Monday, August 18, 2008

And the Japanese Whaling vs. Environmental Activits Continues

So, just when I start thinking the whaling incidents of last southern summer are a thing of the past I notice some new articles about the situation. I would have thought the next I would notice would be articles about new situations, but no these are still about further actions about the same situation. Some of my posts on the original situation of the environmental activists trying to stop Japanese whaling are here and here.

Here is just a blurb article about the Japanese seeking to arrest the activists and arrest warrants being issued.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

New Antarctic History Book

Here is a press release about a new book about the 1841 Ross Expedition. The book is called Surviving Erebus by John Barel. It tells about the 1841 expedition led by Sir James Clark Ross with the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Ross's expedition were the first to see the parts of Antarctica that now bear his name. This includes the Ross Sea, Ross Ice Shelf, and Ross Island as well as Mt. Erebus named after the expedition's ship. The troubles of the expedition included ship collisions, nearly freezing to death, and attempted murder.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Penguin in Toy Story Mania Ride at Disney’s California Adventure

I know this Antarctic blog has gotten a little offtrack into mostly about penguins, but what can I say I just love penguins of all types (hey, I even did one of my big college research papers on endangered penguins). The other week I rode the Toy Story Mania ride at Disney’s California Adventure. I was excited to notice the penguin on the ride and was reminded about the penguin toy in the Toy Story 2 movie (maybe, I will get around to adding a post on that movie to the Movies with Penguins section of this blog).

Toy Story Mania is an interactive ride kind of like the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster one at Disneyland Walt Disney World. This one, though, is even better because it is a 4D experience. This means you wear 3D glasses and there are 4D aspects, such as getting water sprayed at you when you hit certain targets. Basically you go through the ride stop at different points and use your gun/arrow shooter like device to shoot at targets and get as many points as you can before moving on to the next station.

One of the games you stop at is Bo Peep’s Baaa-loon Pop. This game has just Bo Peep in the title, but also the Toy Story penguin toy called Wheezy is also one of the hosts of this game. I also noticed that the cars have different characters on the side and one of them had Wheezy on it. Lastly, I noticed near the exit/where the wheelchair cars load that there was a sign on the wall that had Wheezy and said Wheezy’s Sno Cones.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Prehistoric Antarctic World Discovered Frozen in Ice

This article is about plants and animals frozen in the ice from the natural environment of Antarctica over 14 million years ago. The finds include moss, beetles, and midges. These things have been found on the coast of Antarctica, but this find was much further inland than before. The time period these are from is not exactly a warm one, but more like the Arctic in which there were warmer times of the year where hardy plants and animals could live.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Penguins at Sea World San Diego

Last week I was in San Diego and saw the penguin exhibit at Sea World. The exhibit has an outdoor area with some warmer weather penguins of the Magellanic Species.




Inside the habitat building they have the colder weather species from the Antarctic region. This includes King, Emperor, Adelie, Macaroni, and Gentoo. This is interesting to see, but it is pretty crappy to roll past on the moving sidewalk. There is an area you can view on a stationary platform, but it is behind the moving sidewalk and just not that great. Bottom line is I was not thrilled at all by the experience even though I love penguins. The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago has a more enjoyable viewing experience.

I did enjoy the gift shop of penguin stuff, though. I got some new penguin earrings, so I no longer have to wear my unmatching pair. Also, I got a t-shirt and a magnet for putting in my Antarctic bathroom (plan to share photos of this soon).