Reaching Out

http://www.ecorazzi.com/category/causes/environment/
This blog is all about celebs going environmentally friendly. Celebs like Shailene Woodley, Jennifer Lopez and Pamela Anderson fight for the rights of nature. For example, Shailene Woodley makes her own cosmetics!!! These celebs dont only represent a cause but make what they are fighting for a part of their daily life. If you are looking to see how celebs go green, this blog is for you!

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/
No impact man is a blog about one man's expirement to life with his family and him adapting a lifestyle that has no net impact on the environment. Based out of the center of New York, for a year Colin and his family work to decrease the things they do that harm the earth. Colin's journey is inspiring to anyone who takes the time to read through the No Impact Man blog. It is full of great ideas on how youy can limit your impact on the environment from home. 

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/environmental_law/
Have you ever been curious about what laws are in place to protect the environment? If you answered yes then this blog is for you! They discuss anything from current laws and their changes to laws that have been proposed. This blog is very educational for those who want to learn the rules and regulations of the environment. If you happen to think to yourself "I wonder what new environmental protection law is being talked about" I would zip on over to Law Professors to find out.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/
The Green Car Congress is all about the new environmentally friendly technology being researched for cars. From batteries to paint these guys cover it all. Just about every car company you can think of has at least one post dedicated to their new products. Do you think turning CO2 into methanol can be used for transport? Well, go on over to greencarcongress.com and find out!

http://www.greenoptions.com/
The Green Options blog is all about going green with what you buy. Based out of Berkley, California this blog gives you all the latest green options from some of the biggest name brands. From sports brands like Addias, Nike and Puma to Toyota Prius this blog gives you plenty of options to go green. They even have a place for you to online shop!! If you are wanting to buy green i would check out this blog and see what your options are.

Marine Mammal Protection Act

Blackfish

Tilikum during a performance at SeaWorld

I have recently been noticing a ton of hype about the newly released documentary Blackfish all over social media. Blackfish tells the story of one orca, Tilikum, a performing killer whale at SeaWorld. The documentary shines light on the cruel treatment of orcas in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry. Though I am glad people are starting to see the lies behind SeaWorld and their killer whale shows, I don’t recall any hype over The Cove back in 2009. The Cove is a documentary that exposes the slaughter of more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises off the coast of Japan every year, and how their meat, containing toxic levels of mercury, is sold as food in Japan and other parts of Asia, often labeled as whale meat. These documentaries don’t cover even half of what marine mammals battle on a daily basis. I’m glad people are taking notice in SeaWorld but we need to take a stand with all sea-parks for the protection of all marine mammals. Remember that these problems don’t just start and end with the orcas at SeaWorld; it affects all marine mammals in captivity.

The Cove: Taiji dolphin hunts

Related Readings

Romano, A. T., Keogh, J. M., Kelly, C., Feng, P., Berk, L., Schlundt, E. C., ... Finneran, J. J. (2011, April 11). Anthropogenic sound and marine mammal health: measures of the nervous and immune systems before and after intense sound exposure. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, doi:10.1139/f04-055

Anthropogenic sound, or intense underwater sounds like those the military use, cause many health issues for marine mammals. For example, when the blood was tested before and after sound exposures from a seismic water gun and single pure tones resembling sonar pings from a white whale health issues were obvious. The bottlenose dolphin along with other marine mammals had an increase of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine levels were considerably higher after high-level sound exposures compared to low level.

Baker, C. S., Steel, D. J., Choi, Y., Lee, H., Kim, K. S., Choi, S. K., ... Funahashi, N. (2010, April 14). Genetic evidence of illegal trade in protected whales links Japan with the US and South Korea. Biology Letters, Retrieved from http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/genetic-evidence-illegal-trade-protected-whales-links-japan-us-and-south-korea

Evidence was found that restaurants in Los Angeles, California and Seoul, South Korea purchased illegal whale-meat in 2009. Records show the DNA profile of whale sold in Seoul matched products purchased previously in Japan in September 2007. DNA analysis of the meat found it to be from the three types of whale that are currently killed in the controversial scientific whaling programme in Japan. The fin, sei and Antarctic minke whales are at the center of this illegal trade investigation and are all protected from international trade.

Shinsuke, T. (2002, September). Contamination and toxic effects of persistent endocrine disrupters in marine mammals and birds. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 45(1-12), 69-77. , doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0025-326X(02)00175-3

In the past few years it has been noticed that marine mammals are suffering from uncommon diseases and unusual mortalities. There are many reasons for this; however exposure to man-made toxic chemicals seems to be the main cause. These toxic chemicals can disrupt normal endocrine physiology in animals. These chemicals are found in the tissues of many sea animals such as cetaceans and albatrosses.

Simmonds, M. P., & Stephen, I. J. (2007, March 5). The impacts of climate change on marine mammals: early signs of significant problems. Oryx the international journal of conservation, 41(01), doi:: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0030605307001524

Climate change has a noticeable effect in marine mammals. They face a changing environment daily and it’s not a natural occurrence. The global climate change has impacted them through melting habitat, prey distribution and abundance. Marine ecosystems modelers and marine mammal experts will need to work together on the conservation of these marine mammals.

Laist, D. W. (1987, June). Overview of the biological effects of lost and discarded plastic debris in the marine environment. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 18(6), 319-326. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0025-326X(87)80019-X

Plastics and other synthetic materials degrade very slowly and are very abundant in the world’s oceans. Those that are buoyant remain suspended at the sea surface for a long time, and those that are not, sink and remain on the bottom for years or even decades causing issues for marine mammals and other sea life. Many issues that come with plastic debris in the ocean include marine mammals to become entangled in loops or openings of debris; they may ingest plastic materials, have their ability to catch food or avoid predators impaired, or incur wounds from abrasive or cutting action of attached debris. Ingested plastics may block digestive tracts, damage stomach linings, or lessen feeding drives and entanglement causes marine mammals to drown. 

The human race VS Marine mammals of the world

Has it ever occurred to you that the human population poses one of the most immediate threats to marine mammals world wide? The overall quality of our oceans is declining. Everyone is aware of that. However, how many people know what the effects of our everyday activities have on the health of the worlds marine mammals? I decided to take the initiative and find that answer.

Northern fur seal pup entangled in fishing net. (Source: NMML)