Bioaccumulation of POP's in Humpback Whales

The Humpback whale is an endangered species.  There are around 10,000 to 15,000 of them world wide. This whale can be found in all of the words oceans and they make seasonal migrations for feeding and breeding.  During the winter months, the whales travel to the warm tropical waters to breed.  It takes a female 11-12 months to develop the calf before it is born.  After the calf is born it consumes around one hundred pounds of milk a day from its mother and stays with her for about a year.  It will take a whale 15 years to fully mature.  During the summer months, the whales travel to the cold arctic waters to feed.  In these cold waters they consume about 1 ton of food daily.  The feeding season lasts for 120 days and then the whales live off of stored fat for the remaining seasons.  These mammals can live up to be 45-50 years old.  Since the Humpback whale is such a long lived animal, it makes them the perfect bioindicator.  Humpback whales have been used in studies to determine the concentrations of persistent organic pollutants found in their body and also in the different feeding areas of the whales.  While consuming small fish, crustaceans, and plankton, the whales are also consuming small concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POP’s).  POP’s are compounds that do not degenerate in the natural environment and build up in systems.  This build up of the POP’s introduces the concept of bioaccumulation, which is the intake of an organic compound at a higher rate than the rate that it is leaving the system.  The POP’s are entering the marine systems through run off, waste, and atmospheric pollution.  With the help of currents and the Westerlies these pollutants are carried and spread at a global scale.  

 In a study the blubber of humpback whales was sampled from male whales at various feeding locations in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean.  A chromatography test was then run test for the following POP’s: PCB’s, DDT, Chlordanes, PBDE’s, and HCH’s.  The goal of this study was to see if these pollutants were present in higher concentrations in certain feeding locations and if the concentrations of these pollutants were of any harm to the whales.  The studied showed that the North Atlantic contained the most contaminants and the Gulf of Maine specifically had significantly higher concentrations than the other areas tested (Elfes, et. al, 2009).  These high concentrations were thought to be caused by the increased industrialization and the increased population size (Elfes, et. al, 2009).  The difference in results could also be caused by change in prey found in the different feeding locations; for example the whales feeding in the North Atlantic could be consuming prey of a higher trophic level than those whales feeding in the Pacific (Elfes, et. al, 2009).  Also from these results another observation was made.  A positive correlation between the age and concentration was found.  With the increase of whale age there was an increase of the concentrations of the POP’s (Elfes, et. al, 2009).  This was perfect correlation to represent the bioaccumulation of the POP’s in the humpback whale.    

Another study also wanted to test the concentrations of POP's in the humpback whale.  Instead of focusing on the feeding locations and age, the test compared the concentrations of the POP’s found in female whales to those found in the calves.  The goal of this was to see if the female whale transferred some of her concentrations to the calf during the offspring development (Metcalfe, et. al, 2003).  The concentrations of the two were found to be very similar in each of the POP’s tested for, with no significant difference (Metcalfe, et. al, 2003).  Since there was no significant difference in the concentrations of the pollutants found in the female and calf, it was predicted that the female whale does in fact transfer it’s contaminants to the calf (Metcalfe, et. al, 2003).  It was stated that this could be possible through transplacental and lactational transfers (Metcalfe, et. al, 2003).               

Although there were pollutants found in all of the blubber samples, the concentrations present were not at threatening levels to the whales.  But it is a prefect example that POP’s do not degenerate and remain in the environment for decades.  Even though several of the POP’s have been banned from use it does not mean that they do not exist in the environment.  In fact as the economy grows, new pollutants are being introduced into the environment.  Since the humpback whale is an endangered species, it is important to continue to monitor these concentrations in order to ensure that no unnatural harm is being exposed to the whales. 

Approaching Climate Change through Text!

Image from wttw.com

Have you ever thought about places across the world who do not use technology as much as we do or have you ever thought about living your daily life without a cell phone?  I know I have not, but there are places like Zimbabwe who do not have access to cell phones and technology the way that people in developed countries like the United States do.  It is hard for people who live in places like Zimbabwe to communicate effectively due to this technology dilemma. 

Image from southafricain1.com

The issue of climate change is one that has been more heavily debated in terms of "is it real?" or "is it not real?" over the past couple of decades.  Many experts on this issue see climate change as a major issue that is affecting the people and the environment all across the world.  A current article from allafrica.com presents information about how program developers, civic society, environmentalists and other interested stakeholders met in Harare to discuss ways of how the mobile phone could be used to communicate information about climate change effectively in places like Zimbabwe.  A competition funded by the US government called Apps4Africa was held to encourage local people to create country-specific applications for climate change and global warming.  Many Americans entered the challenge with knowledge of what climate change can to do to places who are not aware of its’ effects and hope to provide places like Zimbabwe with the appropriate technology to allow them to understand the affects of climate change.  With the increase in technology spreading worldwide, the use of these types of climate change applications will provide information about protecting oneself from effects of climate change and how to reduce behaviors that are not friendly to the environment in Zimbabwe.   With the use of the mobile phone, people who live in places like Zimbabwe no longer have to travel long distances by foot or bus to deliver these same messages of sustainability against climate change.  The mobile phone is now being used to deliver bulk messages to the public on topics such as education texts on sex, HIV and Aids.  In my opinion, this is a step in a positive direction on informing undeveloped countries on the effects of issues like climate change that can change the world around everyone in a negative way.


The issue of whether or not people believe in climate change is up too them, but it is important to realize that this is an issue that does hold some truth so I feel that it is better to be safe than sorry!!

Image from wikispaces.com

P.E.A.K.

The PEAK (P romoting E nvironmental A wareness in K ids) program is the result of a unique partnership between REI (Recreation Equipment, Inc.) and the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. PEAK is based on the seven principles of Leave No Trace and is designed to educate children about the outdoors and responsible use of our shared public lands.
The program is available for kids of all ages and involves a plethera of activities for children. A short list of activites includes...
Discovering the Leave No Trace Principles - An introduction to the principles through demonstration of preparing for an outdoor trip; works great as a skit.

How Long Does it Last? - Find how long it really takes for common trash/recyclable to break down in nature and why it's important to Trash our Trash.

Watch Your Step - There are living organisms everything. Explore your world from an ant's level and find out why it's important to stick to trails.

Leave No Trace Draw - Many Leave No Trace decisions can be made along the trail. A version of a relay race, participants will decide whether they advance on the trail by answering Leave No Trace related quetions.

Step on It! - Why is it important to stick to trails? How do we know how to do this? Compete with your team to answer questions and learn how to Choose the Right Path when outdoors.

What Principle Am I? - Test your knowledge of the Leave No Trace principles by listening to clues and deciding What Principle Am I?

Leave No Trace Crime Scene - Have your youth become CSI investigators as they stumble upon a campsite leave no trace "crime scene."

Minimum Impact Match - Find out what different gear items will help you Leave No Trace when you are outdoors. Ask Yes/No questions to find out what gear you represent, then find your match!

Treks and Track's Great Adventure - Meet all the PEAK characters and the principles they represent as Trek and Track (a pair of boots) head out on an outdoor adventure.

Leave No Trace Relay - Set up a Leave No Trace obstacle course for your students, with stops and activities representing each Leave No Trace principle.


The program is based on 7 principles of Leave No Trace. Know Before You Go, Choose The Right Path, Trash Your Trash, Leave What You Find, Be Careful With Fire, Respect Wildlife, Be Kind To Other Visitors


http://www.lnt.org/programs/peak.php

The Solar Decathlon

The solar decathlon is a fun competition that is a great example for new ideas in sustainable solutions. The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. The event takes place every two years in Washington D.C..
When looking into this I found an amazing house, that has a great design and creative ideas. The House is called "The Watershed" and was designed by students at the University of Maryland. The house has two different sides and two seperate roofs. One roof is layered with solar panels to power the house with electricity. The other roof is topped with a butterfly garden, this is installed to collect rain water for everyday use. The house is projected to be able to sustain itself with electricity and water year round.
You may ask yourself, but there isn't enough rainwater to sustain it, and if so it may be acid rain. This is (to me) the coolest part of the house. The house is based on the ecosystem of Chesapeake Bay. Natural ecosystems have evolved over millions of years to sustainably harness energy, produce food, and recycle waste. Not to mention the house has a stream running through it!!!!
The house has a plethora of other features as well. Constructed wetlands, filtering stormwater and greywater for reuse.A green roof, retaining stormwater and minimizing the heat island effect. An optimally-sized photovoltaic array, harvesting enough energy from the sun to power WaterShed year round. Edible landscapes, supporting community-based agriculture. A liquid desiccant waterfall, providing high-efficiency humidity control in the form of an indoor water feature. A solar thermal array, supplying enough energy to provide all domestic hot-water, desiccant regeneration and supplemental space heating. Engineering systems, working in harmony, each acting to increase the effectiveness of the others. A time-tested structural system that is efficient, cost-effective and durable.

Here is a video of a digital walkthrough of the house. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZJe2CReFA8&feature=player_embedded

Reuse-A-Shoe

During Earth Week a few weeks ago, there was a shoe drive on campus. Fifty shoes were collected during the week.

The program comes from Nike Shoe, and since 1990 they have globally collected over 25,056,779 pairs of shoes. They have collected so many shoes that you could "create a chain of athletic shoes that goes all the way around the world more than five times"! By collecting all of these old shoes and putting them to use in other ways, there is a decrease in the amount of virgin rubber and other materials. The recycled shoes can be used to build new courts (such as tennis and basketball), tracks, fields, and playgrounds. Nike's next goal is to be able to recycle sports shoes, apparel, and equipment back into new Nike products.

Their US facility that recycles the shoes is located in Memphis, Tennessee. They use a "slice-and-grind" process which separates the shoe into three parts: rubber outsole, foam midsole, and fiber uppers. The three pieces are fed through grinders and then purified. The shoes rubber outsole is used in playground surfaces, track surfaces, interlocking gym flooring tiles, and even some new Nike products. In addition, the rubber is also used in trim for things like buttons and zipper pulls. The foam comes from the midsole of the shoe and is used as a cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts. The upper part of the shoe, the fiber, is used for cushioning pads for things like wood courts and indoor synthetic courts. These are all just examples of uses. There are many other uses that I have not covered.

So you may be asking yourself, how do I recycled these shoes so I can help make an impact? Well there are over 300 locations in the US that have bins available for drop offs. Here in Ohio, you can take your old shoes to Aurora, Jeffersonville, or Monroe. Or you can even organize a group shoe drive for your school, youth organization, or nonprofit organization. Any brand of athletic shoes can be recycled along with LIVESTRONG bracelets. They cannot accept cleats, dress shoes, shoes with metal, sandals, other type of wristbands, and flip-flops (however, check Old Navy out for their recycled flip-flop program).

For more information and a quick video, check out http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/

Your Environment

The EPA has online pages for kids of all ages. For the younger kids there is an online section for the kids. It is the "environmental kids club". This club contains activities and games that are all educational. There are games, wordsearches, funny videos, and quizes. All provide information about things such as recycling, water, and climate change. The club also provides links to science fair project ideas and an art room.

My personal favorite is the Lose Your Excuse game. It is slightly like some of the older video games. You must use stop the excuses that are being said by jumping on to different platforms and avoiding the bad guys who are wasting materials. There are 25 levels but I had a hard time making it past level 3 :(

The EPA offers a page for teens that has games, but more importantly it offers information about careers with the EPA and links to summer internships. In addition, there is a page for teachers that has great idea for presenting the topic to their students, examples to show, and fun activities as a hand on project.

So check out http://www.loseyourexcuse.gov/index.html#/energyhouse and try out your excuse stopping moves. Can you make it passed level 3?

Environmental Education for Kids

Environmental Education for Kids! (EEK!) is an organization dedicated to educating children in grades 4-8 about the environment. The site offers a variety of information. Animal information includes amphibians, birds, fish, insects, mammals, reptiles and endangered species. The site also discusses invasive species, seasonal animals and habitats. They offer a guide for children on spring plants showing children how to identify each species. There's even a page that teaches kids how to garden and what plants are best to start growing in what areas. The Earth is a big topic on the site. They discuss issues regarding the worlds water supply, air pollution and recycling. They offer "cool stuff" that features outdoor events and activities, a calendar with important environmental days, daily videos and rainy day games. It even gets into potential careers for young children who love science. There's also a teachers corner which has information and lesson plan ideas for teachers to discuss with their students.

I see this website being a useful tool for kids to get information about environmental issues. The website presents information in a way conducive for children to understand. I could see this website being part of an 'online search' where kids are given a worksheet and find the answers by looking around the website. It's very informative and complete with information. Having the information on a webpage also appeals to how people get their information. Society has begun the transition from a paper society to an electronic society. Where we once got all our information from the newspaper, most people now get information from the television or from the internet. Kids are now growing up with electronics all around them and they learn to use them from an early age. Using the internet as a media outlet is an effective way to get the attention of children and possibly spark their interest about environmental facts.