I find squid pretty inherently interesting. They’re believed to be smart, and I’d call them beautiful, but they’re also so alien to our terrestrial, vertebrate selves.
Even more interesting, or perhaps alarming, is what’s happening with the Humboldt squid in B.C. waters.
First, why are they here? They’re native to northern Mexico, but in the past [...]
Posts under ‘Environment’
Squid surveillance, in several ways
A decent year for some threatened whales
One whale story begets another, I suppose.
Researching another story this week on humpbacks, I called up Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard at the Vancouver Aquarium. He’s a scientist with a gift for speaking clearly, and he studies marine mammals on our coast. He’s also the co-chair of the Killer Whale Recovery Team organized by Fisheries and [...]
Are humpbacks still endangered?
When I worked on B.C.’s Central Coast in the summer of 2000, seeing a humpback whale was a rare treat. They’re huge, but far more acrobatic than their grey whale cousins we were studying.
The good news is: seeing a humpback whale in the North Pacific isn’t as rare anymore.
They’re considered threatened in Canada, and for [...]
The dirt on clean: avoiding antibacterials
With all the talk about swine flu and handwashing, I decided to take questions from parents to an expert in public health, Dr. Bonnie Henry with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. (CBC story here).
Dr. Henry just published a book on preventing disease spread, called Soap and Water & Common Sense, and has been [...]
Opting out of phone books: Yes, and not yet but soon
I did a story for CBC News in Vancouver today that’s already getting a bunch of comments on our site. It’s about phone books being delivered that aren’t wanted, and what companies are doing about it.
Not one but two thick business directories arrived on Vancouver doorstops a few weeks ago. I didn’t think much more [...]
Talking trash with the Clean Bin Project
I spent yesterday morning with the people behind The Clean Bin Project, Jen and Grant. As I showed in my CBC story (video link) last night, they haven’t taken out the garbage in seven (!) months. They’re buying almost nothing, except food, and even with edibles they’re following strict rules to reduce packaging and waste.
If [...]
Could composting be the new recycling?
We started composting at home about two years ago. I had been resistant: the smell, the slop, the fruit flies. My only previous compost experience was a big rotting pile at the back of a Kits rental that itself seemed to be returning to the earth.
But a friend who goes through a lot of dirt [...]
Cleaning the peanut butter jar
Update: Thanks to @marklise, @nolanzak, @davejohnson, @ChrisParry and @eco_smart for their suggestions via Twitter! If you have a suggestion, let me know.
I’ll admit it, I was a little resistant to taking on what are generally called “consumer stories” on my beat as an environment reporter. (Find out why after the jump)
But my editors have been [...]