Inch by Inch, Great Lakes Shrink, and Cargo Carriers Face Losses

Road salt is unloaded in Oswego. The ship it came in on carried three-quarters of a full load because lake levels have dropped.




A ship carrying road salt pulls into the Port of Oswego, N.Y., on Lake Ontario. The lake’s water level has dropped three inches during this month alone.





...“What we need is some rain,” said Mr. Daniels, director of the Port of Oswego Authority, one of a dozen public port agencies on the United States side of the Great Lakes. “The more we lose water, the less cargo the ships that travel in the Great Lakes can carry, and each time that happens, shipping companies lose money,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s people like you and I who are going to pay the price.”
Water levels in the Great Lakes are falling; Lake Ontario, for example, is about seven inches below where it was a year ago. And for every inch of water that the lakes lose, the ships that ferry bulk materials across them must lighten their loads by 270 tons — or 540,000 pounds — or risk running aground, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association, a trade group for United States-flag cargo companies.
As a result, more ships are needed, adding millions of dollars to shipping companies’ operating costs, experts in maritime commerce estimate....

The Future Is Drying Up - This is the reality known as Climate Change. Scary. No othe word, except ? Stupidity ! Yeah, that says it well.

Draining The 100-foot-high bathtub ring left by the dwindling waters of Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam.

Scientists sometimes refer to the effect a hotter world will have on this country’s fresh water as the other water problem, because global warming more commonly evokes the specter of rising oceans submerging our great coastal cities. By comparison, the steady decrease in mountain snowpack — the loss of the deep accumulation of high-altitude winter snow that melts each spring to provide the American West with most of its water — seems to be a more modest worry. But not all researchers agree with this ranking of dangers. Last May, for instance, Steven Chu, a Nobel laureate and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, one of the United States government’s pre-eminent research facilities, remarked that diminished supplies of fresh water might prove a far more serious problem than slowly rising seas. When I met with Chu last summer in Berkeley, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, which provides most of the water for Northern California, was at its lowest level in 20 years. Chu noted that even the most optimistic climate models for the second half of this century suggest that 30 to 70 percent of the snowpack will disappear. “There’s a two-thirds chance there will be a disaster,” Chu said, “and that’s in the best scenario.”...

Australia Zoo urged to comment on dam plan

A turtle conservation group has accused Australia Zoo of being more concerned about “crocodile pie” than endangered wildlife in its own backyard.

The Australian Freshwater Turtle Conservation and Research Association is disappointed that the zoo and Wildlife Warriors have not publicly stated their views on the proposed Traveston dam.
Association spokeswoman Gabrielle Latta and her husband Craig moved to the Sunshine Coast in 2000 to work with the Mary River turtles and are running a petition to stop the dam and “save the turtle”.
Ms Latta said data they had collected indicated the turtle was endangered, with between 800 and 3500 believed to be in the Mary River.
She said the dam would push it “even closer to the brink of extinction, with 17 known Mary River turtle nesting banks being inundated by up to 25 metres of water”....

Morning Papers - continued...

Zoos

Pittsburgh Zoo to celebrate 1 millionth visitor
By The Associated Press
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is planning a big surprise for its 1 millionth visitor of the year.
The 109-year-old zoo expects that person to come in sometime in the next two weeks. It will be the first time that the zoo will have welcomed more than 1 million visitors in a single year.
The lucky visitor will get a lifetime membership to the zoo, a $500 shopping spree at zoo gift shops, a behind-the-scenes zoo tour and other prizes.
Visitors who want to try and win the prizes can increase their chances by checking out the zoo's Web site, where officials are counting the number of visitors.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_538911.html



Panda Super Couple Is Super Fertile
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 23, 2007
Filed at 1:44 p.m. ET
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Giving each other space may not work in every relationship, but it's what keeps the magic alive for the very fertile giant panda pair at the San Diego Zoo.
Since 2003, Bai Yun and her consort, Gao Gao, have produced three cubs, making them one of the most reproductively successful panda couples ever in captivity. Their youngest offspring, a chubby female, will be named Monday when she reaches 100 days old, following Chinese tradition.
For all but two days of the year, Bai Yun (White Cloud) and Gao Gao (Big Big) lead separate lives, gnawing on bamboo and taking long naps in pens far apart, much as wild pandas -- naturally solitary creatures -- would hide from each other in mountain forests.
But when Bai Yun enters her brief fertile periods, zookeepers make sure Gao Gao is there, sniffing her through a perforated gate zookeepers call the ''howdy door'' until her chirps and bleats indicate she's ready to get down to business.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Panda-Super-Couple.html



Indy zoo euthanizes hobbled 20-year-old Kodiak bear
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- Staff members at the Indianapolis Zoo have euthanized a 20-year-old bear who could no longer walk due to an irreversible, degenerative joint disease.
Kodiak bear facts
• Species: Kodiak bears are a unique subspecies of the brown or grizzly bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi). They live exclusively on the islands in the Kodiak Archipelago and have been isolated from other bears for about 12,000 years.
• Size: Kodiak bears are the largest bears in the world. A large male can stand over 10' tall when on his hind legs, and 5' when on all four legs. They weigh up to 1,800 pounds. Females are about 20 percent smaller, and 30 percent lighter than males.
• Cubs: Cubs are born in the den during January or February. Weighing less than a pound at birth with little hair and closed eyes, they suckle for several months, emerging from the den in May or June, weighing 15-20 pounds. Most cubs stay with their mothers for three years.
• Diet: Though Kodiak bears are often touted as the world's largest land carnivore (meat eaters), they are really omnivores (eating a variety of foods). They actually spend more time eating grass, plants and berries than meat. Fish are an important part of their diets,
• Lifestyle: Bears are naturally diurnal (active during the day), but when faced with competition for food or space, they adopt a more nocturnal (active at night) life style.
• Mating: Mating season for Kodiak bears is during May and June. They are serially monogamous (having one partner at a time), staying together for a couple days or a couple weeks.
Source: Indianapolis Zoo
Chugach (CHEW'-gosh) was one of two Kodiak bears that have been at the Indianapolis Zoo since 1988. He was born in 1987 at the Pittsburgh Zoo.
Zoo officials say the bear weighed nearly 1,800 pounds and had the disease in both hips and elbows. It worsened quickly for Chugach this month from causing minor problems with one back leg to an inability to use his hindquarters.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/LOCAL18/311200001/-1/LOCAL17



Circus lions 'no worse off' than zoo animals
James Orr and agencies
Tuesday November 20, 2007
A report looking into the possibility of banning the use of lions and tigers as circus entertainment has found "little evidence" in support of outlawing the practice.
The independent paper, prepared for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), examined whether wild animals should be excluded from circus acts in Britain.
The report said there were currently 47 wild animals being used in UK "big top" circuses, of which 11 were big game cats.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/animalrights/story/0,,2214113,00.html



Tigers prowl new zoo wing
By Laurie Au
lau@starbulletin.com
The Honolulu Zoo dedicated yesterday a new wing of a tiger exhibit that zoo officials hope will boost the numbers of endangered Sumatran tigers and help revitalize the zoo.
The nonprofit Honolulu Zoo Society provided most of the funding for the $210,000 wing, which is 75 feet long and 45 feet wide.
Two tigers flown in from an Indiana zoo, a male named Berani and a female called Chrissie, join Djelita, a female tiger who has been in Honolulu for two years.
Zoo keepers hope Berani and Chrissie will mate to increase the population of Sumatran tigers.
"The benefit to the public is that for the first time ever, we may have cute tiger cubs in the zoo," said Ken Redman, the zoo's director. "For us it's about conserving this species."
Sumatran tigers, solitary hunters that are the smallest of all tigers -- with adult males reaching an average of 8 feet in length -- inhabit the Indonesian island of Sumatra. There are an estimated 500 Sumatran tigers left in the world, 200 of which live in zoos, Redman said.
The earliest Chrissie could give birth to cubs is in March, Redman said. The cubs would stay in Honolulu until they are about 3 years old before moving to another zoo to increase conservation efforts.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann said the tiger exhibit would serve as another marketing tool for the zoo. A new logo for the zoo was also unveiled as part of its branding campaign.

http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/20/news/story07.html



Samuel L. Leonard, Cornell Zoologist, Dies at 101
By JEREMY PEARCE
Published: November 23, 2007
Samuel L. Leonard, a zoologist at Cornell University whose studies of reproductive hormones in animals helped prepare the foundation for in vitro fertilization in women, died on Nov. 11 in Ithaca, N.Y. He was 101.
His family confirmed his death.
Dr. Leonard was still a graduate student when he began his studies of sex hormones, produced at the base of the brain in the pituitary gland.
In the 1930s, in the infancy of endocrinology, it was known that the anterior pituitary had a general role in stimulating the ovaries and the testes. Dr. Leonard, then a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin, working with F. L. Hisaw, his thesis adviser, and H. L. Fevold, determined that the pituitary actually produces two hormones with distinct effects on the sexual organs.
The researchers labeled the first hormone FSH, or follicle-stimulating hormone; the second they called LH, or luteinizing hormone, which is critical in the production of testosterone in men and can help trigger ovulation in women.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/science/23leonard.html?pagewanted=all



Oakland Zoo elephants treated to giant pumpkin
550-pound gourd donated by Piedmont Avenue Pumpkin Patch
By Angela Hill, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 11/20/2007 07:58:15 AM PST
OAKLAND — Finally! A pumpkin worthy of a pachyderm. As jumbo as Dumbo. A gourd to be adored.
Forget those puny, bite-sized, run-of-the-patch pumpkins the elephants usually get for special snacks at the Oakland Zoo. (The meerkats can have those.) The elephants appreciate them, but it's Thanksgiving, for crying out loud, and time for some meatier morsels befitting the biggest of beasts.
Enter 550 pounds of pulp and extravagance — a super-sized quarter-ton pumpkin donated by Jon Goldstein and Robbin Lee, owners of the Piedmont Avenue Pumpkin Patch.
This fine seasonal specimen was gobbled up Monday morning by two 9,000-pound elephants — M'Dunda and Donna — faster than they could say "cornucopia," could they talk, which they couldn't, especially not with a mouthful of squishy pumpkin guts.
"Wow, I've stood on that pumpkin and it never broke," Goldstein said, watching with at least 30 other observers from the rail of the elephant compound as 38-year-old M'Dunda approached the industrial-sized, slightly slouchy pumpkin, running it through with a nimble tusk, dividing it into three big pieces as easily as if it were a huge mound of butter.
"She just split it apart like it was nothing," he said. "Now she's looking at us, like, 'This is what I could do to you.'"
Yikes. Better keep those pumpkins comin'.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_7513915



UN envoy hopes Bali talks to produce positive result
BANGKOK, Nov 23 (TNA) - The United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change said he is optimistic that the upcoming UN-sponsored Climate Change talks in Bali, Indonesia, would at least result in a road map for negotiations among the Kyoto Protocol's signatories.

Dr. Han Seung-Soo, the UN Special Envoy, said he hoped the nations of Asia and the Pacific would
take active roles in Bali with positive and feasible ideas and action programmes, and that a road map for negotiations would be agreed.

"There isn't much time as the agreement must be concluded at government level by the end of 2009,"
the former South Korean deputy prime minister warned.

The Kyoto Protocol was drawn up in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 to implement the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change.

Industrialised nations who sign the treaty are legally bound to reduce their contributions to worldwide
emissions of six greenhouse gases, collectively, by an average of 5.2 per cent below their 1990 levels
during the period 2008-2012.

For the protocol to come fully into force, the pact must be ratified by countries which account for at least
55 per cent of 1990 carbon dioxide emissions. The Protocol has been ratified by 172 countries. Of these,
36 countries are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the levels specified in the treaty.

However, some powerful developed countries like the United States and Australia have not yet ratified the protocol.

"Many developing countries were reluctant to accept any reduction emission amid fear that the difficulty of making a projection on their long-term trajectory would limit their economic growth", Dr.Han said.

Despite the current negotiations deadlock between the developed and developing countries in regard to
the Post-2012 Climate regime, the UN special envoy said he believed that "both of them could hopefully
create a win-win synergy between climate action and economic growth through a well-designed market mechanism."

The 13th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and to the Kyoto Protocol is scheduled from December 3-14, 2007. The crucial meetings are expected to shape the future negotiations for a Post-2012 Kyoto Protocol regime. (TNA)-E110

http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=1464



Zoo offers Babies Creation Station
The Norman Transcript
For The Transcript
The Little River Zoo now offering a new and different kind of kid experience with its introduction of the Best Wishes Babies Creation Station.
The station furthers the zoo's mission of fostering and encouraging the awe in young children through animals and nature, but the animals created are of the imaginary species. The unit consists of a mobile toy animal stuffing machine, along with a variety of soft and cuddly animal "skins" to choose from.
"From a business perspective, this unit is intended to diversify our income, especially during the slow season," said Janet Schmid, zoo director. "But as for our mission, this machine definitely helps children be the very best they can be by creating and loving a special animal that they created.

http://www.normantranscript.com/localnews/local_story_324002311



New fossa exhibit at Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Posted by Pedro Ramirez III
November 20, 2007 8:49AM
A new rare fossa exhibit has come to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, officials announced today.
Children who have seen the movie "Madagascar" will be familiar with the animal.
The Madagascar natives in captivity are rare in the United States, making the Rosamond Gifford Zoo just one of 11 with one of these endangered species exhibits. The zoo's newest member, a male fossa named Koto (Koo-too) comes from the Capital of Texas Zoo near Austin.
"Endangered animals, especially those that are part of a Species Survival Plan, or SSP, are a priority for us," said Chuck Doyle, director of the zoo.
The cat-like fossa, a member of the ancient viverrid family along with meerkats, civets and genets, is a close cousin of the mongoose and the top predator on the island of Madagascar. It is believed that fewer than 2,500 mature fossa exist today.
Fossas are ferocious hunters and will eat any small to medium-sized animal; they are particularly adept at hunting lemurs and remain one of the predominant predators for many lemur species.
The fossa exhibit is in the primate building across from the lemurs.
For more fossa facts: Download file

http://blog.syracuse.com/news/2007/11/new_fossa_exhibit_at_rosamond.html



Glasgow bids to lure Edinburgh Zoo west
GLASGOW is lining up a bid to lure Edinburgh Zoo to the west coast in the wake of its planning wrangles with the city council.
Officials at Glasgow City Council are investigating how they could help the zoo to make the move.
Glasgow Zoo closed in Calder Park in 2004, but the Zoological Society of Glasgow & West of Scotland, which ran it, still exists.
Council officials have been ordered to carry out a study after the zoo’s development plans ran into opposition from the council.
The zoo wants to sell off part of its land at Corstorphine Hill to housebuilders to help fund a £72 million improvement plan.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1830422007



Cheetah cub escapes briefly from St. Louis Zoo exhibit
By JIM SALTER
Associated Press Writer
St. Louis Zoo officials on Tuesday were trying to figure out how a year-old cheetah managed to get out of its exhibit a day earlier.
The cheetah on Monday scaled a wall at least 10 feet tall and got into a rocky area that separates animals from people at the River's Edge exhibit. The area was quickly evacuated. Twenty-seven minutes later, the cheetah was found, tranquilized and returned unharmed to its exhibit.
"We have no idea how the cat got up there," said Jack Grisham, vice president of animal collection for the zoo. "We have a million theories. It could have been the cats playing with one another and it made the lucky jump - or unlucky jump."
The cheetah, a female named Zuri, weighs 40 to 45 pounds, Grisham said. She is one of four born on Nov. 10, 2006, at the zoo - the first new litter here since 1992. One of the cheetahs died a month later. Zuri, her sister and brother continue to reside at the River's Edge, a popular 10-acre area of the zoo designed to look like the natural habitat for animals ranging from big cats to elephants and hippos.

http://www.bnd.com/336/story/183366.html



A Deeply Green City Confronts Its Energy Needs and Nuclear Worries
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — This city takes pride in being green, from its official motto, “Where renewal is a way of life,” to its Climate Wise energy program, which helps local businesses reduce the carbon emissions that scientists say can contribute to global warming.
But now two proposed energy projects are exposing the hard place that communities like this across the country are likely to confront in years to come as the tangled nuances of thinking globally come back to bite.
Both projects would do exactly what the city proclaims it wants, helping to produce zero-carbon energy. But one involves crowd-pleasing, feel-good solar power, and the other is a uranium mine, which has a base of support here about as big as a pinkie. Environmentalism and local politics have collided with a broader ethical and moral debate about the good of the planet, and whether some places could or should be called upon to sacrifice for their high-minded goals.
The solar project, called AVA Solar, plans to use a new manufacturing process developed at Colorado State University here to make panels for electricity generation, and will use cadmium — a hazardous metal linked to cancer — as part of the industrial process.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/us/19collins.html?pagewanted=all



Prospect Park Zoo Welcomes Endangered Golden Lion Tamarins
by Brooklyn Eagle (edit@brooklyneagle.net), published online 11-20-2007
PROSPECT PARK – The vibrant yellows and oranges of autumn have nothing on the newest residents at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Prospect Park Zoo.
Just in time for Thanksgiving, the Zoo proudly welcomes two golden lion tamarin brothers. They may be new to their home, but these tiny monkeys with big hair and even bigger personalities are already turning heads and tails!
Golden lion tamarins are native to Brazil. They weigh in at less than 25 ounces, and from the look of them, one might think most of that weight is hair. The aptly named monkeys have — considering their small size — an enormous golden orange mane similar to that of a lion. But unlike their feline namesake, the tamarins are omnivores and feed primarily on fruits and insects.
The zoo’s new additions are both around 3 years old and hail from the Atlanta Zoo. These golden lion tamarins are the first of their kind at the Prospect Park Zoo, and the zoo plans to start a breeding program by one day introducing a female. But for now, the inquisitive brothers can be found exploring their new home in the zoo’s Animal Lifestyles exhibit.

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=31&id=16828



Columbus Zoo and Zoombezi Bay Water Park Select Cygnus to Power All Ticketing and E-Commerce Operations
ORLANDO, FL -- 11/20/07 -- Cygnus eTransactions Group, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: CYGT), a leader in ticketing and electronic commerce, today announced that the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and the new Zoombezi Bay water park have selected the company's complete suite of ticketing solutions to power all ticketing and e-commerce operations. Cygnus will provide ceStation® V3, a complete on property ticketing solution, ceShop(TM) V3 integrated e-commerce and ceOsk® V3 self-self service ticketing.
"Following the debut of our enhanced technology at the IAAPA Attractions Expo last week, we are very pleased to announce being selected by the Columbus Zoo and Zoombezi Bay as their comprehensive ticketing solution," said Steve Brown, president and chief executive officer of Cygnus.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,227748.shtml



Zoo Atlanta Expecting Baby Elephant In 2009
2007-11-20 - Atlanta, United States
Zoo Atlanta may soon hear the stomping of little feet. One of the zoos three elephants, Dottie, is pregnant. If all goes as expected, the zoos first newborn Loxodonata african should arrive in April 2009. The baby could weigh up to 300 pounds and measure 3 feet tall at birth. A team of specialists from Berlin artificially inseminated the 25-year-old Dottie in June after plans to mate her with a male elephant at the North Carolina Zoo fell through.

http://www.elephant-news.com/index.php?id=2907



Tulsa Zoo Introduces Sutton
DAVID JONES for GTR Newspapers
NEW NEST: It may not be what he’s used to but Sutton, the Tulsa Zoo’s new bald eagle, seems to be settling in nicely to his new surroundings.
Sutton is named for his “parents.” Hatched and raised by the Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville, he was one of 275 eagles released to the wild in the 1980s. A number stamped on a leg band shows that he is 21 years old. Zoo personnel say he can live to be 30 to 35 or even more in captivity.
He was found by the banks of the Arkansas River near Muskogee with a badly damaged wing and blind in one eye. He can fly but lacks the ability to make the adjustments necessary in hunting. Since he can no longer survive in the wild, the Tulsa Zoo was given permission to take care of him. Zoo officials believe he once had a mate and they are looking for a female eagle to join him.

http://www.gtrnews.com/greater-tulsa-reporter/2327/tulsa-zoo-introduces-sutton



Elephants at Cleveland Metroparks zoo dig in to Thanksgiving treat

Created: 11/20/2007 5:06:58 PM
Updated:11/20/2007 5:15:27 PM
CLEVELAND -- The elephants at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo were given a taste of Thanksgiving on Tuesday.
The elephants feasted on the leftover pumpkins from the Boo at the Zoo event last month.
The elephants will be given another pumpkin treat on Thanksgiving. The chimpanzees will get to collect cranberry sauce with tools, while the bears will forage in a cornstalk maze.
If you're not to overstuffed and can make it off the couch on Thanksgiving, the zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Admission to the zoo and the Rain Forest on the holiday is free. Visitors will also have the chance to watch view animal feedings and ask handlers questions.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=78430&provider=gnews



Zoo welcomes leggy new addition
Wednesday, 21 November 2007, 1:06 pm
Press Release: Auckland Zoo
Zoo welcomes leggy new addition
Auckland Zoo has welcomed its second giraffe calf in less than four months, with a male calf born on Saturday 17 November.
Standing 1.8m and weighing a healthy 55kg, the newcomer shares the same father (Zabulu) as half-sister Ntombi, who was born in late July. The newborn is the second offspring of six-year-old mum Rukiya, whose first calf, born May 2006, did not survive.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0711/S00203.htm



Feeding Giraffes at the Tucson Zoo
I’m hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year, so forgive me if posting is light this week. A Happy Thanksgiving to you all! (both of you).
I do love the Tucson Zoo at Reid Park. Today we took the niece and nephew over to feed the giraffes, which happens every day at 10am, and again at 2pm on weekdays.
The two females lined up perfectly for me this morning - here’s the one headed, two ended giraffe.

http://www.mytucsonblog.com/about-tucson/feeding-giraffes-at-the-tucson-zoo/



Cheetah escape baffles Mo. zoo officials
By JIM SALTER, Associated Press Writer Wed Nov 21, 12:36 AM ET
ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Zoo officials on Tuesday were trying to figure out how a year-old cheetah managed to get out of its exhibit a day earlier.
The cheetah on Monday scaled a wall at least 10 feet tall and got into a rocky area that separates animals from people at the River's Edge exhibit. The area was quickly evacuated. Twenty-seven minutes later, the cheetah was found, tranquilized and returned unharmed to its exhibit.
"We have no idea how the cat got up there," said Jack Grisham, vice president of animal collection for the zoo. "We have a million theories. It could have been the cats playing with one another and it made the lucky jump — or unlucky jump."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071121/ap_on_fe_st/escaped_cheetah_cub



Cheetah Escapes from Zoo, Baffles Officials
November 21, 2007A one-year-old cheetah in the St. Louis Zoo escaped from its exhibit Monday, stumping zoo officials the day after as to how it was able to do so.
According to zoo staff, the cheetah must have managed to go over a wall at least 10 foot in height, before arriving at a rocky area that served as a separator between people and animals at the River's Edge exhibit.
Jack Grisham, vice president of the zoo's animal collection, expressed his confusion as to how the cub managed to scale the wall.
"We have no idea how the cat got up there," the Associated Press quoted Grisham . "We have a million theories. It could have been the cats playing with one another and it made the lucky jump - or unlucky jump."

http://www.wayodd.com/cheetah-escapes-from-zoo-baffles-officials/v/8493/



ASU horse program now at zoo
Construction students at school organized project
Joe Kullman
Nov. 21, 2007 12:00 AM
Editor's note: This article was submitted by Joe Kullman, media relations officer for the ASU Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. Submit stories on news on education to lori.baker@arizonarepublic.com.
After almost four years without a home, Arizona State University's Hunkapi Horse Program will soon take up residence at the Phoenix Zoo, thanks in large part to students in the Del E. Webb School of Construction, a part of the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.
The school's Associated General Contractors student chapter has led a three-and-a-half year building project on a 5-acre site donated to the equine therapy program by the zoo in 2004.
advertisement

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1121ednbyzoo1121.html



Endangered orang-utan born at Perth Zoo
November 21, 2007 - 2:15PM
A baby Sumatran orang-utan, one of the world's most critically endangered animals, has been born at Perth Zoo.
Little Nyaru, who arrived on October 20, is a first baby for 14-year-old Negara.
Perth Zoo's Leif Cocks said Nyaru was doing very well and Negara was a great mum.
There are only 7,300 Sumatran orang-utans left in the wild on the Indonesian island.
"Orang-utans are facing imminent extinction in the wild due to poaching and habitat loss, in particular, land clearing for palm oil plantations," Mr Leif said.
Perth Zoo is part of an Australasian captive breeding program for Sumatran orang-utans.
Wednesday is also the 12th anniversary of the zoo's release of a female orang-utan, Temara, into a protected national park in Indonesia.
The park is protected by specially trained anti-logging and anti-poaching patrols.
Orang-utans are the closest biological relatives to humans, with around 97 per cent human genetic make-up.
They have an intelligence level equal to a five or six-year-old child.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Endangered-orangutan-born-at-Perth-Zoo/2007/11/21/1195321840231.html



They're jumping for joeys at the zoo
By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Darin McGregor © The Rocky
Two baby kangaroos are new star attractions at the Denver Zoo, one peeking at the world from her mother's pouch, the other spending most of her time hopping around on her own.
The young red kangaroos can be seen this week, including Thanksgiving Day, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The younger joey, about 6 months old, has just begun to peek her head out of mother Rita's pouch. She has not yet been named.
Athena, about 7 months old, spends some of her time in mother Marion's pouch, but usually is exploring her habitat solo.
Kangaroos are marsupials, born underdeveloped, measuring about an inch in length. They immediately crawl into their mothers' pouches, where they nurse and grow until they're ready to spend a little time outside.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/nov/21/theyre-jumping-for-joeys-at-the-zoo/



Global News - November 2007
Hungry tigers in Chinese zoo turn on each other
Wed 21 November 2007 13:30 UK — Asia,Big Cats
Management at the privately-owned Shenyang Glacier Zoo, in north-eastern China, blamed the incident on a shortage of funds.
The zoo's deputy director, Li Wen Zhui, claimed that they had been unable to afford to feed the tigers properly for the past two years.
"An adult tiger eats about 20 pounds of meat a day, but the tigers here can barely get a chicken to quench their hunger every one or two days," she admitted to China View.
"I was shocked, particularly as the five tigers, who were the same age, had been living together for five years. This kind of thing has never happened before," she added.
Shenyang Glacier Zoo has previously been closed down due to a lack of funds and visitors, Reuters reported, while a zoo in the country's Xinjiang region that is also home to a Siberian tiger faced a similar financial crisis last year.
Help IAR care for stray dogs and cats and other animals in distress.
News brought to you by International Animal Rescue, saving animals from suffering around the world.

http://www.iar.org.uk/globalnews/articles/2007/11/hungry_tigers_in_chinese_zoo_turn_on_each_other_901.html



Great Plains Zoo and Delbridge Museum
16th and Kiwanis Ave., Sioux Falls, SD. 605-367-7003. www.gpzoo.org
Adults $6.80, 3-12 $3.80, Seniors 60+ $6.00, 2 and under free. Free parking. Stroller accessible. Restrooms available.
A zoo in the winter in the northern states isn’t always a great idea, but the zoo in Sioux Falls has the benefit of having a museum attached, so even if you can’t brave the cold for long, you can learn something indoors. We visited on a quiet January day and had the place nearly to ourselves.
The Delbridge Museum consists of mounted animals in varying habitats; the kids liked going from the tundra to the desert and seeing the different animals that live in the different continents.
Then we headed outside to the zoo, where there weren’t a lot of animals in view due to the weather. We did make the rounds to see a few animals, but most were not on display because of the cold.
The zoo and museum were a nice stop to get the wiggles out of the kids before a long car ride, but it would have been a lot more fun in the summertime when more animals are there to see.

http://minnemom.wordpress.com/2007/11/21/great-plains-zoo-and-delbridge-museum-of-natural-history/



Last night's TV: Ben's Zoo
Wouldn't it be fun to own a zoo? That's what Ben thought. So he bought one, just like that
November 22, 2007 8:45 AM
'The most maddening part was watching him overrule the decision to put down Spa, the aged, arthritic, suppurating sore-covered tiger' ... Ben's Zoo (BBC2). These are two rather healthier Siberian tigers from Mulhouse Zoo, France. Photograph: Frederick Florian/AFP/Getty Images
Ben's Zoo (BBC2). This is a story about a man, called Ben, who buys a zoo. With no previous experience of animal husbandry. Without checking the licences or paperwork required to keep more than 200 animals of varying ferocity on the edge of Dartmoor. Or arranging the £500,000 loan he needs to do it up and turn it into a viable business. I'm exhausted already, aren't you? So we have to sit and watch while he scrabbles around for funding, knocks down buildings without knowing where the next cheque is coming from, realises with horror that his Dangerous Animals licence expires in about 10 minutes, and nods blankly at his solicitor while she explains to him gently what a total tit he's been for not asking to see a spot of documentation beforehand. It's like Property Ladder with animal suffering.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2007/11/last_nights_tv_bens_zoo.html



Delhi Zoo gets Trade Fair rush
Bindu Shajan Perappadan
Number of visitors has shot up to around 10,000 per day
Around 25 extra personnel for security and upkeep of the complex brought in
Additional ticket counters opened; security doubled at vulnerable animal enclosures
Photo: V.V. Krishnan
NEW DELHI: The huge crowds at the ongoing India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Pragati Maidan here have also set the cash registers ringing at the nearby Delhi Zoo. The zoo authorities have been forced to deploy more personnel and put in place measures to ensure that its inmates are not disturbed by the unprecedented rush of visitors.
On an average, the zoo gets 2,000 to 3,000 visitors each day.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/22/stories/2007112259360200.htm



Miller Park Zoo loses female red wolf to tumor
By Scott Richardson
srichardson@pantagraph.com
Advertisement
BLOOMINGTON -- Thanksgiving is a bit sad at Miller Park Zoo after the death of the female red wolf named Scarlett.
Zoo director John Tobias said the loss is a setback to the zoo’s attempts to produce red wolf puppies as part of the Captive Breeding Program, which boosts the numbers of the endangered animals.
“This doesn’t make me very happy,” Tobias said Wednesday.
Zookeepers found the 5½-year-old animal dead early Tuesday when they made their routine rounds at the facility at 1020 S. Morris Ave.
Examination at the University of Illinois veterinary school in Champaign-Urbana revealed the red wolf died when a liver tumor ruptured. Zookeepers had not seen any symptoms, and the cancer was previously undiagnosed, Tobias said.

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/11/22/news/doc474486255da44181313326.txt



Snakes are 'funnest ones to hold,' zoo volunteer says
By Cathalena E. Burch
cburch@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona Published: 11.22.2007
advertisement
Sahuaro High School junior Danielle Van Vleet used to hate snakes.
They creeped her out.
Last year, though, she got up the nerve to hold one.
"It was a bit scary," the 16-year-old Reid Park Zoo volunteer admits. "I guess I was pretty nervous. I held it very closely. I was possibly holding it too tightly because I was afraid of it. But then I calmed down."

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/85710/212582.php



Giant otters move into Jacksonville Zoo
Jacksonville Business Journal
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has acquired three giant otters from the Philadelphia Zoo.
The otters, named Primero, Dante and Magnus, are brothers who range from 5 feet to 5 feet 5 inches. The species, Pteronura brasiliensis, can reach 6 feet long and is listed as a U.S. Endangered Species.
The Jacksonville Zoo said its new acquisitions are among only 11 giant otters in four zoos in the nation.
"The otters are a welcome addition to our Emerald Forest Aviary in the Range of the Jaguar," the zoo's executive director, Dennis Pate, said in a press release. "They are very vocal and even more active than the smaller river otters and are entertaining to watch."
The zoo will feed the animals and give them toys for entertainment during its Animal Enrichment Day Nov. 24.
The zoo has more than 1,400 animal species and 1,000 plant species. It ranked third in the Jacksonville Business Journal's 2007 list of area tourist attractions, with 2006 attendance of 710,000.

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2007/11/19/daily20.html



Bear in Fayette County zoo bites visitor, causes minor injury
- The Associated Press
FARMINGTON, Pa. — A bear at the Fayette County zoo bit a visitor who was participating in a program for budding zookeepers.
Sonny Herring, owner of the Woodland Zoo and More, said two people were hurt in the incident last weekend. The person who was bitten required eight stitches, while another suffered minor scratches when he tried to help. Both were home within hours, Herring said.
"There's dog bites more serious than this every day and the only reason this is drawing attention is because it is a bear," Herring said.

http://www.centredaily.com/news/breaking_news/story/269454.html



Berlin's famed polar bear Knut may soon have 3 siblings to play with
BERLIN: Knut, the Berlin Zoo's famous polar bear, may soon have as many as three little siblings to play with, the zoo's veterinarian said Friday.
Knut's mother, Tosca, and the zoo's two other female polar bears, Katjuscha and Nancy, may all be pregnant after mating earlier this year with Knut's father, Lars, veterinarian Andre Schuele said.
They could give birth before Christmas, he said.
But polar bear pregnancies are hard to detect and to track. Urine pregnancy tests like those humans use do not work, and polar bear embryos are so small the mothers do not grow big tummies.
"One can't say for sure if they are really pregnant or not," Schuele said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/23/europe/EU-GEN-Germany-More-Knuts.php



Zoo hosts anti-bullying event
23rd November 2007 12:45
PinkNews.co.uk staff writer
The Young Anti-Bullying Alliance (Young ABA) is hosting a special event at London Zoo today to mark Blue Friday, the day when all children and young people are encouraged to dress in blue for the day in support of the anti-bullying message.
Young ABA (YABA) is a recently established advisory board of nine Diana Anti-Bullying Award holders – one from each government region.
This week is Anti-Bullying Week 2007, run by the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), who this year are focusing on 'bullying in the community.'

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6139.html



Giambra plan for zoo called flawed
Comptroller says county lacks cash
By Matthew Spina NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 11/23/07 7:42 AM
Joel A. Giambra says he has a plan to get millions in county aid to the Buffalo Zoo for its rainforest exhibit, even if the Legislature and Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz continue their im- passe with the state-appointed control board.
Poloncarz, however, says the county executive’s idea won’t work. So the situation is not changing, for the zoo and for other institutions expecting county money. The zoo faces interest costs of $28,000 a month on the line of credit it secured so it could pay its rainforest contractors.
The county’s decision-makers are haggling over who will borrow money for the zoo project and for other major items.
The control board wants to supplant Poloncarz in his traditional role as the government’s borrowing agent, at least for the next loan. The Legislature has not allowed the control board to step in, because lawmakers don’t see a need for the board to exist for the decades it will take to repay the debt.

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/213012.html



Lights go on at the zoo
ME's Zoo in Parker City will begin its annual House of Lights event starting tonight and continuing through Christmas Eve.
The display includes 208,000 white lights, as well as three fireplaces, visits with Santa, a petting zoo, coffee, cider and hot chocolate, as well as carriage rides on select nights.
Visitors can drive by to see the lights for free, or pay admission to go into the zoo.
When: 5:30-10:30 p.m. Nov. 22-25, Nov. 30-Dec. 1 and Dec. 7-9; Dec. 14-24, the zoo will be open every night.
Where: 12441 W. 300 S., Parker City.
Directions from Richmond (U.S. 35): -Take U.S. 35 to Hwy 36, But do not turn there, cross over Highway 36.
Continue to first cross road (County Road 1200 West)--Zoo Sign--turn right. Go approximately 7 miles to 300 South -- Turn left. Zoo is on the left.
Or take Highway 1 north through and past Modoc about 6 miles.
Go to County Road 300 South--Turn Left (zoo sign). Zoo is approximately 4 miles.
Approximate travel time is 50 minutes.
Info: (765) 468-8559 and www.meszoo.com.

http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071122/ENTERTAINMENT/711220337/1031



Zoo deserves backing to bring it up to date
EWAN AITKEN
EDINBURGH Zoo and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) have a proud history and have been part of the fabric of the city since 1909, when the society was formed, with the zoo itself opening some four years later.
The then Edinburgh Council had an important role top play in the creation of the zoo, purchasing the land on behalf of the society.
Today, I'd like to think that close relationship remains and the zoo is one of the city's top visitor attractions. It plays a key role in Edinburgh's tourist industry and remains one of the foremost zoological centres in Europe, and indeed the world.

http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=1841702007



San Diego Zoo cares for rare apes
Posted on Nov 23, 2007 5:28:00 AM
Two of the world’s most critically endangered great apes, called bonobos, which are rarely seen in the wild or in zoos, are being care for at the San Diego Zoo.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_lifestyle_animal/2007/11/san-diego-zoo-c.html



Thanksgiving at the Jackson Zoo
Many people celebrate Thanksgiving with some special annual traditions. And for some Mississippians, one Thanksgiving tradition is visiting the Jackson Zoo.
Many families took advantage of the day's free admission and cooler temperatures and took a few hours to enjoy the animal exhibits. The Jackson Zoo says the free Thanksgiving admission is a thank-you to the community for its year-round support.

http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7398056&nav=2CSf

continued...

When one appreciates an osyter bed, one can appreciate water quality, hard work and why reversal of Climate Change is paramount.

.
Species depletion doesn't just happen to wildlife !

A fishing boat at the wharf in Naufrage, Prince Edward Island, in Canada.

...On a recent morning, however, I collected my oysters in a slightly different fashion. Standing in the front of an 18-foot boat, I lowered a set of 12-foot tongs — what Gulliver might have used to toss salad — into the waters of a windswept bay.
The boat rocked. The tongs slipped through my hands, partly because they were heavy, mostly because I am clumsy. Gripping them tighter, I raked them over the bottom of the bay, which was loose and crunchy in a way that suggested gravel but meant something else.
Oysters. I'd made contact with oysters. And if I squeezed the tongs the right way and managed to pull them up without having them pull me down into the frigid water — restaurant critic overboard! — I might find oysters in their clutch. And I might get to taste oysters whose freshness I had verified not with my server but with my own eyes and my own wet, chapped, shaking hands.....

Buffalo Zoo under scrutiny over deaths of three polar bears

Danny the polar bear was found dead after a zookeeper left him alone in a holding area following a procedure involving anesthesia.

By Stephen T. Watson - News Staff Reporter

Updated: 11/21/07 8:06 AM

A recent report by the federal Department of Agriculture raises concerns about animal care and conditions at the Buffalo Zoo after three polar bears died there in the last 16 months.
Care at the Buffalo Zoo is so dangerously poor that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums should immediately revoke the zoo’s accreditation, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals argued in a letter to the association.
“The zoo’s most recent [department] inspection reports reveal an appalling pattern of carelessness, negligence and incompetence,” PETA spokeswoman Lisa Wathne wrote.
This is the first time in Wathne’s five years at PETA that the organization has asked the association to revoke a zoo’s accreditation, she said.
A spokesman for the national Association of Zoos and Aquariums said that PETA is not a credible source on animal care but that the group will investigate the concerns raised in the Agriculture Department reports....

Zoo shows off its pride and joy - click here for link

One of the Oklahoma City Zoo's four lion cubs gets fed Tuesday. The four were born earlier this month through emergency Caesarian section. BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN
What's ahead for the cubs? The new cubs at the Oklahoma City Zoo are weighed at 8 a.m. daily, and they're fed twice a day. Keepers will stop bottle feeding after four or five months.
In about six months, the cubs will be introduced to the pride, which is composed of their three parents, said Jonathan Reding, supervisor of the zoo's Cat Forest and Lion Overlook. In the zoo world, this is called a "howdy.” The cubs will be able to see and hear their parents but won't immediately be allowed into the same area.
The lions were bred as part of the national species survival plan, which dictates which animals reproduce and when. The idea is to keep the gene pool diverse.
As part of the plan, the cubs may leave Oklahoma City. In a year or so, zoo experts will analyze the African lion population in the U.S. and see which animals should move to new locations because of breeding, space needs or other factors, said the zoo's Brian Aucone. The cubs may stay or go.
"For the moment,” he said, "they'll be here for a while.”

Pakistan Court Orders Musharraf to Step Down as Military Chief, Take Oath of Office by Dec. 1

Pervez Musharraf, right, has promised to resign his post as head of the army [AFP]

By VOA News

23 November 2007
Pervez Musharraf, 14 Nov 2007Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered President Pervez Musharraf to step down as military chief and take the oath of office by December 1.
The court, which is stacked with judges appointed by General Musharraf, Friday also declared that the November 3 imposition of a state of emergency and suspension of the constitution were legal.
Pakistan's attorney general Malik Mohammed Qayyum says President Musharraf will take the oath of office early next week. The Supreme Court dismissed the final legal challenge to General Musharraf's October reelection victory on Thursday.
Meanwhile, opposition leaders are planning their strategy for the upcoming January 8 parliamentary elections, with exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif set to return to Pakistan within days....

Editorial: The ‘Nawaz Sharif factor’ (click here)
In the latest development in the wake of General Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the exiled ex-prime minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PMLN), Mr Nawaz Sharif, is to arrive in Pakistan soon — according to some party sources, in a couple of days. There is a lot of speculation about the sort of “deal” that materialised during the general’s visit making possible the return of Mr Sharif. The most convincing version, in the light of the past behaviour of the Saudi government, is that the Saudis put their foot down and told the general that Mr Sharif could not be kept out of Pakistan while Ms Benazir Bhutto was reaping the advantage of being in the thick of national politics....

Benazir Bhutto condemns Balach Marri’s killing (click here)
* Former PM says killing of Baloch leader will further fuel nationalist movement in Balochistan * Calls for release of all Baloch leadersISLAMABAD: Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and chairwoman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Thursday condemned the killing of former member Balochistan Assembly Balach Marri. In a statement issued by her party’s media centre, Benazir termed the killing ‘a bad omen for the integrity of the federation’. Balach was killed on November 20, reportedly by security forces during a military operation, in Kohlu. His spokesman said that several others were also killed with him.“The killing and bloodshed in Balochistan must end immediately,” Benazir said. She warned that Balochistan was in danger of breaking away from the federation unless an urgent political solution was found....

Pakistan: Bhutto To Meet With Party Leaders (click here)

November 23, 2007 14 39 GMT
Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto arrived in Islamabad on Nov. 23 to map out a strategy for the upcoming general elections with the leadership of her Pakistan People's Party, Dawn News TV reported. Bhutto also is expected to attend a meeting of major opposition parties to determine whether her party will join the opposition's election boycott, according to the report.

Reports: Blasts Shake North India (click here)
14 hours ago
NEW DELHI (AP) — A series of three near-simultaneous explosions shook north India on Friday afternoon, with blasts going off in Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad, local media reports said.
There were few immediate details on the blasts, all in the state of Uttar Pradesh, but at least one explosion was outside a courthouse in Lucknow, the state capital, CNN-IBN television reported.

Blasts In Three Northern Indian Cities Kill 13 (click here)

LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - Nearly simultaneous explosions from homemade bombs planted outside courts in three northern Indian cities killed at least 13 people in what a senior government official said were terrorist strikes.
Officials said 59 people were wounded in the blasts at Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow, all in the populous state of Uttar Pradesh. Many of the dead were lawyers.
At least nine people were killed in Varanasi, one of India's most sacred Hindu pilgrim centers, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, who uses only one name, told reporters.
Four people were killed in Faizabad while there were no casualties in the state capital Lucknow.
All three cities have a history of communal tensions between India's majority Hindus and its minority Muslims.
"I believe it is the handiwork of groups who are trying to spread terror in our country," junior Home Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters.
India has been hit by blasts frequently in recent years and most of them have been blamed on Pakistan-based Islamist militant groups fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir.
Local TV channels showed what appeared to be at least one dead lawyer, dressed in traditional black clothes, lying on the ground. Dry leaves had fallen over his body.
Another body was lying face down in a pool of blood.
One injured man rode away on a motorcycle while a passerby held a cloth or handkerchief to his blood-soaked head....

Antarctica Ice Chime

As if there hasn't been 'just about enough' of the loss of the Explorer. The New Zealand Herald has a series of photos. (click here)

Frigid folly … crew and passengers are loaded into rescue boats.
Photo: AP

A Titanic tale of survival (click here)
Manuel Mitternacht and AFPNovember 25, 2007

Do you know more? Were you on the ship? Was a family member of yours affected? Message 0424 SMS SMH (+61 424 767 764) or email us with information.
A CRUISE ship said to be dogged by maintenance woes has slammed into an iceberg off Antarctica, forcing 154 people - including 10 Australians - to scramble into lifeboats.
Passing ships rushed to the rescue, plucking frightened passengers from the icy seas.
"They are in good condition," said Arnvid Hansen, captain of the Norwegian ship that carried out the rescue. "There is no hypothermia; they all have food and clothes. Everything is OK."
The 100 passengers - including the Australians and people from Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and the US - and most of the crew from the stricken Explorer were picked up safely after the Titanic-style accident in frigid seas near the South Shetland Islands yesterday.
The captain and another senior officer stayed on board the Liberian-registered ship but escaped before the ship went down a few hours after it struck the iceberg. Problems with the ship's safety record were immediately highlighted....


It appears to have been struck by a rapidly moving iceberg and then drifted into the pack ice. There is one photo that shows the ladders the people on board used to leave the ship. Scary stuff. They must have been very upset the entire time.

150 abandon cruise ship in Antarctica (+photos) (click here)
5:00AM Saturday November 24, 2007
By Cesar Illiano
The M/S Explorer cruise ship sinks, hours after hitting an ice floe off the coast of the Antarctic.
More than 150 passengers and crew escaped unhurt after their cruise ship hit ice in the Antarctic and started sinking on Friday, the ship's owner and coast guard officials said.
A Norwegian passenger boat in the area safely picked up all the occupants of the Explorer from the lifeboats they used to flee the ship when it ran into problems off King George Island in Antarctica at 12:24 a.m. EST, the Explorer's owners said.
A spokesman for G.A.P Adventures, the Canadian travel company that owns the vessel, said 154 passengers and crew had been on board the ship. He had told Reuters earlier the number was 100.
"We were passing through ice as usual... we do that every day... But this time something hit the hold and we got a little leakage downstairs," the Explorer's first officer Peter Svensson told Reuters Television by satellite phone from the Norwegian ship, the Nordnorge.
He said the rescue had gone smoothly. "No one was hysterical, they were just sitting there nice and quiet, because we knew there were ships coming."...

I take it the Explorer drifted into Pack Ice? Yes? Because the comparison of the two pictures is bizarre. (Audio)

This is a good/fun reference to the status of Antarctica before the vortices showed up, Antarctica Marine Geology (click here), the pictures of the seas and their waves are very different and more volitile. The East Wind Drift flows west and has a current that turns into the continent, which is why the ship would drift toward shore.



Entrance to Deception Island, taken January, 2003. Livingston Island is seen behind and to the right. Deception Island coordinates: 62°58′37.2″S, 60°39′0″W. Deception Island has many 'microclimates' due to the volcano and is home to The Chinstrap Penguins.

South Shetland Islands Climate Brief (clikc here). The usual current is between 2 and 6 knots. It would be interesting to know what kind of current this ship encountered.

A picture taken by the Chilean Air Force shows the Explorer, which struck an iceberg in the Antarctic Ocean.

The current as witnessed in the picture below was pushing against the disabled hull of the ship. It was pushed into the pack ice. It's a very strong current. The pack ice was near enough to cause it to drift into it's midst. Couple of things can happen, none will allow for the recovery of the ship. The ship can drift further into the Pack Ice and become frozen which means it will not sink soon; or it will continue to fill with water and turn over. I doubt it will split in half. But if the hull of the boat and the water inside freeze it won't sink so much as be debris within the ice field.

A small, historic cruise ship with an imperfect security record was listing dangerously after it struck ice in Antarctic waters today, with 154 passengers and crew members evacuated in a flotilla of lifeboats and inflatable boats, the cruise operator and coast guards said....


None of this is conclusive evidence to the cause of the breach of the hull. Not as far as I am concerned.


The incident took place between the Antarctica Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. At least it looks that way from the map. There is an island near their called Deception Island. The crime if it is; Deception Island is an island in the South Shetland Islands off the Antarctic Peninsula which has one of the safest harbours in Antarctica. A recently active volcano, its eruptions in 1967 and 1969 caused serious damage to the scientific stations there. The only current research bases are run by the Argentine Army and Spain. Also Great Britain has a base on the island that was partially buried by the 1969 eruption

People Evacuated From Ship in Antarctic Waters .

This image made from a Web cam on board the MS Nordnorge shows the cruise ship Explorer listing in Antarctic waters on Friday.

Hardly any sea ice, which speaks eons to melting. Virtually no white caps, which validates a homongenized air mass. The inspection records of the ship need to be reviewed and weather conditions at the time. Was there a potential for sabotage?

Swift ocean currents still apply. The currents, once established, aren't necessitated to have white cap waves unless the velocity of the water exceeds that of molecular cohesion in surface tension. As a matter of fact the listing and stagnation of movement in the water has caused a 'wave' on the far side of the ship in this picture. That dictates high velocity water passing the ship. It could have easily been struck by an iceberg traveling at high speeds in the water. Speeds, that once realized, are strong enough to puncture the hule of a ship such as the MS Nordnorge creates an entirely different picture of Antarctica. The 'runoff' from the continent must be increasing to cause this change in velocity. The change in the height of the water alone, in this picture where the ship interrupts it's current is significant. More than interesting.

This occurred at the tip of the Peninsula. This is The East Wind Drift. The current closest to the Antarctica Continent which would receive the "melt water" first.

I just think there are also other questions to ask as well.

Iraq is so much safer now and just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water and flowers are blooming everywhere, especially in Baghdad.

Does the New York Times ever worry about their legitimate reputation anymore, rather than their political following? I mean for real. The paper is losing it's legitimacy from where I stand. The Washington Post, The Bush Rag, lost it's legitmacy a long time ago.

People carry coffins of persons killed in Thursday's clashes between suspected al-Qaida members and members of a so-called awakening council during a funeral procession in south Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, Iraq, Friday, Nov. 23, 2007. Al-Qaida militants commandeered Iraqi army vehicles and then attacked U.S.-backed Sunni fighters in south Baghdad during a fierce gun battle that left 18 people dead on Thursday. (AP Photo/Loay Hameed)

IRAQ: BOMB ON MARKET BAGHDAD, 8 DEAD 50 INJURED
(AGI) - Baghdad, Nov 23 - Another bomb attack in Baghdad, has killed at least 8 and injured 50, many of them seriously. Local hospital sources reported this, the news has been confirmed by security forces. A bomb exploded on the al-Ghazl market, very popular for its trade in small animals and particularly birds, a real Iraqi passion. The market has been targeted several times in the passed, and was very crowded due to a day of festivities.

http://www.agi.it/world/news/200711230918-cro-ren0002-art.html


Bombs Kill 26 in Baghdad, Northern Iraq
By BUSHRA JUHI – 48 minutes ago
BAGHDAD (AP) — Two bombs exploded hours apart Friday in a central Baghdad pet market and a police checkpoint in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing 26 people and wounding dozens, officials said.
The attacks were among the deadliest in recent weeks, underscoring warnings by senior U.S. commanders that extremists still pose a threat to Iraq's fragile security despite a downturn in violence since a U.S.-Iraqi security plan began in mid-February.
The blast in the capital's popular weekly al-Ghazl animal bazaar occurred just before 9 a.m., shattering the festive atmosphere as people strolled past the stalls.
At least 13 people were killed and nearly 60 wounded, including four policemen, according to police and hospital officials. Several shops also were damaged.
About 1:30 p.m. in Mosul, a suicide car bomber struck a police checkpoint, killing three policemen and 10 civilians, said police Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Wakaa.
The al-Ghazl market, where sellers peddle birds, dogs, cats, sheep, goats and exotic animals such as snakes and monkeys, has been targeted in the past. On Jan. 26, 15 people were killed when a bomb hidden in a box of pigeons exploded as shoppers gathered around it.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYeFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD8T3E3000

US Military Deaths in Iraq at 3,874
By The Associated Press – 14 hours ago
As of Thursday, Nov. 22, 2007, at least 3,874 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,157 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is two higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST.
The British military has reported 173 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gqgQCcv26kB1dkgZRZNHmbn_1J8gD8T31T500

It's extremely warm in Antarctica. It's not even summer. 12 PM and 3 PM are missing in animation satellite. Click here.

Novmeber 23, 2007
1200 pm UTC
Antarctica Surface Winds

The surface winds are mostly diminished. The stronger winds are primarily over East Antarctica and they are on shore winds. The Peninsula is experiencing higher velocity winds which would cause movement of the sea ice and could explain the reason the MV Explorer experienced a breach to it's hull. The sea ice/icebergs have been noted in pictures from the Penguin Cams from Scott Base to have higher velocity.


November 22, 2007
0600 gmt
Antarctica Jet Stream (animated click here)

Here is the beauty of it. The upper trospheric jet stream is homogenizing the air masse over Antarctica and that why the elevated temperatures even over the Blue Ice and the frigid air masse is gone. Sublimation of ice.

As the arriving vortices 'match' the air quality, air temperature and moisture, there will be less turbulence and not more. There will be less disturbance of the air masse because it won't be a matter of rising or sinking (heavy frigid air) as it will all be homogenized into the same state. The equatorial orgin vortices will simply 'settle in' as a feeder system to the instability. The sun is still moving south. We remain vigilant.


November 23, 2007
1226 gmt
Western Hemisphere.

Every satellite shows heat transfer from the equator to Antarctica. It's a darn shame. And the Religious Right of the USA defines it's 'morality' as Pro-Life? Where? They are nothing but a bunch of 'freakin' nut cases willing to die in glory. And the West states Jihadists are dangerous. What's the difference? Money and the extent they can cause 'immediate' death and destruction globally. That is the only difference between the two extremes.


November 23, 2007
1224 gmt
Africa-Europe Satellite

I have to laugh when I read articles regarding alternative sources of energies and it states, "...they have flaws." There is a huge set of flaws that oil, gas and coal have; Human Induced Global Warming, Human Deaths due to Climate Change, Species Demise and collapsing First World Economies. See, the Third World relies on the First World economies to assist their very survival. When the First World Economies vaporize, as they will, with disappearing oil supplies so will the ability to support the Third World. The oddity is that The Third World is now seeing increased value to their oil and can support themselves and dangle the future of The First World right in front of their face.

Amazing.


November 23, 2007
1308 gmt
West Pacific Satellite

Every satellite shows the same thing; a huge movement of heat from the Equator to Antarctica. This satellite shows two consecutive cyclones/hurricanes approaching Asia. They are both Cat 2 cyclones. Asia's shoreline needs to be evacuated and stay that way. The thing is, these countries rely on fishing to produce food for their populous. That is not possible and relief efforts need to take shape to address the continued battering of these people and their food source.


November 23, 2007
1232 gmt
Pacific Global Satellite



November 23, 2007
0900 gmt
Antarctica


November 22, 2007
0900 gmt
Antarctica Temperature Satellite

The warmest reporting stations:

Base Esperanza, Antarctica

12:00 PM GMT

Elevation :: 43 ft / 13 m

Temperature :: 40 °F / 5 °C (The warmest area in the USA, outside of the Gulf Stream Subtopic of Florida, is McAllen, Texas at the Mexico-US Border, with an air temperature of 49 F, with a wind chill of 42 F and conditions that are cloudy. I sorta expect ANY PLACE in Antarctica to be colder than that of the continental, temperate USA. Don't you? I would hope so.)

Conditions :: Clear

Humidity :: 31%

Dew Point: :: 20 °F / -7 °C

Wind :: 14 mph / 22 km/h from the WSW

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 29.23 in / 990 hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 6.0 miles / 10.0 kilometers

Clouds:
Mostly Cloudy 17717 ft / 5400 m
(Above Ground Level)



Palmer Station, Antarctica

9:00 AM CLST

Elevation :: 26 ft / 8 m

Temperature :: 35 °F / 2 °C

Conditions :: Light Snow

Humidity :: 65%

Dew Point: :: 28 °F / -2 °C

Wind :: 4 mph / 7 km/h from the South

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure:
29.14 in / 987 hPa (Falling)
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.0 kilometers

The Coldest Reporting Stations are :

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica

1:00 AM NZDT

Elevation :: 9285 ft / 2830 m

Temperature :: -33 °F / -36 °C

Conditions :: Clear

Wind :: 6 mph / 9 km/h from the ESE

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: in / hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 7.0 miles / 11.0 kilometers

Clouds:
Scattered Clouds 9843 ft / 3000 m
(Above Ground Level)


Vostok, Antarctica

6:00 PM VOST

Elevation :: 11220 ft / 3420 m

Temperature :: -32 °F / -36 °C

Humidity :: 49%

Dew Point :: -39 °F / -40 °C

Wind :: 12 mph / 18 km/h from the West

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: in / hPa (Falling)

Visibility :: 12.0 miles / 20.0 kilometers