Wild & Wondrous - Favorite World Press

The FWP weekly digest of wondrous wildlife happenings
and other interesting items from the natural world

Creatures to meet | Things to learn
Things to do

Lisa S. French

3-minute read

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we’ll see
No, I won’t be afraid, oh, I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me.

Ben E. King

Marvels of complex intelligence, dolphins are widely acknowledged as one of the brainiest animal species on the planet. Scientists studying how the clever communicators and determined problem-solvers apply their cetacean smarts to assisting other dolphins in distress have concluded that the marine mammals also have a remarkable capacity for caregiving.

Active assistance aimed at relieving another’s suffering can take many forms, but the most important is the simple willingness to answer a call for help—and that’s a trait our finned friends share with humans. According to researchers documenting caregiving behaviors in animals, dolphins will respond to the distress calls of an injured or dying member of their pod and attempt to provide aid.

Leave No Dolphin Behind
And what does dolphin aid look like? It starts with a whistle. Individual dolphins establish contact with one another and communicate through signature whistles. An increase in the intensity and frequency of a whistle accompanied by a stream of bubbles can signal a cry for help from a dolphin in trouble. Dolphins typically swim to the rescue by staying close, rapidly circling, showing aggression toward a threat, or offering direct help by lifting a suffering pod member to the surface to breathe.

You might imagine that the resourceful animals learn triage from trainers, but both captive and wild dolphins have been observed attempting to provide caregiving. In a recent report, a group of 20 wild bottlenose dolphins filmed in the Red Sea instinctually formed teams to offer support to a struggling female. Responding to distress whistles, one team pushed and lifted her to the surface for air while another swam below, supporting her lower body. For as long as she whistled for help, the caregiving cetaceans stayed with her, pushing and lifting, listening for the distress cries to stop.

Scientists have yet to determine exactly what motivates helping behaviors in dolphins. Could the ability to recognize and try to alleviate the suffering of a fellow creature be a “scratch my fin, I’ll scratch yours” survival strategy or perhaps a demonstration of animal altruism? Advances in AI aimed at decoding animal communications could hold the key to understanding what drives their actions. Until we know for certain, we’d like to believe these whip-smart cetaceans show caring out of the goodness of their dolphin hearts.

ICYMI Nature News

Innovative Strategies to Save Corals
As rapidly warming waters continue to devastate corals globally, scientists are racing to develop strategies to help them survive. You can read how shade, fog, supplemental feeding and cool water mixing might help here.

A Beaver on Every Block
Could New York City parks benefit from the introduction of beavers? A proposal to bring the industrious rodents to city ponds aims to increase biodiversity in urban areas. We think it’s a dam good idea!

Extinct Prehistoric Bird is Back
In a welcome conservation victory, a big, blue ball of a flightless bird long extinct in the wild is getting a second chance to roam free in the Alpine slopes of New Zealand. You can watch the handsome fellows strut their feathery stuff here.

The Real Reason Why Cats Love Tuna
If you share your space with a house cat, you know that tuna is the holy grail of feline feasting. So, why does a creature that evolved in the desert crave a particular type of seafood? Scientists believe it’s all about umami.

The Key to Bringing Back Bugs
Major environmental indicators point to the fact that beneficial insects are in serious trouble. The good news is that no matter how small your patch, you can pitch in and provide habitat to help reverse their decline. Read all about it here.

Time to Tidy the Planet
World Cleanup Day is September 16th. If you’d like to help make the planet a little more pristine, you can find a local tidying crew here.

Bird Photographer of the Year 2023
We’ll leave you with a hit of beauty from the natural world: the winning photos from the 2023 Bird Photographer of the Year. Enjoy!

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Lisa S. French September 11, 2023

Emperor Penguins: 60 Million Years on Earth

I hope you love birds too.
It is economical.
It saves going to heaven.

Emily Dickinson

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Lisa S. French August 30, 2023

Murmurations: Starling Sound Shapes

2-minute read

Whirring, thrumming waves and swirls. Pulsing, whooshing twists and twirls.

Murmurations, the mesmerizing sound shapes of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of common starlings, are one of the most spectacular displays of collective animal movement in nature. How and why these feathery shapeshifters gather to perform their synchronized aerial maneuvers has long captured the imagination of both scientists and curious casual observers of evening skies.

From late fall to early spring, these birds of a feather flock together at dusk in continuously morphing configurations before descending in one fell swoop to roost. Are the massive gatherings a safety-in-numbers strategy to confuse predators or a signal to attract more birds to create warmer roosts?

To determine what drives the ebb and flow of these spontaneous avian zoomies, scientists analyzed videos of starlings flying in formation and reconstructed the movements of individual birds, looking for patterns in behavior. The analysis revealed that starlings navigating in a murmuration at up to 20 m.p.h. have an amazing ability to rapidly maneuver in sync with fellow fliers, reacting to changes in direction in under 100 milliseconds. Each bird follows the behavior of the six or seven closest neighbors, and the wave of perpetual movement ripples through the flock forming fluttering sound shapes in the evening sky.

Researchers studying details of over 3,000 murmurations gathered by citizen scientists across 23 European countries believe that starlings form giant catch me if you can bird clouds and descend en masse to roosting sites to avoid being singled out and picked off by aerial predators.

Interestingly, the dynamic rotating shapes formed by the safer together survival strategy seem to follow patterns of collective motion found in other groups of animals, including wildebeests, fish, and ants.

Whirring, thrumming waves and swirls. Pulsing, whooshing twists and twirls. The hypnotizing movements of a gathering of birds at dusk—a reminder of nature’s eternal rhythms.

ICYMI Nature News

Rare Maui Birds Rescued
Out of the heartbreaking tragedy of the Maui wildfires comes a story of nature-sparing heroism. The staff of the Maui Bird Conservation Center, home to some of the world’s rarest birds, rushed in to save the critically endangered animals from the rapidly advancing flames. You can read about the avian heroes here and help support Maui Forest birds here.

Meet the Antarctic Strawberry Feather Star
The multi-limbed beasty discovered in the depths of the Antarctic’s Southern Ocean might look like it’s straight out of Alien central casting, but it’s a brand-new Earthly species. Hello there!

Fruit Flies Just Want to Have Fun
Apparently, fruit flies like playing as much as any vertebrate. Scientists have discovered that given the opportunity to go round and round on a simulated carousal, the insects jump at the chance. Whee!

The Creatures Below Your Feet
Did you know that more than half of the Earth’s species live in the soil below your feet? That’s right—ninety percent of fungi, 80% of plants, and 50% of bacteria. Tread carefully out there!

This Kākāpō’s a Trier
If you’re in need of a bit of inspiration in the keep-on-keeping-on department, Steve the kākāpō has some thoughts to share on living your dreams. Because for New Zealand’s earthbound owl parrot, flying is believing.

Little Brown Bat: America’s Next Top Model?
Should a furry little night flyer be America’s Next Top Model? We think it’s about time. You can watch the little brown bat’s audition tape here.

And Bless the Rains Down in Africa
Since this week’s climate news has been, yeah, well, not okay—at all, we’re going to leave you with 18,000 strangers singing a Toto song because that might help you feel a little better between headlines. Hear it here.

FWP Carbon Capture Report
As always, thanks to our lovely readers, we’ve planted another batch of carbon-capturing trees with our pals at Tree-Nation to help give people and the planet a little more breathing space. From April 2022 through July 2023, the trees that we’ve planted across 13 projects in 12 countries bring our carbon capture to 3980 tons of CO2. That’s the equivalent of 4,458,726 pounds of coal burned, 10,204,103 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle, and 447,897 gallons of gasoline consumed.

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Lisa S. French August 19, 2023

Darwin’s Bark Spider: Ultimate Webmaster

2-minute read

We still do not know one-thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us.

Albert Einstein

If you spent 400 million years practicing a skill, chances are you would become pretty good at it. So, it’s not surprising that many of the 44,000 species of spiders on Earth have perfected the craft of silk spinning over the course of a few hundred thousand millennia. Now, scientists are working to unravel how and why one hairy little arachnid in Madagascar has evolved to spin the toughest threads on the planet—silks that outperform fibers produced by both eight-legged and human competition.

Just one-fifth to three-quarters of an inch long, Darwin’s bark spider can spool out silk threads up to 82 feet long and ten times tougher than Kevlar. The industrious orb weavers anchor these exceptionally strong bridge lines across rivers, lakes, and streams from which they suspend massive, super-sticky, ten-by-ten wheel-shaped webs to capture prey.

Researchers studying the spider’s weaving techniques believe the ability to spin such remarkably sturdy and stretchy silk developed as a gene-level adaptation to the animal’s habitat. Constructing giant webs that hang in flyways over water traveled by insects, birds, and bats expanded the bark spider’s menu options. The bigger, stronger, and stickier the web, the greater the catch.

The discovery of this little African webmaster is inspiring material scientists around the world, hoping to replicate fiber with the strength and flexibility of the bark spider’s silk in applications ranging from artificial tendons and ligaments to structural materials for bridges and vehicles.

Even if you’re a card-carrying arachnophobe and can’t imagine cozying up to these multi-legged creepy crawlies, there is no doubt they have much to teach us. That’s why protecting wild places and the creatures that inhabit them is critically important. Beyond contributing to the amazing diversity of life on Earth, newly and yet-to-be-discovered animal species may hold the key to addressing some of our greatest challenges.

ICYMI Nature News

Remember the Earth Angels
It’s been a heartrending couple of weeks for the good people struggling to save the world’s third-largest coral reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Extremely high ocean temperatures are bleaching and killing off newly transplanted corals before they have a chance to get established. How to lend your support? Here are ten actions you can take to help cool the planet—take a look. Because to quote the IPCC, “Every action matters. Every bit of warming matters. Every year matters. Every choice matters.” Remember the Earth angels.

Bearers of Bad News Birds
For two decades, the seasonal migration patterns of the veery thrush have helped scientists predict the intensity of the Atlantic hurricane season. What do these little fliers know that we don’t know? You can find out here.

Eavesdropping on Dolphins with AI
Scientists are using artificial intelligence to identify the unique clicks and whistles of two endangered species of pink dolphins in the Amazon River. The AI application was designed to help track the movements of the rare animals to aid in conservation. Can you hear us now?

Wild Horse Fire Brigade
Could grazing wild horses hold the key to managing the overgrowth of dried vegetation that provides fuel for wildfires in the Western United States? Read about one man’s mission to find out here.

A Brand-New Batch of Octo-babies
Researchers have discovered a rare deep-sea octopus nursery 10,000 feet down in the Pacific. You can find a video of the octo-moms and their adorable babies here.

Bees Leave No Pollen Behind
To expand their floral menu options, honeybees can turn their tongues into spoons or straws to accommodate the varying shapes and structures of flowers. See how the tiny tongue twisters do it here.

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Lisa S. French August 5, 2023

And That’s Why We Hug Trees

2-minute read

Trees love to toss
and sway; they
make such happy
noises.

Emily Carr

Happy high summer!

As you prepare to hit the highways and flyways be sure to include a little quality tree time in your travels. Here’s a repost explaining why making friends with a forest is good for your head and good for your heart.

Before you go, a gentle reminder that it’s Plastic-Free July, your month-long challenge to double, triple, and quadruple your efforts to reduce your use of the indestructible stuff and keep things pristine when you’re out and about. You can learn how to help combat plastic pollution right here.

We’ll be back next week with more featured creatures and nature news. In the meantime, how about some happy noises?

FWP High-Summer playlist.

As the world turns, if you find yourself in need of a mood boost this summer, we’ve got just the thing—make friends with a local forest. According to public health researchers at the University of Parma, inhaling a forest atmosphere swirling with naturally occurring, mood-elevating aerosols can influence the release of dopamine and GABA, the feel-good neurotransmitters that improve cognitive function, increase feelings of well-being and relaxation, and improve quality of sleep.

Any type of forest in particular? Cone-producing pine, fir, and cypress trees release the highest concentration of beneficial aerosols limonene and pinene, so forests where conifers are king are your best bet to brighten your spirits. Hitting the trail two hours after dawn through to early afternoon is the optimum time for a one-hour forest wander when well-being-enhancing phytochemicals are at peak release.

In addition to tree aerosol inhalation being good for your headspace, regular visits to a forest can improve your overall health. On average, we spend about 90% of our daily lives indoors, under artificial light, which keeps our minds and bodies in a constant state of low-level stress. Exposure to the green scenery, fresh air, clean water, and soothing sounds and scents of nature reduces excess cortisol and adrenaline, stress hormones that can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease.

The International Society of Nature and Forest Medicine recommends forest therapy as an effective, evidence-based, low-cost public health treatment for stress-related symptoms—not to mention doomscrolling-induced brain wobble. So, if you’re looking for a free and easy way to crush the cortisol, head out to a forest near you—the conifers are calling.

Lovely, trusty trees—releasing healing aerosols and absorbing greenhouse gas—providing nature-based solutions to everyday stress and climate change. So worth hugging.

FWP Monthly Carbon Capture Report
You keep reading and we keep planting. For every print or e-book book sold, we plant one native tree with the help of our fantastic planting partners at Tree-Nation. From April 2022 through June 2023, the trees that we’ve planted across 13 projects in 12 countries bring our carbon capture to 3787 tons of CO2. That’s the equivalent of 4,241,864 pounds of coal burned, 163,917 trash bags of waste recycled instead of landfilled, and 426,112 gallons of gasoline consumed.

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Lisa S. French July 13, 2023

Music to Cats’ Ears

2-minute read

Do Felines Hear What We Hear?
If you were to create a music playlist to raise the spirits of your resident feline, which genre would you choose to help put your house kitty in the zone? It would be natural to assume that your furry friend may prefer the music frequently heard in the space shared with human family—whether classical, country, rock, jazz, or a mixed bag. But what is music to human ears would most likely leave a house cat cold.

According to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying how musical sounds can impact the well-being of animals, domestic felines prefer compositions that have the characteristics of “cat music.” And what is cat music? A continuous loop of Cat Power, Cat Stevens, and Stray Cats? The soundtracks to Cats and The Lion King? Animal behaviorists have concluded that cats are more drawn to music that mimics the tempo and frequency range of feline communication signals and physiological rhythms, which are different from ours.

Much the same way that tempos matching a resting human heart rate are perceived as calming and those that exceed the human heart rate are experienced as energizing, biologists and musicologists believe that an animal’s reaction to music would depend on how it corresponds to that species’ heart rhythms and sensory systems.

They’re Playing Our Song
To test their theory, the Madison researchers composed two pieces of “species-appropriate” music specially created to elicit a response from domestic felines. Mirroring natural cat vocalizations, the kitty compositions averaged an octave higher than human music, gradually transitioned from one note to another, and matched the tempos of kittens purring and nursing.

And how did the 47 bewhiskered test subjects respond to the custom cat tracks? Completely indifferent to human music, the purr-prone study participants showed significantly more interest in sounds in frequencies and tempos similar to feline rhythms. Approaching and rubbing against speakers playing the cat music, agitated cats became calmer and calm cats became more engaged.

From cats and dogs to cows and chickens to elephants and orangutans, all animals experience the world through sensory systems specific to their species. Scientists studying how companion, farm, and captive zoo animals perceive and interpret sounds and how what they hear influences their behavior are striving to harness the stress-reducing power of music to help improve the health and well-being of the creatures that depend on our care.

ICYMI Nature News

AI Animal Language Recognition?
As scientists continue the quest to decipher what animals hear, artificial intelligence researchers are developing new technologies to help interpret what they say. What do you think they would tell us if they knew we could understand? You can read about the pros and cons of critter chatter recognition here.

Dolphins Talk Baby Talk
Marine biologists have discovered that dolphins use a special high-pitched whistle to communicate with their young—the equivalent of human baby talk. Who’s a good little marine mammal?

The Green Under Ground
Botanists have discovered a new palm species in Borneo that grows flowers and fruits underground. Dig in and read about it here.

Life-Extending Urban Trees
According to a new study from Northwestern University, exposure to urban green space can increase the longevity of city dwellers. Plant trees—live long and prosper.

Lightning Bugs Go Dark
We’ve written previously about the negative impacts of light pollution on wildlife. Now, pervasive night lights are taking their toll on everyone’s favorite glow-in-the-dark insects. Find out how you can help save the blinking bugs from extinction here.

Birds, Beautiful Birds
The winning pics from the Audubon 2023 photography contest are now online—and ooh, as always, they’re beautiful! Take a gander here.

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Lisa S. French July 5, 2023

Like a Red Flower

From The Sun

Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful

than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone–
and how it slides again

out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower…

Mary Oliver

Remain in light.

Happy Summer Solstice

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Lisa S. French June 21, 2023

Pining for Clean Air in Cities

2-minute read

Something unusual happened in New York City last week—the skyline disappeared. Plumes of smoke emanating from the hundreds of wildfires blazing across Canada’s boreal forest descended over the Eastern seaboard, and in just a few hours, Manhattan’s skyscrapers faded out, obscured by an eerie orange haze. As visibility plummeted, so did air quality, topping out at a hazardous to everyone 352 on the U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI). The particle pollution generated from wildfires that made it hard to see also made it difficult and dangerous to breathe.

While the air quality in NYC and other East Coast urban areas returned to a healthier range this week, city residents learned firsthand that you don’t have to be a forest inhabitant to experience the life-disrupting impacts of extreme wildfires. As the planet heats up and the number and intensity of wildfires continue to increase, scientists are exploring options to remove particulate matter and other pollutants from the air in high-population areas. One nature-based solution that both cleans and cools the air in cities and improves overall health and well-being: more green space.

If Orange is the New Blue, is Green the New Black?
Environmental scientists have concluded that planting trees is one of the most effective ways to remove heat-trapping CO2 from the atmosphere. New research has shown that leafy green sky vacuums are also absolute champs at filtering particle pollution that accumulates in high-density urban areas and is hazardous to human health. Researchers studying the absorption capacity of diverse types of trees found that while many species are effective air purifiers, one type, in particular, is good at absorbing particulates—pines.

Studies comparing the needles of evergreen pine trees to the leaves of seasonally shedding trees, including birch, poplar, beech, and ash trees, show that pine needles have the greatest year-round and longer-term potential to absorb particulate matter pollution. Air quality models created by scientists at the University of Graz factoring in leaf shape, texture, and wind patterns found that one square kilometer of pine forest planted throughout a city of 300,000 reduced the number of days that particle pollution registered over the healthy limit from 54 to 25. Increasing overall pine-age helped dial back the dust by almost fifty percent.

Trees Absorb Pollutants So You Don’t Have To
Although environmental researchers may not yet be able to provide an exact urban tree-planting protocol to help turn orange skies blue again in the case of extreme wildfire events, under relatively normal conditions, designating more green space in urban areas and planting tree species that absorb particulate pollution can help city dwellers breathe a whole lot easier.

Increasing the capacity of forest ecosystems to function as nature intended by reducing heat-trapping emissions that contribute to the drought conditions that intensify wildfires should be a top priority. As residents of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. learned last week, on a rapidly warming planet, what happens in the forest doesn’t stay in the forest—even if the forest is one thousand miles away.

ICYMI Nature News

The Tallest Sky Vacuum Ever—Ever
After a multi-year quest in search of the tallest tree in the Amazon rainforest, intrepid trekkers have finally captured exclusive drone footage of the ancient giant—in a grove of giants. Follow along on their journey here.

Roadtripping Wildlife
When humans stayed in, animals stepped out. Scientists studying the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on the movement patterns of wildlife have discovered that curious critters took advantage of low-traffic highways and byways to get around. Learn how they made use of the roaming room here.

Hornless Rhinos Are Homebodies
Removing rhino horns to help protect the critically endangered species from poachers is turning the animals into apprehensive homebodies. Without an intact horn to protect themselves and their territory, scientists believe the modified rhinos are playing it safe by reducing their range. No horn, no go, no way.

Meet the Carpenter Squirrels
Flying squirrels in China gnaw grooves in nuts to wedge them in trees, keeping them high and dry and ready for snacking. Crafty!

A Turtle’s Eye View of the Great Barrier Reef
If you’ve ever wondered what sea turtles get up to underwater, scientists at the World Wildlife Fund have captured some amazing turtle cam footage so you can see what the reptiles see—in the sea. Have a look!

What’s the Big, Beautiful Picture?
The winners and finalists of the 2023 Natural World Photography Contest have been announced, and you can explore the amazing images of the world’s wonders here.

FWP Carbon Capture Report
Trees for cooling, trees for purifying the air, trees for habitat, trees for income. We plant them all over the world with the help of our tree-planting partners at Tree-Nation. From April 2022 through May 2023 the trees we’ve planted across 12 projects bring our carbon capture total to 3,787 tons of CO2. That’s equivalent to 371,990 gallons of diesel consumed, 4,241,864 pounds of coal burned, or 460,643,616 smartphones charged.

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Lisa S. French June 17, 2023

Keep it Dark for Turtle Hatchlings

2.5-minute read

“Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have this wish I wish tonight.”

Anonymous

Depending upon where you find yourself on our home planet, making a wish upon a star is becoming increasingly challenging. The growing number of artificial lights that illuminate our land, city, and seascapes are also brightening the night skies, dimming our views of the stars and other celestial bodies.

According to astronomers, more than two-thirds of the U.S. population and one-fifth of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way with the naked eye. The skyglow (aka, light pollution) that diminishes our ability to marvel at the beauty of bright spots in the heavens and achieve celestial wish fulfillment is also having a profound impact on the survival of some of Earth’s most charismatic creatures, including everyone’s favorite body-armored reptiles—the critically endangered sea turtles.

Because many species of animals have evolved attuned to natural cycles of darkness and light, when those cycles are disrupted, it can affect how they interact with their environment and each other. According to researchers examining how artificial light affects animal behavior, light pollution can create confusion in wildlife that can alter migration, communication, foraging, and reproduction.

Sea turtles are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of light pollution, relying on night-darkened beaches to help protect nests and keep hatchlings safe from disturbance. Turtles unable to locate a beach dark enough to obscure their nests have been known to abandon nesting attempts or discard their eggs in the sea.

Scientists monitoring hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, and green turtles have reported that hatchlings face the most significant hazards from light pollution. Aided by the cover of nighttime darkness, newly emerged baby turtles instinctually aim to make their way toward the sea. Hatchlings disoriented by artificial lighting can toddle off in the wrong direction, be overcome by exhaustion and dehydration, and sadly, never reach the water. A study of nesting sites in the Mediterranean found that only 21% of loggerhead hatchlings on well-lit beaches survived their sandy commute versus 48% of hatchlings emerging on unlit beaches.

Sea turtles aren’t the only animal species whose nighttime behaviors can become disrupted by ecological light pollution. Increasing levels of artificial light also affect birds, bats, fish, insects, and amphibians. Conservationists continue exploring innovative ways to manage light sources to keep night-dependent wildlife in the dark and help maintain life-sustaining biological rhythms.

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of good for people, good for wildlife natural nighttime, we’ve pulled together some resources to help you embrace the darkness:

The Skyglow Project
The World at Night Galleries
DarkSky

ICYMI Nature News

Behold Manhattanhenge
The city that never sleeps may never turn off the lights, but that doesn’t mean New Yorkers can’t appreciate (or perhaps prefer) nature’s way of illuminating their urban jungle. If you missed the sun’s perfect alignment with Manhattan’s street grid this week, you’ll get another chance to experience the glow on July 13th.

An Octopus’s Worst Nightmare
Scientists observing bizarre behaviors in a sleeping Brazilian Reef Octopus believe the sea creatures may have vivid, potentially terrifying narrative dreams. Visions of a tentacle-chilling downgrade from octo to bi-pus?

Young Gorillas Bounce Back from Adversity
Researchers from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund studying five decades of data have found that thanks in part to the benefits of tight-knit social groups, young mountain gorillas show tremendous resilience to traumatic life events, like the loss of a parent. Power to the supportive primates.

Because All You Need Is Love
A lowland gorilla born in captivity at Smithsonian National is off to a good start in life thanks to the loving care of attentive mom, Calaya. A happy plus one for the critically endangered species.

Sailboat Sabotaging Cetaceans
Killer whales off the coasts of Spain and Portugal have been busy sinking sailboats. Scientists aren’t sure whether the unusual behavior is orca boat biting gone viral or payback for a painful encounter with a super annoying sea vessel. Either way, it seems the sailboat saboteurs are sorry, not sorry.

And that’s all folks. Have a super weekend!

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Lisa S. French June 3, 2023

Bees Buzz the Garden Electric

2-minute read

In celebration of World Bee Day, we’re going to look at one of the unexpected ways the planet’s hardest working pollinators go about the business of helping to keep us stocked in essential fruit, flowers, and veg.

Capable of visiting up to 1,000 flowers a day in their quest for pollen, these brainy insects use a variety of sensory capabilities to detect color, pattern, texture, and fragrance to scope out prime floral real estate efficiently.

According to scientists at the University of Bristol, bees have one tool in their pollen-detecting arsenal that may come as a bit of a shock—an electrostatic field. We humans can’t see it or feel it, but honeybees and bumblebees can perceive a weak electric field around flowers, helping them to determine which plants are the best bets for providing floral rewards.

As a bee travels through the air, it accumulates a positive electric charge. When the positively charged pollinator zeroes in on a negatively charged flower, an electric field is created that helps to dislodge and transfer pollen from flower to bee and from bee to flower.

How bees interpret and use information gathered from the floral e-field is species-dependent. Researchers believe that bumblebees perceive the strength of the force of the e-field through sensory hairs on their bodies that communicate by way of their central nervous systems which flowers will provide the best pollen pay-off. Honeybees detect e-field locations through their antennae and carry pollen source information back to the hive, disseminating news of first-rate foraging locations via an intricate waggle dance.

Given that 75 percent of food crops rely on pollinators, we are glad to learn that everybody’s favorite buzzers are equipped with all the necessary capabilities to ensure they can get the job done. Another amazing way that nature’s adaptations provide big benefits.

If you would like to learn how you can help keep these industrious e-field detectives in top form, check in with the Bee Conservancy.

ICYMI Nature News

Pollinating Tree Frogs
Uh oh, look out bumblebees! Scientists believe they may have discovered a new species of pollinator to add to the list of planetary helpers—a tiny, pollen and nectar-feasting Brazilian tree frog.

Touch-Tasting Octopuses
According to scientists at the University of Texas, octopuses use sensory mechanisms in their tentacles to taste potential food sources. So, no long sleeves for these multi-limbed marvels, then?

Extinct Animals Re-Imagined
To help draw attention to the extinction crisis, author Lucas Zellers and the Center for Biological Diversity have created a role-playing game manual inspired by 70 extinct animal species. The book is due later this year, but you can get a preview here.

Video Chatting Parrots
The University of Glasgow researchers have discovered that isolated pet parrots taught to video chat with distant bird pals gained similar social benefits to living in a flock. Polly want a video call?

More Fascinating Bird Behavior
If you think video-chatting parrots are awe-inspiring, check out what these clever winged creatures get up to in the wild as captured by the 2022 Audubon Photo Award winners.

FWP Carbon Capture Report
Happy one-year Tree-Nation tree-versary FWP readers! From April 2022 through April 2023, we are glad to report that the trees we’ve planted across 12 projects bring our carbon capture total to 3459 tons. That’s the equivalent of 8,000 barrels of oil consumed, 389,204 gallons of gasoline consumed, or 3,874,454 pounds of coal burned.

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Lisa S. French May 19, 2023