, 2013.

Read more about it here.

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California condors threatened by lead poisoning

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This video from the USA is called California Condors in Grand Canyon National Park.

From Wildlife Extra:

Lead poisoning responsible for 50% of California condor deaths last winter

Winter results for Arizona-Utah condor program: preventable deaths remain focus of recovery effort

May 2013. Half of the California condor deaths that occurred over the winter in the Arizona-Utah population were caused by lead poisoning, a rate consistent with the entire condor population in California, Arizona, and Utah, according to The Peregrine Fund, an Idaho-based conservation organization.

Of the eight condors that died between December 2012 and February 2013:

Four died of lead poisoning
Two died of trauma possibly caused by a predator
Two were unrecoverable

6 active nests

“It’s been a tough season for condors,” said Chris Parish, director of The Peregrine Fund’s condor reintroduction project. “The good news is that we currently have as many as a half-dozen active nests and 72 birds flying free in the wild in Arizona and southern Utah, a true testament to the species’ resilience.”

Lead poisoning responsible for 50% of deaths since 1996

Of the 54 necropsies performed since The Peregrine Fund began releasing condors to the wild in 1996, lead poisoning accounted for 50% of deaths, followed by predation at 30%, Parish said. This year, The Peregrine Fund’s field crew captured nearly all the condors in Arizona and Utah and discovered that 39% had toxic levels of lead in their blood. The birds were treated with chelation therapy, the same process used to eliminate lead from humans.

“Fortunately, we were able to capture, test, and treat most of the birds,” Parish said. “Our biologists had to sit and wait patiently while the majority of the flock returned from the feeding grounds in southern Utah where lead-reduction programs are just getting under way.”

Lead most common in Utah and Northern Arizona

Based on more than 10 years of data, the birds are most likely to encounter lead during and after the hunting seasons in northern Arizona and southern Utah, Parish said. The most recent necropsy, conducted on Condor #210, showed acute lead poisoning, with extremely high levels of lead and 10 fragments in her digestive tract. Further analysis showed that her last meal consisted of deer.

Condors encounter lead when eating animals that have been shot with lead bullets, which can fragment into dozens of tiny pieces, some too small to be seen, and disperse widely in the animal’s body.

Non lead options

“We expect predators and other natural factors to claim the lives of condors,” Parish said. “But anyone who kills an animal, including those dispatching livestock and hunting varmints, can make a significant impact by simply switching to non-lead ammunition like solid copper bullets, which rarely fragment.”

Hunters helping with conservation efforts

Since 2005, hunters on the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona have voluntarily assisted efforts to protect condors from lead, with more than 80% of hunters participating in the Arizona Game and Fish Department‘s lead reduction program. That rate has climbed to as much as 90% over the past six years. Last year, 88% either used non-lead ammunition or removed the remains of shot animals from the field.

Utah

In response to the shifting pattern of condors now feeding extensively in southern Utah, the Southwest Condor Workgroup supports efforts by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to ramp up education and outreach efforts there. The Utah program resulted in nearly 50% voluntary hunter participation in the 2012-13 season — similar to the first year of Arizona’s effort in 2005 — but efforts are under way to increase awareness and participation in hopes of reducing the threat to condors of lead poisoning.

“We have come a long way since identifying lead poisoning as the primary cause of death for this reintroduced population,” Parish said. “If we are to achieve our goal of a self-sustaining population, we’re going to need more help. It has been my experience that when hunters find out what is happening, they are more than willing to join the effort.”

The recovery effort is a cooperative program by federal, state, and private partners, including The Peregrine Fund, Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Strip Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management, Grand Canyon and Zion national parks, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and Kaibab and Dixie national forests.

California condors

Prior to reintroduction, the last wild condor in Arizona was sighted just south of the Grand Canyon in 1924.
Condors reach maturity at about six years of age. They usually produce one egg every other year.
The condor is the largest land bird in North America. The birds can weigh up to 26 pounds and have a wingspan up to 9½ feet.
Condors were added to the federal Endangered Species List in 1967.

More than 460 children have died in the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara due to the effects of lead poisoning since 2009. Thousands of people have suffered from lead poisoning, with many facing long-term and serious medical conditions such as paralysis, deafness and brain damage: here.

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Orca exhibit in California

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This video from the USA says about itself:

Built for Speed: Our Orca Story

23 mei 2013

Join us through June 9, 2013 and watch scientists and volunteers assemble this orca skeleton, and discover what Academy researchers have learned by studying this fascinating specimen. Watch the video and discover the story of how Orca O319 came to the Academy. Discover the fastest fish and swiftest sailboats above and below water at the new exhibit Built for Speed –Now open at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

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Young student’s smartphone batteries invention

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Eesha Khare

From the Intel site in the USA:

With the rapid adoption of portable electronics, Eesha Khare, 18, of Saratoga, California, recognized the crucial need for energy-efficient storage devices. She developed a tiny device that fits inside cell phone batteries, allowing them to fully charge within 20-30 seconds. Eesha’s invention also has potential applications for car batteries.

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Ocean wildlife in danger

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From Surprising Science blog in the USA:

May 17, 2013

Endangered Ocean Creatures Beyond the Cute and Cuddly

Staghorn coral

Staghorn coral is listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. NOAA Fisheries has proposed it be reclassified as endangered. Photo by Albert Kok

Our oceans are taking a beating from overfishing, pollution, acidification and warming, putting at risk the many creatures who make their home in seawater. But when most people think of struggling ocean species, the first animals that come to mind are probably whales, seals or sea turtles.

Sure, many of these large (and adorable) animals play an important part in the marine ecosystem and are threatened with extinction due to human activities, but in fact, of the 94 marine species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), only 45 are marine mammals and sea turtles. As such, these don’t paint the whole picture of what happens under the sea. What about the remaining 49 that form a myriad of other important parts of the underwater web?

These less charismatic members of the list include corals, sea birds, mollusks and, of course, fish. They fall under two categories: endangered or threatened. According to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (pdf), one of the groups responsible for implementing the ESA, a species is considered endangered if it faces imminent extinction, and and a species is considered threatened if it is likely to become endangered in the future. A cross section of these less-known members of the ESA’s list are described in detail below.

1. Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis), pictured above, is one of two species of coral listed as threatened under the ESA, although both are under review for reclassification to endangered. A very important reef-building coral in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, it primarily reproduces through asexual fragmentation. This means that its branches break off and reattach to a substrate on the ocean bottom where they grow into new colonies.

While this is a great recovery method when only part of a colony is damaged, it doesn’t work so well when most or all of the colony is killed—which often is the result from disturbances afflicting these corals. Since the 1980s, staghorn coral populations have steeply declined due to outbreaks of coral disease, increased sedimentation, bleaching and damage from hurricanes. Although only two coral species are currently on the ESA list, 66 additional coral species have been proposed for listing and are currently under review.

White abalone

The white abalone population off the coast of California continued to decline even after the closure of its short-lived fishery in the 1970s. Photo by John Butler, NOAA

2. The white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni), a large sea snail that can grow to ten inches long, was the first marine invertebrate to be listed under the ESA but its population hasn’t recovered. The commercial fishery for white abalone collapsed three decades ago because, being spawners that jet their eggs and sperm into the water for fertilization with the hope that the two will collide, the animals depend on a large enough population of males and females being in close proximity to one another to reproduce successfully.

Less than 0.1% of its pre-fished population survives today, and research published in 2012 showed that it has continued to decline since its ESA listing more than a decade ago. The researchers recommended human intervention, and aquaculture efforts have begun in an effort to save the species.

Johnson's seagrass

Johnson’s seagrass is the first, and only, marine plant listed under the Endangered Species Act. Photo by Lori Morris, St. Johns River Water Management District

3. Johnson’s seagrass (Halophila johnsonii), the lone marine plant species listed, is classified as threatened and makes coastal habitats and nurseries for fish and provides a food source for the also-endangered West Indian manatees and green sea turtles. However, its most important role may be long-term ocean carbon storage, known as blue carbon: seagrass beds can store more carbon than the world’s forests per hectare.

The main threats to Johnson’s seagrass are nutrient and sediment pollution, and damage from boating, dredging and storms. Its plight is aggravated by its tiny geographic range–it is only found on the southeast coast of Florida. The species may have more trouble recovering than other seagrass species because it seems to only reproduce asexually–while other seagrasses can reproduce like land plants, by producing a flower that is then fertilized by clumps of pollen released underwater, the Johnson’s seagrass relies on the sometimes slow process of new stems sprouting from the buried root systems of individual plants.

Short-tailed albatross

Short-tailed albatrosses have made a remarkable recovery since they were believed to be extinct in the 1940s. They still face threats today though, from habitat loss to being caught unintentionally by fishing gear. Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

4. The short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) differs from some of its neighbors on the ESA list in that an extra layer of uncertainty is added to the mix: During breeding season, they nest on islands near Japan, but after breeding season ends, they spread their wings and fly to the U.S. In the late 19th century, the beautiful birds are thought to have been fairly common from coastal California up through Alaska. But in the 1940s, their population dropped from the tens of millions to such a small number that they were thought to be extinct. Their incredible decline was due to hunters collecting their feathers, compounded by volcanic damage to their breeding islands in the 1930s.

Today they are doing better, with over 2,000 birds counted in 2008, but only a few islands remain as nesting sites and they continue to be caught as bycatch, meaning that they are often mistakenly hooked by longline fishing gear.

Atlantic salmon

Atlantic salmon used to be found in most major rivers in New England, now they are only found in a small section of Maine. Photo by E. Peter Steenstra/USFWS

5. Salmon are a familiar fish frequently seen on the menu. But not all species are doing well enough to be served on our plates. Salmon split their time between freshwater (where they are born and later spawn) and the ocean (where they spend their time in between). Historically, Atlantic salmon in the U.S. were found in most major rivers on the Atlantic coast north of the Hudson, which flows through New York State. But damming, pollution and overfishing have pushed the species to a point where they are now only found along a small section of the Maine coast. Twenty-eight populations of Pacific salmon are also listed as threatened or endangered. Efforts on both coasts are underway to rebuild populations through habitat restoration, pollution reduction and aquaculture.

The five organisms listed here are just a few of the marine species on the ESA’s list. In fact, scientists expect that as they learn more about the oceans, they will reveal threats to more critters and plants.

“The charismatic marine species, like large whales [and] sea turtles…were the first to captivate us and pique our curiosity to look under the waves,” says Jonathan Shannon, from the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Species. “While we are learning more about the ocean and how it works every day, we still have much to learn about the different species in the ocean and the health of their populations.”

Smithsonian’s Ocean Portal

Learn more about the ocean from the Smithsonian’s Ocean Portal.

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Good California condor news

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This video from the USA says about itself:

Wild California Condors Made Here

Sep 28, 2012

By 1982, fewer than two dozen California condors lived in the wild. By 1985, only one wild breeding pair was known to exist. That’s when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service decided to capture any remaining condors and bring them to live–and breed–in captivity. The Peregrine Fund, in Boise, Id., houses the largest California condor breeding center in the U.S.–with nearly sixty California condors living on site. Bill Heinrich and Taiana Carvalho take us “behind the enclosure” for a tour of the condor compound.

From Wildlife Extra:

California condor recovery reaches landmark

200th California condor chick hatches at The Peregrine Fund‘s captive breeding facility

May 2013. A tiny California condor chick marked a major milestone for The Peregrine Fund. It was the 200th chick to hatch in the conservation group’s captive breeding facility since joining the effort to breed endangered condors in 1993.

20 eggs this year

The captive breeding facility at The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey is home to 62 condors, the world’s largest flock of captive condors. This year, 18 pairs produced a total of 20 eggs. When the chicks are about 9 months old, they are transferred to The Peregrine Fund’s release site near the Grand Canyon in Arizona, where they join the wild flock, which currently numbers 72 birds.

“We are thrilled to reach the 200 mark,” said Marti Jenkins, who oversees the condor propagation program. “Every chick takes us one step closer to saving this magnificent species from extinction.”

Wild foster parents

The Peregrine Fund works closely with three other facilities – Los Angeles Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and Oregon Zoo — that raise California Condors. This year, two of the eggs produced in Boise were placed in the nests of wild condors in California to replace eggs that were not viable. Both eggs hatched and are being reared by their wild foster parents. A third egg was transferred to the Oregon Zoo and also hatched successfully.

“We will be sending at least one more egg out to replace one from a wild nest in California,” Jenkins said. “Such swaps promote genetic diversity in a small population and enable this program to be as successful as possible.”

The captive breeding process bolsters wild breeding numbers, Jenkins said. This year, Peregrine Fund biologists have observed six wild condor pairs exhibiting incubating behaviours in the rugged canyon lands of northern Arizona.

An intensive condor recovery program began in the early 1980s when the continuing decline of the condor population required drastic measures. By 1982, only 22 condors remained on Earth. The last birds were brought into captivity to launch a breeding program. The first releases to the wild occurred in California in 1992. The Peregrine Fund began raising condors in 1993 and releasing them to the wild in 1996.

Today, there are more than 400 California Condors, with more than half of them flying free in the wild in Arizona, California and Baja, Mexico.

For more information about The Peregrine Fund’s condor recovery program, visit our Facebook pages.

California condors

Prior to reintroduction, the last wild condor in Arizona was sighted just south of the Grand Canyon in 1924.

Condors reach maturity at about six years of age. They usually produce one egg every other year.

The condor is the largest land bird in North America. The birds can weigh up to 26 pounds and have a wingspan up to 9½ feet.

Condors were added to the federal Endangered Species List in 1967.

Lead poisoning is the leading cause of death for California Condors in Arizona, with 26 deaths confirmed since 2000.

A comment on this at the Wildlife Extra site:

The California condor almost became extinct, but captive breeding has brought back their numbers. But they are being threatened again by lead poisoning. An alternative source has to be discovered for ammunition, or they could end up becoming on the verge of extinction again.

Posted by: Tim Upham | 04 May 2013 04:18:29

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Californian Yosemite National Park, help expansion

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This video from California says about itself:

From foothill elevations to high mountain peaks, hundreds of flower species are found throughout Yosemite National Park. Rangers and scientists describe the rich botanical history and some of the rare plants found here.

From Wildlife Extra:

Yosemite to be expanded by 1,600 acres? First expansion for more than 70 years.

Pacific Forest Trust working to expand Yosemite

April 2013. Originally preserved in 1864, Yosemite National Park, with its dramatic vistas and breathtaking rock formations, is in a position to expand its borders for the first time in more than 70 years.

Important headwaters

Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) is working with Congress to expand Yosemite. In an effort to grow Yosemite National Park, PFT are working to secure a Boundary Line Adjustment (BLA) that will help save more than 2.5 square miles. Located on the vulnerable western border of the Park, the incorporation of these lands would protect the headwaters of several tributaries to the Merced, a national Wild and Scenic River, and preserve an important wildlife habitat corridor to nearby national forest lands.

Needs US Congress to agree

Because any alteration of a national park’s borders requires an act of Congress, the support of our California legislators is crucial to the success of this initiative. With Yosemite’s sesquicentennial fast approaching, a BLA bill must be passed in this Congress if it is going to be completed in time for this momentous occasion.

There is still work to do however. For a Boundary Line Adjustment to become law, it must be passed by the Senate as well as the House. Senator Feinstein (D-CA) can help make this happen, but she needs to hear from US citizens that this is a priority. Contact her directly here to actively support the Yosemite Expansion and PFT!

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