A month after a blue whale was killed by the propellers of a survey ship off the coast near Fort Bragg, some big questions remain, among them, how did this happen, and could it have been prevented?

The crew of the Pacific Star only became aware of their ship’s deadly encounter with the blue whale when its propeller stopped, reports Shelia Semans, the sea floor mapping project manager for the Ocean Protection Council and the Coastal Conservancy. But that moment was quickly fatal for the whale, a conclusion that was confirmed by examinations of its beached body.

Steve Sullivan, an outspoken critic of the mapping project, contends the participating ships have failed to comply with applicable regulations governing sonar surveying, because their sponsoring organizations have disregarded those rules.

Sheila Semans counters that the type of sonar used by the navy and other large vessels in commercial shipping lanes is markedly different than the sonar technology used in sea floor mapping in shallow coastal waters.

This video shows the size of the whale carcass, soon after it washed ashore Oct. 20, a little south of Fort Bragg. The rectangular section of skin and blubber that is missing above the tail was removed by scientists studying the dead animal. The fatal wounds are on the underside, not visible to the camera.

What we don’t know about insects could—and just about does—fill an entire planet. But what we do know makes for an interesting event tomorrow on the  Sonoma State University campus.

Insecta-palooza is a catchy name for the event, but Frederique Laviopierre (right)  confides that it wasn’t the one they started with.

When she came to KRCB to talk about this event, Laviopierre brought along a six-legged companion she introduced as her favorite bug, at least for right now.

The images below are examples of the Australian stick bug, isloated to give you a good look at left, and a young one in its natural environment at the right.

These images of the Australian stick bug are taken from the webpage of  another fan of the insects, which has more pictures and additional information here.

Some invasive plants in northern California will not tolerate higher temperatures and other habitat changes resulting from global warming. But there are others that can be expected to thrive and spread even further.

Elizabeth Brusati is program manager for the California Invasive Plant Council.  She was among the presenters at the State of the Laguna Conference in Rohnert Park last week, where  one area of emphasis was  strategies for adapting watershed ecosystems to climate change.

U.S. law gives constitutional rights to corporations. Now a countervailing legal theory is emerging that defines and defends the legal rights of the environment.

Mari Margill is Associate Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, based in their West Coast office in Portland, Oregon. But as she explains here, the organization's origins lie in Pennsylvania.


Obtaining legal standing for nature, says Margill, requires enacting new laws to spell that out, something that is beginning to happen in scattered local jurisdictions, but faces an uncertain future on appeal.

For more information about CELFD click here.