Thursday 16 July 2009

7

Our planet is large, more or less large if compared with the rest of the planets of the Solar System. It is large but we only have seven species of sea turtles and all of them are threatend. Since Finding Nemo turtles have become more famous, what's more, we have given to them charisma and that's good for conservation.

Many are the dangers that turtles have to face: drift fishing, plastic bags, trawling, nets, etc. Some people could think that turtles are silly animals that are usuless for the ecosystems but nothing more wrong:
  • They are little ecosystems in movement.
  • They are pollution bioindicators.
  • They control another species as jellyfish or sponges which can threaten other species even whole ecosystems like corals.
So we already have some reasons to increase our care for sea turtles. In case you find some of them in the seashore because you could think they are ill, the easiest way to help them is to dial the emergency number. Maybe in some places you have another ways but this is the general one. Here you have some clues to give the accuratest information about the animal:

  1. If she or he is completely quiet, taking a lot of care, touch their eye. Until the last breath of life they respond to your finger in their eyes.
  2. Problem number one with flotation: they float more in one side (left or right). They have breathing problems, maybe an infection in their lungs or something so.
  3. Problem number two with flotation: they float more in the rear part or viceversa. Maybe they are having problems with their digestive system.
I have given you several reasons to preserve sea turtles and a few clues about how to react in case of emergency. Ups! Another thing, if possible, up to the moment in which the emergency service arrive to the place, you can soak your towel and keep wet the legs of the turtle. Remember they normally live in the oceans and their skin needs humidity.

To come to an end, here you are a video to make awareness of the problem that we and they are facing.

Have a nice weekend.


Thursday 2 July 2009

This Is Serious - Part III

In January 2007, some news were about a mild-winter in Russia. That happened some weeks after I came back to Spain from my holidays in Finland.

It seemed that in Russia, like in Finland, some people were also surprised of those mild temperatures. The fact that event happened at a hemisphere scale, made us to understand it as not anything exceptional. It is true that, at a local scale, there have been, there are  and there will be colder and warmer winters, but when something happens at a much bigger scale... It should make us to think.

Just now, in the summer 2009 in the North hemisphere, I pray Gaia for polar bears which could be fighting for survival given the lack of ice that every summer is bigger. You rich countries, shame on you for a free ice Artic Ocean in the coming years.

P.S. The picture is set in the Moscu's Read Square, without snow, in January 2007. I got it from a spanish piece of news.