HELPING THE MUSEUM SPREAD ITS MESSAGE

Teachers or others interested in making their own branch of the Museums of Endangered Ocean Life, get in touch. We can help you find ways of helping kids create their own works of art and science that get posted in the museum, worldwide!

More importantly, we can help kids find ways to truly make a difference, no matter where they live. There is always something to do to make the world a better place, a healthier place, and more fun too. Fred can help put smiles on faces - faces of happier kids with new purpose in a new year!

Become a FRIEND OF FRED and help spread the word about those who help endangered species. Invite Fred to your school. He will bring lots of good information and connect you with others.

More information at whalemail@waypoint.com

Facing Future Explained

EXTINCT means gone, pau, from all places. Example, the O'o is extinct from its former forests in Hawaii. They no longer exist.

EXTIRPATEDmeans gone from a given area. Example, Grizzly Bears were extirpated from California about 1925. They still exist.

ENDANGERED means that a species is nearing extinction unless actions are taken immediately to save them. It is usually a legal term associated with the Endangered Species Act, but because this is a political tool, it does not always reflect accurate science. Example: the Hawaiian Monk Seal is endangered and will likely become extinct.

THREATENED means that a species is likely to near extinction and become endangered unless actions are taken to protect it and its habitat. Example: Bald Eagles were threatened but have been removed from this list due to habitat protection and reductions in use of chemicals such as DDT.

SPECIES OF CONCERN: Many states have lists that include species not covered under federal protection as endangered or threatened. These may be species extirpated from the state, but present in greater numbers in neighboring areas.

Unfortunately, no reasonable approach has been worked out to list endangered habitats, the primary living space for all life forms. To many scientists, the entire Arctic is now endangered. Imagine, as Richard Ellis says, "If Australia were suddenly to disappear, don't you think we would wake up and do something?" Well, we are losing an area about the size and importance of Australia as the Arctic disappears, transforming due to climate change and taking with it the Polar Bears, Bowhead Whales, and Peoples dependent on that vast ecosystem.

Friday, February 19, 2010

COUGAR TALES --- HELPING OCEANS FROM MOUNTAIN TOP TO THE SEA


COUGAR
Like Cheetahs, Lions, and Orcas,
Cougars are major predators
and they are America's symbol of wild places and healthy watersheds.
This beautiful portrayal of the cougar and its mountain world is from
SNAKE TO THE SEA,
a Big Book created by students of Wilson School
in Wilson, Wyoming.
The book takes us on a journey from headwaters in the Rockies,
through deep canyons in Idaho,
to where the Snake meets the Columbia and flows on to the Pacific Ocean.

Each page unfolds in this magnificent accordion book to reveal
child art and writing that explore history, culture, and ecology
of the entire watershed.
Like any great piece of art, you have to see the book in person
to appreciate its special beauty - but even this small view does
let you look into the eyes of one of its most important pieces,
the cougar staring out from a mountain so connected
to all the rest of the world up and downstream.

Eagle, deer, beaver, people --- all are connected to the cougar
and so,
if we take care of each of their needs,
we can hope for a healthier world, from mountain to the sea. 

Thanks to the students, staff, and parents at Wilson School. 

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