Halibut Herald January 22

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ALIBUT HERALD January 22, 2009

Bits and Bites Amazing striped icebergs

Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions. Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form. When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe. Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.

Antarctica Frozen Waves - Nature is amazing! Just look at how the wave froze in mid-air!!! The water froze the instant the wave broke through the ice. That's what it is like in Antarctica where it is the coldest weather in decades. Water freezes the instant it comes in contact with the air. The temperature of the water is already some degrees below freezing. Thank you to Banquet Coordinator, Laura McAfee, for emailing these in!

New Antarctica Study: You'll Still Freeze Your Butt Off, But It's Warming Here is an interesting article to coincide with the Aquarium lead trip to Antarctica (the lucky individuals left yesterday!)

READ ON: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/new-antarctica-global-warming-study-no-cooling-anymore.php

New York City’s Largest Commercial Net-Metered Solar Power Array Graces Brooklyn Rooftop While there are larger rooftop solar arrays out there (GM’s 12 MW solar array in Zaragosa, Spain being the current world leader in that category), a new, albeit much smaller, rooftop solar array sets a first of its own: First in commercial net-metered solar power array in New York City. Here are the details… READ ON: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/new-yorkcity-first-commerical-net-metered-rooftop-solararray.php

The Incredible Tree-Climbing Goats of Morocco Before you jump to conclusions: no, these were not created by a bored geek in Photoshop. Amazingly, these uncanny animals are actually real: they climb the Argan trees of Morocco in search of food, which is otherwise sparse in the region. Over time they have become not only able to climb trees but downright adept at the art - the traipse across trees with a sure-footedness that is hard to imagine from a hoofed animal. The droppings of the goats contain the kernels of the seeds they consume which are, strangely enough, used by locals to press and grind into oil. Even more disturbingly: this oil has a number of uses including culinary (yes, people eat it) and cosmetic (yes, they also smear it on themselves). You might want to skip over the versions of these products sold by local farmers for the somewhat cleaner mass-produced varieties. For a quarter-liter bottle of this goat-digested kernel-oil you can expect to pay from 15 to 50 dollars. READ ON & WATCH VIDEO: http://webecoist.com/2008/08/19/the-incredible-tree-climbing-goats-ofmorocco/

The Call of the Humpback Amazing sounds of Humpback catching Herring

LISTEN HERE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/reports/humpback-whale-bubble-netting/

BBC World On The Move

Here’s a really neat website where Animal Migrations are recorded http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/

More News Links 5 Green Habits That Matter More Than Recycling http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/green-habits-importantrecycling.html?campaign=daylife-article

Know the Big Industries for Your Green Investing http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/green-investing-big-industries.html?campaign=daylifearticle

Antarctica: New Evidence of Western Warming http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/antarctica-new-evidence-of-western-warming/

Will Consumers Kill the Electric Car? http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/will-consumers-kill-the-electric-car/

Archival Photo

Hyak breaching @ Pender Harbour. 1968.

Library News New Journals and Magazines Above & Beyond: Canada’s Arctic Journal; January/February 2009 (Link will take you to an online TOC) BBC Wildlife; January 2009 27(1) (Link will take you to an online TOC) Canadian Field Naturalist; 121(3) Fall 2007 (Link will take you to an online TOC) Canadian Geographic; 129(1) January/ February 2009 (Link will take you to an online TOC) Environmental Education Research; 14(6) December 2008 (Link will take you to an online TOC) Science and Children; 46(5) January 2009 (Link will take you to an online TOC)

Green News Greening your Commute Every day is a good day to walk, bike, or swim to the Aquarium! Are you a green commuter? Trying to become one? It’s pretty easy being green here in Vancouver, especially when it comes to travel. Hop, skip, swim, cycle, walk, take the bus, or carpool to work! The bonus: not only is it a greener way to get to work, but it is also a great way to meet your fellow coworkers! Need some assistance?
Public Transportation o TransLink’s Trip Planner will help you get here faster: http://tripplanning.translink.bc.ca/. o Are you a fulltime employee? Join Translink’s Employer Pass Program and receive 15% off an annual transit pass! Contact Melanie Vaughan for details!
Cycling o Extra cycling maps for the City of Vancouver are available at Heather’s desk. Pick one up today! Or download the map: http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transport/cycling/pdf/CTVAN_BikeRoute_MAP_2007.p df o Shower facilities, lockers, and more are available in the basement of Aquaquest! o Secure storage is available near Door #2! Other bike racks are available throughout the building. Ask if you have questions! o Worried about cycling in the dark or rain? Find a cycling buddy to ride in and out of the park with! There are many here!
Carpooling o The Vancouver Aquarium has its very own Ride Share site for Aquarium employees! Jack Bell Ride-Share allows you to find ride matches with coworkers to fill your personal car, find a driver to carpool with, or use a Jack Bell fleet vehicle! This calculates both costs and greenhouse gas savings at the same time! o Registration is restricted to email addresses ending in @vanaqua.org. Register today!
Go to http://vanaqua.ride-share.com/en/my/
Register for free with your @vanaqua.org email address
Enter your home address
Search for matching commuters with adjustable search options
Click matching commuters to suggest a ride-share
Start ride-sharing! Need extra information on getting there greener, no matter where you are going? Check out the Getting There Greener report and find quick tips and handy information: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/solutions/cleaner_cars_pickups_and_suvs/greentravel/get ting-there-greener.html Quick Tip:

Did you know that approximately 45% of commuters in Metro Vancouver travel alone in their vehicles? Ridesharing with just 1 other person would eliminate over 1 million cars a day crossing in and out of Metro Vancouver. This is equivalent to 1.6 million litres of gas saved, and 4000 tonnes of greenhouse gases not emitted.

Take the Green Team Lantern Festival Challenge After seeing the pumpkin creations at Halloween we thought it was only fair to get your creative juices flowing with a Chinese New Year Challenge. February 9th marks the end of the Chinese New Year and the first full moon of the year. The Lantern Festival is traditionally celebrated on this day and in order to join in with the festivities we invite you to join our Lantern Making Challenge. Using recycled, reused and sustainable products we would like to issue a department wide challenge to design a beautiful Chinese lantern! The theme can be anything you like as long as the materials you use to make it are green. We will set up a table in the staff room on 9th February between 11.30 and 1.30 with a selection of crafty goodies to help and inspire you. The lantern can be any shape, colour size and design you like but if you need some tips the Green Team will be on hand on the 9th to get you started. Make sure your lanterns are finished and in the staff room by 1.30 for judging! This event is open to everyone! You don’t have to enter the competition to test out your lantern making skills.

http://damncoolpics.blogspot.c om/2008/08/chinese-lanternfestival.html

Paper Request: In order to help make our lanterns as sustainable as possible we are putting the call out for any old 2008 calendars, fancy used wrapping paper and brightly coloured magazine – anything in fact that might make a good lantern! There will be a box in the staff room for you to put you paper – thanks!

Happy Chinese New Year from the Green Team! 26th January marks the start of Chinese New Year. We would like to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year with some Chinese New Year Tips and Facts: The GREEN (BLUE)TEAM At Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate with poems on red paper, and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. The color green-blue symbolizes the spring when everything is brimming over with vigor and vitality (Association of Asian Research). Well, isn’t that just the Green Team in a fortune cookie! Festive Food! Why not check out some Ocean Wise Chinese food at Wild Rice. www.wildricevancouver.com If you are travelling further afield how about some sustainable Dim Sum at the Victoria Pacific Restaurant from 11.30-3.30 every Saturday and Sunday. For more details check out: http://www.hotelgrandpacific.com/about/pressreleases.php?id=55 Reuse and Recycle! A former city employee in the Fukushima prefecture town of Koriyama has built a 4-meter (13-ft) long canoe from thousands of used disposable chopsticks recovered from the city hall cafeteria. Bothered that perfectly good wood was going to waste after a single use, Shuhei Ogawara — whose job at city hall involved working with the local forestry industry — spent the last two years of his career collecting used chopsticks from the cafeteria. An experienced canoe builder, Ogawara spent over 3 months gluing 7,382 chopsticks together into strips to form the canoe shell, to which he added a polyester resin coat. The canoe weighs about 30 kilograms (66 lbs), which is a bit heavier than an ordinary cedar canoe, but Ogawara is confident it will float. A launching ceremony is planned for May at nearby Lake Inawashiro.

Events

http://vancouver.ca/oneday/index.htm

Mt. Seymour Guys Night Out - Girls Ride FREE* January 12 — March 16, 2009 Guys Night Out - Girls Ride FREE is back by popular demand for the 2008/09 season with lots of great prizing and specials for event participants! Girls Ride Free every Monday night from the 12th January 2009 to the 16th March 2009. This great night is to support breast cancer research at the BC Cancer Foundation and is an awesome social night to share with friends. Not only do girls get to ride for free, but we have plenty of giveaways, and food and drink specials in Elevations Restaurant each Monday night. http://www.mountseymour.com/events

READ ON: http://www.pacificpermaculture.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81:inroduction-topermaculture-january-2009

Win a copy of "A Good Catch: Sustainable Seafood Recipes" CONTEST DETAILS HERE: http://www.granville online.ca/gr/contests

For Sale

Small Red Futon Sofa Folds down to sleep one or two people. Barely used and in good condition * approx 6ft in length * Wooden frame * selling for 70 dollars Please contact Kim at 604-317-8930 or email [email protected].