Osaka Aquarium Video from Animal-World: “This is a pretty long video of many of the exhibits at the Osaka Aquarium, Japan. The whale shark near the end of the video is really impressive, well worth watching! …”
Title: Lone Orca
Copyright: Brian S. Kissinger, Visual Paradox
Link to Wallpaper: http://www.visualparadox.com/wallpapers/loneorca640.htm
In December 2006, The Ocean Project chose Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson as its Seas the Day Ocean Book of the Month. I didn’t think much of it at the time and just reported it to you in my newsletter. Recently, I spotted the book at my son’s school while volunteering and something about it caught my eye and I made the connection a few days later. My son then checked it out of the school library for me and I gave it a try. I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable book and a worthy read for any age.
The gist of the story is that Aunt Etta, Aunt Coral, and Aunt Myrtle are getting older and feel they need help caring for their island which just happens to be a sanctuary for both real and mythical creatures like mermaids, selkies, and more. The Aunts decide that they will kidnap some children because adults cannot be trusted! The book is intended for children ages nine to twelve. I could barely put the book down!
Forcing my adult (and Mom!) way of thinking out of my head and diving into the book, I found myself quickly engulfed in the story of the Aunts, the children Minette and Fabio, the cell-phone addicted Lambert and his evil, money-hungry father, the beauty and peace of the island, and the adventure that unfolds. Forgetting that my Mom mind would be screaming about the kidnapping of any children, I looked at the book as my eleven year old son might … that anything and everything is possible and in a book, I’ve always believed, anything and everything can be true!
So why did this book end up as the Seas the Day Ocean Book of the Month back in December 2006? Simply because of the underlying message that the ocean and it’s wondrous and beautiful gifts must be protected from people who care nothing for it unless it can bring them personal gain and are willing to destroy so much to reach that gain. The environmental message is not beaten into the reader with a club or screamed at them at the top of one’s lungs. It is simply and quietly relayed to you through the eyes of two children and weaved throughout the book.
It was a good book, a good story, and a good read. I’d recommend it to any kid who likes fantasy books, and any adult who’d like to have a book to share with their kid as well as a rather subtle way to get the importance of ocean conservation deep down inside a kid where it really counts!
Related Links:
The Ocean Project
Seas the Day Ocean Book of the Month December 2006
Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson (at Overstock.com)
Journey to Planet Earth: The State of the Ocean’s Animals aired on television on March 21, 2008. Marilyn and Hal Weiner made the film and it was narrated by Matt Damon. According to the PBS web site: “Nearly half the world’s marine animals may face extinction over the next twenty-five years. Global warming, over-fishing, and habitat destruction are emptying the world’s oceans.” You can find more information on the program by visiting the Journey to Planet Earth site. The site also offers a video introduction.
I watched this once and made some notes on it in order to write up this review. I went back to watch it again to clarify my thoughts and perhaps get more details and barely made it through fifteen minutes. I cannot bear to sit through this for another hour, knowing what awaits me, the sounds and images of what mankind has done and continues to do to the animals that live in our oceans, the creatures that share our planet, our lives, and I’m not talking just about the ones that we rely upon for food.
This is not a show that I would allow my children to watch. My son saw parts of it when I watched it the first time and I found myself explaining that there are those on this planet that do not care the harm they do in order to make a buck. If you want to see it, and you probably should see it, I recommend you do it when your children are not around to watch with you unless you know they are old enough to handle what they will see. I’m an adult and found myself crying at several parts, granted I’m an adult with an affinity and love for the sea and the beauty it brings to the world as a whole. I only hope that this show can perhaps touch some of those that are not so easily moved.
How do I feel about the state of the ocean’s animals? Simply horrified! Mankind continues to efficiently destroy both entire species of animals with shark fin and dolphin hunts and so much more as well as entire communities’ ways of life with local fisherman all around the world being out competed for their livelihoods and sustenance by giant 400 foot long killing machines that clear-cut the sea and toss what they don’t want to die and rot right back into the ocean. I don’t think I will ever forget the images of the sharks being finned and the dolphins crying for their pod mates as they lie dying. This is not what man’s legacy is supposed to be!
It was not all horror, I have to admit, and we have managed to do some good and live side by side with some ocean creatures like the sea otters of Monterey Bay and the tourists and turtle nests sharing Melbourne Beach. Unfortunately, in my eyes, the good we have done is so far outweighed by the horror we inflict that I don’t know if we can recover. I certainly hope that we can and that we do and that we get moving on it soon!
04/02/08, ENN - Coral reefs and climate change: Microbes could be the key to coral death
04/02,08, Practical Fishkeeping - Woman killed by leaping eagle ray
04/10/08, Practical Fishkeeping - Rabbitfish keep reef algae down
04/14/08, Practical Fishkeeping - Global warming affecting coral microbes
04/14/08, Practical Fishkeeping - Surfer killed in fatal shark attack
04/14/08, Practical Fishkeeping - Draft Marine Bill published
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