Blue Planet Journey

  Two mammal-eating "transient" killer whales photographed off the south side of Unimak Island, eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska.   Photo by Robert Pitman (NOAA). It is easy to become discouraged when you first hear of the impact of whaling on our cetacean neighbors. In 2014, researchers  estimated that, between 1900 and 1999, 2.9 million whales were killed by the whaling industry. This doesn't count the whales killed prior to 1900, before diesel engines and exploding harpoons. In terms of biomass, this may be the largest removal of wildlife in human history, surpassing the removal of American bison from the plains states. And this was a minimum estimate, as wounded animals not recovered were not included in this estimate. Casks of whale oil. Photo courtesy: New Bedford Whaling Museum/ NPS. These complex, intelligent mammals were rendered into a variety of products for industry and vanity. And the estimate demonstrates the number of whales that our oceans could hold. A

  Hunter education student taking shooting test. I may be unique in the world for having taught more non-hunters the basics of hunting than anyone else. Let me explain. For years, I taught a course titled "Living With Wildlife" at Utah State University. Obviously, and especially in Utah, one of the ways people interact with wildlife is by shooting and eating them. It was a large class, averaging about 100 students from a variety of majors. I wanted all students to understand the education requirements for hunters in the state, so I made all students, hunters and non-hunters alike, take this course. Yes, even the hunters, who had already gone through hunter education (HE) and may have had years of hunting experience. The only ways to opt out of this were to demonstrate that you had taken HE within the past year (happened once), a judge said you couldn't be around firearms (once), you were ethically opposed to touching firearms (usually one student per semester), or firearm

  I pick up my grandkid from pre-school camp 2-4 days a week. The camp is at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. After camp, we go for a snack, then roam the exhibits for an hour. It probably goes without saying that I know the exhibits pretty well by now! We've watched every Infinity (IMax) movie! Many exhibits are a kaleidoscope of colors! ↙ Infrared! One of the reasons I wear a hat is that my head (and nose) and fingers are always cold!! There are 9 or so gnomes hidden in the museum, some the "signatures" of diorama painters. Can you find this one? Below is a close-up. Here's another gnome, on the back of a dinosaur! I won't tell where! The dioramas have eye-popping detail. Note the "dust" being raised by these running antelope. The best view of downtown Denver and the Front Range, from the 4th floor of the Museum. There are also lectures available to the public. Some are... a bit technical. Other lectures are designed for a general audience