WASHINGTON — After a series of costly and embarrassing accidents in its efforts to drill exploratory wells off the north coast of Alaska last year, Royal Dutch Shell announced on Wednesday that it would not return to the Arctic in 2013.

The company’s two drill ships suffered serious accidents as they were leaving drilling sites in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas last fall and winter and are being sent to Asia for repairs. Shell acknowledged in a statement that the ships would not be repaired in time to drill during the short summer window this year.

“Our decision to pause in 2013 will give us time to ensure the readiness of all our equipment and people,” said Marvin E. Odum, president of Shell Oil Company.

He said Arctic offshore drilling was a long-term project that the company would continue to pursue.

The Interior Department, the Coast Guard and the Justice Department are reviewing Shell’s operations, which have included groundings, environmental and safety violations, weather delays, the collapse of its spill-containment equipment and other failures.

Shell has invested more than $4.5 billion in leases and equipment and spent several years on an intensive lobbying campaign to persuade federal officials that it could drill safely in the unforgiving waters of the Arctic Ocean. It now acknowledges that the venture has been much more difficult than it anticipated.


Shell had planned to drill as many as 10 wells in 2012 but was able to start only two. Federal regulators barred the company from drilling into oil-bearing formations because it did not have adequate spill prevention and cleanup equipment available.

“This is not a surprise, as Shell has had numerous serious problems in getting to and from the Arctic, as well as problems operating in the Arctic,” said Lois N. Epstein, Arctic program director for the Wilderness Society and a member of an Interior Department offshore drilling safety advisory panel.

“Shell’s managers have not been straight with the American public, and possibly even with its own investors, on how difficult its Arctic Ocean operations have been this past year,” she said.


Both ships involved in the drilling, the Noble Discoverer and the Kulluk, suffered serious accidents while moving to or from the oil fields. In addition, Coast Guard inspectors found numerous violations on the Discoverer and have referred the matter to federal prosecutors for investigation.

Shell executives said the Kulluk sustained damage to its hull when it was grounded on tiny Sitkalidak Island during a fierce storm in late December. Seawater also caused electrical damage.

They said the propulsion systems on the Noble Discoverer required maintenance and might need to be replaced for the ship to be seaworthy and pass Coast Guard inspections.


The Noble Discoverer dragged its anchor last July and nearly ran aground on the Alaska coast. Four months later it was damaged by an explosion and fire while in port in the Aleutian Islands.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, a strong proponent of Arctic oil exploration, said the delay would ensure that drilling could proceed safely in the future.

“This pause — and it is only a pause in a multiyear drilling program that will ultimately provide great benefits both to the state of Alaska and the nation as a whole — is necessary for Shell to repair its ships and make the necessary updates to its exploration plans that will ensure a safe return to exploration soon,” Ms. Murkowski said in a statement.


Michael LeVine, senior Pacific counsel for the environmental advocacy group Oceana, said that Shell and the federal authorities who allowed it to begin drilling needed to think carefully about whether it would ever be safe to resume operations.

“The decisions to allow Shell to operate in the Arctic Ocean clearly were premature,” Mr. LeVine said in an e-mail. “The company is not prepared and has absolutely no one but itself to blame for its failures.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 28, 2013

An earlier version of this article described incorrectly the Interior Department panel whose members include Lois Epstein. It is an advisory committee that reviews offshore drilling safety; it is not charged with reviewing Shell’s operations.
SOURCE

 The video below shows a seagull ingesting a plastic bag thinking it is food. Sadly we all know that the bird will die soon after this. Plastics and other debris are deadly to our wildlife and marine-life. Thousands upon thousands are killed every year due to ingesting our human garbage. But there are steps that can be taken to put an end to this vicious deadly cycle.

What are some of the things being done about plastics in our oceans and coastal areas?

In 1987, a law was finally passed restricting the dumping of plastics into the ocean. The Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act (MARPOL) went into effect on December 31, 1988, making it illegal for any U.S. vessel or land-based operation to dispose of plastics at sea. Prior to this time tons of garbage including plastics and other non-biodegradable items were being dumped into our oceans.

Plastics manufacturers are also investigating ways to create "degradable" plastics. Plastics take a really long time to break down as they are now. For example a plastic soda ring can take up to 400 years to biodegrade. So researchers are working with two types of degradable plastics: photodegradable and biodegradable to deal with this issue.

The current most effective method for solving the persistent plastic problem is by beach cleaning. Throughout coastal areas cleanups are being held where volunteers gather to collect trash that has washed up on the beach or has been left by beachgoers to be carried out by the surf. These beach cleanups are being coordinated by The Center for Marine Conservation. In one such beach cleanup over 3.1 million pounds of trash was collected and more than half of that was plastic.


The Center for Marine Conservation (CMC) has listed their 'dirty dozen' in other words the twelve items most frequently found from the cleanups.



What we can do to help with this immense problem in our everyday lives.

- Begin by looking for alternative materials or avoid excessive packaging when deciding on purchases. Use paper bags, milk and juice in cardboard, and cloth diapers. Insist on paper bags (or bring your own bag) and glass bottles instead of single use plastic bags or bottles when shopping.


- Recycling. Many communities currently offer pick-up recycling programs for #1 and #2 plastics. Other forms of plastic may be accepted by a local recycling business. Help start a recycling program if your community doesn't have one by contacting your city or town hall to request one.

- Educate others about the problem of marine debris, therefore encouraging "voluntary compliance through awareness."

- Get involved by participating in a coastal cleanup if you live in a coastal area.

 PORCUPINE, SOUTH DAKOTA – Soon after Russell Means walked on last October 22, his family announced four events to celebrate his life. Russell Means, a self-described "Oglala Freedom Fighter", began his journey to the spirit world on October 22, 2012 at 4:44 am, with the Morning Star, at his home and ranch in Porcupine.

The family has announced the "Second Honoring - The Life of Russell Means" for Wednesday, February 27, in conjunction with the 40th Anniversary of the Wounded Knee 1973 Occupation that began on February 27, 1973. Means played a significant leadership role forty years ago as part of the American Indian Movement leadership.

The honoring will highlight his life, leadership and the eternal fire that he re-ignited throughout Indian country.

The event will be held at Pine Ridge School in the old gymnasium, west of campus, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Doors open at 4:00 pm.

Dinner will be served at the Pine Ridge School Cafeteria at 5:00 pm. The honoring service will begin at 6:00 pm. The event will include guest speakers, including relatives, Wounded Knee veterans and visiting dignitaries.

Chris Eagle Hawk, Oglala Lakota, will be the Eyapaha, announcer, along with the Creekside Singers as the honor drum. Scotti Clifford, Oglala Lakota, of "Scatter Their Own" will perform an honor song. The Means family is sponsoring a traditional giveaway at this honoring.

The Third Honoring - The Life of Russell Means will be at Wind Cave State Park, South Dakota at a yet to be determined date in June. The Third Honoring - The Life of Russell Means will coincide with his birthday, Nov 6-10 in Denver, Colorado.

The family is encouraging monetary contributions to advance the visionary work of Russell Means. Donations can be made at:www.treatyschool.org »

Donations can also be sent to:

TREATY Total Immersion Educational Endowment Fund Administrative Office PO Box 110 San Jose, NM 87565
Source

Bath time is a thorny subject in many households but when it is a hedgehog that needs a wash it can be even more difficult.

This prickly customer is fast becoming an internet sensation after a video appeared online of him taking a bath.

At first the little hedgehog - named Ragweed - does not appear too keen on having a wash but once in the sink he proves amazingly buoyant.

So far the adorable video of Ragweed has been watched more than 120,000 times on Youtube.

Initially the hedgehog stays fairly calm as he rests in his owner's hands above the sink.

But as he starts to be lowered in Ragweed begins to panic and attempts to wriggle free.

He only relaxes again when he curls himself into a protective ball.


However, once he is placed in the water Ragweed happily floats in the sink and does not appear concerned at being spun around.

His owner, who goes by the name Evan Countryman online, said it was the first time he had managed to get his pet to float on his back.


He wrote: 'We figured that once he curls into his ball form he usually stays like that until we put him down so we thought, "Lets submerge him slowly into the sink".'

Hedgehogs, particularly the African pygmy variety have been popular pets in the United States for a number of years.


In 2008, the craze hit the UK where animals were being sold for up to £190 each.

Hedgehog pet guides say the animals should be bathed once every one to two weeks in shallow tepid water.

They can swim for short periods of times but wild hedgehogs often drown in garden ponds if they drop in and are unable to climb out.
Source

Owls date back 60 million years or longer, and they’re found in nearly every kind of habitat: tropical, tundra, desert, even in Central Park. There are some 229 species known, and the list continues to grow. Recently in the summer of 2012, two new species of hawk owl were discovered in the Philippines. Earlier this month researchers reported on a new species of screech-like owl from the island of Lombok, Indonesia.

The western world is and has been fascinated with owls throughout time, probably dating back to the ancient Greeks and their association of owls with goddess, Athena. “Everyone loves owls,” said David J. Bohaska, a paleobiologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, who discovered one of the earliest owl fossils. “Even mammalogists love owls.”

Owls are frequently a part of children's books, fairy tales and even movies in the modern world such as in Harry Potter. Yet despite this love and fascination with these magnificent birds, it is only as of late that scientists and researchers have begun to figure out some of the answers to the questions of what sets owls apart from other avian species.

Researcher, David Johnson has been working with researchers in 65 countries through the Global Owl Project to compile a vast database and understanding of all the world’s owls. They are updating descriptions, natural history, genetics, vocalizations, rough population estimates, and myths and legends all associated with the elusive owl. Some of their interesting findings are mentioned below.

For example, the researchers have discovered that young barn owls can be impressively generous toward one another, regularly sharing portions of their food to their smaller, hungrier siblings. This display of altruism is thought to be rare among nonhuman animals, and even among some humans too.

They have also discovered that barn owls express their needs and desires to each other through a complex, rule-based series of calls, trills, barks and hoots, in a language that researchers are now trying to decipher. According to Alexandre Roulin of the University of Lausanne, “They talk all night long and make a huge noise."

Aeronautical engineers are studying owls for clues to better wing designs because many owl species are renowned for their ability to fly almost completely silently, so as to not warn their prey of their approach. At a meeting of the American Physical Society last fall, researchers from Cambridge University after studying the owls have proposed that well-placed perforations in an airplane wing could have a similar smoothing effect on turbulence, leading to quieter and more fuel efficient flights.


Although owls are associated as being mainly night creatures, they have also been found to hunt during dusk, dawn and even during the day. They have also been long thought to be closely related to birds of prey like hawks and eagles, because of superficial resemblance. But the similarities of beak or talon turn out to be the result of evolutionary fine tuning on optimal meat-eating equipment. Recent genetic analysis links the owls to other nocturnal birds, like the nightjars and not the eagles and hawks.

Their phenomenal hearing is also subject to much interest and research. Species like the barn, barred, screech and horned have some of the keenest auditory systems known. They are able to hear potential prey stirring deep under leaves, snow or grass and can even identify the rodent species and it's size based on sound alone.


Because of the collaboration of these scientists from around the world on these beautiful, highly efficient and mysterious owls, we will be able to begin to understand more of their fascinating ways - perhaps also in a way to benefit our fellow humans.

In 2008, the state banned lead ammunition for hunting in the California condor’s historic range, which runs roughly from Los Angeles to San Jose, but the groups believe that a wider ban is necessary to prevent condors and other birds, such as bald eagles and vultures, from dying as a result of lead poisoning after eating animals that are shot by hunters.

When hunters leave carcasses or gut piles, they may contain lead shot pellets or bullet fragments. Scavengers who pick at the piles can develop lead poisoning, which can cause inability to fly, anemia, blindness, seizures, starvation and death.

“Countless wild animals suffer and die needlessly every year from the continued use of lead ammunition,” said Jennifer Fearing, state director of the Humane Society of the United States. “It is put in the environment and stays there. It’s toxic, and it’s cumulative.”

The California condor population was reduced to 22 birds by 1982, with the last wild condor brought into captivity in 1987. Captive breeding efforts have been very successful since they began in the 1980s and have boosted the population to around 400 birds who are now in the wild and in breeding programs.


Unfortunately, while the population has grown, condors still face the threat of exposure to toxic levels of lead and require a lot interference from people to keep them from disappearing from the landscape yet again. We’re now breeding them, releasing them, recapturing them, treating them for lead poisoning and releasing them again hoping they survive.

Last year a review of more than 1,154 blood samples taken from wild condors and tested between 1997 and 2010 found that 48 percent of the birds had levels of lead in their bodies that would have killed them without treatment in animal hospitals, reports Mercury News.


Some hunters are supportive of the move to ban lead ammunition and are voluntarily making the switch, but the NRA and others are balking at the idea, claiming that this is somehow an attempt to ban hunting altogether and arguing that there is a lack of evidence to support a ban.

However, studies at the University of California, Davis that were funded by the California Department of Fish and Game have found evidence that lead from ammunition often makes its way into carrion-eating birds and that bans on lead ammunition for hunting waterfowl and in condor habitat were effective in reducing lead exposure. An additional study conducted in 2012 matched isotope ratios found in bullets to those found in birds.


“We’re not against hunting,” said Dan Taylor, public policy director for Audubon California. “But hunting is a privilege. For hunting to continue in a state like California it must be done in the most ecologically and sound way possible.”
SOURCE

Watch Condors and Lead on PBS. See more from Oregon Field Guide.

These cubs aren't just cute, they're genetically important. Clouded leopards are listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Due to hunting and deforestation in Southeast Asia, there are thought to be fewer than 10,000 of these animals, said to have an "arboreal lifestyle," in the wild.

Also not helping the species' survival: male clouded leopards' somewhat inexplicable propensity for attacking, sometimes killing, prospective mates. (See, e.g., Kitchener, A.C. (1999). Mate killing in clouded leopards: a hypothesis. IZN (International Zoo News).)

The zoo is trying to reduce these risks by hand-rearing these new babies -- which means giving them bottles, and otherwise taking care of them, while making sure not to "imprint" in a way that'll stop them from being able to interact productively with other clouded leopards.

“We feed them, burp them, and put them back to sleep,” hand-rearing expert, and senior mammal keeper at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute headquarters, Kenneth Lang told Smithsonian Zoogoer in 2011. “We don’t try to make them pets.”


Early pairing with mates also seems to increase the likelihood of passing on these cutie-pie genes.

This is the second litter for mother Sita and father Ta Moon, who had another set of twins in 2011.

Ta Moon, born in March 2009, was the first clouded leopard cub born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.


Lindsay Renick Mayer, a zoo spokesperson, told The Huffington Post that the cubs are a boy, weighing 800g, and a girl who now weighs 700g. (That's under two pounds each -- full-grown, the male will likely reach about 50 pounds, the female about 35.)

"Their eyes and ears are now open," she said. "Their activity level is increasing daily and they now recognize when we are in the room and about to feed them. They are normally found asleep and wrapped around each other when we enter the room. The feedings have been dropped from 7 times a day to 6 times a day and will be dropped again next week. (Read More)

Love is in the air on March 16 for the Native American students participating at the 30th Annual Powwow of Love to be held at Jenison Field House on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing, Michigan.

“Typically, we had the pow wow in February, close to Valentine’s Day but we moved it to March,” said Jessica Rivard, vendor chair for the pow wow and in charge of public relations for North American Indigenous Student Organization (NAISO).

NAISO and the Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU) are sponsors to the traditional and contest pow wow that promises to celebrate the milestone anniversary with special entertainment and recognition of the presence of other Native American student groups.

“This year, with the 30th anniversary, we are recognizing the history of the pow wow. We are having other student groups join us,” said Rivard, who is taking up kinesiology at the university and who is a member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.

She was referring to student groups outside the campus, the Central Michigan University NAISO and the University of Michigan Native American Student Association.

“We are going to have seating available for them. We don’t know if it is a big group but we have seating available. They are doing the same for us in their pow wows,” said Rivard.


Pow wow sponsor NAISO is a home away from home for Native students, she said, adding that the non-profit group helps students excel in college. There are 30 NAISO members and an estimated 150 Native American students enrolled in the University.

ASMSU is the undergraduate student government at the university and advocates student issues. The group provides interest-free loans, legal counsel and funding for student group activities like the NAISO pow wow.

Rivard said over 2,000 guests typically come to the traditional pow wow. The Saturday gathering opens it doors at 10 a.m., with grand entries scheduled for 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. About 10 to 15 vendors selling food and Native crafts, as well as music and dancing will keep the crowd fed and entertained till 10 p.m.

Among the Native performers are Ryan McMahon, MC; Crazy Spirit, host drum; Crickett Hill Singers, co-host drum; Samsoche Sampson, head male dancer; Lisa Hill, head female dancer; George Martin, head vet; and Will Hedgepeth, arena director.


“This year we have the alumni specials,” said Elaina Leaureaux, hospitality chair of the pow wow and a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

She said the alumni group is sponsoring the two-step dance contest, with prize money still to be determined.

There are six categories at the pow wow—men’s fancy, traditional and grass and women’s fancy, traditional and jingle. Prize money has been set for a total of $2,000.

“We want to put out a successful pow wow and reach out to as many people as possible,” said Leaureaux.


Another special this year is a free comedy show/concert to be held Friday night. Rivard said they wanted to hold a two-day pow wow and because of budgetary constraint and university restrictions NAISO decided on a different entertainment.

The show, to be held at the university’s Erickson Hall Kiva, features MC McMahon, from Chicago, as the Native comedian and Frank Walm, from Winnipeg, Manitoba as the Native hip-hop artist. Show starts at 7 p.m.

Many Native students at the university don’t get the opportunity to be involved with Native American traditions, and the pow wow and the Friday night show are good ways to introduce them to Native American culture.

Leaureaux said connecting with other Native students is important.

“The pow wow has a special place in my heart. It is a great way to socialize,” she said.

For further info, go to MSU.edu/~naiso.



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Ben Kilham, New Hampshire's only licensed bear rehabilitator, found himself spending the winter with 27 lively and orphaned cubs which is a huge increase from the three to five he typically sees a year. This was caused by a bad year for feeding followed a good one for breeding.

Andy Timmins, the bear project leader for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, said officials were expecting more orphaned cubs than usual but were surprised at just how many turned up. "It was like nothing we've ever seen. A high year in the past was maybe, seven or eight bears," he said. "It was a very challenging year, for sure, and we're not done yet. I'm absolutely positive there will be more showing up this spring as a result of these conditions last year."

The population explosion of bear cubs can be traced to a two-year swing in the bears' food supply. Younger female bears often don't give birth during leaner years, but in 2011 with an abundance of beechnuts, berries and other food there was a baby boom of bears. However in 2012, the dry conditions meant food was scarce, and adult female bears were forced to venture into backyards for food and many ended up getting shot leaving the cubs behind. That's how 16 of the 27 cubs ended up with Ben Kilham this winter.

Ben Kilham, has been studying bears for more than 20 years, and has produced and appeared in numerous documentaries and written two books about bear social behavior. The second book, titled "Out on a Limb," is due out this summer. He's also working on a doctoral degree in environmental conservation that builds on his work in China helping wildlife experts who are reintroducing pandas to the wild.

But for now he and his sister, Phoebe have their hands full with taking care of so many baby bears. The cubs are kept in an 8-acre enclosed forest behind his house until spring. Then he will work with the state Fish and Game Department to release them in remote locations. Normally, the bears hibernate all winter, but this group is wide awake. For a while, Kilham tried withholding food in hopes that the cubs would sleep, but that approach didn't work.


"They've managed to keep themselves awake," he said. "There's always somebody who stirs up somebody else, and pretty soon, everybody's up. They just roto-tilled the pen. It was obvious that they were seeking food, so we just gave up and started going back once a day feeding them." Thanks to an outpouring of donations after a local television publicized the situation, the Kilhams have plenty of dog food to keep everyone well-fed until spring.


"Staying awake all winter won't hurt the bears any, and if anything, they are better off having spent the winter in a large group. With just a few cubs, it was common for one to pace back and forth near the fence, but none of the current cubs are showing that kind of anxiety. They're just one big happy family, they roam around, play with each other. They are very, very happy as a big social unit," said Kilham.

Home to the indigenous Saami peoples, these Northern old growth forests are essential to Saami reindeer herding, a traditional way of life that the Saami hope to continue into future generations. Population growth in Finland has created economic pressure - prompting migration to the Saami lands in the North.

The resulting forest cutting severely depletes the lichen necessary for free reindeer grazing, and logging infrastructure disrupts the entire forest ecosystem.

A tense conflict emerges between the alliance of Greenpeace and Saami activists, who in 2005 set up a "Forest Rescue Station" in the woods to stop the cutting, and logging workers, worried about losing their jobs, who create their own "anti-terror camp" in response.

The situation becomes dramatic as those in the "anti-terror" camp continually assault the Greenpeace workers with noise and threatening behavior.

Last Yoik in Saami Forests? implicates the state-owned logging company Metsahallitus in the exploitation of Saami resources, and shows that the Finnish government has done little to preserve this natural resource.

The film explores possible economic alternatives to logging, such as tourism, as well as more efficient uses for Lappish timber than paper pulp, fuel or railways stocks - the wood is an excellent building material that could be commanding a higher price.

The issue of indigenous land rights is the heart of the problem, and as of the completion of this film in 2007, it remains unresolved.
Source



Last Yoik in the Sami forests from Freunde der Naturvoelker on Vimeo.

This tiny frog’s “mighty war cry” is intended to ward off predators and attract mates, reports GrindTV, but it’s probably just going to make you say “awww.”

Although it’s been widely identified in the news as a Namaqua rain frog, frog expert (unfortunate professional title: herpetologist) Alan Channing has identified it as a desert rain frog.

I’m pretty sure Mr. Channing knows what he’s talking about, as he’s actually one of the assessors list on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), which lists the desert rain frog, or Breviceps macrops, as “vulnerable” on its Red List of Threatened Species.

The Pokemon-like sound is also emitted when the frog is in distress, said Mr. Channing, who is a professor and has authored three books on African frogs.

“What this means is that somebody was prodding it and annoying it while the close-up video was taken,” he said.


Dang it, now I’m saying “awww” because I’m sad for the squeaky little guy.

Wildlife photographer Dean Boshoff, who filmed the squeaky frog, said it was already making that sound, and that’s how he noticed it.


“I recorded a short clip of the defensive cry of the Desert rain frog – Breviceps macrops,” Mr. Boshoff wrote in the video’s caption on YouTube. “While walking along the sand dunes in Port Nolloth, a coastal town in the Northern Cape province, it alerted me to its presence with its fearsome war cry. I knelt down and proceeded to photograph and film this unusual creature’s behaviour.”
Source

A member of the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa/Meskwaki, Yazzie is a two-time World Champion Fancy Dancer. His credits include performances at the Olympics, the Kennedy Center, and international festivals in Japan, Ireland, France, Brazil, Norway and, most recently, Jordan, at the annual Jerash Festival. Last year, he received the 2012 A.P. Anderson Award for his significant contributions to the cultural and artistic life of Minnesota; in December, he portrayed a Mayan priest in a Mayan episode of America Unearthed, a History Channel Series on H2.

In 2003, Yazzie formed Native Pride Dancers; he recruited family members and talented artists to join him on tours to provide high-energy shows featuring Native songs, dances, flute playing and storytelling. A few years later he formed Native Pride Arts, a nonprofit organization that offers workshops, lectures and teachings.

This year promises to be a busy one for Yazzie with overseas trips, as well as performances in Washington, D.C. and the Minnesota State Fair. He will be teaching at the Kaha:wi Dance Theater in Toronto and in several pow wows in Iowa and Idaho.

Yazzie recently spoke to Indian Country Today Media Network about his love of dancing, his inspirations, Native stereotypes, the formation of his Native Pride Arts, and his hopes for the future.


How would you 
describe the stage you are at in your life today?

I have learned to accept the obstacles and challenges that come my way and to deal with them. Life’s not easy sometimes, but I’ve done my best to keep trying to move forward, to express my art and share it with others.


What is your greatest achievement?

We took our dance troupe to the Middle East in July 2012. I never imagined going there before. It was amazing to help make a difference in their countries.

Who inspires you?

My totally devoted but demented fans—you know who you are. All kidding aside: the kids in the audience, the ones who want to learn, all those who are eager to learn.


What does dancing mean to you?

Dancing is expressing myself, sharing my spirit, sharing my energy and sharing my gift.

What inspired you to dance?

The energy, the colors, the beauty and the challenge of the fancy dance.

What would you tell aspiring fancy dancers?

Create your own style. Respect the dance. Respect the feathers, the beadwork and keep the traditions alive.


How do you think the pow wows have evolved today?

They have become very commercialized. The competition pow wow purses are much higher and have sparked more interest in dancers and pow wow attendees.

Tell us about growing up and how that has influenced your career.

I grew up poor. I found dancing as an outlet or tool, and it has helped me become who I am today, professionally and spiritually. That’s what helped me to create what I’ve created: I share the dance, stories, and I create production to tell about the culture today. (Read more)

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A California family got a surprise of a lifetime when a baby gray whale swam right up to their boat and wanted the people to pet it for nearly an hour's time.

A remarkable video capturing the event shows the bubbly calf poking its face up to the boat's side in Baja, California hoping for a good rub which is enthusiastically delivered by everyone aboard.

The calves are said to enjoy people petting them, especially in their mouth and baleen which serves as a filter for catching small food, explained Dave Anderson who runs Captain Dave's Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari and recently filmed the astonishing event.

In comparing the pleasure felt by the calf to humans, he compares it to a teething child looking for something to rub on.

His passengers can be heard gleefully enjoying the surprise visit as they dip their hands into the water, some their entire arms in, to touch the fascinating creature.


'You are the best baby whale!' they screamed with one girl successfully seen accomplishing a giggly dare to kiss the whale on its head.

The trip in question was made by Captain Dave and his family recently but he did not say the specific date.


'This grey whale calf in Magdalena Bay spent nearly an hour with us in one of the best encounters I have ever had with a whale in my life. And I have had many,' Captain Dave said with the video uploaded on Monday.

Teething: The tour explains that the rubbing of the calf's gums is similar to a child teething and wanting something to rub against


Captain Dave told local station ABC 7 that it is not unusual for the animals to get surprisingly close to the boats because they love the attention of humans.

That interaction in other cases has proven deadly, however, with aboriginal hunters in Russia permitted to kill up to 140 of the whales annually, subtracting from an already weak population, he writes with the uploaded video.


He adds that 35-percent of gray whales' calves are also killed by killer whales and that fishing gear takes the lives of nearly 1,000 dolphins and whales a day.

By the early 20th century the whales’ numbers were so dismal that they were in danger of extinction.

Thanks to a major comeback with protection by international law, in 1994 the gray whale was removed from the U.S. endangered species list.
(Source)