Halibut Herald January 8

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ALIBUT HERALD January 8, 2009

Bits and Bites 10 Fascinating Albino Animals

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Library News Archival Photo

To celebrate the slow melting away of all that taunting crazy white stuff that blanketed Vancouver the past month, here’s an interesting selection of animals that can’t shake the white off no matter how hard they try. Left

to right, top to bottom: alligator, frog (clones), African penguin, deer, humpback whale, tiger python, kangaroo, pygmy marmoset monkeys, squirrel, pelican, tiger, gorilla, cobras. READ ON: http://www.oddee.com/item_96521.aspx

****************************** Underwater Forest Vs. Underwater Chainsaw

It may seem like a pipe dream for someone to come up with a viable solution to stop the endless logging in many parts of the world. Logging that is driven by people’s materialistic needs, usually the very same people who bemoan the loss of our rainforests and the effects of global warming. Yet one company, Triton, who have been in business for a number of years, discovered a perfectly adequate resolution quite a while ago, but only a handful of people know about it, or put the method into practice. Beneath the surface of many lakes around the world stand sprawling underwater forests . Towering trees that may have been submerged for decades but are no less usable than trees plucked from land forests. It’s thought there are around 300 million trees lying in a number of lakes formed after valleys were flooded to make way for dams and reservoirs. These perfectly preserved forests could easily be the answer conservationists have been looking for. Since 2004, Canadian based Triton has used Sawfish to log Oosta and Lois Lakes in British Columbia, where it’s estimated 15 million of the world’s submerged trees lie. READ ON: http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/underwate r-forest-chainsaw/5554 The technique utilized by the Sawfish has been carefully assessed by the Rainforest Alliance and has been certified by the Smart Woods Rediscovered program. Engineered to tread (or swim) lightly, it measures a mere 6′x6′x12′, and weighs in at 7700lbs. Floats are tethered to the trees so that once felled, no sediment is disturbed. The Sawfish is equipped with a 55″ electric chainsaw, 8 on board video cameras, and uses biodegradable vegetable oil for its hydraulic system! Of course, the lumber provided by these trees (which are technically dead) is by no means what you’d pick up at Home Depot for a little weekend project. While the cost of cutting submerged trees runs about the same as cutting live ones on dry land, the timber that is manufactured sells for about three times as much! Because it is technically old-growth timber, it is denser and more stable than your typical lumber. Additionally, it has the characteristics of vintage wood, and as they say, “each dead tree harvested by Sawfish can be another live tree saved.” THE GREENER SIDE OF TRITON LOGGING: http://www.inhabitat.com/2006/12/01/rediscovered-wood-the-triton-sawfish/

Alexandra Morton's Salmon Fight: VIDEO Alexandra Morton, a self-trained biologist, has been battling fish farms in British Columbia that she says are endangering wild salmon runs.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/1 1/04/science/1194831199078/alexandra -morton-s-salmon-fight.html?ref=earth

LEEDing the Way to Greener Building As many of you may know, tomorrow, our lovely Aquarium is gearing up to be approved for the international standard (ISO 14001) of our Environmental Management System. If you are not sure exactly what this means, how important it is to the organization and to Mother Earth the following video will be very helpful. The article that accompanies the title of this section will also help in understanding how the Aquarium is already on the right track with the Aquaquest building alone ☺ READ ARTICLE: http://www.globe-net.com/other_news/listing.cfm?type=2&newsID=3926

WATCH VIDEO: http://uk.youtube.com/watch? v=uCjK3lQhPDc

Wind Power Gaining Popularity in New York City READ ON: http://earthfirst.com/wind-powergaining-popula rity-in-new-york-city/

Bush Designates 3 New Marine Monuments! Say what you will about G.W. Bush, no other individual has protected more ocean in history - over 333,000 square miles of Pacific ocean. READ ON: http://blogs.discovery.com/deep_sea_news/2009/01/bush-designates.html

Siphonophore: Deep-sea superorganism VIDEO Here is some terrific video of a bioluminescent deep-sea siphonophore — an eerily fantastic creature that appears to be a single, large organism, but which is actually a colony of numerous individual jellyfishlike animals that behave and function together as a single entity. The individual units, called zooids, all share the same genetic material and each perform a specialized role within the colony. The best-known siphonophore is the poisonous Portuguese Man o’ War (Physalia physalis), which lives at the surface of the ocean, unlike the one shown in this video (filmed at a depth of 770 meters). Some siphonophore species can grow up to 40 meters (130 ft) in length. WATCH VIDEO: http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/12/siphonophore-deep-sea-superorganism-video/

Wobbegong Shark Pups ATLANTA (Dec. 31, 2008) – The Georgia Aquarium is excited to announce the arrival of 12 new spotted wobbegong shark pups. The pups were born last week in the Ocean Voyager exhibit built by The Home Depot. Their average weight at birth was 2.6 oz (74 grams) and 8.3 in (21 cm).

Native to coastal Australia, the spotted wobbegong (Orectolobus maculatus) is ovoviviparous, meaning a developing pup feeds from a yolk sac of its egg retained internally within the female and is later born fully formed. Biologists diving in the exhibit found the pups last week. READ ON: http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2009/01/wobbegong-shark-pups.html

Archival Photo

Kyosha & Bjossa swimming on Day 6, John Ford, 1991.

Events

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