Wildlife

Here in Massachusetts, if some fucker cuts down or otherwise damages trees on my, or someone else’s, property, they can be sued for three times the value of the damage under M.G.L. c. 242, § 7. 

Good to know. Over the years we’ve planted quite a few trees. Mind you, our immediate neighbors are decent, reasonable sorts and wouldn’t come hacking at our arboreal babies willy-nilly. 

You never know when a MAGAt will snap though. Those execrable beasties do exist here in blue, blue Massachusetts, just in smaller numbers.

Related, I need (NEED) to pick up The Hidden Life of Trees by German forester Peter Wohlleben. In it he argues that to save the world’s forests we must first recognize that trees are “wonderful beings” with innate adaptability, intelligence, and the capacity to communicate with — and heal — other trees. 

Yeah, I can totally, fer real get behind this.

Have you heard? Orca and dolphins are now teaming up to hunt salmon. Together! How brilliant and crafty are they?

The research, published on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, shows interactions between northern resident orcas (also known as killer whales) and Pacific white-sided dolphins are not just chance encounters while foraging.

Extensive documentation, including drone video, acoustic recordings and underwater footage, led scientists working with the University of British Columbia, the Leibniz Institute and the Hakai Institute, to conclude the two species are working as a team.
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Video footage in the research shows the dolphins – which Fortune said act as “scouts” – cutting seamlessly through the glassy waters of the Pacific in pursuit of the salmon, which can reach nearly three feet in length. The orcas follow closely behind.

When the whales catch their prey and break them apart at the surface to share with other orcas, the dolphins scavenged the leftovers. (source) 

How long before the deeply intelligent octopuses and squids join in? Not to hunt salmon mind you but to take back dominion of Mother Earth from us profligate, degenerate, planet poisoning humans.

We really don’t stand a chance against these righteous heroes of the deep. They’re much smarter than us. People will be properly vanquished and we’ll deserve it for all our crimes against this planet.

Elsewhere in the Big Blue...

Humpback whales create nets in order to confuse and trap fish – their din-din. How do they do this? They blow bubbles.

The netting works like this: first, a humpback swims into a cloud of krill. Then, it starts swimming in a circle, blowing bubbles from its blowhole. The bubbles rise, creating a cylindrical shape with walls of air.

The krill avoid the bubbles, becoming trapped inside the net. The humpback keeps blowing bubbles, but in tighter circles.

"The circle is getting smaller and smaller and smaller so it's creating a series of rings inside the net," Szabo says. "They're perfect nested rings within each ring.”

Finally, the humpback lunges upwards, gulping the krill in one big bite. The technique confines the krill into a much smaller space, increasing the density of the prey by about seven times, Szabo says. (source) 

Why just eat when you can create art first?

You see what I’m getting at here don’t you? Humans are destroying the planet and we do NOT play well with others – not even ourselves. Maybe the whales, trees, orcas, octopuses, and all the rest of the beings who are obvs much smarter than humans will rise up and take over? They'll do it with grand style too.

An old broad can dream, eh?