This day marks
THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN DAYS of hearty, and joyful howling on Sherwood brought to you by the Sherwood Howlers.
THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN DAYS.
CLOSING IN ON OUR ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. EIGHTEEN DAYS AND COUNTING.
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Tonight I am howling for
EDWARD. OSBORNE WILSON
(E. O. Wilson)
American biologist, naturalist, writer, father of the science of sociobiology, father of the concept of biodiversity, father to a daughter, Catherine and husband to a wife, Irene, author of 30 books, publisher of more than 130 scientific papers, secular-humanist, deist, and myrmecologist, one who studies ants.
Yes, that is right, ants. Many of his theories about sociobiology come from his studies of ants, who have very complex social societies indeed. Wilson is considered the world’s leading expert on ants.
Somebody has to look after them.
His colleagues have nicknamed Wilson “The New Darwin”, “Darwin’s natural heir” or “The Darwin of the 21st century”.
Among his greatest contributions to ecological theory is the theory of island biogeography, a discipline that examines the factors that affect the species richness and diversification of isolated natural communities, like those on oceanic islands. This theory serves as the foundation of the field of conservation area design, which basically addresses a fundamental question in conservation and that is “how big should a conservation area, preserve or park be to assure survival of a species or complex of species?”
In his career, spanning more than 65 years, his colleagues and various scientific organizations around the world have given him more than 150 prestigious awards and medals, as well as more than 40 honorary doctorates.
He is an honorary member of more than 30 world renowned and prestigious organizations, academies and institutions and has been invited to give lectures at more than 100 universities and institutions around the world. Two animal species have been scientifically named in his honor.
In 1995 he was named one of the 25 most influential personalities in America by Time magazine, and in 1996 an international survey ranked him as one of the 100 most influential scientists in history. In 2000, Time and Audubon magazines named him one of the 100 Leading Environmentalists of the Century. In 2005, Foreign Policy named him one of the 100 most important intellectuals in the world. In 2008 he was chosen as one of the 100 most important scientists in history by the Britannica Guide.
A LIFE WELL LIVED INDEED!
YA DAMN RIGHT I’M HOWLING FOR THIS GUY.
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HOWL TILL THE FIRE ANTS IN YOUR UNDERWEAR DANCE ON YOUR BELLY.
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SIXTY SECOND NATURAL HISTORY NOTE
How can we wrap our heads around the startling findings of the Cornell University Ornithology Lab’s about North American bird populations, namely that 2.9 billion birds have disappeared since 1970, in a short forty year span?
How is it possible that this is happening?
And what can we do about it?
Birds started to evolve from dinosaurs in the Jurassic Period, 144 million to 206 million years ago. Over that enormous period of time scientists estimate that as many as 18,000 different bird species came into being. Total numbers of birds over those 18,000 species certainly must have staggering and certainly fluctuated over time in response to complex environmental factors. However, if we believe Cornell’s findings, we are looking at an unprecedented bird mortality rate, in the blink of a geological time eye. That is 0.000025% of the entire evolutionary history of this class of animals.
Unprecedented. No other extinction event scientists have studied even comes close, and mark my word, we are living through an extinction event.
In a miniscule amount of time compared to the vast amount of time it took for birds to evolve, extending Cornell’s findings about North American to the rest of the world, it too may have lost nearly one third of all its birds. And, as they say, “it ain’t over until it is over”. Unless we do something this horrifying trend is likely to continue. Just to put a final point on it, this trend is also likely happening broadly over the entire animal kingdom, not just birds.
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In recent years, a growing number of scientists across many disciplines have proposed that a new epoch be added to the geologic time scale. They call it the Anthropocene, a period of time defined by human perturbations on the planet’s natural systems. Scientists are debating where the Anthropocene started. Some say it began with the Agricultural Revolution 12,000–15,000 years ago, to as recent as the 1960s. Others say it started with the detonation of the first atomic bomb in 1945. In either case, the general idea is that it coincides with significant negative human effect on the Earth’s living resources.
I suppose loss of one-third of the birds in the world in 40 years would qualify as a negative effect. Birds die for lots of reasons, but there is overwhelming evidence that human impact is a major reason for the stunning decline in bird populations over the past 40 years.
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Fortunately, it’s not all bad news. During the first half of the 20th century, hunters became concerned about declines in duck populations, a decline every bit as severe as those we’re seeing among common songbirds today. Hunters and many other conservationists united and lobbied for the United States and Canada to pass laws to protect wetlands. They collaborated with Mexico to safeguard migrating waterfowl. Conservation management became increasingly driven by science. Imagine that – science.
Private philanthropy, especially by Ducks Unlimited, generated significant financial support for wetlands acquisitions. Conservationists restored millions of acres of wetlands and federal and state governments passed laws and wrote regulations to protect them. The result: Waterfowl populations are booming today. North American duck and geese numbers have grown by 56 percent since 1970. This is a great example of what human beings, with purpose, self-interest, with scientific fact on their side, and an underlying understanding of natural systems, can do.
Humans can behave admirably at times.
That successful waterfowl management can serve as a good model for bringing other birds back. It will take an awakening of the North American people and bold, conservation campaigns comparable with those that brought back the ducks, to get the job done.
These efforts will require political will, proper laws, regulations, and enforcement. Laws and regulations – concepts that a vast number of Americans see as an infringement on freedom. Bird populations be damned.
The federal Farm Bill is a multifaceted piece of legislation that lays out food and agricultural policy in America. It is contemplated and renewed about every five years by Congress, and you can bet the debate about what should be in it is vigorous to say the least. One part historically addresses conservation programs on private lands. Legislators used the Farm Bill in the early 20th century to address declining waterfowl populations in the Upper Midwest, while concurrently supplying protection from floodwaters and keeping drinking water supplies safe in that region. Expanding the scope of those Farm Bill conservation programs could produce similar benefits for all other bird species.
How do we make sure these kinds of efforts are started and continued? For one thing, we should elect leaders that believe in science. The first question one should ask a candidate for public office is, “explain what you know of the scientific method and are you committed to using scientifically derived facts as a basis for decision making?” If there is the slightest waffle-waffle on this question, move on to the next guy.
Second, we need to bring our children up right – to encourage them to be in nature, to be with nature. Consideration of the fundamentals of ecology should be peppered throughout one’s K through twelve education. We need to guide our children into living a life of respect for wildlife, and an understanding of the bedrock notion that all animal and plant species spaceship Earth are dependent, one on the other. Kids armed with that ethos can be our next generation of decision makers.
Third, as a starter, we can do what many people on Sherwood and other places are doing – build wild habitats in our backyards. Every little piece helps. Every milkweed plant, every bird house, every bee nest, every butterfly garden, every pond, intergraded into that great jigsaw puzzle of nature, is helpful.
Habitat loss has been the main cause of bird declines, and efforts to reduce development in wild lands and suburban sprawl should remain at the forefront of conservation priorities. We need to address other threats killing birds. Feral and pet cats roaming outdoors cause huge bird mortality every year, as do collisions with buildings, communications towers, and power lines. Recent evidence shows that pesticides, like neonicotinoids, may be directly or indirectly responsible for killing large numbers of birds. What’s also worrisome is that scientists are only now beginning to assess the ravages of the changing climate on bird populations.
What we need most is a societal shift, a seismic jolt, to change the way we place value on nature and what that value looks like in every day life. We must learn to view natural habitat as a crucial element of our world that supports all life on the planet, including us. The loss of nearly three billion birds signals a looming crisis that we have the power to stop. Understanding the great tapestry of natural systems and protecting, conserving, and restoring it should become the very fabric of our way of life.
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A REASON TO HOPE
Just two days ago, Ralph Northam, Virginia’s governor, signed an executive order that phases out all single-use plastics at state agencies, colleges, and universities. This is unprecedented. Environmentalists have been trying to get legislation like this passed for years. Now this in not legislation, but it is a start.
And it’s about damned time!
“Plastics are the most pervasive type of marine debris in our ocean and along our coasts,” the order says. “In 2019 alone, volunteers collected more than 12,000 plastic bags and 13,000 plastic bottles, in addition to many other types of marine debris, from Virginia’s coastline.”
“Plastics are choking wildlife to death”
Dr. Howl
The order bans state use of disposable plastic bags, single-use plastic, and polystyrene (commonly known as Styrofoam) food service containers, plastic straws and cutlery and single-use plastic water bottles that aren’t for medical or public-safety use. The ban takes effect in 120 days.
After that, all non-medical, single-use plastics and polystyrene objects are scheduled to be reduced by 25% by Dec. 21, 2022; 50% by Dec. 31, 2023; 75% by Dec. 31, 2024, and fully eliminated by Dec. 31, 2025.
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AMERICAN TRAVELS
0630, Thursday, May 21, 2015
After spending a couple of days, golf-carting around Ocracoke, we left Silver Lake under moderate S winds with predictions for SE twelve to twenty, backing to SSE in the afternoon. Perfect for a Pamlico Sound run northward from Ocracoke. Pamlico Sound is the second largest lagoon on the US East Coast, being eighty miles long and fifteen to thirty miles wide, with areas of shoaling and shallow waters. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States.
Pamlico Sound, being a lagoon, is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a long series of barrier islands, the Outer Banks; and their attendant coastal communities, including Nags Head, Cape Hatteras, and Ocracoke. Many inlets between the islands connect Pamlico Sound with the ocean and the resultant inflow of salty ocean water makes the lagoon salinity uniformly quite high. Pamlico Sound is interconnected with Albemarle, Currituck, Croatan, Bogue, Core and Roanoke Sounds. Individually they are referred to as lagoon estuaries. Taken together as one water body they are larger than the Chesapeake Bay.
A true estuary has a significant inflow of fresh water, like the Chesapeake Bay with its Susquehanna, Potomac, Rappahannock, and James rivers and all their tributaries. In an estuary, salt water inflows of high salinity waters from the ocean mix with fresh water inputs to create a horizontally and vertically stratified salinity regime ranging from fresh to brackish to hypersaline waters. This condition exists with a degree of regularity and predictability and makes for diverse flora and fauna. That is naturally the case in the Chesapeake Bay, except in today’s world where overwhelming pollution inputs from various sources have severely degraded that estuarine ecosystem.
Why do they call Pamlico Sound a sound and not a lagoon? I thought you would never ask.
A sound, as defined by Wikipedia, is a narrow ocean channel between two land bodies. The definition goes on to say that a sound is a sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord. Confused yet?
Me too.
We left Ocracoke at 7:30 AM dutifully waiting until the Ocracoke to Cedar Island and Ocracoke to Swans Quarter ferries left. Don’t want to be caught in the Big Foot Slough Channel with those guys bearing down.
We were in the company of two other boats. “Surprise”, a thirty foot Allied Seawind, captained by Peter and “High Water”, a thirty foot Hunter single handed by Paul, both Canadians we had seen at various places on the ICW. I’m not making those names up. Now all we need is a Mary.
Having formed a vague plan to stick together during the passage up the Sound, we negotiated Big Foot Slough Channel and then entered the Sound proper, where we were rewarded with fifteen to twenty knot SE and then SSE winds.
Sailing first on a close reach, then a beam reach and finally a broad reach all the way up the sound, flying along, sometimes hitting eight knots. It was exhilarating. A note on points of sail. You are sailing on a beam reach when the wind is perpendicular to the boat’s beam (amidships). On a close reach the wind is more forward of that point and on a broad reach it is more toward the stern.
Emily and I were in the lead most of the day and gradually Peter and Paul fell behind. We pulled significantly ahead toward late afternoon and decided to continue on and pass under the Dare Memorial Bridge connecting the mainland with the southern part of Manteo, NC then under the William B Umstead Memorial Bridge that connects the mainland with the northern part of Manteo. Peter and Paul, moving more slowly, decided to anchor close to the western Manteo shore. Our plan is to pass under the bridges and anchor off Reeds Point in Croatan Sound
As we approached the first bridge a thunderstorm was developing dead ahead and NOAH weather was putting out tornado warnings for most of eastern NC. Time to sweat bullets. Onward we charged, sails down now, under power alone. The rain came before Dare Memorial, seas running four feet and confused. At least we are running down wind (wind on our stern) pushing us along at six to eight knots.
We passed under Dare Memorial in heavy rain but not much wind. On to William B. Umstead, the more challenging bridge, with a center height of forty-five feet measured from high water. We were going through at low tide but the tide change here is only half a foot, so we had forty-five and one-half feet to play with. The distance from the top of our mast to the water is forty-three and one-half feet.
What could possibly go wrong?
Onward to the bridge in a driving rain. No other boats about. As we begin to pass under the bridge panic set in and I suddenly thought about the boat lifting and falling on the 2 to 3 foot waves and how that might affect our margin. Intense moments as we passed under the bridge. Too late to turn back. And pass through we did. The twenty seconds or so it took to pass under that bridge was one of the longest twenty seconds on record. I guess we will never know by how much we missed that bridge.
Onward Flicka flew toward our anchorage, through the rain and now freshening wind (getting stronger) which was shifting around to the west, right where we are going, into a little embayment off Reeds Point. The guide book says do not go all the way up the embayment in times of diminished visibility, like right now, because of fish traps and various stakes and other potential obstructions to navigation. So we pulled up short of the actual anchorage in a pretty exposed location.
Still raining and now blowing hard, I went forward to deploy the anchor and with Emily at the helm we managed to get it and eighty feet of chain down in ten feet of water. Set the snubber line (more on than later) and tried to relax while the rain pounded down and the wind howled. A good day’s run of sixty-five miles, mostly under sail.
Fifteen minutes later the sun came out, the wind died, we mixed a drink, and I called my good friend Steve Moore to chat. We settled in for what we were hoping was going to be a restful and peaceful evening and night. Boy were we wrong.
But that is another story.
Good night.
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COVID 19 IN VIRGINIA, STAUNTON, AND AUGUSTA COUNTY
No covid report today.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“…… and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
George Harrison