SCDNR is reminding boaters to avoid collision with various forms of marine life; specifically: to be on the lookout for endangered animals, especially now that the first manatees of the season have been spotted along the S.C. coastline.

Like every other spring, manatees begin their slow migration up the S.C. coast since water temperatures rise into the upper 60s. This time frame may be shifted a little going forward due to global warming’s effect on ocean temperatures, so be aware of updates to this affect.

SCDNR has several tidbits of information about manatees on their website, and if you do happen to spot one, they encourage you to file a report on their Manatees in South Carolina web page.   Read more...

Two South Carolina locations make this year’s list for Most Endangered Places in the South: the Great Pee Dee River and John’s Island.

The Southern Environment Law Center says these places are facing immediate, potentially irreversible threats today. Their list below illustrates the cultural, ecological, and scenic riches at stake now.

1. Clinch and Powell Rivers, Virginia – Issue: Construction of a new coal-fired power plant in Wise County will accelerate mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia, and further increase mercury levels in the Clinch and Powell rivers.
2. Interstate 81 Corridor, Virginia – Issue: Virginia officials are reexamining a plan to widen all 325 miles of I-81 to perhaps eight lanes to support long-haul truck traffic – a plan that would cost billions of dollars and cause tremendous harm to communities and historic, scenic, and environmental resources.
  Read more...

Right whales off North America’s east coast are dwindling to dangerous levels – nearing extinction with only 350 to 400 North Atlantic whales alive today.

Even though they are far away from the international law-breaking Japanese whale hunters, their newest enemy is our own government. Just recently, the Supreme Court sided with the Navy for a sonar training range which harms marine wildlife according to many environmentalists.

With funding by NOAA Fisheries, (another arm of Uncle Sam) Wildlife Trust is busy right now monitoring the last known calving grounds of the N.A. right whales. As this image shows, the calving grounds extend from the upper half of Florida to North Carolina.

An entangled Right whale.
Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission   Read more...

With so many people here to read last week’s Monkey Island, SC post, it seems poignant to show off a listing of primates around the world that are endangered right now, so take a second to enjoy the faces of all these primates, because who knows, they may not be here tomorrow.

Rondo Dwarf Galago Galagoides rondoensis	Ceylon Mtn. Slender Loris Loris tardigradus nycticeboides	Greater Bamboo Lemur Prolemur simus	Brown Spider Monkey Ateles hybridus
Pennant’s Red Colobus Procolobus p. pennantii	Simakobu Simias concolor	White-Collared Lemur Eulemur albocollaris	Brown-headed Spider M. Ateles f. fusciceps
Tana River Red Colobus Procolobus rufomitratus	Siau Island Tarsier Tarsius sp. nov.	Silky Sifaka Propithecus candidus	Yellow-tailed Woolly M. Oreonax flavicauda