You are hereWcP.Story.Teller's blog

WcP.Story.Teller's blog


Passion for ocean: 14-year-old Dutch girl sets off on solo sail around the world under the Sea Shepherd flag

14-year-old Laura Dekker hoists a flag of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society at her 38-foot (11.5-meter) yacht Guppy setting off on a sail around the world by herself

(quote)

World’s Youngest Sailor Sets Sail Under the Sea Shepherd Flag - Laura Dekker has been handed the Sea Shepherd Jolly Roger by Sea Shepherd Netherlands Director Geert Vons in Den Osse.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Founder and President, Captain Paul Watson, along with Laurens de Groot, had a unique conversation around midnight on August 3, 2010 while driving north on Highway 405 from San Clemente to Los Angeles, California. It was early morning in the small Dutch harbor of Den Ostse in the Netherlands when Captain Watson called Laura Dekker—a 14-year-old sailor from the Netherlands—just as she was setting out with her 38-foot sailing yacht Guppy to begin her quest to be the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe solo.

Dekker was born on her parent’s sailing yacht off the coast of New Zealand. She has already crossed the North Sea solo at the age of thirteen. Two months ago, Dekker met with Sea Shepherd Netherlands Director Geert Vons and Laurens de Groot in the Sea Shepherd Amsterdam office. She asked if she could fly the Sea Shepherd flag and promote the efforts of Sea Shepherd during her voyage.

Vons, de Groot, and everyone else within Sea Shepherd Netherlands and Sea Shepherd International were immediately enthusiastic.  read more »

Plastiki, 20x60ft boat from 12,500 plastic bottles, sails 130 days & 8,000 nautical miles across Pacific Ocean, reaches Sydney

the Plastiki crew were met by a welcome flotilla of boats and hellicopters as they sailed through Sydney habour

Plastiki crew

Epic Voyage
The Plastiki and crew have reached the end of their epic voyage which has taken them through the Pacific Ocean on an 8,000 nautical mile adventure lasting over 130 days. On Jul 26, 2010, 'plastiki' reached its final destination, sailing its way into Sydney Harbour, bringing with it a warning on pollution & on plastic waste in the oceans.

quote)

The Plastiki is a distinctive, one-of-a-kind 60-foot (20m) catamaran made out of 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles and other recycled PET plastic and waste products.The craft was built using cradle to cradle design philosophies and features many renewable energy systems, including solar panels, wind and trailing propeller turbines, and bicycle generators.

On March 20, 2010, the sailing vessel set off from San Francisco, California with a six-man crew, including David de Rothschild, to sail across the Pacific Ocean. The expedition projected landfall in Sydney, Australia and included plans to visit several sites en route of ecological importance or which were susceptible to environmental issues caused by global warming, for instance the current sea level rise, ocean acidification and marine pollution.  read more »

Great sportsman Roger Federer is mortal, but still the man.. Queen Elizabeth II visits Wimbledon for 1st time in 33 years

Wimbledon 2010: Queen Elizabeth II meets Williams sisters, Roddick, Federer, King, Navratilova

(quote)

For a guy who had just been knocked out of a major tournament, Roger Federer seemed remarkably composed. For a 16-time Grand Slam singles champion, he was almost jovial. The first question in his postmatch interview following a loss to Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros concerned his level of disappointment. "Well, disappointed to a certain degree," Federer answered. "I don't think I played a bad match, so it's easier to go out this way. I thought he came up with some great tennis. It's a touch easier to digest this way."

Federer was trying to match the career record for consecutive men’s singles titles at Wimbledon, currently held by the 19th-century British player William Renshaw

Roger Federer even joked when the topic of his 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals appearances -- an all-time streak ended by Soderling -- came up. "It was a great run," Federer said. "Now I've got the quarterfinal streak going, I guess." When the assembled media laughed, Federer even smiled.

Top-seeded Roger Federer defeated unseeded Mario Ancic, the last man to defeat him at Wimbledon, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4. Federer has reached 17 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals since losing in the third round of the 2004 French Open  read more »

Michael Jackson's Earth Song: "The crying Earth, the weeping shores".. 2010 Oil gush.. opened but unable to heal Earth's crust?

the last time Michael Jackson performed in UK was in 2006 at the World Music Awards
Michael Jackson, King of Pop (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)

Home is a 2009 documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
(click on above image to see HOME - the documentary on Youtube)


"Earth Song"
(written & composed by Michael Jackson, released on November 27, 1995)
Lyric excerpts:
...
What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain...
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?
Aaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaah

What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice  read more »

Pacific Ocean. Endangered sei, sperm whales being hunted plea for mercy. Whaling fleet with 200+ crew set sail, mid-June 2010

worldwide commercial-whaling moratorium that has been in place since 1986 is under seige

Kujira-san,'Mr Whale', Whistleblower
A former Japanese whaler comes forward to the Guardian UK. Read 'Mr. Whale's' testimony

photo: breaching humpback whale

Japan’s Junichi and Toru (‘Tokyo Two’); New Zealand’s Peter Bethune... defending the ocean from illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

the Beluga or White Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic species of cetacean

quote)
Escalating: with >200 crew, Japanese whaling fleet set sail to kill. “Maybe Japanese whalers thought that their mission of slaughter would go unnoticed because this hunt is not taking place in an IWC sanctuary? Or maybe Japan believes that the deal will go through and by the time the fleet reaches port in August commercial whaling will once again be authorized by the IWC?"

A Japanese whaling fleet left port this week with a quota to kill 260 whales in the North Pacific. Three harpoon ships and two research vessels left ports in Japan yesterday, carrying more than 200 crew. The fleet aims to kill 100 minke whales, 100 sei whales, 50 Bryde's whales and 10 sperm whales before late August.  read more »

Facebook lures 500million "intimate strangers" to live online. Mark Zuckerberg, driving force behind it remains private citizen

Facebook is Redefining Privacy
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and headquarters

(quote)

Private citizen: Zuckerberg is responsible for turning friend into a verb. But don’t try to friend the 26-year-old CEO: the botton on his profile has been disabled.

Friends without Borders
Nearly 500 million people worldwide live their lives - or versions of them - on Facebook. Is there a limit to how much we’ll share? CEO Mark Zuckerberg is betting there isn’t.

Sometime in the next few weeks, Facebook will officially log its 500 millionth active citizen. If the website were granted terra firma, it would be the world's third largest country by population, two-thirds bigger than the U.S. More than 1 in 4 people who browse the Internet not only have a Facebook account but have returned to the site within the past 30 days.

overall vibe of the office is not unlike that of a dormitory, which is just where Mark Zuckerberg and his three co-founders first dreamed up the idea for Facebook  read more »

Tokyo. Who's on trial, face jail? Whalers - hunting quota cut in half - cut antiwhaling Ady Gil (Earthrace) in half

Top L: Pete Bethune, skipper of Earthrace, the world record holder for circumnavigation. Middle: Earthrace, renamed Ady Gil, on new mission to defend ocean life but sunk by Japanese whaler. Bottom: Japanese 750+ tons iron&steel whaling ship running over 17 tons carbon-fibre (fibreglass) Ady Gil (Earthrace), space-age, only-one-of-its-kind trimaran with 6 crew on board including Captain Pete Bethune
In Tokyo court on trial today stands a New Zealander detained in Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary waters when delivering a citizen’s arrest. An international case all about whales. Who is guilty: whalers who killed 507 whales? Or anti-whaler who risked his life and lost his boat to have helped save 528 whales? The 1000-ton whaling vessel Shonan Maru 2 who cut 17-ton-fibreglass anti-whaling boat in half? Key witnesses are missing: the slaughtered whales packaged for the meat market and the saved whales [some are being hunted to extinction] who are free and happily enjoying the blue oceans and nursing their offspring. Remember, oceans and sea life do not only belong to all of us regardless of cultural background, but more so to our children, and children’s children. If the anti-whaler is guilty, who is not? The Ocean is dying...

(quote)  read more »

Glaciers not just ice but lifeline. Lewis Gordon Pugh to swim in half-frozen Mt Everest lake at breathtaking altitude of 5300m

Lewis Gordon Pugh is preparing for a 1km swim below summit of Mt Everest
Fearless journey to awaken conscience, to unite efforts, to rescue our planet. Lewis, with warmest heart we wish you success!

"This is not just about protecting a pristine environment," Pugh says, "it's about saving ourselves." Lewis’s Pick n Pay/SAP Everest Challenge on May 22 is all about spreading awareness of climate change and its effects. He will become the first person to attempt to swim 1km across an almost-frozen lake two-thirds of the way up Mount Everest, next to the Khumbu Glacier – at the breathtaking altitude of 5,300 metres.

Pugh is attempting a 1km swim in a glacial lake just under the summit of Mount Everest to draw attention to the melting Himalayan glaciers.

’This is not just about protecting a pristine environment, ‘ Lewis says. ‘It's about saving ourselves.’

Pugh once said “it’s a tragedy that it’s possible to swim at the North Pole.” He put himself through intense physical strain to raise awareness about climate change; he’s an ardent environmentalist who wants the world to know about the decrease in ice in the Arctic.  read more »

RSS feed

Subscribe to WcP Blog RSS feed

Twitter

WcP Blog on Twitter

Facebook

WcP Blog on Facebook

Custom Search



Subscribe / Connect

Subscribe to WcP Blog RSS feed via FeedBurner
Subscribe via Wikio http://www.wikio.co.uk
WcP Blog on Twitter
WcP Blog on Facebook

Subscribe by Email

Email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Search the Web

Custom Search

Archive Calendar

September 2010
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930

Featured Videos

Latest Quote

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
It's always our self we find in the sea.

— E.E. Cummings

Featured Ads & Links

Recent comments

Reader Reviews

  • "Cool bio[mission statement]." - Darin (California, USA)
  • "You have some beautiful images. Love your site!" - Susan (Washington DC, USA)
  • "I love your Blog." - Kate (Ireland)
  • "A great site highlighting many important issues." - Bob (New Zealand)
  • "Excellent blog." - Bill (Vancouver Island, Canada)
  • "Fantastic blog and educational articles, much enjoy visiting...Thank you!" - Lotus1150 (Alberta, Canada)
  • "Love your blog!!" - Henricus (Chesham, UK)
  • "Easy to read and well-designed." - Colin (Arizona, USA)
  • "This is simply a gorgeous site. Not only are the photos excellent but the messages are powerful and the stories intriguing. Thank you for such a gem." - Robin (New Mexico, USA)
  • "Great site and awesome photos." - David (Washington DC, USA)
  • "I loved your website. Even finding some news about Turkey made me surprised." - Anonymous (Turkey)
  • "Gorgeous site ... the kind of place you could lose yourself for hours (suppose that was intentional?). Also, cartoons, commentary on the events of the times, etc. Great stuff." - Daniel (Nevada, USA)
  • "...may your blog, ideas and efforts help many more people." - Anonymous (New Mexico, USA)
  • "Very cool site..." - Anonymous
  • "Amazing site, worth the visit every time... enjoy." - Sam (Saudi Arabia)
  • "Unique mix of news, photos and poetry." - Frasier (Virginia, USA)
  • "Worldculturepictorial.com/blog is an extremely interesting collection of news articles. It calls itself "A Window On the World". The site contains a wide variety of topics, all very informative and pertinent to life in today's world." - Cynthia (Massachusetts, USA)
  • "An interesting way to check out the wonders of our world." - Anthony (Ohio, USA)
  • "Good blog - Everything from news to photography. Very informative." - "explicitmemory" (Texas, USA)
  • "Very informative site by prose and picture..." - Jeff (Michigan, USA)