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Pacific Underwater: Seabirds in May
Tufted Puffin(Credit: Buzz Hoffman via Flickr)
As you read this, a cool Pacific breeze is blowing through the tufted hair grass that covers tiny Triangle Island, Northwest of Vancouver Island. Just below the grasses and the wind, hundreds of thousands of birds have just laid hundreds of thousands of eggs in hundreds of thousands of burrows.
If you are like most Canadians, you have never heard of the rhinoceros auklet, Cassin's auklet, common murre or tufted puffin, but these seabirds are an integral part of British Columbia's incredibly rich coastal water ecosystems. Triangle Island is part of the Scott Islands group, a globally significant home for seabirds.
These birds have developed many parallel evolutionary strategies. Like penguins—their seabird cousins to the south—a mating seabird pair on Triangle Island lays just one egg in a year.
Both parents help to protect and incubate their egg, each taking a 24-hour shift while the other takes the day off to eat. They all share a long incubation period, with the rhinoceros auklet taking up to 45 days to hatch. (That's more than twice as long as a chicken.)
Most of these birds have similar nest structures as well. If you were to reach down one of the long and narrow burrows of an auklet or puffin, it would be a tight fit for your hand. It's long enough that your outstretched arm wouldn't reach the bird nesting at the end. An inexperienced hand would likely hit an unwelcome surprise—the birds keep a "latrine" near the mouth of the burrow that has repelled many a researcher.
Although these burrows are great protection against predators like gulls and eagles (and invasive species introduced by humans), the remote location of the Scott Islands offers the greatest relief.
The common murre has developed a different strategy for its nest, laying its eggs directly on the cliff faces. But it's not just the island's remoteness that makes it a great nesting ground for these birds; it's the availability of food in the surrounding ocean
Continue reading »What a river's health means for our own
(Credit: John McGarvey via Flickr)
Lise Parent is a professor of environmental health at Télé-université in Montreal. Her research focuses on the ecotoxicology of heavy metals in the aquatic environment and on endocrine disrupters in the everyday environment. She is also involved with the "Réseau des femmes en environnement" (Network of Women in Environment) and is a member of CINBIOSE (an interdisciplinary research centre on biology, health, society and the environment) and CIRÉ (Interinstitutional Centre for Ecotoxicology Research). Docs Talk asked Dr. Parent for her opinions on the connection between the health of the St. Lawrence River and our own health.
Docs Talk: How can the state of the St. Lawrence River affect the health of those who live in its vicinity?
Dr. Parent: The St. Lawrence, which flows from the Great Lakes, is a complex ecosystem of fresh and salt water. Its water quality is affected by the tributaries that contribute to its flow, the diverse environments it crosses, climatic and hydrographic changes and the multitude of purposes it serves. Despite such complexity, we can identify three ways in which the St. Lawrence can affect health: drinking water drawn from the river and treated; consumption of fish, molluscs and other organisms; and recreational activities associated with the water, such as swimming, sailing, hunting and fishing.
So, it's possible that some pathogens (virus, bacteria, protozoa) will remain in drinking water after sub-optimal treatment or that persistent and bioaccumulative contaminants will be transferred down the food chain to humans by way of aquatic organisms (fish and molluscs) and their predators (carnivorous fish, birds and mammals).
Continue reading »Host a green cleaning party
Host a green cleaning party and receive a copy of my green cleaning stickers for your homemade products! (Design and photo credit: Erika Rathje)
Real change happens at the local level. Why wait for it to come to you?
Take initiative and make a difference in your community by organizing a clothing swap, block party, e-waste drive or my favourite—a green cleaning workshop!
Here's how:
Plan your event as part of an evening with friends, baby shower or a lunch n' learn at the office. Invite your family, neighbours, friends, co-workers, the parents at your kids' school, or the book club.
Make these three green cleaning recipes
1. Borax-free liquid laundry soap
2. All-purpose cleaner spray
3. All-purpose cleaner scour
Download a copy of my green cleaning recipes for each participant.
Continue reading »Committee passes the buck on pesticide-free B.C.
(Credit: gribley via Flickr)
The long-awaited report from B.C.'s special legislative committee on cosmetic pesticides was not worth the wait. The committee had been mulling over a province-wide ban on lawn chemicals for close to a year, ever since Premier Christy Clark announced her support for a ban and appointed the committee to consider how to proceed.
Unfortunately, it seems the committee missed the point. It is deeply disappointing that after all that mulling, the report, released May 17, does not even recommend a ban. Instead, it proposes a series of toothless measures and tries to pass the buck on the main issue: "Committee members representing the majority are satisfied with how the [federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency] registers and reevaluates pesticides and are confident with the scientific integrity of the federal processes."
Continue reading »Going to bat for our furry flying friends
Bats do so much for us, Maybe it’s time we returned the favour – especially considering the dire threats many bat populations face.
Photo Credit: Lee Carson
Bats are fascinating creatures, and they're more important than many people realize. A bat can eat more than 1,000 insects in an hour — up to 6,000 a night. Some bats consume bugs that attack agricultural crops and some feast on pests like gnats and mosquitoes. The 25 million free-tailed bats in Bracken Cave, Texas, eat more than 200 tonnes of insects every summer night!
Some bats are also pollinators. Without the services of the Mexican long-tongued bat, the agave plant, from which we get tequila, might not survive. So, right off the bat (sorry), if you like tequila but not mosquito bites, you should view bats as your friends.
Continue reading »My letter from Windex®
I prefer to clean with cheap and effective DIY options like vinegar and water for glass and mirrors. (Credit: Jill Watson via Flickr)
I officially broke up with Windex® because they don't list ingredients on their products. See for yourself when you take our home cleaners survey. But get this, they wrote back!
Lindsay,
We're sorry to hear you're breaking up with Windex®.
Like you, we think it's important for the people who use our home cleaning products to know what's in their favorite ones. So, before you say goodbye, we hope you'll take a few minutes to get the real facts about the ingredients in Windex® at whatsinsidescjohnson.ca
Please also know our commitment to list ingredients on Windex® labels is well underway, and you should see them on our products at your local stores this summer.
Because we value our relationship, we too want you to get the whole story and help you make the best choices for you and your family.
Continue reading »Happy Mother's Day
Celebrate Mother's Day and Mother Earth.
Send Mom an e-card from the David Suzuki Foundation.
