Only nine of the 63 pilot whales which were found stranded on a beach of New Zealand’s northern island on Friday are believed to have survived. Thirteen whales were re-floated Saturday but four of them got back into difficulty and NZ Department of Conservation staff made the tough decision to euthanize them.
Russia is going through its worst drought in more than a century. In Moscow, it’s hotter than in European and African resorts. The heat has caused asphalt to melt, boosted sales of air conditioners, ventilators, ice cream and beverages, and pushed grain prices up. Environmentalists are blaming the abnormally dry spell on climate change.
Punta del Este, Uruguay. Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition welcomed steps at the 33rd Antarctic Treaty meeting to make climate change a major item on the agenda, and to keep momentum going on a network of Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean.
Chilean Foreign Minister, Alfredo Moreno, said that Chile will maintain a position “in favour of conservation and against whaling,” and that Chilean Ambassador Cristián Maquieira, though he now chairs the International Whaling Commission, “is not the person who represents Chile” in this forum.
United States officials have announced a ban on fishing for at least ten days in waters off Louisiana spanning to parts of the Florida panhandle as the oil slick from a leak spreads across the Gulf of Mexico. Rough weather conditions are complicating crews’ efforts to contain the oil slick.
Organizers have unveiled the route for the 2011 Dakar Rally which will start and finish in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires and include a section through Chile. The 33rd edition of the “the world's toughest motor-sport event” will be the third to be run in South America after concerns about terrorists moved the rally in 2009 from its traditional route through the Sahara desert in North Africa.
State of Florida Governor Charlie Crist declared on Friday a state of emergency in coastal counties because of the threat from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The lab production of meat without the need of slaughtering animals is no longer science fiction and could be producing “green” hamburgers in less than ten years according to the list of Time Magazine fifty main inventions of the year.
Japan’s Coast Guard has obtained an arrest warrant for the head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, accusing him of ordering members of the protest group to obstruct the Japanese whaling fleet, investigative sources said Friday.
Twelve member countries of the International Whaling Commission (IWC)—an 88-country organization created in 1946 to monitor the whaling industry—have proposed catch quotas for the next ten years for countries that hunt whales.