The Dwarf Minke Whale Experience
(If you missed it, start from part 1)
Day 1 – Dreams Come True
5.00pm – After an all day trip from Sydney to Cairns, and Cairns to Port Douglas – I finally boarded what was to be my home for the next six days – a gorgeous little boat called the Phoenix.
The boat crew were warm and welcoming, including Pete the skipper, Michelle the dive instructor with more qualifications than you could count and Charlie the chef. Soon enough the guests started to arrive, among them was Richard Fitzpatrick – an Emmy nominated filmmaker and world renowned shark scientist along with his sidekick - Dr Dean Miller. Dean, also a marine scientist, has worked with Richard on a number projects, on this trip he was here to film the underwater world of the Minke whale. Then there was of course the wonderful John Rumney - a well-loved raconteur and champion for the environment.
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The Dwarf Minke Whale Experience
(If you missed it, start from part 1)
An Adventure to Behold
The trip was organised by John Rumney founder of Eye to Eye Marine Encounters, an ecotourism venture which teams up with world-class marine scientists to offer the ultimate in adventure diving on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea.
John Rumney has joined WWF-Australia’s campaign calling for the Coral Sea to be declared a Marine Protected Area - with the aim to unite tourism with research to help people understand the ‘the necessity of marine conservation now and into the future’. That’s John’s mission, and ours too.
The scientific research carried out aboard the boat is part of the Minke Whale Project. A joint initiative of researchers from James Cook University, the Museum of Tropical Queensland and Undersea Explorer. This is its 12th successive year of dwarf minke whales field studies, focusing on their behaviour, biology and interactions with divers and snorkellers in the northern Great Barrier Reef.
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The Dwarf Minke Whale Experience
The Coral Sea is one of the world’s last remaining pristine tropical marine environments, a vast wilderness comprised of diverse habitats that play host to a wide range of our ocean’s top predators including whales, sharks and turtles.
Last month I was fortunate enough to join a team of marine scientists, professional photographers and filmmakers on a boat trip that combined a once in a life time experience – to swim with a whale - with hands on scientific research to help understand the biology, ecology and behaviour of these extra ordinary animals that we still know so little about.
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I’ve done it! I ran 10km over the weekend for the first time. To be honest, i had my doubts about whether i actually could do a whole 10km. But i did. I even improved my average pace from 7.5 min/km to 6.2 min/km. I’m not sure what that really means in the running world, but i’m pretty happy with the result. Now that i know i can do the run, I’ll be concentrating on keeping my fitness up and improving my time. I’m hoping to get down to about 5 min/km, but that might be wishful thinking.
In the past week, since i’ve looked at my carbon footprint, my shopping habits have changed. I now look critically at anything i buy and opt for the least amount of packaging. I’m washing out jars and tins and I’m recycling all plastic material. I’m also now more aware of how often I leave lights on in the house and how I drive everywhere. Right now i’m looking at other ways i can reduce my carbon footprint apart from recycling plastic. Ill let you know what i come up with.
Kasia @ WWF
Nearly a week has passed since I joined up to the Nike Human Race. Training is coming along nicely. My biggest hurdle is being able to run for a long distance without getting too bored. Luckily my iPod helps me out, giving me a little swing to each step.
I’ve been very impressed with the Nike+ program on my iPod. I love how you can set targets (time or distance) and it provides updates on the speed you are travelling and how much further you have left to go. It’s also really cool how you can plug your iPod into your computer, connect it with your Nike+ account and see a visual graph of how you did in the run. You can then see when you slow down, or if you do at all!
As part of training for this race I decided to look at what climate change means. For my first step, I took a look at my carbon footprint using WWF’s footprint calculator. I was astonished that my current lifestyle uses 2 earths! The footprint calculator allows you to pledge certain reductions in your lifestyle and shows the impact these pledges will have.
My pledge for the coming weeks is to purchase products that use less packaging or are made out of 100% (PCR) recycled material. This will lower my impact to 1.7 earths. In the week of the Nike Human Race (31st of August) I’ll re-do my footprint calculation and see if I was able to reduce my impact to 1.7 earths.
Good luck to everyone else who is training. Today I will be trying my first 10km run.
Kasia @ WWF
Hi! I’m Kasia, WWF’s online manager and Nike’s newest entrant in the Nike Human Race.
Having recently moved back to Sydney from my Queensland permaculture hobby farm, I’m actively looking at ways I can further reduce my footprint. Working with WWF and its inspiring people, I see the amazing effort put into conserving our natural environment. Out of the office, I’m usually found in the great outdoors… the remoter the better.
I’m not a runner, but when I heard about the Nike Human Race I thought running with a million other people from around the world, united in making a difference for themselves and the three charities, was a great chance for me to get fit while I also make lifestyle changes to reduce my impact on the environment.
Follow my journey as I train for the Nike Human Race and run for WWF.
Kasia @ WWF
WWF’s forests expert Jana, has put together a few tips on reducing the impact of paper use on the environment.
- Think before you print! Can you read that document on the screen and circulate it by email, instead of printing out several copies?
- Collect all waste paper for recycling.
- Use papers made from post-consumer waste recycled fibre. Where virgin fibre is used look for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo, to ensure your paper comes from a well-managed forest.
Tips and Tools
- Never tick the box on a form saying you would like to receive more information.
- Stick a “no junk mail” sign on your letterbox and write to people who send you junk mail asking to be removed from their database.
- Use scraps of paper for notes instead of post-its.
- Re-use envelopes by using address labels.
- Archive information electronically.
- Print double sided
- Use the blank sides of unneeded single-sided copies for printing drafts.
- Use outdated letterhead for in-house memos.
- Designate a printer for draft printing and use only used paper in its paper tray.
- Set up office systems to pass reports/magazines/newspapers around to multiple readers, rather than ordering and producing multiple copies.
- Keep paper for recycling separate from other paper supplies.
- Use thinner paper.
The thickness of paper we use makes a big difference both in terms of cost as well as the amount of paper used. You can find the reference to the thickness of paper on the package, mostly ranging from 60gsm or g/m2 (grams per square metre) to 100gsm.
Heavier weight sheets use more fibre, cost more per sheet and cost more to post. Most printers work well with 70gsm and 80gsm. Using thinner paper most often does not change the performance and can save money too.
Paper with a basis weight of
- 60gsm uses and costs 20% more than 50gsm;
- 70gsm uses and costs 15% more than 60gsm;
- 80gsm uses and costs 12% more than 70gsm;
- 100gsm uses and costs 20% more than 80gsm
Lets all do our part and buy paper with the least amount of impact on the environment!
Hi – I’m Lydia, WWF Australia’s Tropical Marine and Coastal Policy Manager and I am so excited to be part of WWF’s campaign to Save the Coral Sea.
I just spent the last few days in Port Douglas meeting with the some wonderful scientists from James Cook University to learn more about the beautiful Dwarf MinkeWhale. These magnificent creatures are a regular visitor of the Northern Great Barrier Reef between June and July and are known to inhabit the Coral Sea. It was fascinating to learn about these research that James Cook University are doing in collaboration Museum of tropical Queensland and Undersea Explorer – apparently the whales have been shown to exhibit a behavior called pirouetting where they spin vertically in water like a ballerina - amazing!
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Future generations face hunger, thirst, disease and disaster if we carry on trashing the environment. Sounds like a stark warning, from WWF, as the world celebrates World Environment Day.
I’ve taken it upon myself today, to research what kind of future we all have in a world were environmental issues are in the news everywhere.
Food, clean water, medicines and protection from natural hazards are important ingredients in maintaining our security and quality of life. But, if we want to continue living the way we do then the species, natural habitats and ecosystems that support them need to be protected.
I think this message hit me hardest upon reading WWF’s report 2010 and Beyond: Rising to the Biodiversity Challenge. While reading a report may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it explains how we all will be affected in our changing world.
But, lets not forget that today is a day to celebrate the environment. So, whether your in an office looking out the window, taking a walk, or sitting on a park bench. Take a moment from your day and appreciate the environment that’s around us.
