On borrowed wings: Wildlife rehab nurses back to health

By TOM RAGAN
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
Susan Campbell has seen it all — the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful.

As supervisor for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals here, she has helped take care of hundreds of wounded animals.

She's seen the red-tail hawk whose wings were clipped by an owner who got too possessive; the great-horned baby owl left for dead by his mother for inexplicable reasons; the turkey who was found living inside a box in somebody's house — a box in which he could barely stand up.

They've all been taken under the wing of the rehabilitation center here. Some of them will be released back into the wild — always a ceremonious yet bittersweet moment for the workers who tended to them day in and day out.

story continued

Marine violators will be targeted

Ocean poachers and others who violate state environmental protection laws and rules may face prosecution under a new state program.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the attorney general's office, the Hawai'i Coral Reef Initiative and the University of Hawai'i's Environmental Law Program are creating a one-year law fellowship to focus on prosecuting violators of state laws that protect marine resources.

The program will allow the law fellow to work directly with the DLNR's Division of Aquatic Resources. The lawyer will be supervised by the attorney general's staff, and the position will be funded by the Coral Reef Initiative.

story continued

Why Not Take An Eco Tour?

By Cass Hope

Different companies that contribute environmentally, socially and address also economic issues offer Eco tours. They can involve visiting natural areas while also learning and participating in a way that brings positive effects to the environment. All this benefits the local area and provides help both socially and economically.

The reason Eco tours are becoming more popular is because of the huge focus society has placed on environmental issues and people are getting more and more involved in it’s conservation. Eco tours allow tourists to be environmentally aware.

Travelers get the chance to participate in preservation and conservation projects. The tours offer a chance for the environmentally aware tourist to become more 'at one' with nature.

A very important aspect of the tours is education. They offer the chance to learn information and advice on how to have a positive effect on the Earth's eco-system. The travelers have a chance to increase their awareness and commitment to environmental issues.

story continued

Mombasa-Kenya: A Water Sporting, Scuba Diving and Game Fishing Haven

The Mombasa coastline is a tropical idyll of soft white sands and gentle sea breeze, where the passing of a day is marked by the slow arc of the sun. The pace of life in Mombasa is notably slower, languid, more relaxed and at peace with the world.

Over the years, tour operators have organized beach safaris along the Mombasa coast including scuba diving, big game fishing, jet skiing, wind surfing, parasailing, beach parachuting, swimming with dolphins, coral garden snorkeling among others. A Dive beneath these waters and you discover an undersea paradise. The coral reefs teem with fish, a kaleidoscope of colours and life.

story continued

Underwater Wonder: Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument

Nov. 14, 2006 — The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument is a water world that may be the last of its kind.

It teems with life above and below.

Millions of bird nests populate the islands, and some of the healthiest coral reefs on Earth, along with about 7,000 species of fish, live beneath the ocean waters.

"The diversity is absolutely endless, and so endless that we will see new species discovered for decades to come," said Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of the Ocean Futures Society.

story continued

Reef insight on global meltdown

Deborah Smith Science Editor
November 10, 2006

THE discovery of a fossilised coral reef sitting high and dry at the southern tip of Western Australia has provided a warning that climate change is likely to cause a catastrophic melting of ice and rapid rise in sea level, scientists say.

The reef, in Foul Bay, near Margaret River, is the most southerly coral reef ever found.

It has been dated to about 125,000 years ago, the middle of the last period of global warming, known as the last interglacial.

Malcolm McCulloch, of the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, which is based in Townsville, said the position of the reef marked a high point during the last big rise in sea level on the planet.

story continued