Rare Arctic creatures in trouble - CNN.com

Paul Nicklen makes friends with Arctic wildlife, photographing seals, polar bears, narwhals and others in remarkable closeups.

And Nicklen, a contributing photographer for the National Geographic, is passing along a message from the creatures he sees: They're in trouble.

The reason is that the sea ice is disappearing, removing a key element from the environment sustaining Arctic life.

Nicklen, whose work has been recognized with multiple awards, tracked the rare spirit bear for a National Geographic cover story. From the age of 4, when his family moved to Inuit territory in Canada, Nicklen has explored the region, in later years as a biologist and a photographer.

He spoke at the TED2011 conference in Long Beach, California, in March, where he was interviewed by CNN.

Watch Paul Nicklen's TED Talk

Nicklen pitched a project to the National Geographic on the leopard seal, a 12-foot long, 1,000-pound creature with a ferocious reputation. He was prepared for hostility but upon spotting one, he was surprised to find it tried to feed him its prey, penguins. "So I went there terrified of what I might meet in this leopard seal and actually was nurtured and protected and cared for," he said in the interview. "It was the most incredible encounter of my career by far."

Nicklen said that polar bears could face extinction within 50 to 100 years if ice continues to recede.

"We know the science. We know that ice is disappearing and after a while it just becomes a statistic. And with my photography I want people to understand that if we lose ice, we stand to lose an entire ecosystem.

"This is our one chance at life on this planet. Our planet is in trouble and we are not reacting fast enough."

via cnn.com

This is an incredible account of a National Geographic Photographer's encounter with a leopard seal. The teeth definitely look menacing, but when their mouths are closed they are truly very beautiful. The whole ice-melting thing makes me truly sad. I can't imagine life without Polar Bears, and all the other sea creatures that are part of the vast Arctic Ecosystem.

Paul Nicklen really hits the nail right on the head when he says that the creatures are in trouble, it's our world, and we are not reacting fast enough. I think we all know that's true, don't we?

Giant Eagles 'Could Target Children'

via gawker.com

I would not want to be attacked by one of those, and I would certainly keep my children well hidden from one. I have seen a giant eagle pick up a deer and drop it off a cliff to kill it and then swoop down and carry it off for dinner.

With a wingspan of 8 feet you have no idea the power these birds have. The article talks about 14 Sea Eagles being imported from Norway into Scotland. Apparently the areas the sea birds were taken are "not quite wild enough" and now parents are fearing the birds may mistake a child for one of their natural prey.

CBC.ca - Image Gallery - Animal deaths in captivity

via cbc.ca

What a cute little critter this is. I'm guessing female; the article in one part calls her Tiqa and in another it is spelled Tiga. Either way, it's very sad when an animal dies in captivity. I think there needs to be a better way for us humans to show off nature's diversity of wildlife to our children other than placing them in captivity for view.

That is no life for them. If they could talk they would never choose it. After all, if you had your choice to continue living your life or to be put on display in a cage for aliens to gawk at, which would you choose?

5 voices: After Gadhafi, then what?

via cnn.com

This is such a thought-provoking picture. I guess Moammar Gadhafi has disappeared, but new Libyan leaders have so many challenges to overcome. Unemployment is one of them, with the lack of basic services following closely behind. See how the boy is watching the soldier walk by. But his eyes seem focused on the gun. Behind him are ruined buildings. But he is leaning on a pane of glass, almost looking suspended right there. His shoes look American, with velcro fasteners. In fact all of the clothing in the picture looks American.

The soldier casts a shadow on the boy, which can be interpreted both literally and figuratively. War casts a shadow on everyone. It casts a shadow everywhere. In this picture the gun, the soldier and the shadow all represent a move towards peace and a move away from dictatorship. But the shadow will remain for quite some time.

Cancer Killer Found In The Ocean -- Marine Biotechnologists Treat Cancer With Mud-loving Ocean Bacteria

via sciencedaily.com

It is very interesting that someone has found a potent anti-cancer agent living at the bottom of the ocean. It is a simple bacteria, and once scientists had isolated it's genomes they were able to identify the cancer-fighting potential this bacteria has. It is amazing. When you think that most of the earth is covered with water, how many more resources are lurking in the depths of the sea?

This could be a life-changing discovery for the many people plagued by and killed by cancer every year around the globe. Even though the bacterium was discovered in 1991, it wasn't until recently that the genomic sequence was unlocked. The cancer-fighting potential of this bacteria is amazing.

NewsDaily: Arctic ice melts to second-lowest level, says study

via newsdaily.com

The arctic sea ice melting; second lowest ever on record. It sounds like something right out of the movie "The Day After Tomorrow". Quite scarey, actually. But the fact remains: there is a delicate cycle. Our air pollution creates holes and thin spots in the ozone layer, which let more of the sun's ultraviolet radiation in, which warms the globe, which melts the ice in the arctic, which affects the weather for the whole earth.

The problem isn't going away. We need to do something about it, and we need to do it now. Ask yourself a question. What are you doing about global warming today? How are you contributing to the problem or how are you contributing to the solution. It is a grave issue we must all face.

World's Smallest Snake Found In Barbados

via sciencedaily.com

Wow, this snake is so cute...sort of. The article says it is the diameter of a piece of spaghetti. I would at first think it's a small worm, but in the picture it looks like it has scales, so snake it is. What a tiny, tiny creature. It is said to be a newly discovered species of snake. Ewww...I just wondered what a plateful of these little guys would look like. They would look like your noodles were squirming. I guess I'm not having spaghetti today. I will leave it for another day. Yuck!

When I was young I found some old kitchen food that had been tossed out, and put in a hole in the back field. Flies had laid their eggs in it and it was teeming and I mean absolutely swimming with maggots. Now if that doesn't make your skin crawl what does? Needless to say it was years before I could eat rice again. They looked like a pot of live rice wiggling around. And the stink! Oh my.