Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

jennifer

Is It OK to Feed Dolphins?

By

I have just returned to Brisbane via the NSW mid-North Coast after a hectic couple of days in Sydney.

The front page of the local Forster paper the ‘Great Lakes Advocate’ had a picture of a Southern Right Whale that apparently put on a show for the locals last week by passing close to the beach and a rock wall while performing a series of “fluke-up dives”.

According to the local reporter Jason Parker the whale “lapped up the attention [from the assembled crowd by] raising its head our of the water several times in what whale researchers call a ‘spy hop'”.

Could the whale really have registered the delight on the faces of the people it passed by?

I see today that ABC Online has an article about Tin Can Bay residents and tourists ignoring a government directive to stop feeding dolphins. The article states that:

Troy Anderson, who manages the dolphin feeding operation, is also defying the ban and he says it seems most people are prepared to ignore the Minister. “We had upwards of 70 people here on Saturday, we informed the people they could be fined if they were caught feeding the wild dolphin but it didn’t stop the stampede up to the hand wash and the fish dispensing centre,” he said.

How close should we humans get to wild animals? Is it OK to feed wild dolphins?

Vitamin A, Meat & CSIRO

By

“Lack of vitamin A promotes the death of about 6000 children per day, worldwide, from infectious disease. This is a tangible health hazard of vast scope that dwarfs any hypothetical hazard attributed to genetically modified (GM) foods.”

… begins David Tribe in his new article in Issues magazine.

The September issue also includes an article by Rosemary Stanton that makes some comment about eating meat and the environment with reference to ‘The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet’ including…

“The Diet’s heavy promotion of meat consumption suits the interests of its sponsors, but ignores the damage to health and the environment associated with too much red meat.”

Quote for this Week

By

“Two paths diverged in the forest, I took the one less travelled and it made all the difference.”

(from a poster/picture I purchased in Zimbabwe in 1991)

…………………………………….
And I might post another ‘quote for the week’ next Friday. So feel free to send me your best quote for next week, next week. In the interim perhaps post your best quote from this week as a comment below.

OK to Challenge Einstein, But Not AGW

By

I received my first ever copy of Cosmos magazine today(September issue). The 112 page glossy has some good stories including a piece titled ‘Pulsar a stellar double act’ (pg 23) that explains how scientists at the Univeristy of British Columbia,Vancouver, are still trying to disprove Einsteins’s General Theory of Relativity.

Why is it OK to keep challenging Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, but not some of our less predictive theories like ‘anthropogenic global warming'(AGW)?

This all reminded me of the ‘two laws’ I wrote down on a scrap of paper years ago and posted here:

Harris’s First Law:
Belief in the truth of a theory is inversely proportional to the precision of the science.

Harris’s Second Law:
The creativity of a scientist is directly proportional to how much he knows, and inversely proportional to how much he believes.

Not Three Puggles

By

Baby echidnas are called puggles. They start life when the mother lays an egg about 22 days after mating.

According to abc science online getting an echidna egg from the cloaca to the pouch, is not an easy feat and no-one’s actually seen it happen.

I was sent an email yesterday with an image apparently of three cute baby echidnas.

I am still pondering the image.

Don’t puggles look more like this, view image ? (The image is from this website, http://www.fauna-rescue-qld.org.au/ .)

The Weather Makers

By

What is it about ‘global warming’ that brings out the worst in people like Tim Flannery?

Prof Flannery was on ABC Television’s The 7.30 Report last night promoting his new book. I have not read The Weather Makers but I understand from the interview last night that he proposes temperatures are going to rise by 3C and the really bad thing is that our addiction to coal is now driving weather patterns.

Prof Bob Carter, also interviewed, responded: “The idea that we can manage the climate is frankly hubris.”

Flannery also proposed a carbon tax and that this be levied immediately to move power generation away from coal to solar, wind and possibly even nuclear power.

I gather The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, yesterday and on the weekend, gave the book and the dire predictions loads of coverage.

In comment at another post Rog provided these links:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/storm-warning-on-impact-of-climate-change/2005/09/25/1127586743182.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/nuclear-future/2005/09/25/1127586747151.html
http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/flannery/biog.htm