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Image: Andrew Shiva / Wikipedia
Do you have a good eye? Are you surprisingly good at Where’s Waldo and like Walruses? If so, we have great opportunity for you! The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is seeking volunteers to help count Atlantic walruses…from space.
Sea ice is retreating fast as global temperatures rise, forcing walruses to crowd on smaller floes and limited land. “And that comes with a number of impacts,” explained Rod Downie, Chief Polar Adviser at WWF, “which include overcrowding with the potential for calves to be crushed in stampedes.” WWF estimates that there are approximately 21,400 animals left.
To confirm those numbers, the Walrus from Space project is recruiting citizen scientists. Scout groups, among others, have already started observing satellite imagery to determine the presence of walruses and once they do — they get to counting. “It’s fun to see the way they live and how many there are, and they are kind of really cool creatures,” said Charlotte Guise, a scout from the UK.
By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Almost 1,000 of Florida’s manatees have died as of Oct.1 this year, setting a tragic record for the most deaths in a year, with two months left to go. Deaths were largely caused by starvation — the predator-less sea cows typically spend hours a day eating seagrass, but declining […]
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By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer At a UN conference in Kunming, China, President Xi Jinping set aside $230 million to form a fund that preserves biodiversity in developing countries. This announcement was made at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity talks (COP15) which are dedicated to preserving delicate ecosystems and preventing plants and animals […]
Continue Reading 315 wordsThe people have spoken! The portly patriarch of paunch persevered to pulverize the Baron of Beardonkadonk in the final match of #FatBearWeek 2021. 480 Otis can now boast a bevy of bests w/ this fourth 1st place finish. As we celebrate, like a true champ 480 is still chowing down. pic.twitter.com/rLvm7pvGJW — Katmai National Park […]
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