No deal on huge Antarctic marine reserves

International talks on establishing huge marine reserves in Antarctica have failed to reach a consensus.

The proposed protected zone in the Ross Sea is home to a large proportion of the world's Adelie penguins
Russia blocked attempts by western countries to set up the protected areas in the Ross Sea and Eastern Antarctica.

The Russian representative challenged the legal basis that would allow for the creation of such reserves, according to organisations at the talks in Germany.

Source: Here

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“Perverted” penguins and then some . . .

Are penguins “all too human”?

Continuing the topic of “animals-are-just-like-us” and “famous animals in captivity,” we turn to penguins — not because of their “happy feet” but because some of them form same-sex pairings.

The first famous “gay” penguin couple are Roy and Silo, male Chinstrap penguins at Manhattan’s Central Park Zoo. They came into prominence back in 2004 when they successfully hatched an egg given to them, the chick being named Tango. Their story prompted the 2005 book by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson entitled “And Tango Makes Three.” A play based on the book was then written by Emily Freeman. This play was opposed from being performed in an Austin, Texas elementary school — some claiming the play was not “age appropriate.”

Then there’s Pedro and Buddy, African penguins at the Toronto Zoo, who made headlines in 2011. They were since separated, introduced to female penguins and produced eggs this year. This move by zoo officials was met with criticism but apparently the penguins never looked back to their “bromance.”

And then there are the two unnamed King penguins at Denmark’s Odense Zoo. These two were so desperate to have offspring they even tried to steal an egg from a regular King penguin couple. They were also given a fertile egg to adopt and successfully hatched a King penguin chick.

The perception that these animals are “gay” is apparently partly based on likening animal behavior to human behavior — the “animals-are-just-like-us” viewpoint.

So, are animals “just like us”?

We should be careful against assuming what is natural for animals is desirable for humans.

For example, the article on Roy and Silo stated that humans take care of their elderly while animals don’t so this should not be an excuse for closing down nursing homes. Plus, this statement is countered by observations on otters giving food to their begging elderly (sometimes).

Also animals practice widespread infanticide — modern humans usually just go for abortion.

When it comes to sexuality, the general observation in animals is that, apparently, sexuality is not exclusive. What we perceive to be sexual orientation may just be “bonding” for some animal species. The sex of their mates are secondary, as long as they get some. Something humans can learn from.

The lesson is we should not immediately judge animals just because they do something similar to what humans do, without considering the motives. Better yet, it is safer not to judge at all.

Writer Jeff Macmahon argues that there is actually nothing that makes human beings any different from animals. Still, animals don’t persecute their own kind just because they don’t agree with who the others sleep with. Only humans do that.

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Rockhopper Penguins

Happy Feet, the 2006 animated film that tells the story of Mumble, a penguin who cannot sing (penguins find their mates through song in the movie) and is ostracized in his colony as a result. In an effort to understand his place in the world, he meets different creatures in Antarctica.

One of the movie’s stars is Lovelace, a dramatic and flamboyant ‘guru’ of a colony of Adelie penguins who wears a six-pack ring around his neck, voiced by the ever lovable Robin Williams. Lovelace is a Rockhopper penguin, a species of penguin that’s a bit smaller than adelies. Rockhoppers are categorized into 3 different subspecies, namely the eastern, northern and southern subspecies.

Interestingly enough, none of these rockhopper penguin species breeds on the Antarctic continent, making Lovelace a bit of a square peg in a round hole in the movie. Rockhopper colonies can be found in Chile, Argentina and the Falkland Islands, as well as in a number of uninhabited islands scattered throughout the south Atlantic, in the southern regions of the Indian Ocean, and even as far as islands off the coast of New Zealand. Rockhoppers are known to live and breed together in huge colonies, which populate rugged terrain near deep oceans and fresh water sources.

The habitats of rockhoppers are a clue of how they got their name. Unlike many penguins that walk and move around obstacles by sliding on their stomachs, rockhoppers will hop over rocks and small cracks. Rochopper penguins mainly feed on fish, crustaceans and squid. Of all the penguin species featured in Happy Feet, rockhoppers are by far the most fragile, greatly affected by human activities, such as overfishing, which has severely lowered populations in many islands. Fishing is not the only problem it faces, as climate change, red tide and egg harvesting have also affected rockhopper populations. As such, the rockhopper penguin is now officially listed as a vulnerable species.

 Rockhopper Penguins Video

 

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Emperor Penguin

We usually watch nature documentaries on TV about wild animals and their natural environments. These shows commonly show us how these animals act in the wild and what they have to do in order to survive. One animal that has fascinated many people is the emperor penguin. There have been many nature documentaries made about the lives of these flightless birds and one of the most notable is the March of the Penguins, narrated by Morgan Freeman. The documentary was co-produced by the National Geographic Society and Bonne Pioche. Luc Jacquet co-wrote and directed the movie, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature in 2005.

The nature documentary shows how emperor penguins journey through the Antarctic every year, leaving the ocean and walking across vast expanses of ice and snow to their breeding grounds. Here the penguins go through courtship and if successful, the propagation of their species. It also shows the journey penguins make between their breeding grounds and the ocean to hunt and find food for their chicks to survive.

Emperor penguins are known for their size and color. The tallest amongst the penguin species, they have orange beaks and yellow markings around their heads. As chicks, they hatch with gray feathers that change to black and white as they grow. These penguins are known to use vocal calls to identify their partners and chicks amongst the millions of penguins in a colony. Their diet is mainly composed of cephalopods, fish and crustaceans found in the waters of the Antarctica. These penguins are masters when it comes to adapting to cold and harsh environments. They are also very social creatures, living in colonies and rarely travelling or hunting alone.

 Emperor Penguin Pictures

Emperor Penguin image

Emperor Penguin images

Emperor Penguin Picture

Emperor Penguin Video

 

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Penguin 337’s Adventure

The Tokyo Sea Life Park, a few months back, noted the absence of one of its residents – Penguin 337.

Discovered to have been missing since March, video footage of a penguin with uncanny resemblance to Penguin 337 recently surfaced, leading the harborside aquarium’s officers and staff convinced that Penguin 337 is doing fine out in the “wild”.

A year old Humboldt Penguin at the time, Penguin 337’s escape two months ago involved scaling a 13 foot rock wall and some squeezing through barbed wire fences. “Flying out of the coop”, the bird’s prospects were narrowed down to the new life it could lead in the Tokyo Bay area.

The video revealed much about how Penguin 337 is fairing out in the wild, in the Tokyo Bay area, of all wild places.

"You can see it's got the same ring around its flipper and identical facial patterns," shares Kazuhiro Sakamoto, Deputy Director, Tokyo Sea Life Park

"It didn't look like it had got thinner over the past two months, or been without food. It didn't seem to be any weaker. So it looks as if it has been living quite happily in the middle of Tokyo Bay."

Waterpark staff are convinced that Penguin 337 has been "gorging on small fish in the bay during daylight hours and returning to the shore at night to rest."

No reports on an ongoing operation to catch Penguin 337 has been noted, but given the risks and dangers to be encountered by a Penguin in Tokyo Bay, there’s a big chance one may be on its way.

For now, the video reassures waterpark staff that Penguin 337 is doing very well in the wild, and that its sense of adventure hasn’t led it to pitfalls of danger and risks to its life.

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