The Naturalist

MANTA RAY OF HOPE

2012-01-16T10:57:00.000-05:00

RANDOM EXQUISITE BEAUTY - TROGLOBITES

2012-01-16T10:49:00.002-05:00

Troglobites are small cave-dwelling animals that have adapted to their dark surroundings. Troglobite species include spiders, insects, fish and others. They live permanently underground and cannot survive outside the cave environment. Troglobite adaptations and characteristics include a heightened sense of hearing, touch and smell. Loss of under-used senses is apparent in the lack of pigmentation as well as eyesight in most troglobites. Troglobite insects also exhibit a lack of wings and longer appendages.

READ MORE AT WIKI

RANDOM EXQUISITE BEAUTY - The Toad Mountain Harlequin Frog

2011-09-27T21:58:00.006-04:00

These little guys are facing extinction, as are many other amphibians across the globe, because of this FUNGUS.

TAKE PART IN HELPING HERE

CALL QUINT

2011-06-01T09:01:00.002-04:00

I had an argument a long time ago with a friend, after a discussion about surfing, and he said he didn't believe that there were sharks on Long Island, which I know is just preposterous!!!! He made claims that local surfers had concocted wild stories about sharks to prevent out of town surfers from coming into their territory and stealing their precious waves. Laughable. After all the largest Great White Shark ever caught on a reel was caught (debatable) by Frank Mundus off the coast of Montauk. Well my friend, feast your pearlies on this!!!!

Shark sighted off Cupsogue Beach in Westhampton

Authorities have banned people from the water at Cupsogue Beach County Park after a shark sighting there, a police dispatcher said Tuesday evening.

"The water is off limits," said the dispatcher, who wouldn't give her name.

A police officer is on scene enforcing the closure, she said.

According to The Associated Press, West Hampton Dunes Police Sgt. Tim Turner said reports of the sharks in the water came in at about 3 p.m. Tuesday. He said there were several sharks within 15 feet of the shore.

A spokesman for Suffolk County police said the department provided a helicopter to search for the shark.

Cupsogue is a 296-acre barrier-beach park in Westhampton.

A RAY OF SUNSHINE ON SAVING SHARKS

2011-05-31T18:11:00.004-04:00

Even if you're a friend of sharks, if you like fishing in the open sea you run the risk of snagging a shark here and there. And if you're a commercial fisherman, you're no stranger to sharks showing up as a significant part of your bycatch. It's estimated that tens of millions of sharks end up as accidental bycatch every year. However, a new high-tech fish hook could help keep sharks safer from fishing lines. The SMART hooks are magnetic and have a special metal coating that produces a voltage in seawater.

As we know, sharks are highly sensitive to electronic fields in the water -- picking up the electronic fields produced by fishes' bodies is how they're able to locate prey. Live Science reports that the SMART Hook, an acronym for Selective Magnetic and Repellent-Treated Hook, will help keep sharks away from the fishing lines intended for other species of fish. The hooks' magnetic and electronic features are intended to make sharks want to stay well away from them, even if there is bait attached.

The SMART hooks have been tested with bonnethead sharks, and the researchers saw success. Of 50 different tests with two groups of sharks, there was a 66% reduction rate of baits taken from small sized SMART hooks (which would be used for recreational fishing) and a 94% reduction rate of baits taken from large sized hooks that would be used in commercial fishing.

This could mean a fantastic reduction of accidental shark catches, especially with longline fishing. Longlines use thousands of baited hooks on a single line to try and catch a particular species of fish such as tuna. However, sharks much on the bait just as often. By using these shark-repellent hooks, the number of sharks caught on longlines could be cut way down. Of course, it does nothing for reducing the number of sharks caught by those who are out to catch them. But it's good news for reducing the occurrence of bycatch.

-courtesy of Treehugger.com

ONE STEP...LONG ISLAND TOWN BANS PLASTIC

2011-04-28T15:11:00.003-04:00

This comes at the perfect time. I just posted a short film a few posts ago about the plastic bag and now this. awesome!!! You should seriously consider "not" using plastic wherever you may be. I know Whole Foods offers 10% of your bill if you bring your own recycled/reusable bags. Get on it people. Recycle.

Here is one reason why littered plastic is bad for the environment.

Southampton sacks retailers' plastic bags

In a 5-0 vote, the village board on Tuesday passed a resolution this week prohibiting retailers from using the nonbiodegradable bags. Businesses have about six months to start using paper or reusable bags. Produce bags and plastic bags of a heavier weight are exempt.

Violators face a $1,000 fine and up to 14 days in jail, consistent with the village's current penalties.

READ ARTICLE

RANDOM EXQUISITE BEAUTY - OARFISH

2011-04-16T13:50:00.002-04:00

Oarfish are large, greatly elongated, pelagic Lampriform fishes comprising the small family Regalecidae. Found in all temperate to tropical oceans yet rarely seen, the oarfish family contains four species in two genera. One of these, the king of herrings (Regalecus glesne), is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest bony fish alive, at up to 17 metres (56 ft) in length.
The common name oarfish is presumably in reference to either their highly compressed and elongated bodies, or to the former (but now discredited) belief that the fish "row" themselves through the water with their pelvic fins. The family name Regalecidae is derived from the Latin regalis, meaning "royal". The occasional beachings of oarfish after storms, and their habit of lingering at the surface when sick or dying, make oarfish a probable source of many sea serpent tales. READ MORE

2011-04-13T20:24:00.001-04:00

PRESERVE

2011-01-09T12:41:00.000-05:00

WOUNDED AMERICAN

2011-01-05T17:06:00.003-05:00

A hundred years ago the hardwood forests of the American Northeast and Midwest United States were dominated by enormous American chestnut trees. Dozens of bird and mammal species feasted upon the rich nutrients of the chestnuts, just as our ancestors celebrated the pleasures of “chestnuts roasting on an open fire.”

Because chestnut trees bear a consistent crop year in and year out, they were a far more dependable food source than many other trees. Most other tree species that yield nuts or acorns bear heavily only in alternate years.

Often towering over a hundred feet, the American chestnut was a majestic and beautiful shade tree, equally prized for its excellent timber. Rapid and straight growth, even grain, and excellent resistance to rot, made chestnut wood versatile and valuable. It was used for paneling and furniture, shingles, fence posts, mine timbers, railroad ties and telegraph poles.

But in 1895 a load of imported Asian chestnut seedlings for the New York Botanical Garden brought the chestnut blight fungus to America’s shores. Unlike its oriental relative, which tolerates the fungus that is native to its home range, the previously unexposed American chestnut was devastated by the infection. Entering the tree through injuries in the outer bark, the fungus would spread into the xylem and phloem layers, which carry nutrients from leaves to roots and back.

In less than 40 years, the American chestnut was nearly extinct throughout its once vast range. Only a few isolated mature trees remain. The forlorn stumps of once majestic specimens can still be found in scattered areas, sprouting tiny, pathetic shoots that grow briefly, until they too succumb to the blight.

But scientists at Purdue and other American universities have been developing blight resistant hybrids by crossing the few surviving American chestnuts with their oriental cousins. Once they have obtained highly resistant strains, they then work to create trees that are genetically 94 percent American and 6 percent Asian hybrids. Others are at work attempting to develop a method for inoculating the American chestnut from the blight, or seeking out possibly resistant strains surviving in isolated pockets. Finally, there is an effort to develop transgenic chestnut trees by implanting the genes for blight resistance from Asian varieties into the American chestnut.

If any of these alternatives prove auspicious, horticulturists will eventually begin to release a limited number of blight-resistant chestnut seeds and bare root trees to the public. If these pioneers prove successful, significant plantings would follow over the ensuing decade.

With good fortune, the noble American chestnut will someday once again grace our nation’s landscape, feeding small animals, gracing our parks, perhaps even roasting in hearths from Kansas to Maine.

I’m prompted to relate this tale by a review, appearing in the American Scientist, of Susan Freinkel’s American Chestnut: The Life, Death and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree. I have yet to read the book, and in fact, it’s not yet in the library. But you can bet that it soon will be, and I hope to be the first to check it out.

In the meantime, if you want to learn more about trees and forests, or how you can plant trees that feed wildlife and make our community a more beautiful and friendly place, just drop by ask your Haysville Community librarian for help. For further information right now, try the American Chestnut Foundation’s Restoring the American Chestnut Tree or the website for the American Chestnut Cooperators’ Foundation at Virginia Tech, or Bruce Carley’s New Hope for the American Chestnut.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

2010-12-14T20:45:00.001-05:00

ANOTHER DEAD RED

2010-11-07T12:29:00.004-05:00

He watched me in the darkness. He hides in the bushes just enough that I can still see his bushy tail and on occasion he runs in the road in front of me, splashed with the glare of my headlights, almost like he wants me to see him. I've seen him three times in the last week or so and I wonder if anyone else notices or even cares. Am I so self absorbed to think he may be interested in me and knows when I'm heading home and this is why he is always watching? I would like to think so but I know better than that. Its a beautiful sight to see this elusive guy in my neighborhood and to think that nature is slowly creeping back into our over- developed lives where every habitat is being slashed and burned, mowed down and built up with another, soon-to-be-vacant, strip mall. I embrace him but sadly I saw my second dead red this morning. Im not sure it's my friend...I can only hope it's not. For now I will continue to believe he watches me in the night when I'm driving through my neighborhood but one can never tell. In the meantime I will try to get a pic of this wonderful creature and maybe just maybe people will notice him too.

CLOUD WATCHING

2010-11-07T12:18:00.002-05:00

BARNABY AND THE GIANT PUMPKIN - THE BIG COME DOWN

2010-11-07T11:45:00.002-05:00

So clearly I under estimated this endeavor!!!! I figured my years of green thumbery would take over and this thing would runs its course without too much intervention. The important thing is I now know the error of my ways and come spring I will enter battle with my wits about me and prepared beyond the normal extents. Step one is completed...study, study, study. Now expedite. The pic is what I got with little tending to. Embarrassing!!!! Onward and upward.

SING THE SONG OF AUTUMN FIRES!!!

2010-10-10T10:32:00.004-04:00

Autumn or fall is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in March (Southern Hemisphere) or September (Northern Hemisphere) when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier.
The equinoxes might be expected to be in the middle of their respective seasons, but temperature lag (caused by the thermal latency of the ground and sea) means that seasons appear later than dates calculated from a purely astronomical perspective. The actual lag varies with region, so some cultures regard the autumnal equinox as "mid-autumn" whilst others with a longer lag treat it as the start of autumn.[1] Meteorologists (and most of the temperate countries in the southern hemisphere)[2] use a definition based on months, with autumn being September, October and November in the northern hemisphere,[3] and March, April and May in the southern hemisphere.

MORE HERE

MADISON COUNTY X BARNABY BLACK

2010-09-29T22:04:00.003-04:00

Here are some exclusive stills from the set of Madison County posted on Dread Central. Two shirts from the Spring/Summer 2010 line are worn by the actors. I recently visited the set and was truly amazed and inspired...and gracious that they included me in such a wonderful experience. I look forward to seeing the finished product. Will keep you posted as new info comes my way.

BE THE HUNDREDTH MONKEY.

2010-09-28T23:28:00.005-04:00

It’s estimated that as many as 100 million sharks a year are killed just for their fins.

Shark-finning is a cruel practice. Sharks are caught on long lines, or in nets, regardless of size or species. The shark is often stabbed or clubbed, to be less of a threat to the fisherman. The shark’s fins are then cut off and the shark is thrown back into the water, alive, to be eaten by other fish as it sinks to the bottom.

Shark-finning has increased over the past decade for a number of reasons, including increasing demand for shark-fin soup and traditional cures, improved fishing technology and improved market economics, according to the conservation group Shark Water.

Shark fins go for big money. A single dried fin can fetch up to $300.

A growing Asian middle class now has access to shark-fin soup, a dish once reserved for royalty. Cities like Shanghai have multistory shopping centers dedicated to fish and animal sales, which include bin after bin of shark fins.

Local Asian markets in the United States and Europe supply shark fins to eager customers. And shark fins are increasingly found in other products such as energy drinks, pet supplies, makeup, vitamins and homeopathic medicines.

Consequently, many species of shark may already be on the way to extinction, which could be bad news for the entire ocean ecosystem. According to the National Shark Research Consortium, “Sharks are involved in several steps of this web including feeding on the sick and dying, and feeding on
larger animals such as whales, seals and tuna, which have few predators.”

Important sites for the preservation of sharks.

www.sharkallies.com
www.hsus.org/hsi/oceans/sharks/shark_finning/
www.thepetitionsite.com/3/ban-shark-fin-soup-in-all-of-the-us-hawaii-ban-began-july-2010/
www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-81
www.oceanconservancy.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=12982
www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
www.seastewards.org/?page_id=140
www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ban-shark-fin-soup-in-san-francisco/
www.stopsharkfinning.net/boycott.htm
www.oceanicdefense.blogspot.com/2009/07/major-us-grocery-chain-urged-to-stop.html
www.nyasf.wordpress.com

BARNABY AND THE GIANT PUMPKIN - FALL IS IN THE AIR!!!

2010-09-16T19:08:00.002-04:00

The summer air has cooled and that crackle in the air is sharp. It's almost time for jack o' lanterns and cider. I'm not so sure I'll have a giant pumpkin but it will definitely be a biggun'. This post is a bit late but I wanted to put these up...a little natural pollination from a couple of drunk bees, sluggish from the cool air I suspect. The duration from the smaller size to the larger was about two weeks.

SHARK ATTACK VICTIMS RALLY FOR SHARK PRESERVATION

2010-09-14T21:42:00.002-04:00

“If we want to have the ocean to enjoy, we need the sharks,” Ms. Salamone said. “They’re an important part of that ecosystem.”

NY Times Article

ANGELS AND DEMONS

2010-08-18T08:17:00.003-04:00

Shark Week objectifies sharks. Jaws gave them a bad name. Fear of the unknown only amplifies all the mtyhs. I know sharks generally have a bad name but read this wiki article to the end to get a better understanding of exactly what the relationship between man and shark attacks are. Here is an excerpt which is a little perspective for you..."As of 2009, the ISAF recorded a total of 2,251 attacks worldwide since 1580, with 464 attacks being fatal. The location with the most recorded shark attacks is New Smyrna Beach, Florida. First world nations such as the United States, Australia, and to some extent South Africa, facilitate more thorough documentation of shark attacks on humans than other impoverished second and third world coastal countries. It is likely that the actual frequency of shark attacks worldwide is much higher than reported."

PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY

MADISON COUNTY

2010-08-17T17:29:00.002-04:00

I'm very excited to post this being I am a true horror film nut and that I get to participate in this one. Look for Barnaby Shirts featured in this.

"Pretend you're somewhere else, because if you're here...you're already DEAD."

This is the promotional teaser video that was shot to secure funding for the Horror Feature, MADISON COUNTY that will star: Nick Principe, Ace Marrero, Colley Bailey, Natalie Scheetz, Matt Mercer, Joanna Sotomura & Katie Stegeman. Rob Hall and ALMOST HUMAN will be the efx team on the feature.

Principal photography begins September 5th, 2010!

IMDB
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
OFFICIAL SITE

BARNABY AND THE GIANT PUMPKIN - AFTER POLLINATION

2010-08-13T15:44:00.002-04:00

Finally the first pumpkin!!! She sprouted about 5 feet from the taproot. Since then one other has sprouted about another five feet out so I will wait and see which one takes. I hand pollinated the flower with a paintbrush to speed up the process being time is critical now. Two days later it almost looks like it grew ten times larger.

RANDOM EXQUISITE BEAUTY - PEYOTE

2010-08-13T15:39:00.004-04:00

Lophophora williamsii , is a small, spineless cactus. It is native to southwestern Texas and through Mexico. It is found primarily in the Chihuahuan desert and in the states of Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosi among scrub, especially where there is limestone.
It is well known for its psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. It is used world wide as an entheogen, and supplement to various transcendence practices, including meditation, psychonautics, and psychedelic psychotherapy. Peyote has a long history of ritualistic and medicinal use by indigenous Americans. It flowers from March through May, and sometimes as late as September. The flowers are pink, with thigmotactic anthers (like Opuntia).

READ MORE

GOOD TO KNOW

BARNABY AND THE GIANT PUMPKIN - MONTH TWO

2010-08-02T17:52:00.002-04:00

A few months ago a started my Dill's Atlantic Giant Pumpkin seeds and I must admit I was a bit weary that I had started them a little too late and to add insult to injury I slacked on getting the seedlings into the ground and hadn't gotten around to it until the second week of July. Perhaps it was for the best...July was hot!!! The sun has been shining all summer long for the most part (we earned here on Long ISland after last years bleak one) and thank god. It's like making up for that lost few weeks. The vine is gaining momentum. I hadn't checked on it in three days and when I did yesterday it had grown at least three feet!!!! The first harvest is gone and just in time to make room for this colossal vine tearing it's way through my garden right now. I have two solid good months and quite possibly a bit in October for it to grow. I'll keep my fingers crossed for an Indian Summer.

GOOD OMENS

2010-08-02T17:45:00.000-04:00

RANDOM EXQUISITE BEAUTY - TAILLESS WHIP SCORPION

2010-07-29T16:14:00.002-04:00

Amblypygi is an order of invertebrate animals belonging to the class Arachnida, in the subphylum Chelicerata of the phylum Arthropoda. Amblypygids are also known as whip spiders and tailless whip scorpions (not to be confused with whip scorpions that belong to the Arachnid order Thelyphonida). The name "amblypygid" means "blunt rump", a reference to a lack of the telson ("tail") carried by related species.

As of 2002, approximately 5 families, 17 genera and 136 species have been discovered. They are found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Some species are subterranean; many are nocturnal. During the day, they may hide under logs, bark, stones, or leaves. They prefer a humid environment.
Amblypygi are not true spiders or true scorpions, but a distinct arachnid order.

2010-07-19T23:10:00.000-04:00

Help establish a new shark santuary in Raja Ampat, Indonesia

2010-07-08T18:12:00.001-04:00

I just signed this petition...please do the same right now HERE

THIS IS THE END, BEAUTIFUL FRIEND

2010-06-11T10:07:00.003-04:00

VOLUNTEER HERE...NOW!!!

RANDOM EXQUISITE BEAUTY - TIGER BEETLE

2010-05-23T11:10:00.005-04:00

The tiger beetles are a large group of beetles known for their predatory habits. Some tiger beetles can run at a speed of 8 km/h (5 mph). For its size it has been suggested that they are technically the fastest running land animals.
MORE ON WIKI

Nearly 2,000 acres between Lincoln and Ceresco will be designated critical habitat for the Salt Creek tiger beetle, one of the rarest insects in the world.
ENDANGERED SALT CREEK TIGER BEETLE GETS PROTECTION - READ MORE HERE

COMING SOON - SUMMER 2010

2010-05-23T11:00:00.004-04:00

A collection of tee's inspired by the town's in Stephen King novels.

FIELD STUDIES IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

2010-05-13T07:27:00.004-04:00

Cornelia Hesse-Honegger, scientific artist born 1944 in Zürich Switzerland, was trained and von Tschernobylworked for 25 years as a scientific illustrator. She works at the interface between art and science. Her watercolours are highly regarded for their beauty as well as their critical message and are exhibited in museums and galleries internationally. In the 1970s she painted insects and spiders. At that time she became fascinated by leaf bugs, the Heteroptera. At first, she collected leaf bugs around her house in Gockhausen near Zurich where she lived with her husband and two sons. Initially she became sensitized to man made’ deformities on insects by being asked to paint mutated lab flies (Drosophilidae) in 1967 for her professor in the Zoology Department of the University of Zürich. In 1985 she continued to paint the ‘man made’ deformities that she was finding in mutated flies that had been in the laboratory.
In summer 1987, just one year after the catastrophe at Chernobyl, Hesse-Honegger collected leaf bugs in fallout areas of the Chernobyl radioactive cloud in Sweden and the south of Switzerland. In 1988 she continued her search for deformed leaf bugs in the environs of Swiss nuclear power plants, and extended this work to areas close to European nuclear power plants and reprocessing plants, including Chernobyl, as well as to contaminated areas in the USA. Her publications created considerable controversy in the media. Scientists reacted with scepticism if not outright hostility towards her findings. In the following years, popular interest in the ‘nuclear threat’ diminished but she continued with her research, making ‘manmade destruction in nature’ visible by painting disturbed leaf bugs, and making protocols, maps, and books.
Field study in the environs of Swiss nuclear power plants

Cornelia Hesse-Honegger's SITE

ENDANGERED SANDPLAIN GERARDIA

2010-05-09T21:55:00.004-04:00

Restoring meadows in Sayville to save a tiny plant

A 30-foot pine crashed down in the woods behind a Sayville soccer field. Branches shuddered as a big machine - part tank, part mower - advanced on it again, snapping the trunk like a matchstick.

"You're going to start hearing the grinder right now, and it's kind of loud," said Azucena Ponce, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which owns the land.

Knocking down trees might seem like a strange thing to do at a nature preserve. But this rapidly growing clearing at the Sayville unit of the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex is actually part of a habitat restoration project. The goal: to protect a tiny federally endangered plant, and preserve a snapshot of a Long Island ecosystem near extinction.

Sandplain gerardia is an annual plant 4 to 8 inches tall whose delicate pink flowers bloom in late spring in the region's few surviving patches of grassland. Known scientifically as Agalinis acuta, it is the sole plant in New York State on the federal endangered species list. It grows at a handful of sites on Long Island, where coastal grasslands have largely given way to development.

Last year more than 2,000 sandplain gerardia plants bloomed at the 102-acre Sayville preserve, which hosts the biggest local population. To expand the plant's range, the wildlife service is turning back the clock by converting woodland back into meadow; 29 acres have been cleared since 2007.

About 8 acres of trees have been felled this year, Ponce said on a recent spring day. She walked across a newly mowed section. It was springy underfoot, strewn with pine needles and shredded bark.

"The point of the project is to protect the gerardia plant," Ponce said, "but there are also a lot of state-threatened plants here - and butterflies." She said the project will also open up more hunting for foxes and hawks and expand breeding areas for grassland birds like the Eastern meadowlark.

Picky plants like sandplain gerardia serve as indicator species to show that ecosystems are healthy. To thrive, sandplain gerardia needs exposed soil and the company of other native grasses like broom sedge and indiangrass.

But grasslands don't stay grasslands for long - and suburban development isn't the only reason they're in decline. Natural fires once swept Long Island's prairies, burning out saplings and exposing the bare soil. More recently, cattle grazing in coastal pastures in Montauk performed a similar function, said Marilyn Jordan, a plant scientist with the Nature Conservancy on Long Island.

Left unchecked, scrub pines and oaks take hold of meadows and over time transform them into forests, a process ecologists call succession.

Aerial photos of the Sayville property show there were about 54 acres of maritime grassland back in 1984. But by 2007 - when the Federal Aviation Administration turned the land over to the wildlife service - only 12 acres were left.

That kind of change is bad news for rare grassland plants like sandplain gerardia, whose tiny seeds can't take hold without plenty of light.

"If brush and trees grow up, bye Agalinis," Jordan said.

That's where the grinder comes in.

Attached to the front of a 12-ton vehicle, it's a rotating drum equipped with carbide teeth that chew up trees and spit out mulch.

"When I come into a tree, I'll raise the mower up about eight feet high," said operator Jamie Smith, the contractor who is clearing the land. "You get it up top, so the tree is still in the ground, and you can chew up the meat of the trees right to the ground."

The machine guzzles about seven gallons of diesel an hour. It moves on tanklike tracks that distribute its weight to avoid compacting the soil.

Trees that have grown too stout and sturdy for the mower to handle will be felled with chain saws; then Smith will grind them up.

It's a lot of work for the sake of a little plant.

But Jordan says the effort is crucial to protect sandplain gerardia - and the grasslands themselves - from extinction. "They're kind of like Noah's Ark floating in a sea of development," she said, "preserving our ecological heritage."

-Courtesy of Newsday

WATCH VIDEO

WIKI

BARNABY AND THE GIANT PUMPKIN

2010-05-05T17:00:00.004-04:00

Spring has arrived!!! I have already started my indoor seeds months ago and the little babies have sprouted...boc choy, swiss chard, purple carrots, stinging nettles, ghost peppers, heirloom tomatoes, bitter gourds, a plethora of herbs, and much more... life abundant!!!!! And this is just the starter. I have green thumbs to say the least but this year I have a new project. Dill's Atlantic Giant Pumpkin!!! I am pretty excited being it will my first attempt at a prize winning pumpkin the size of a Volkswagen. I'm sure I'm not entering any contests this year because who knows how it will turn out but if I sing to it maybe just maybe. This is simply phase one...one of many enduring, tedious steps in nurturing this monster to a decent size. I will, of course, keep you posted on progress as it happens.

DILL'S ATLANTIC SITE - if you want grow one yourself

RANDOM EXQUISITE BEAUTY - THE BOX JELLIES

2010-04-17T13:53:00.004-04:00

Box jellyfish, named for their vaguely cube-shaped medusae, are a class of invertebrates belonging to the phylum cnidaria ("box jellyfish" is a common name for the notoriously dangerous Chironex fleckeri). Box jellyfish are known for the extremely potent venom produced by some species. Along with Chironex fleckeri, Carukia barnesi and Malo kingi are among the most venomous creatures in the world. Stings from these species are often fatal to prey animals, and extremely painful, but only occasionally fatal to humans

REAN MORE ABOUT THE BOX JELLIES ON WIKI

Irukandji jellyfish (pronounced /ˈɪrəˌkændʒi/, EER-ə-KAND-jee) are tiny and extremely venomous jellyfish that are found all over the world,[1] and which cause symptoms collectively known as Irukandji syndrome. Its size is roughly no larger than a centimetre cubed. So far, there are two known species of Irukandji: Carukia barnesi and the recently discovered Malo kingi.
The symptoms of Irukandji syndrome were first documented by Hugo Flecker[2] in 1952 and named after the Irukandji people whose country stretches along the coastal strip north of Cairns, Queensland.[3] The first-known of these jellyfish, Carukia barnesi, was identified in 1964 by Dr. Jack Barnes; in order to prove it was the cause of Irukandji syndrome, he captured the tiny jelly and stung himself, his son, and a life guard.[4]

MORE ABOUT IRUKANDJI

LEARNING TO FLY

2010-04-07T13:49:00.003-04:00

I had to see it...even though I knew it may ruin my day watching it suffer in the unrelenting surf. "Mother Nature is a cold bitch," I was thinking as I trudged down the beach back to my car. It was a beautiful day, first this spring, and I could take comfort in this...we are in this together...us humans, the whales, the birds, the plankton, the amoeba's. We all live and we will all surely die. It may be our paths to kill ourselves or it may be that we wash ashore and wonder why we hadn't moved when nature spoke to us. That Humpback though...I suspect he got lost or perhaps sick. I am glad I got to see up close this wonderful creature. When you looked into it's eye you could hear it speaking to you much like when you look into another persons eye. There was a language there despite whether or not you speak whale. It was a privilege, this fine day, to better understand that we are all one and that we should all...always...seek out oneness in ourselves as well as the oneness that we are as a collective.

April 7, 2010

RANDOM EXQUISITE BEAUTY - THE ARGONAUT

2010-04-06T18:36:00.004-04:00

The Argonaut or Paper Nautilus

The argonauts (genus Argonauta, the only extant genus in the Argonautidae family) are a group of pelagic octopuses. They are also called paper nautiluses, referring to the paper-thin eggcase that females secrete. This structure lacks the gas-filled chambers present in chambered nautilus shells and is not a true cephalopod shell, but rather an evolutionary innovation unique to the genus Argonauta. Of its names, "argonaut" means "sailor on the Argo", and "nautilus" is Greek ναυτίλος = "sailor", because it was formerly supposed to use its shell-secreting arms as sails when it was on the surface.

READ MORE ON WIKI

DRINK WELL

2010-04-02T16:30:00.000-04:00

West Sayville Watershed

Spring/Summer 2010 FIRST LOOK

2010-03-30T17:41:00.002-04:00

DISCOVERUS ENLIGHTENMENTUS...SNEAK PEEK

2010-03-16T21:09:00.004-04:00

SRPING/SUMMER 2010 PREVIEW

2010-03-11T18:11:00.005-05:00

This is one of five designs for The Discoverus Enlightenmentus collection which pays hommage to men who have discovered and paved the way to the natural order of life here on earth.

WOLFGANG WANDER

2010-01-17T11:15:00.005-05:00

I've recently had the pleasure to meet Wolfgang Wander who shot a few press photos for me in a pinch.

WOLFGANG'S FLICKR

GEORGE CARLIN - SAVE THE PLANET

2010-01-12T21:41:00.001-05:00

MOTHER EARTH NEWS

2010-01-10T20:54:00.003-05:00

CLICK HERE

WHICH LEADS ME TO THIS...

2009-12-31T16:51:00.004-05:00

On my last post I put pics up of a hike I did one afternoon at a local nature preserve. Much to my dismay every step I took on the beach there was PLASTIC!!!! Namely water bottles from bottles water. I'm posting a trailer to this documentary about the state of the bottles water industry in the world. It is pretty alarming and all should take head, think twice before you buy bottled water and support tap water. watch and learn. take initiative now.

OFFICIAL MOVIE SITE

ANOTHER 5 STEPS

2009-12-10T22:59:00.001-05:00

DAVID WELD SANCTUARY BEACH CLEAN UP

2009-12-10T22:48:00.003-05:00

This was every 5 steps on the beach at The David Weld Sanctuary. Every step in bewtween looked exactly the same.

DAVID WELD SANCTUARY

2009-12-03T09:17:00.003-05:00

Quoge Wildlife Sanctuary - The Barn, The Peregrine & The Great Horned

2009-11-29T11:12:00.004-05:00

PINE BARRENS DURING WWII

2009-11-28T22:04:00.001-05:00

The barely noticable, outlines where put there during WWII for target practice. They represent Japanese battle ships and air craft carriers. While most of the outlines have long since been buried under the forest, while hiking on the fire trails, I found part of them. They are as clear as day, bright white stones that clearly are not supposed to be there. Subsequently the area that these outlines are was an area of the Pine Barrens that burned in 1995.