wildlife

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*update* Jan. 14, 2013 EU releases all data on GM corn linked to cancer Monday's move "aims to make data used in risk assessment publicly available," Geslain-Laneelle said, by promoting research and working with scientists.

*update* Siding with EU's ban on animal testing, Dec. 21 2012 Air Canada can refuse to ship monkeys for research

Seven Food Products Banned in Europe Still Available in the U.S.
1. Genetically Modified Foods
2. Stevia, the Natural Sweetener
3. Bovine Growth Hormone
4. Chlorinated Chickens
5. Food Contact Chemicals
6. Herbicides, Fungicides and Insecticides  read more »

Buddha quotes (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.) “What is evil? Killing is evil". Japan's ICR has set itself a quota of nearly one thousand minke and 50 fin whales to be culled during the 2012/2013 Australian summer in Antarctica: in the name of "science". Earth Dr Reese Halter, biologist: "four Japanese whale-killing, factory ships armed with coast guards and grenade-tipped harpoons are within hours of entering a demilitarized zone and the international Great Southern Ocean Sanctuary. The bloody 'War Against Nature' is set to rage."

*update* Jan. 7, 2013 Sea Shepherd Australia To Lead Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign - Former Greens leader Bob Brown takes helm. Whalers' legal action has forced Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson to resign as president after more than three decades at the helm, saved thousands of most innocent sea lives from merciless slaughter...

Captain Watson Gives Speech at Sea Shepherd 35th Anniversary Event in Colorado

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Smart Sea Otter Stacks Cups

Sea Otter Pup

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"Nature does nothing uselessly. " - Aristotle

Global warming? Sea otters to the rescue!
Global warming is reaching new records, ice caps continue to melt at an alarming rate, and measures taken by authorities are as rare as they are questionable. But as cute as they are, where do otters step in? Well, as I was telling you, otters like to feast on sea urchins. Sea urchins eat kelp, and kelp forests trap and store massive amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. A kelp forest ‘guarded’ by otters can absorb as much as 12 times the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere than one without an otter population.

Published in the respectable online journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the research that came to this conclusion didn’t go unnoticed at all, as professor Chris Wilmers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, explains: “Right now, all the climate change models and proposed methods of sequestering carbon ignore animals. But animals the world over, working in different ways to influence the carbon cycle, might actually have a large impact.” He elaborates: “If ecologists can get a better handle on what these impacts are, there might be opportunities for win-win conservations scenarios, whereby animal species are protected or enhanced, and carbon gets sequestered.”  read more »

Thanks for the help
Queens Park Rangers' Ryan Nelsen (right) uses a boost from Chelsea's Fernando Torres to get the advantage on a header.

A crowd of customers counts down to 8 a.m. at the Apple Store on 5th Ave. in New York City.

Seen from the U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, the space shuttle Endeavor passes the Hollywood sign as the retired space shuttle makes the rounds of Los Angeles and Orange County landmarks before landing at LAX.

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*update* September 24, 2012 Endeavour: Astronauts hope shuttle will inspire future generations Of the folks assembled at the United Airlines hangar at Los Angeles International Airport last week to watch Endeavour's arrival, three had firsthand experience with the space shuttle.  read more »

An intense stare-down: Bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla kneels down in front of a bull during the last bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain.

Adventure-loving Andy Lewis, 26, slacklines at Fisher Towers playground in Utah's Moab Desert. The spectacular location, with towers ranging from 35 to 800 feet...

Just in time for the film premiere on July 3. The Mwanza Flat Headed Agama lizard bears a striking resemblance to Spider-Man and even captures his crouching pose perfectly, albeit in Kenya rather than the Big Apple. (Let's not tell him Lizard is the villain in the latest flick.)

A young girl squeezes between honor guard soldiers to get a glimpse of the Olympic torch on Saturday in Staffordshire, England.

Just 5,000 ducks out for a stroll. A farmer snarls traffic in China as he herds his huge flock three-quarters of a mile to a pond. With only the help of a colleague and long stick, the man claims he didn't lose one bird on the trip.

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Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo released photographs of its newborn giant panda on July 6, showing its mother breastfeeding the tiny cub.

Born to 7-year-old Shin Shin on July 5, the panda--a male--is the first born at the zoo in Taito Ward as a result of natural breeding. “Even though she is a new mother, Shin Shin takes very good care of her cub,” said Yutaka Fukuda, deputy director of the zoo. “I'm sure she will be a good mother.”  read more »

For over 30 years, determined ocean defender Captain Paul Watson has saved many wildlife, from seals, whales, dolphins, to blue tuna... but his enemies are also determined, and very "powerful, most notably the government of Japan." "Save Captain Paul Watson from a politically-motivated extradition to Costa Rica where he will not receive a fair trial, nor is it likely that he would even survive jail to see the inside of a courtroom. The Taiwanese shark fin mafia in Costa Rica have made threats on Captain Watson’s life. Costa Rica is one of the world’s largest exporters of shark fins, a trade thought to be worth millions of dollars and controlled by the Taiwanese mafia. In January 2011, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and his TV crew were allegedly held at gunpoint and dowsed with gasoline during the filming of his documentary on the shark-finning trade in Costa Rica." Newly released video evidence from the documentary "Sharkwater" proves Capt. Watson's innocence, but he is still being extradited from Germany to Costa Rica tomorrow (Fri), May 18. Filmmaker Rob Stewart joins the global call to free Paul Watson.

Arrest of Capt. Watson lawful? A 10-year-old case: no one injured, no property damaged; "the charges were originally dropped once the authorities saw the footage (from Sharkwater Film by Rob Stewart)"?