There is a constant barrage of negative news about the environment. I’m guilty of giving you a dose of it each week. Humans appear to have a negative bias that makes us pay more attention to dangerous things.
I must have two of those genes in my DNA. It is part of our evolutionary survival strategy but some psychologists say that constant bad news can lead to pessimism, disapproval, stress, anxiety, depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
As a coping mechanism the mind starts a numbing process so that it is no longer affected by negative stimuli, like: “The world is going to fry due to global warming and you and all your children are going to drown and there’s nothing you can do about it,” (all without punctuation). Is your head buried in the sand yet?
By the way, if you were wondering about those ostriches, they do not stick their heads in the sand in response to danger. They attack you with lethally sharp talons and strong legs, so don’t go chasing them now.
There is a need for positive news. Environmental commentators need to show the beauty of the world and how valuable it is. Valuable things are cared for as opposed to problems that are avoided, no longer discussed.
When I was part of the Trini Eco Warriors environmental group, some folks used to laugh and call us the Trini Eco Worriers.
It was a well-meant joke, a reminder to celebrate our natural world and to dig deep inside and overcome the natural tendency to be the bringer of bad news. So here it goes, my attempt at good environmental news–and trust me, I am digging deep.
I so badly want to write about the near impossibility of carbon sequestration in our lifetime, without which we are not going to be able to surv….. Let me catch myself and talk about whales.
Said one whale to the other: “Yo mon, yuh alright? Long time no see, boy. Gimme a bounce nah. OK, I go swim over dey and eat me some more squid.”
As it turns out, Caribbean sperm whales have distinct accents, just like we do. This bit of information comes to us from Shane Gero, the founder of the Dominica Sperm Whale Project and a research fellow at Aarhus University in Denmark. Gero spent six years listening to Caribbean sperm whales. He found that Caribbean sperm whales speak in dialect.
Blue whales have haunting songs that travel for thousands of miles, representing the mysteries of the deep ocean. Sperm whales have a totally different sound.
They make clicking sounds. The first time you hear a recording of sperm whale speech you can’t help think of the clicking sounds of the Khoikhoi people of Southern Africa, well at least I couldn’t. Sperm whale speech consists of sequences of clicks called codas.
Theirs have codas that are specific to their family and regional groups. One coda translates to “I am from the Caribbean, are you?”
Whales are social animals and their unique codas, or dialects, allow them to recognise and bond with each other. This helps them survive in the ocean. So whales communicate, bond and they also have a culture that is recognisable to each other.
Staying on land this time, a massive seven foot boa constrictor, what we call a macajuel snake in T&T, was seen in Palmiste Park and nobody killed it.
Letting a snake live is a small but important victory for Trinidadians and Tobagonians. This macajuel was so big that it must have had a good life eating many Palmiste Park rats. Hopefully it will eat many more.
I credit this wholly to the Wildlife and Environmental Protection of Trinidad and Tobago (WEPTT) NGO, headed by Kristopher Rattansingh, Tarique Ali and Kishan Ramcharan (who just recently left the group, but his contribution has not gone unnoticed).
WEPTT continuously spreads the word, via social media videos, that snakes are beneficial to the ecosystem and must be protected. If they are in conflict with humans, then WEPTT relocates them to safe areas. A third story is about all the little fishes working together to take on the big fish.
A hunter contacted me this week to tell me that he doesn’t really like me, no doubt because I was in favour of the hunting ban, but that he wants us to work together to stop the overhunting of animals during this hunting season.
When we make friends with our enemies we can work together for real protection of our wildlife.
There. That’s three good stories. Now on to the asteroid that will obliterate us at 2.11 PM this afternoon….you better live life as if each moment is your last. Have a good Monday and a good week.