Rare dolphins return to Hong Kong as coronavirus halts ferry traffic
Marine scientist Lindsay Porter of the University of St. Andrews said the [Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins] - also known as Chinese white dolphins and pink dolphins - were moving back into parts of the Pearl River Delta that they typically avoided due to the ferries that connect Hong Kong and Macau.
Dolphin numbers in the area had jumped by up to 30% since March when the ferry traffic was suspended, allowing scientists a rare opportunity to study how underwater noise affected their behaviour, she said.
“These waters, which were once one of the busiest thoroughfares in Hong Kong, have now become very quiet,” said Porter, who has studied dolphins for three decades from Hong Kong.
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The research suggested the dolphins had adapted more rapidly than expected to the quiet environment, and the population was likely to rebound when such stressors were removed, Porter said.
Just in time for September and Biodiversity Month, conservationists in Australia announced they have eradicated all feral cats and foxes from a vast 9,570-hectare area, creating the largest feral predator-free safe haven on the country’s mainland.
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Ten native mammal species that became extinct in the state are set to be restored to the massive Mallee Cliffs National Park, a major milestone for the Australian Wildlife Conservancy in partnership with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
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In October 2019, Bilbies were released inside a specially designed 480-hectare breeding area, and today they are in good condition and already increasing in numbers. The reintroduced Bilbies will soon be released into the neighboring 9,570 hectare safe-haven.
The Bilbies will also be joined by Greater Stick-nest Rats, and in coming years by Western Quoll, Red-tailed Phascogale, Numbat, Western Barred Bandicoot, Bridled Nailtail Wallaby, Burrowing Bettong, Brush-tailed Bettong and Mitchell’s Hopping-mouse. Most of these species have been absent from NSW national parks for almost a century – and nearly all are threatened with extinction across their entire range.
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“Through projects like this one at Mallee Cliffs, AWC is demonstrating that the eradication of foxes and cats is a critical part of mammal conservation,” said AWC scientist Dr. John Kanowski.
[More information can be found here.]
The “I can’t do it justice in 5 paragraphs” files
From the "The Kids are All Right" Files:
Her Dad’s Food Truck Made Just $6 in a Day, So She Asked Twitter For Help – And Hundreds Came To the Rescue
Toronto boy who loves garbage trucks gets big surprise on 3rd birthday
Other stuff:
Reimagining Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Icons Get a Reboot
Big manta rays found 'right under our nose' off Florida beaches
Date Seeds Unearthed From the Time of Jesus Are Revived, Adding Fruit to Jewish, Arab Unity
Electrician Comes To Repair Lights For 72-Year-old, Then Enlists Entire Community To Fix Her Crumbling House—For Free
Many of you know I live in Ohio, and many of you also know I am an avid fan of Kentucky’s Governor Andy Beshear. Yes, I still watch his Monday-Thursday COVID updates. And I’d like to close with the tail end of yesterday’s (now Tuesday’s) for Reasons. It is a little bit of Real World ™ stuff, but it’s my GNR, I’ll do what I want. And while I’m about 99.9999% sure he’d say no, I’d really like to see him in a particular big white house in D.C. around January 2033 or so. I hope the embed at the right time (51:02) works; transcription is afterwards.
Okay, fine, I can’t seem to get the embed to start at 51:02. If you want to watch the bit I transcribed below, it starts at — you guessed it — 51:02. Almost at the very end.
All right, everybody. Stay safe. Be good to each other. These are challenging times, but that doesn't mean that we can't come out of it better people. And that's regardless of the challenge that we're facing.
Let's make sure that we listen to each other, we listen to the hurt that's out there, whether it's because of COVID, systematic racism, or, or the pain that so many others are going through. Look at today being, this month being National Recovery Month.
We can do so much better in so many different areas, and part of it is just making sure that we lead with compassion and goodness and kindness. And if we can start making our decisions there instead of judgement and anger and making other people enemies. There's...wouldn't it be so much better.
So, like every day, let's commit to it. One of the first ways we can do is we can put on a mask, and I'll see you tomorrow at 4.
~ Governor Andy Beshear, (D-Kentucky)