World Wildlife News

Filming ‘Penguin Safari’ was a real logistical challenge. South Georgia, where the film is based, has no permanent inhabitants and no airstrip. In order to get there, we chartered a boat, ‘Le Sourire’, from a fantastic husband-and-wife team of Antarctic experts. Their 60-foot yacht became our home for seven weeks. We sailed from the Falkland Islands with a crew of five – a cameraman, an editor, a sound recordist, a production coordinator and me as producer. Additionally, the yacht owners’ two children were on board, Theo, aged 9 and Marilou, aged 12. Mature beyond their years, they helped keep the yacht running and assisted with filming where possible – when they weren’t occupied with their dreaded school work!

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We suffered biting cold, wet feet, rain and snow, acres of penguin droppings and thousands of aggressive fur seals, but every second was worth it to spend a month amongst the jaw-dropping scenery and spectacular wildlife of South Georgia. I hope that through watching ‘Penguin Safari’ you can enter this world too.

Nigel Marvin- Producer, via National Geographic

Waste-to-energy is the process in which waste is used to generate useful energy –electricity, heat or both. This is possible (and convenient) when the heat generated by burning the waste is high enough to warrant satisfactory combustion conditions and make available enough energy to overcome losses and auxiliary consumption: in practice, a lower heating value of at least 4 megajoules per kilogram.

Waste-to-energy is the offspring of waste incineration, which was originally introduced to sterilize and reduce the volume of waste by combusting it in a furnace. Modern waste-to-energy plants allow the export of energy, with very low environmental impact. The plant comprises four basic sections: waste combustor, recovery boiler, flue gas treatment and steam cycle. The design of the combustor varies widely with the waste characteristics: physical state (solid vs. liquid), size distribution, heating value, ash and moisture content, etc. Municipal solid waste (MSW) typically is burned on a moving grate, where it is kept 20-30 minutes until it is completely combusted. The hot gases generated in the combustor go through the recovery boiler to generate steam, which is used directly as heat carrier or sent to a steam turbine to produce power. Flue gases are treated by adding reactants called sorbents and by filtering the particulate matter. A modern, large plant treating half-million tons of municipal solid waste per year can generate more than 400 million kWh per year, meeting the electricity needs of more than 150,000 families.

Another method of converting waste to energy is biomethanation where putrescible waste is anaerobically digested to create biogas which consists mainly of methane, a high-fuel value gas.

Source: Stefano Consonni

Another Wednesday, another day dedicated to one of our friends, Miriam Mannak.
I’ll leave her words and a picture of her describe her personality .

“I am a natural born Dutchy and a self-made global citizen who lived in various places all over the world. Today, as a freelance journalist and photographer living in South Africa since 2004 in search of greener pastures, a better climate and an international career in journalism & photography. At the moment I work as a text writer and photographer for a prestigious Cape Town PR company, without giving up my freelance activities. I am writing for the two in-flight magazines of Emirates Airlines, doing photography on the side and writing for various online publications. There is always room for more, so if you seek assistance: Let me know! “

It has been a long hard battle, but the British Hedgehog Preservation Society is celebrating the news that McDonald’s have changed the lid on their McFlurry dessert!
The original containers trapped many hedgehogs, some were released by kindly passers by, some were found dead, and it will never be known how many were never found at all. The new lid has a smaller aperture so the customer will take the lid off to get to the ice cream. Even if the cup does get thrown to the floor with the lid attached, the hole should be too small for hedgehogs to push into.
A spokesperson from McDonalds said “In consultation with the BHPS, we have undertaken significant research and testing to develop new packaging for our McFlurry dessert that addresses this issue. We are delighted to announce that we have now introduced a new lid with a smaller aperture for our McFlurry dessert. The smaller aperture of the lid has been designed to prevent hedgehogs from entering the McFlurry container in the unfortunate incidence that a lid is littered and is then accessible to wildlife.

Our restaurants and packaging will continue to display anti-littering messaging to encourage our customers to dispose of their litter responsibly, and we conduct daily litter patrols whereby we collect not only McDonald’s packaging but also any other litter that has been carelessly discarded.”
Fay Vass, Chief Executive of the Society said “This is excellent, if long overdue news! We have been in touch with McDonald’s about this problem for over five years, and are delighted that they have at last solved the problem. Thanks to public support of our campaign, from the 1^st September 2006 every McDonald’s restaurant in the UK will be using the new lids on their McFlurry cups and by doing so many hedgehog lives will be saved.”

Due to the amazing video I’ve seen these days, with the 2 otters holding hands I’ve done some research and came up with the following:

The Sea Otter has been a significant part of Alaska’s history since Vitus Bering’s first voyage of discovery to Alaska in 1742. When Bering returned to Russia, he brought back and reported on the rich furs of the sea otter which began a huge and profitable fur trade to primarily the Chinese. The Russians recognized that the harvesting of the sea otter in such great numbers would eventually decimate the animals and had began instilling protective laws for the sea otter. It’s argued that the depletion of the sea otter in the mid-nineteenth century may have led to Russia’s sale of Alaska in 1867. Once the US purchased Alaska, the early attempt by the Russians to protect the otters were dropped, and the sea otter was almost driven to extinction. In 1911 an international treaty was made against harvesting of the sea otter. In 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act transferred management authority to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Recovery of the Alaska sea otter population has been dramatic. Perhaps as few as 2,000 total animals existed in 1911, but by the mid-1970s the Alaska population numbered between 110,000 and 160,000. Today, the sea otter is considered fully recovered.

What led to the popularity of the sea otter is its rich, luxurious fur which consists of a dense underfur of inch long fibers and a second lay of protective “guard hairs.” The guard hairs can vary in color from brown to a silver-like color. Older sea otters tend to have white whiskers and the “silver” guard hairs increase on the head. This appearance has caused the sea otter to be given the nickname of “Old Man of the Sea.” The sea otter also produces body oil that during grooming, the otter spread over his fur and provides “waterproofing.”

Sea otters give birth to only one pup at a time. Sea otters do not migrate unless food becomes scarce. Female and males often will congregate in separate gender groups. Eagles will occasionally prey upon the pups and Orca whales have been known to take adult otters, but the sea otters’ predators are limited. However, as in times past, human impact is perhaps the most significant threat. The Exxon Valdez oil spill dramatically demonstrated the effects of oil contamination on sea otters. More than 1,000 carcasses were found after the spill, and it is likely that the total number that died was several times greater. Thus, while sea otters are flourishing in Alaska’s waters, it is clear that they are susceptible to human activities.

Source: Alaska Stock