Merlion Wayfarer Goes Green

World Environment Day - The Cove On Okto

5:05 AM Animal Welfare, Asia, Dolphins, Oceans

(This article is part of Merlion Wayfarer's series on Animal Welfare.)

Tonight Merlion Wayfarer will be watching The Cove.

(Source : Wikipedia)

The Cove is a 2009 film that analyzes and questions Japan's dolphin hunting culture. Told from an ocean conservationist's point of view, and filmed secretly using underwater microphones and high-definition cameras disguised as rocks, the film is a call to action to halt mass dolphin kills, change Japanese fishing practices, and to inform and educate the public about the risks, and increasing hazards, of mercury poisoning from dolphin meat.

(Source : The Cove Movie)

The Cove highlights the fact that the number of dolphins killed in the Taiji dolphin drive hunting is several times greater than the number of whales killed in the Antarctic, and claims that 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed in Japan every year by the country's whaling industry. The migrating dolphins are herded into a cove where they are netted and killed by means of spears and knives over the side of small fishing boats. Dolphin hunting as practiced in Japan is unnecessary and cruel.

(Source : The Cove Movie)

It was the Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary in 2009.

To mark World Environment Day, The Cove will shown on MediaCorp's Okto tonight at 2200 hours.

(Source : WotWots)

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| "Why You Should Not Visit The Marine Life Park At RWS" |

Project ADORE - Rehoming Strays In HDB Flats

4:50 AM Animal Welfare, Pets, Urban

(This article is part of Merlion Wayfarer's series on Animal Welfare.)

Every year, thousands of dogs are abandoned or impounded in Singapore. Figures from AVA state 4,050 dogs and 6,131 cats in 2004 and 1,772 dogs and 2,681 cats in 2009 (Straits Times, 26 October 2010). Despite the rapid decline in numbers, the majority of them them are put down due to a lack of space and resources to care for them. Even if they are in good health.

Mr Ricky Yeo, President of Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD), said: "It's very common to see dogs just left out in the streets... If you go to outlying areas with low human traffic, such as Lim Chu Kang, you'll find many domesticated dogs." He receives about three calls daily from pet owners who want to give up their pets. Most cite reasons such as a lack of time and resources, or a change in lifestyle, for wanting to do so.

Thus, it is most heartwarming when the media covers a positive story for these abandoned pets.

Project ADORE (ADOption and REhoming) is a pilot programme run jointly by Housing Development Board (HDB), ASD, and SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), which allows smaller-sized mongrels to be rehomed in public flats.

To ensure that the dogs are not a nuisance to other residents, the Ministry of National Development and animal welfare groups have drawn up guidelines for owners. They must make sure the dogs go for basic obedience training, and must agree to abide by certain rules.

Acting Manpower Minister and Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin, gave an update on the project in his Facebook post. As of April 2013, twenty-one dogs have been successfully adopted and rehomed. Mr Tan said it has been a year since the project was launched and that SPCA and ASD will extend the project for another year.

(Source : Straits Times Online)

More Information...

(Source : Pets For Life)

Sources

"21 dogs successfully adopted and rehomed under Project ADORE" by TEO Chia Leen (13 April 2013). Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/21-dogs-successfully/637104.html (02 June 2013).
"'Good start' for scheme to re-home stray dogs" by Janice TAI (15 October 2012). Straits Times Online. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/good-start-scheme-re-home-stray-dogs-20121015 (02 June 2013).

"Sad life for abandoned pets" by Victoria BARKER (26 October 2010). my paper, AsiaOne News. Retrieved from http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20101026-244214.html (02 June 2013).
"the HDB dog" by Lilian WONG (Oct-Nov 2012). ThreeLegsGood.org . Retrieved from http://threelegsgood.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/83-84-Pet-TalkCORR-HDB-DOG.pdf (02 June 2013).

The Deep Sea Mystery Circle - A Love Story

2:33 AM Asia, Fascinating, Fishes, Oceans

(Source : Inhabitat)

Introduced to life under the sea in high school through snorkeling, Yoji Ookata obtained his scuba license at the age of 21. At the same time, he went out and bought a brand new Nikonos, a 35mm film camera specifically designed for underwater photography. He devoted all his spare time - aside from his day job - to perfecting his art of underwater photography. Then, at age 39, he finally made the transition. He quit his office job and became a freelance underwater photographer.

(Source : Inhabitat)

But even for a man who spent the last 50 years immersed in the underwater world of sea life, the ocean proved infinitely mysterious. While diving in the semi-tropical region of Amami Oshima, roughly 80 feet below sea level, Ookata spotted something he had never seen. And as it turned out, no one else had seen it before either.

(Source : Inhabitat)

On the seabed a geometric, circular structure measuring roughly 6.5 feet in diameter had been precisely carved from sand. It consisted of multiple ridges, symmetrically jutting out from the center, and appeared to be the work of an underwater artist, carefully working with tools. For its resemblance to crop circles, Ookata dubbed his new finding a “mystery circle,” and enlisted some colleagues at NHK to help him investigate.

(Source : Inhabitat)

In a television episode that aired last week titled “The Discovery of a Century: Deep Sea Mystery Circle”, the television crew revealed their findings and the unknown artist was unmasked.

(Source : Inhabitat)

Underwater cameras showed that the artist was a small puffer fish who, using only his flapping fin, tirelessly worked day and night to carve the circular ridges. The unlikely artist - best known in Japan as a delicacy, albeit a potentially poisonous one - even takes small shells, cracks them, and lines the inner grooves of his sculpture as if decorating his piece.

Further observation revealed that this “mysterious circle” was not just there to make the ocean floor look pretty. Attracted by the grooves and ridges, female puffer fish would find their way along the dark seabed to the male puffer fish where they would mate and lay eggs in the center of the circle. In fact, the scientists observed that the more ridges the circle contained, the more likely it was that the female would mate with the male. The little sea shells weren’t just in vain either. The observers believe that they serve as vital nutrients to the eggs as they hatch, and to the newborns.

(Source : Inhabitat)

What was fascinating was that the fish’s sculpture played another role. Through experiments back at their lab, the scientists showed that the grooves and ridges of the sculpture helped neutralize currents, protecting the eggs from being tossed around and potentially exposing them to predators. It was a true story of love, craftsmanship and the desire to pass on descendants.

(Source : Inhabitat)

(The above article was retrieved from an email. Content was supplemented with photos from Inhabitat.com.)

Why You Should Not Visit The Marine Life Park At RWS

10:11 AM Animal Welfare, Aquariums, Dolphins, Sentosa, South

Sentosa

South, Singapore

May 2013

(This article is part of Merlion Wayfarer's series on Animal Welfare.)

Merlion Wayfarer was at Sentosa when she spotted the dolphins at the RWS Marine Life Park.

These two pictures taken were of different pools. Both pools had floors stained with algae growth. For each pool, there were several dolphins crammed into a space not much bigger than a volleyball court. In the second photo, two of the dolphins were beached, while another was knocking its head on the wall of the pool.

(Photos taken at sunset)

It was very heartrending to see them.

Please do not visit the Marine Life Park at RWS.

(Source : Save the World’s Saddest Dolphins)

This article was featured in STOMP's Top 8
on 19 May 2013 with 28,414 views (as of 15 June 2013):
"Poor conditions for RWS dolphins: Cramped space and algae-stained pool"

(Source : SPH)

A follow-up visit was made in June 2013:
"Cleaner Pools, Happier Dolphins" (15 June 2013)

The full albums are available at:

Merlion Wayfarer Goes Green's Picasa Web Albums (Cetacea)

Tampines Eco Green - Among Green Grass

2:15 AM Birds, Dragonflies, Eggs, Gastropoda, Grasslands, Lizards, Moths, Oxyopidae, Ponds, Salticidae, Spiders

Tampines Eco Green

East, Singapore

May 2013

Tampines Eco Green is a haven for biodiversity, with a multitude of natural habitats - open grasslands, freshwater wetlands and secondary rainforest. Naturally, among green grass, finds abound.

Contained within the nutrient-rich ponds, water snails thrive...