Whales’ (& others’) tales & a cat who's a real character

Times are hard these days for whales, with disturbing news about their deaths along East Coast shores – unwelcome visitors who can be 30 feet long and can’t simply be whisked away in body bags for quick burials. 

Definitive reasons for dead whales washing ashore haven’t been determined from among conflicting theories – with offshore wind power machinations and fatal boat hits leading the list.  Two major opinion camps have emerged: those who want all steps toward ocean wind power stopped and those (including Gov. Murphy) who say the preparatory work will continue. 

Stay tuned while the debate continues (and, presumably, more whales die along the New York-New Jersey coastline.)  

Right Whale

A second whale issue deals with the high mortality rate of North Atlantic Right Whales off New Jersey’s coast.  A concerned group of animal and environmental advocates (including Susan Russell, APLNJ’s Wildlife Policy Director) has reached out to Senator Cory Booker, a sponsor of the “Right Whale Coexistence Act,” for his help protecting the whales.

The whale advocacy group proposes increasing US Coast Guard presence “to surveil and deter” to minimize Right Whales’ two chief hazards: entanglement in fishing gear and excessive vessel speeds.  Coast Guard enforcement of speed regulations and an “expedited, transparent and independent investigation” could substantially aid the whales, now estimated to number only 340 individuals.       https://tinyurl.com/ytdh7fzb

Help the hippos!  

The hippopatamus is another large wild animal needing protection . .  from humans.  Despite their great value -- described as “vital parts of African ecosystems” -- hippos are in serious jeopardy.  They need protection under the Endangered Species Act, but the HSUS has so far petitioned unsuccessfully for that listing to happen.

The hippo population keeps dropping because of – can you guess? – human trophy hunting and trade in hippo body parts, among other things.  Yes, hippos too are vulnerable to human greed and stupidity, as seen in the use of hippo ivory for carvings and other purposes, and hippo leather, used for purses, boots and belts.

(Pause here to recall the concept of Dominionism: the worldview held by one species that it has a divine right to use animals and everything else in the living world for its own benefit.)

It’s becoming harder and harder to accept that non-human animals are steadily moving toward extinction, because of us!  Hippo-skin boots?  Criminal.     

https://blog.humanesociety.org/2023/02/humane-society-usfws-hippos-endangered-species-act.html and https://tinyurl.com/2p98rwy9’

Travels of a tiny turtle

Imagine a baby loggerhead turtle in the ocean, drifting from Florida to Ireland – after truly being “lost at sea.”  Then remember what you’ve seen of the Atlantic Ocean at its most fierce.  A Washington Post story described how the turtle likely hatched last summer in Florida, then with countless others, made for the ocean and the warm Gulf Stream.

But unfavorable conditions prevailed, driving the turtle far off course, north into cold water.  An estimated 4,000 miles later, dehydrated, horribly underweight, suffering from hypothermia and nearly dead, the little loggerhead (weighing about a pound) was spotted on a beach in Ireland and put under the care of a marine biologist who is rehabbing her, believing she’ll survive.  Named “Cro’ga,” Irish for “brave,” the little turtle is eating and gaining weight – and out of the water at last.    https://tinyurl.com/2fe9b82e

Also small & brave

That would be Jersey Summers, my 8-1/2 pound cat who earlier this month went through major tooth surgery.  (Or should that be “oral surgery” since he had no teeth?)  Whatever, he did lose tooth-root remnants and other undesirable sharp and inflamed stuff that irritated tissue in his mouth: all gone!  And he came through like a champion.

Jersey’s other championships include being a stellar sleeper – so dependably that I wonder if he’s really a 30-year-old cat, not the playful “elderly baby cat,” of around 9 years whom I adopted last fall!  His cries for food and single-minded consumption identify a champion eater too: so voracious, he’ll steal from Billy’s bowl whenever possible, and he's always ready for breakfast, leftovers, dinner, treats, freebies, purloined bites . . .).

He’s also uniquely expressive.  Sometimes when I “Sshhhhh!” Jersey in the middle of a yowl, he looks startled and immediately lowers the volume to a sweet and low little syllable or two (before picking up again).  His face typically shows expressions that mime what I’m saying.  He understands!

Watching Jersey settle in here is a huge pleasure -- and all 3 of us still have a lot to learn.

Boys' toy: Billy & Jersey at play

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