HELPING THE MUSEUM SPREAD ITS MESSAGE

Teachers or others interested in making their own branch of the Museums of Endangered Ocean Life, get in touch. We can help you find ways of helping kids create their own works of art and science that get posted in the museum, worldwide!

More importantly, we can help kids find ways to truly make a difference, no matter where they live. There is always something to do to make the world a better place, a healthier place, and more fun too. Fred can help put smiles on faces - faces of happier kids with new purpose in a new year!

Become a FRIEND OF FRED and help spread the word about those who help endangered species. Invite Fred to your school. He will bring lots of good information and connect you with others.

More information at whalemail@waypoint.com

Facing Future Explained

EXTINCT means gone, pau, from all places. Example, the O'o is extinct from its former forests in Hawaii. They no longer exist.

EXTIRPATEDmeans gone from a given area. Example, Grizzly Bears were extirpated from California about 1925. They still exist.

ENDANGERED means that a species is nearing extinction unless actions are taken immediately to save them. It is usually a legal term associated with the Endangered Species Act, but because this is a political tool, it does not always reflect accurate science. Example: the Hawaiian Monk Seal is endangered and will likely become extinct.

THREATENED means that a species is likely to near extinction and become endangered unless actions are taken to protect it and its habitat. Example: Bald Eagles were threatened but have been removed from this list due to habitat protection and reductions in use of chemicals such as DDT.

SPECIES OF CONCERN: Many states have lists that include species not covered under federal protection as endangered or threatened. These may be species extirpated from the state, but present in greater numbers in neighboring areas.

Unfortunately, no reasonable approach has been worked out to list endangered habitats, the primary living space for all life forms. To many scientists, the entire Arctic is now endangered. Imagine, as Richard Ellis says, "If Australia were suddenly to disappear, don't you think we would wake up and do something?" Well, we are losing an area about the size and importance of Australia as the Arctic disappears, transforming due to climate change and taking with it the Polar Bears, Bowhead Whales, and Peoples dependent on that vast ecosystem.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

HAITI ENDANGERED

We all send our thoughts, prayers, and funds to help the people in Haiti following this week's earthquake. But longterm help has been needed for this impoverished country for quite some time. It is the most deforested country in the west and that loss of forest has led to major problems for water quality and quantity as well as for habitat needs of many species.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists several species of amphibians, several birds, and at least four mammals as in danger of extinction --- this, before the earthquake. As an island, Haiti, its people, and its natural environment faces unique problems. As in the Hawaiian Islands, species needs are often the result of isolation and all efforts are needed to protect native plants that, in turn, support native wildlife.

It is always good to support the efforts of organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund. But right now, Haiti is in need of help to foster the kind of sustained future supported by groups such as WORKING TOGETHER FOR HAITI. Visit their website at http://www.konpay.org/ to learn more of what they have been doing and what they are doing right now to help the people and the land.

Malama i ke Haiti      Protect Haiti  
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Friday, January 8, 2010

PAPAHANAUMOKUAKEA KAPA. LOVINGLY CREATED BY TERRY LEIANUENUE REVEIRA



Birds soar. The ancient whispers of Papahanaumokuakea speak.
All around you, the scents and sounds of Pihemanu beg for attention.

For those of us honored to be with Terry Leianuenue Reveira
on Pihemanu
it is clear that her vision of this special place
borrows from past, present, and future.
She taught us much about how this place figures in all creation.
She shared connections between our relatives here on earth and ocean.

This is a close view of a portion of one of Terry's Kapa prints
created for Papahanuamokuakea. They will hang in the visitor center there.
Terry weaves story as lovingly as she creates these kapa cloths.
She is always a supporter of caring for ocean and land and
encourages place based activities
to link science with culture,
teaching us to understand more deeply,
the richness of Hawaiian ways.

Terry comes from a family of paniolo and fishermen
and is an advisor at the UH in Hilo in
the teacher education program.

Read her own words
about her stay on Papahanaumokuakea
at http://paaprogram.blogspot.com/

Malama i ke kai ame ka aina
Protect the ocean and earth

Help the albatrosses and Papahanaumokuakea
in as many ways as you can.
Mahalo nui

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Thursday, January 7, 2010

GOOD NEWS. BABY ORCA!

Good news was reported this week by NOAA and others. Candi Emmons of NOAA Fisheries photographed a new born baby orca with its mother on January 3.

The baby, J47, was seen with its mother, J35 in Puget Sound. This raises the total population of the endangered southern resident Jpod to 88, up from the serious declines in past years.

J35 is a young mother, having been born in 1998. Scientists will monitor the well being of the newborn and its mother and anxious whale watchers will too. The Orca Network has been posting photos by Ms Emmons and others. Please visit the network to learn more about the new baby and to learn ways of watching whales while not disturbing their ways. It is illegal to approach at close range and yet the increase in shipping traffic in Puget Sound often drowns out the voices of the whales as they move around inland waterways.

Stay tuned for more information about the newboard orca and how you can help protect ocean waters and the food needs of whales, no matter how far you live from the sea. 
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