Orca’s Live on Explore.org

If you are unable to make it out to British Columbia, Canada to do some whale watching the next best thing is to check out the live-cams on explore.org

Explore.org offers many different live-cams: orcas, belugas, sharks, bears, elephants, even wild Bison in my home province of Saskatchewan Canada!

You can also sign up for text message alerts! Explore.org will text you when the orcas come into view on the live-cams.

Explore has also has an app available for download:  http://explore.org/apps/pages/explore_apps/

Here are some of my favourites to check out below.

Orcas off the coast of British Columbia:

Orcalab Base – http://explore.org/live-cams/player/orcalab-base

Caracroft point surface – http://explore.org/live-cams/player/orcalab-cracroft-point-surface

Rubbing Beach – http://explore.org/live-cams/player/orcalab-rubbing-beach

Rubbing Beach underwater – http://explore.org/live-cams/player/orcalab-rubbing-beach-underwater

orcalab base sunrise

Sunrise on Orcalab Base live-cam

Belugas – Churchill River and Hudson Bay:

Beluga boat cam on deck – http://explore.org/live-cams/player/beluga-boat-cam-on-deck

Beluga boat cam underwater – http://explore.org/live-cams/player/beluga-boat-cam-underwater

belugas

Beluga boat cam – underwater

Bears – Katamai National Park, Alaska:

Brooks Falls – Katamai National Park, Alaska – http://explore.org/live-cams/player/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

Brooks Falls

Brooks Falls Katamai National Park, Alaska

 

Hunger Strike for the protection of Humans & Marine Life in Queensland, Australia

Fellow Cove Guardian alumni, marine conservation campaigner and underwater photographer, Nicole McLachlan, began a hunger strike (refraining the consumption of all food and liquid with the exception of water) on February 6th, 2016, with the ultimate goal of increasing the protection of both humans and marine life off the coast of Queensland, Australia.

http://www.nicoleshungerstrike.com/

The hunger strike will be conducted by Nicole  in order to:

  • Mobilize the Queensland and Australia-wide general public to urge the Queensland State Government to invest in non lethal alternatives to shark mitigation efforts within the state as well as phasing out lethal shark control methods.

  • Raise public awareness of and highlight the destruction caused by lethal shark control programs to both marine life and humans.

  • Encourage public support for non lethal alternatives to the current shark control program in Queensland.

Nicole will continue her her  hunger strike until the following policy changes and commitments are met by the Queensland State Government/ Department of Primary Industries.

  • A commitment of at least $16 million (to match the NSW State Governments’ recent commitment) into the trial and implementation of non-lethal alternatives along Queensland beaches (to ultimately replace shark nets and drum lines).

  • A commitment to phase out all shark nets along the Queensland coast within the year 2016. These nets are a high risk to beach goers and marine rescue crews and should be removed as soon as possible.

  • A commitment to phase out all drum lines off the Queensland coastline over 5 years, by replacing these with non lethal alternatives (e.g. shark spotters programs).

Please sign Nicole’s petition on Change.org:

https://www.change.org/p/protect-both-marine-life-and-humans-along-the-queensland-coast

Follow Nicole on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/nicolemclachlan.underthesea

Sharks, A Whale & Eco-Pirate – Must see documentaries!

Sharkwater: For filmmaker Rob Stewart, exploring sharks began as an underwater adventure. What it turned into was a beautiful and dangerous life journey into the balance of life on earth. riven by passion fed from a lifelong fascination with sharks, Stewart debunks historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas. Filmed in visually stunning, high definition video, Sharkwater takes you into the most shark rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the world’s shark populations in the marine reserves of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

The Whale: tells the true story of a young, wild killer whale – an orca – nicknamed Luna, who lost contact with his family on the coast of British Columbia and turned up alone in a narrow stretch of sea between mountains, a place called Nootka Sound. Orcas are social. They live with their families all their lives. An orca who gets separated usually just fades away and dies. Luna was alone, but he didn’t fade away. There weren’t any familiar orcas in Nootka Sound, but there were people, in boats and on the shore. So he started trying to make contact. And people welcomed him. Most of them. This contact did not turn out to be simple. It was as if we humans weren’t ready for him. THE WHALE celebrates the life of a smart, friendly, determined, transcendent being from the other world of the sea who appeared among us like a promise out of the blue: that the greatest secrets in life are still to be discovered.

Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson: “Eco-Pirate” tells the story of a man on a mission to save the planet and its oceans. The film follows professional radical ecologist, Captain Paul Watson as he repeatedly flouts the law, so that he may apprehend what he sees as the more serious law-breakers: the illegal poachers of the world. Using verité sequences shot aboard his ship as a framing device, the documentary examines Watson’s personal history as an activist through archival footage and interviews, while revealing the impact of this relentless pursuit on his personal life. From the genesis of Greenpeace to sinking a pirate whaling ship off Portugal, and from clashes with fisherman in the Galapagos to Watson’s recent headline-grabbing battles with the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctica, the film chronicles the extraordinary life of the most controversial figure in the environmental movement; the heroics, the ego, the urgency of the world’s original eco-pirate.

For the oceans!