GreenWatch

  B. McPherson I received the following from Change.org Take the time to have a look at it. Think about the plight of these animals before you order bacon in your BLT or those baby back ribs. Pigs are intelligent animals. If you would not treat your dog this way don't support a meat industry that treats pigs this way. If the cruelty angle isn't enough to put you off industrially produced pork, there is growing evidence that Salmonella and MRSA bacteria are becoming common in meat produced this way. I could only watch as she lay kicking and blinking, conscious and suffering, for minutes before she finally died. Pig number 46257's death was no less cruel than her life living in a filthy, metal gestation crate not much larger than her body. She could barely move. She developed sores on her face from being forced to lie pressed against the bars of her cage. By the end, she was too sick to stand. There is a reason why these 'torture chambers' have be...

B. McPherson Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Outwits, Outsmarts Bart Simpson will be sailing in spirit with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society this season. His creator, Sam Simon, has donated money to purchase a new ship, and not just any ship. It’s formerly owned by the Japanese government. The ice-strengthened ship was built for the Japanese Meterological Agency in 1993 and retired in 2010. It had done real work in the north Pacific in support of the whale hunts there. The ship was purchased through agents that did not disclose the names of the ultimate buyers. The Japanese whaling ships have left Japan and are expected in the Southern Ocean later this month. The Sea Shepherd crews will be trying to dog the wake of the factory ship, the Nisshin Maru , to prevent it from receiving any dead whales. This year’s anti-whaling campaign is called Operation Zero Tolerance and the crews are aiming at a zero kill this year. With the psychological clout of a former as...

B. McPherson Foreign companies and countries(China) control much of Canada's oil industry Today the northern BC town of Prince Rupert hosted the panel hearing concerns and information about the effect of increased oil tanker traffic on the BC coast if the Enbridge Gateway pipelines are allowed to be built. It is estimated that over 200 supertankers will ply the treacherous coastline to carry oil sands product to Asia. The hearings are expected to continue in Rupert until December 17. To help underline the hazards of big ships and the ocean, a tanker limped into the Rupert harbour on the 6 th with a crack in the hull. It is expected to be repaired and out on the water within a week. Further south, at Westshore Terminals, the big coal terminal, a freighter slammed into the trestle and coal loading facility destroying about 100 meters. The ship is reported to have had a pilot on board when the accident happened. Fortunately only coal tumbled into the ocean with this i...

B. McPherson One of the leading causes of death to whales is passing ships. An endangered fin whale has washed up on a beach near Los Angeles and is decomposing. The approximately 40 000 of whale is creating quite a smell as Mother Nature goes about recycling the whale. The stink has people in the chi chi neighbourhood of Malibu asking for it to be removed. No agency claims responsibility. It has rotted to the point that it cannot be dragged whole out to sea in any case. Suggestions that it be buried in sand would work, except that it is currently resting in a rocky area. The juvenile cetacean is about 40 feet long. It has likely been struck by a boat as it is exhibiting wounds to its back and a damaged spine. Large vessels are one of the leading causes of death to whales around the world. Only about 2300 fin whales are resident off the California coast. California has made great efforts in the past few years to clean up its coastal waters and the result has be...

B. McPherson Snowy owls are visiting from the Arctic. Snowy owls have been  spotted on Vancouver Island and points south. This has the bird watchers all aflutter as these beautiful birds belong in the Arctic. They are adapted for life on the tundra with their thick feather coats and their white spotted camouflage. I haven’t seen any of the interlopers as of yet, but they have appeared during the day and in unexpected places. Vancouver Island is mostly snow free through the winter and trees are abundant. This seems to confuse the birds as they are not used to trees. They have even been sighted perching on the railings of the ferry that plies between the mainland and the island. This is the second year that snowies have been showing up this far south. Last year large numbers flew south across the continent. It was surmised that they were looking for food. There had been a couple of good years for the lemming population in the Arctic and the snowies benefitted from an...