Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Environment

March of the Penguins

The March of the Penguins documentary about the Emperor Penguins in Antarctica – Awesome! Damsel and I watched the feature first and then the behind-the-scenes footage on how they shot this amazing film. The following is a comment from sam-650 via IMDB, which closely echoes our sentiments:

This is perhaps the most amazing animal documentary ever. The footage was gathered in what truly must be “the harshest place on earth”. It is barren, cold beyond cold and then there is the endless night of winter. The underwater footage was my favorite, but every single frame is magnificent. I can’t wait for the DVD, so I can see how the filmmakers did this.

The narration is less objective than it is romantic – making it less a true documentary than a story, but that is fine in this case, and Morgan Freeman does a great job. You really should make the effort to see this on the big screen – it is absolutely stunning!

29 Dec 2005 by Entertainment Environment Photography

Sea Mammal Rescues Peak During Heavy Surf

Years ago, Damsel and I became members of MAR3INE, an acronym for Marine Animal Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release Into the Natural Environment. We’re glad that the center is there, especially during times when the animals are having a rough time due to high surf.

From the Daily Breeze:

South Bay sea mammals are hit hard by pounding waves

Seals and sea lions aren’t used to the 15-foot breakers that have hit the coast this week. Many are treated at animal care center in San Pedro.

You know it’s big surf when even the sea lions get knocked around.

This week’s massive waves along the South Bay coast made life difficult for the marine mammals, sending a few to a specialized-care center in San Pedro for medical attention.

“The ones that came in looked like they may have been beaten up by the waves,” said David Bard, operations manager at the Marine Mammal Care Center at Fort MacArthur. In getting rolled by the breakers, they’ve come close to drowning and have breathed water into their lungs, which can lead to complications like pneumonia.

Photo: Sean Hiller / Daily Breeze — This young female sea lion was rescued from Venice Beach after being washed ashore.

Read the complete article at the Breeze: South Bay sea mammals are hit hard by pounding waves

We visit the center often, usually after visiting the County Recycling Center so we can donate the proceeds from scrap aluminum cans.

23 Dec 2005 by Environment

Damsel Sends You Seagulls and Surf

On a day with monster 13 to 20 foot waves battering Southern California, seagulls play in the surf.

Now that you’re transfixed with all the beauty and awe of this scene, take a few moments and go have a laugh at this video. A tip of the bonnet to Dave at Garfield Ridge.

Update: Hey, this is Cap’n Bob. Damsel’s lovely picture is wonderful. That being said, the other dimension was the sound and fury of the surf, and the feeling of being there. So, to add to the sensory experience, I shot a video panorama of the cove where she shot her picture. Turn up the speakers and listen to the surf and the foghorn from the Point Vicente Lighthouse.

21 Dec 2005 by California Environment Photography

Clinton Heats Up Climate Conference

Bill Clinton has no more business addressing the UN Climate Conference than he has for educating teenage girls about sex.

Montreal (CNSNews.com) – Former President Bill Clinton is expected to address the U.N. Climate Change Conference on Friday, the final day, after the Sierra Club reportedly raised the money to pay for Clinton’s trip.

Clinton’s visit is intended to help draw more media attention to the U.N. meeting and to pressure the U.S. delegation to make more concessions on climate issues, according to the Canadian Press.

Bush administration officials reportedly were “annoyed” that Clinton chose to come on the last day of the conference to try to influence the negotiations, according to the Associated Press.

Read Bill Clinton Heats Up UN Climate Conference — 12/09/2005 at CNS News.

Also read Flat Earth, Hurricanes and Global Warming for our perspectives on this issue.

09 Dec 2005 by Environment Global Warming International United Nations Whacko Politics

Microseismic Emission Precursors

This may be of particular interest to those of us living near seismically active areas. Interpretation of microseismic emission precursors may represent a possible breakthrough on earthquake prediction:

Prelude to an Earthquake?

A geophysicist from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has identified possible seismic precursors to two recent California earthquakes, including the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that wreaked havoc throughout the Bay Area.

After sifting through seismic data from the two quakes, Valeri Korneev found a spike in the number of micro-earthquakes followed by a period of relative calm in the crust surrounding the quakes’ epicenters — months before the quakes occurred. Although more work needs to be conducted to determine whether other large quakes are foreshadowed by a similar rise and subsequent decline in small-magnitude tremors, Korneev’s analysis suggests that these peaks may be indicative of the total set of geological stresses that affect the timing and location of large earthquakes. Understanding this total stress picture may eventually make it be possible to predict destructive earthquakes within a much shorter time frame than currently possible.

Photo: 1989 Quake Damage to Interstate 880 – S.F. Chronicle

Peaks in seismic activity in the crust surrounding a fault could help signal the arrival of large earthquakes,” says Korneev of Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division. “These peaks may be a good mid-term precursor and allow authorities to declare alerts several months before earthquakes.”

Read the rest of the article at Science Blog: Prelude to an Earthquake?

09 Dec 2005 by California Environment Science

Sundown over the Pacific

Not much to say about this, other than I drove out of my way going home this evening to get this shot from Hermosa Beach.

Update: What I wouldn’t do for art! My detour made me late for happy hour with Damsel . . . I think it was worth it.

08 Dec 2005 by California Environment Photography

SOHO Marks 10th Year

One of my top 10 things to be thankful for is technology, which gives mankind insights into the unknown. One of these technological wonders is SOHO, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite located at Earth’s inner Lagrangian point.

From SpaceWeather.com:

10 YEARS OF SOHO: Where would we be without SOHO? The orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) keeps a ’round-the-clock eye on the sun and is crucial to space weather forecasting. Thousands of our readers have witnessed auroras only because SOHO spotted an incoming CME [coronal mass ejection] in time for us to issue an alert.

So it is with pleasure and appreciation that we wish a happy 10th anniversary to the SOHO team, whose spacecraft was launched on Dec. 2nd, 1995. Originally planned as a two year mission, SOHO is now entering its second decade. Amazing.

And an article from Astronomy Picture of the Day indicates that operations are planned to continue until 2007, at which time SOHO will have been in position to observe a complete 11-year solar cycle (which, as we all know, is responsible for climate change and other phenomena – not the puny efforts of mankind who the moonbat left blame for the mythical global warming).

01 Dec 2005 by Aerospace Astronomy Environment Global Warming Rocket Science

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