73 Million Sharks for Soup?

A spiny dogfish, one of five species of sharks that reside in the
Oregon Coast Aquarium’s Passages of the Deep exhibit.

Did you know that about 73 million sharks are killed each year for their fins, used in the preparation of shark fin soup? The practice called shark-finning – catching a shark, slicing off its fins and then discarding the body at sea —is reducing the populations to dangerously low levels.

Sharks are important members of their habitats in oceans around the globe—from warm shallows to the cold, deep sea and even fresh water lakes. Sharks and their ancestors have patrolled the seas for nearly 400 million years. Today, more than half of the shark species taken in high-seas fisheries are classified as Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened.

Despite the scary animal programs you’ve seen,  only a handful of the 350 shark species pose a threat to man.

To learn more about sharks, visit The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, OR, or your local aquarium. Special note: From August 1 – 14, the Oregon Coast Aquarium plans a celebration of sharks with plenty of up close and personal experiences with these incredible creatures.

Bittern Booming

This really is extraordinary footage of a bittern booming.  Ok, if you don’t know what a bittern is, it’s a highly secretive bird.  Booming is the call the bittern makes during the mating season.  Bitterns, when they are frightened, point their bills to the sky and stand stalk still, as if they are reeds. This makes bitterns, in addition to their protective coloration, very difficult to see.  Sorry about the commercial that precedes the footage, but for those of us who’ve heard them, but haven’t seen them, it’s worth it.

By the way, if you’d like to know more about this bird, check out About Birds.  Scroll down and look right to the distribution map which shows when you have bitterns in your area.  To learn how to find bitterns in your area, contact your local chapter of the Audubon Society; search by zip code here.

Superheroes Revealed by Science

This story is one of the reasons I mix science and nature on ThisWildLife.  Without new high speed photography and thermal imaging tools, and without the scientists doing work in the field, this Nature film on hummingbirds could never have been made.

Filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum calls hummingbirds nature’s heroes.  This would not have been news to Alexander Skutch, whose brilliant book on hummingbirds explained how hummingbird’s unique method of trapline feeding works and discussed the consumption of insects by these tiny creatures.  Much of what the film shows was known, but was difficult to show.  Science of photography and computing technology has made this possible. 

When you have nine minutes, please watch this feature about the making of the Nature program.  The secrets of how the photographs were made are revealed.  Then, you can catch the video itself on Nature.

Crazy As A Bedbug?

I’m not sure where that expression originated, but it means nutty or a bit insane, and it describes how I feel about bugs. I’m crazy about bugs. The more I know about them, the crazier I am about them. Bugs are the easiest wildlife to find. They tell you a lot about the health of ecosystems as large as Yosemite or as small as your own backyard, patio, or window box.

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Bird Journal:  All About Me

Aviculturist Diane Grindol shares the Bird Journal she developed to help new bird companions learn about their bird.  This journal also serves as a great resource when someone else needs to care for this very special bird.  Diane hopes this will help other aviculturists help their clients.  Breeders are invited to download and provide this journal free of charge.

Click here to download the Bird Journal in PDF format.

Balboa Park, San Diego, CA March 2008

Dick Seignious, a faithful correspondent from San Diego share his wonderful photographs of birds with his friends.  Because he’s a generous guy and loves birds more than almost anyone, he’s agreed to share his experiences with ThisWildLife.com. 

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Practically Science: Heat

When autumn cools outdoor temperatures, we practically hairless humans heat our homes to keep warm and wear extra clothing when we go outside.

What is heat, anyway?

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Changing Colors

Darkness comes too soon and temperatures cool as we settle into our school year routine. In those moments we can sit and notice everything around us, especially colors, is changing in our Northern Hemisphere autumn.

Farmers finish their harvests under weakening sunlight. Sap descends amid the fall fruit of berries, nuts, and cones, the source of abundant seeds for next year’s natural crops. While acorns crunch under walkers’ feet, grocery shoppers’ choices transform from summer lush berries to apples and pears, squash and parsnips.

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