Blue Planet Journey

  Everyone has had to adapt to the 2020-2021 Covid-19 pandemic. Wearing masks (single or double layers), trying to interpret muffled speech, and avoiding or being avoided by family and friends are all part of this new reality. Thankfully, with vaccination programs well underway, life will soon be a bit more relaxed - and less deadly. However, I am concerned about the stall in the decline of active cases nationwide, the surge in some countries, and those pesky virus variants that may be more transmisible. Our adaptations may continue for the year. One company that has been a boon during the past year (and the stock price increase reflects this) is Zoom . Zoom is a video communications company, and has both a free basic version and a fee-based professional or business version. This means it is available to practically anyone with a device that has a camera and can connect to the Internet. I've used Zoom on a regular basis, for everything from a weekly family visit, to church service...

"This juvenile Laysan Albatross from the Kure Atoll never reached the sea, dying from what a necropsy would reveal as a stomach bulging with 12 ounces of indigestible items, mostly plastic debris, scooped up from the ocean’s surface by the chick’s parents and regurgitated into its gaping beak along with squid and other edibles." Two events happened this week that will probably be overlooked by most people. First, Governor David Ige of Hawaii signed into law Senate Bill 2571 , prohibiting the sale and distribution of many sunscreens containing the ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate. The bill stated that "The legislature finds that two chemicals contained in many sunscreens, oxybenzone and octinoxate, have significant harmful impacts on Hawaii's marine environment and residing e cosystems, including coral reefs that protect Hawaii's shoreline." At the signing, Gov. Ige said , “We are blessed in Hawaii to be home of some of the most beautiful natural ...

Our last stop in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) was Port Douglas , a small town of 3000 or so that caters to people looking to visit the GBR and the beaches.  It's also near the location of the death of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin , a television personality and conservationist who was one of my heroes.  His enthusiasm for nature was unparalleled.  Steve died when a sting ray barb pierced his heart, on September 4, 2006.  Rest in peace, Steve Irwin. Once again, Caroline and I decided to go inland via bicycle.  We rented fabulous Cannondale road bikes, but our butts had to get used to the stiffer frame and harder seats than the other bikes we've been renting.  Our goal was to get to Mossman Gorge , about 22 kilometers away. We started late (about 10:30 AM), partly because the tendering operation took about an hour.  It was already hot and humid, with the temperature hovering in the high 80s.  Given that a good bit of the cycling ...