Mammal Center: Northern fur seals malnourished

A small Northern California fur seal named "Jasper Johns" was so weak that he had to eat threw a tube.
His body was thin and he couldn't hold on any longer.
Last Thursday he died, as biologists are starting to see a string of the malnourished fur seals found off the coast, according to the Bay Area-based Marine Mammal Center's blog.
Fur seals are relatives of sea lions, rather than seals, because they have external ear flaps and can walk on their hind flippers, so their name is somewhat of a misnomer, the center says.
Normally, the furry seals that have 300,000 hairs per square inch, don't come to shore, and predominantly dwell in the open ocean feeding off of small schools of fish like walleye pollock, herring, hake and anchovy, and squid.
But recently the center had five fur seals being treated on site, a few have died in past weeks, including Jasper Johns that died after having a seizure. The center anticipates more of the
"The Center sees a spike in the number of fur seal patients it rescues in some years, but it's unknown exactly what causes this spike and what factors are affecting their health and/or normal feeding patterns in the wild," the center explains.
In the mean time, veterinarians and volunteers have their hands full caring for this unique species. Fur seals are small and often appear to be harmless, but in fact, can be extremely aggressive and quick. With razor sharp teeth, they really keep their caretakers on their toes!"

Clapper rails released at Seal Beach refuge

Team Clapper Rail, a group of more than 100 individuals and organizations dedicated to breeding, raising and releasing the endangered light-footed clapper rail, started a Species Recovery Program in 1998. Through the Team's highly successful captive breeding and translocation program, 200 birds have been released into Southern California's coastal salt marshes since 2001. On Oct. 16, that number will rise again, with a release of seven birds at the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, located within Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. This upcoming release follows a very successful year (2007) for Team Clapper Rail in terms of the number of birds released, and the number of breeding pairs estimated in the wild, the largest statewide breeding population detected since the counts began in 1980.
The light-footed clapper rail is rarely seen in its natural habitat of coastal marshes. The long-legged wading bird’s virtual invisibility is due partly to its crepuscular nature — most of the animal’s activity occurs at dawn and dusk — and, more than that, the bird is unseen because its numbers plummeted so low that it has remained on the endangered species list since 1970. But thanks to the cooperative efforts of local and federal agencies, grassroots organizations and wildlife specialists, we will continue to see more and more of the light-footed clapper rail in the months and years to come.
Team Clapper Rail consists of bird experts from the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld San Diego, the Chula Vista Nature Center, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and independent wildlife biologists. Each agency and individual plays a critical role in the captive breeding protocol.
The Wild Animal Park breeds, hatches and raises clapper rail chicks to support this endangered species.
The 28th annual census of the light-footed clapper rail in California was conducted last year, and 443 pairs of rails exhibited breeding behavior in 19 marshes in 2007. This is the largest statewide breeding population detected since the census began in 1980, representing an 8.3 percent increase over the former high count in 2006, and a 36 percent increase of the 24-year high reached in 1996. It’s also the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking high counts.

Supreme Court "split" on Navy sonar and whales

The Supreme Court justices are "closely split" on whether the Navy is following environmental laws to protect whales and other marine mammals from sonar off the Southern California coast, according to David Savage of the LA Times.
The case, Winter vs. NRDC, landed in Washington D.C. on Wednesday after the lawsuit was brought forth by the Natural Resources Defense Council in Santa Monica.
The U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered the Navy to "shut down its high-intensity sonar whenever a whale or marine mammal is spotted within 1.25 miles of the ship," according to the Times.
But the Bush administration and its lawyers contend that in war time operations and exercises, paramount to national security, the government has the right to make decisions of whether to shut down sonar. U.S. Solicitor Gen. Gregory G. Garre, asked the judge to throw out the former ruling by a Los Angeles court judge.
The issue now has developed into whether or not a judge has the right to decide whether to stop government projects to the requirements of protecting marine mammals.
But environmentalists state that whales, dolphins and other marine mammals dive deep into the ocean to escape the high frequency sounds and can end up bleeding and sometimes die when they come up to the surface.
A dolphin washed up on the shores of San Nicolas Island in January this year, during the final stages of the Navy's sonar exercises, commonly linked to the death of whales and other ocean mammals, the Times reported.
San Nicolas Island, which is owned by the Navy, is the farthest out of the Channel Islands off the coast of California, passed Santa Catalina Island. The Navy also tests rockets on the Island, which commonly known to inhabit elephant seals.
The dolphin was found with blood in its ear canals and other fluid, common symptoms also shown on whales who were discovered with similar conditions before. The discovery on Jan. 29 was very small compared to the many whales found strewn on the Canary Islands in 2000.
The federal court order would require that the Navy shutdown all sonar operations when whales are 2,200 yards within range and some spots near the Channel Islands.
The Navy will release an official environmental impact statement come next February when all their exercises are complete this year.
The justices will decide their official ruling within the next few months, according to the Times.

Discussion on Catalina's protected habitats

The staff of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative will give a presentation on the South Coast Study Region from 5 to 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 8, in the Avalon City Council Chambers.
Passed into California state law in 1999, the Marine Life Protection Act requires all existing state marine protected areas be reevaluated. The act also requires the creation of a statewide system of protected areas. The goal is to protect, among other things, marine life, habitat and ecosystems.
In pursuit of that goal, MLPA Initiative staff are inviting members of the public to join the discussion of the South Coast Study Region. The study is in the initial planning stages. The study will look at state waters from Point Conception in Santa Barbara County south to the California border with Mexico, including offshore islands.
For more information about the MLPA Initiative, visit the Web site http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa
For more information on the public presentation, contact Kelly Sayce at (310) 738-2665 or Craig Shuman at (310) 869-6574.

"Millennials" on the rise, "Xers" take the lead, and "Boomers" take the back seat

Do we really know anything about kids these days?
Well, Neil Howe and William Strauss said they have predicted the characteristics of the new generation that will inevitably change our world, possibly for the better, but not with out a lot of bumps in the road.
As the "GI" generation or the folks preceding the "Greatest Generation," or people who fought in World War II, age 80 to 90, are seemingly on the edge of existence, the "Baby Boomers," now in their 60s, find themselves in the elder leadership role today, explained Howe on the Coast to Coast AM radio show last night.
The predictions have been compiled through history and statistics back in 1997, before 911, which they also predicted would occur, among such things as the fall of the stock market.
The Boomers are also a generation built on "cultural" greatness, which defined the era of the 60s and 70s with Rock & Roll. This is much different from the generation that came before the Boomers, that was built solely on "foundation" and building infrastructure.
Generations shift just about every 20 years, Howe said, but the term "Senior Citizens" we will find will be phased out, as the Boomers don't want to be called the same term that was designated to the generation before them.
The Boomers are now coming to an age where they are the elders, but not like the GIs the Boomers are a very confrontational bunch, and arguing seems to be the focal point as the country has seen with protests and how they can't ever come to an agreement on Capital Hill.
The 13th generation, born from 1961 to mid 80s and now in their late 20s to 30s, are known as the "X Generation."
This generation is, "literally the thirteenth generation to know the American flag and nation. The book,"13th Generation," shows how their “location in history” (Xers were, in fact, the real “children of the Consciousness Revolution”) helps explain their pragmatic attitude and unduly negative reputation.
What's probably so interesting about Howe's and Strauss' discoveries is the Millennial Generation, that are now teenagers growing up after the year 2000.
This generation tends to be lumped in with the Gen Xers, but as Howe and Strauss point out the group of people are entirely different.
The Xers have been seemingly known as a generation to adapt to change are now becoming the generals who care mostly about the bottom line, with such cultural attributions as Hip-Hop and so forth, says Howe.
The Millennials, are different however, and will be able to work together more as a community of soldiers, with a can-do youth revolution, that trust non-profits more than business.
A decade ago, in Generations, Strauss and Howe predicted many of the youth trends America is beginning to see today. Now, in Millennials Rising, the authors show how today’s teens are recasting the image of youth from downbeat and alienated to upbeat and engaged. The authors also show…how Millennials are held to higher standards than adults apply to themselves how they’re a lot less violent, vulgar, and sexually charged than the teen culture older people are producing for them how, over the next decade, they’ll entirely recast what it means to be young and how, in time, they could emerge as the next great generation.
Looking back to the dawn of the modern world, The Fourth Turning reveals a distinct pattern in human history, cycles lasting about the length of a long human life. Each cycle is composed of four “turnings,” and each turning lasts the span of a generation (about 20 years). There are four kinds of turnings (High, Awakening, Unraveling, Crisis), and they always occur in the same order.
For more information log on to their project known as LifeCourse Associates.