WE HAVE MANATEES!!!

[elleng]

- In the St. Mary's River, where the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay meet, a MANATEE was spotted feeding this afternoon!
Whole Dolphins have become commonplace and there's even a dolphin tracking site for the bay, it's pretty rare to get manatees this far north. But bay temps are like bathwater right now, and we will see a dense fog overnight from those bay waters being so warm!
This is cool, be careful out there on the bay these next couple of weekends as the wildlife is truly intense level of sheer numbers! This is when we see "roost rings" too, when millions of birds take flight in the morning sun for some breakfast and you can actually see them on the radar.... I'm hoping for a.good thick fog tomorrow to help me narrow down exact spots to see this from, if I dont go manatee chasing!

#potomacriver Photo from St. Mary's River courtesy of Maureen Kearney and the Potomac Riverkeeper Facebook page!

[Easterncedar]

1. Wow!

[Beartracks]

2. Whole Dolphins have become commonplace?

Were partial dolphins a problem before?



=============

[LoveTheDU]

22. lol

I had the same thought, took me a minute

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Ocean too hot near Flori-what-climate-change-duh. . . . . nt

[2naSalit]

4. +1

[twodogsbarking]

8. Makes me wonder if they have the same food sources that they do in Florida.

[Duppers]

5. OMG!!

Last edited Sat Aug 26, 2023, 05:14 AM - Edit history (1)

I guess there's a some chance manatees and dolphins could also be visiting the York River farther south?
(We live just yds from the York & 13m fr the Chesapeake Bay).

I'll ask dh to take binoculars when he's walking the pup down to the river park tomorrow.

[Think. Again.]

6. That's one of the scary parts...

The entire ecosystem is changing, but the various habitats and microsystems within the larger system are changing at various rates and in a variety of ways.

It would be sheer luck if any given species can migrate fast enough to a new habitat that would also be evolving into an ecosystem that can sustain that species and all it's complementary species and foraging & nesting needs.

It's happening so fast it'll all become a free-for-all competition for safe spaces pretty soon, including our species.

[mopinko]

7. there will b winners and losers.

that’s how evolution works.

[Think. Again.]

9. You might not understand...

...what the word evolution refers to.

Anyway, our planet's ecology is a complete system with many various components corking in sync to allow conditions for life.

None of those individual components could be considered winners or losers, that would be like having a sports team fight it out among themselves to see which individuals (not the whole team) will compete with the entire opposing team in a team sport.

[mopinko]

10. or i might be well educated.

which i am.

[Think. Again.]

11. Me too....

..but did your education include the concept that events outside of progressive regeneration are included in the evolutionary process?

I hope not...

[mopinko]

12. i learned that it's the environmental stressors that fuel the process.

that it is not, as i was taught back in the day- slow change over time.
it is punctuated equilibrium, where either feast of famine can juice a particular population and lead to a new species.

should i write a paper for u? this is proof that some populations will find new niches. the entire earth is not going to become uninhabitable. not all creatures will die. those that survive will adapt. those that dont will perish.
i think humans r a toss up, but i think manatees r smart enough to find a new niche.
the value of seeing it this way is that perhaps we cd find a way to make it easier. to add what may be missing.

this applies to humans. i think we shd b building green cities, higher up, safer from disasters, and give the sane a place to go. cuz we best evolve, too.

[Think. Again.]

13. I agree with a lot of what you say...

...however, you probably realize that there is more involved in species survival than an adequate niche. And that all species are interdependent on other species which will also have to find their own niche in a chaotic environmental event.

There's more reason to believe the earth could join every other dead rock in the universe than there is to believe that our unique existence as a system with perfect conditions for biological life to occur is somehow guaranteed to stay that way in the face of massive systemic upheaval.

Think of it as 'universal' entropy.

[mopinko]

14. obviously. but

i dont see it becoming another dead rock for a very long time.
i cd be wrong. but i honestly think there will be surprising successes. so much knowledge has been gained in the last couple decades.
it’s been a good 20yrs since they restored the des plaines river here. a meandering river had been ‘improved’ by the wpa, and had become a degraded muddy mess. 10s of thou $ was spent, w no one knowing if it wd work. in the 1st yrs after completion, the wading birds had started to return. in 5 yrs, it was close to good as new.

look at how wolves remodeled yellowstone, to the benefit of almost every species there. just w the adjustment of adding an apex predator.
much of the uk, and parts of europe r well along in rewilding. if we cd just rewild the american lawn, it wd have an impact.

there will be tipping points that we cant predict now. if we r smart and dedicated, we can put our hands on those pivot points, and guide them toward a better outcome.
i see little diff btn ppl who cover their ears and sing lalalalala and ppl who think it will all be cinders next week.

[Think. Again.]

16. Your examples show...

...the benefits of restoring conditions to previous evolutionary balances.

Mitigation of and adaptation to ecological systems disruption is a different effort with intentionally different desired results.

Downplaying the fact that human activity is causing a possibly existential crisis, and replacing that discussion with the thin hope that we will make up quick fixes as we go along is dangerous and irresponsible.

[mopinko]

17. i'm not downplaying anything.

and if we dont find some quick fixes in small places, we r dead.
tho u have a point, evolving by moving to new territory is absolutely a thing.

we r absolutely a parasitic species which the planet wd do well to rid itself of. the damage we have done will continue to accumulate past my grandchildren’s lifetimes.
but i see zero harm in doing what can b done. esp as we have accumulated so much data, so much tech, and there r actually is a lot of low hanging fruit.

count me in the- what if we made the world a better place for nothing?- camp.
a lot of things we ought to do will make the lives of the ppl doing them better right now. better farming techniques mean healthier farmers, hopefully making more money.
paying farmers to take landscape waste and build hugelpiles stops soil and fertilizer runoff, and builds new soil. simple tech. sequesters carbon. win win win.
there’s a lot more where that comes from.

y wd we not do what we can? and y do u think my opinion on a message board has the power to b dangerous?

[Think. Again.]

18. I can see we're taking two approaches...

...you seem to be firmly in the camp of adaptation and mitigation to the negative effects of whatever humans do, and I'm focused on humans considering what they do in the hope of decreasing those negative effects in the first place.

And yes, I do believe your publicly expressed opinion does (and should) have a place in our shared efforts in community actions. As of posting this reply, this thread has 966 views. Those viewers may discuss this topic and your opinions with others. All those people and probably more will be influenced to some degree by what you have expressed here.

[mopinko]

19. i'm for an- all hands on deck- approach.

that’s all i’m sayin.
if u want to hang the oil execs, i’ll bring a rope. meanwhile, i will b a thoughtful steward of the tiny bit of this planet over which i lord.
having seen how subtle the ways of nature can b, how such small changes can cause a wave, hell yes i’m tossing any stones i have into the pond, and hoping the ripples join others and make a wave.

[Think. Again.]

20. I am with you.

...and thanks for a solid, respectful, and even enjoyable discussion.

[mopinko]

23. most welcome.

there’s a fine line btn hope and magical thinking. i try to stay on the rational side.

[Think. Again.]

21. P.S. - bring rope.

[Wicked Blue]

15. Maybe they're Democratic manatees

fleeing deSatan