REDUCING MY CARBON FOOTPRINT
STEP 1: Junk Mail Reduction
I put a little notice on my
mailbox. It says “No Flyers Please”. It may seem like a small step, but many
sources indicate that we destroy a mind-blowing 100 million trees every year
just to create junk mail alone. That’s way too many trees to destroy for a
bunch of flyers and leaflets that mostly just wind up in the trash or blowing
around on the streets anyway. It may not be much, but perhaps discouraging them
from making my share of junk mail is a tippy-toe in the right direction.
A beautiful snow-white full-grown male orca has been
discovered near Kamchatka in eastern Russia. The sight of his pristine white
dorsal fin cutting through the water amongst the jet black fins of the rest of
his herd has earned him the apt nickname of “Iceberg”. And when he thrusts
himself out of the water, scientists can see his is, indeed, a snowy-white
killer whale all over.
He’s not only exceedingly rare, he may also be
one-of-a-kind. Scientists, have been aware of a couple of all-white calves, in
past years. These baby whales had this unique pigment due to a rare whale
disease that also took their lives before they could reach maturity.
Iceberg, on the other hand, may well be the only
full-grown pure white orca on the planet. To be fair, there was another white
whale sighting a few years back, but scientists suspect it may have been the
same animal. Photo analysis is presently ongoing. Soon scientists should be
able to be certain.
The question, of course, is why is Iceberg so
sparkling white? Scientists can tell he’s an adult because of the size of his
fin, which they say makes him at least 16 years old. The very fact of his
adulthood proves he can’t have the disease that made those little calves so
sick. He’d have been gone years ago if that were the case. Yet there he is,
alive and living the wonderful whale life with his herd. Albinos have been
observed in just about every living species on earth, including humans, but
scientists don’t know enough about Iceberg to be sure about that. Their hope is
to get close enough to see if his eyes are a true albino pink or even to
collect a biopsy sample for study.
And so they’re out there in pursuit of Iceberg. As
ominous as that sounds, the intention is only for observation, study and
conservation.
Iceberg could be the one and only pristine white orca
on planet earth, but he’s not entirely alone. The people of Australia have been
reporting a snow-white humpback whale off the coast of Queensland since as
early as 1991. He is known as “Migaloo”, a name chosen by elders there. It’s
said that the name is a word in the native tongue meaning “White Fella”. So
popular has this startlingly beautiful whale become that there is an entire
institution devoted to him, and places where people can track and report
sightings, if they’re lucky enough to see him. Scientists think he may be an
albino, but haven’t gotten conclusive evidence of that, yet, although DNA from
a dropped skin sample have genetically proven Migaloo to be a male.
And lately, Migaloo has come up with yet another
surprise. He’s been spotted bobbing along through the waves - - with a snow
white baby humpback calf! It’s not known, yet, whether Migaloo and the baby are
related, or how.
Well, if these white whales were going to turn up
somewhere, off the coast of Australia was good place to do it as the Australian
people have had the good sense to set in place plenty of anti-harassment laws
to protect all these amazing creatures, rare pigmentation or otherwise. So,
hopefully Migaloo and the baby will be out there for many years to come.
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