Mark Caney's Blog, page 43
September 21, 2012
Win a copy of Dolphin Way
Only 9 days left before the free competition ends – enter it now for a chance to win a signed copy!
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
Dolphin Way
by Mark Caney
Giveaway ends October 01, 2012.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
September 20, 2012
Bolivia enacts law to protect Amazon pink dolphins
Bolivian President Evo Morales has enacted a law aimed at protecting a unique species of dolphins that live in the country’s Amazon rivers. The new legislation bans fishing freshwater pink dolphins and declares the species a national treasure. At a ceremony along the shores of the Ibare river, President Morales called on the armed forces to protect the habitats of the pink dolphins The species is threatened by erosion, pollution and logging in the Amazon.
The Bolivian pink dolphin, whose scientific name is Inia boliviensis, is similar to mammals found in neighbouring Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. Male Bolivian freshwater pink dolphins can weigh up to 200kg (440 pounds). An appendix to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (Cites) says the species is vulnerable because of overfishing in the Amazon basin. But it says the main threat is the contamination of rivers in the region by mercury, used in illegal gold mining operations.
Source: BBC
September 16, 2012
Dolphin Way reviewed in German
There have been lots of reviews of Dolphin Way on Amazon in English, but now the first one has appeared in German. Although the book is only available in English so far, this may useful for any of our German speaking readers who are wondering what it is about. Thanks to Nicolai Duda who wrote this.
5.0 von 5 Sternen Macht Süchtig! Unbedingt lesen 15. September 2012
Von Nicolai Duda
Format:Taschenbuch
Ich muss zugeben ich war sehr skeptisch, als ich zum Ersten Mal von der Prämisse von Dolphin Way gehört habe. Ein Roman aus der Sicht von Delfinen mit eigener Gesellschaft, Geschichte und Kultur? Dennoch habe ich mir eine Leseprobe heruntergeladen und wurde von der Komplexität in den Bann gezogen und habe dann sofort das komplette Buch gekauft.
Mark Caney versteht es sehr gut eine komplexe detaillierte Gesellschaft zu beschreiben, in die der Leser hineingeworfen wird, ohne sich mit seitenlangen Erklärungen aufzuhalten. Leser die nicht mit Fantasyliteratur oder fremdartigen Begriffen vertraut sind, mögen am Anfang vielleicht etwas Probleme haben aber das geht schnell vorbei. Die Kapitel sind vergleichsweise kurz und werden von einem kurzen Spruch oder Text aus der Geschichte der Delfine eingeleitet, der in gewisser Form die Lehre oder den Inhalt des folgenden Kapitels unterstützt. Die Kürze der Kapitel erhöhen den Suchtfaktor des Buches, denn man ertappt sich dabei immer noch ein kleines Kapitel lesen zu wollen.
Zur Geschichte sei nicht viel verraten, außer das der Protagonist des Buches sich mit den gewaltigen Veränderungen auseinandersetzen muss, die auf den Delfine durch die Veränderung ihres Alltags und ihrer Umwelt lasten. Caney flechtet die Aktionen von Menschen, und die Probleme die dadurch für die Wesen im Meer entstehen, geschickt in die Handlung ein und zeigt dem Leser wie durch einen Spiegel die Absurdität unserer Taten auf. Dazu kommen die üblichen Lektionen die sich ein Heranwachsender im Leben stellen muss und die auch auf den Protagonisten lasten.
Die schwere Prämisse des Buches funktioniert, die Gesellschaft der Delfine, die Handlung und die Charaktere sind glaubwürdig und Mark Caney schafft den schwierigen Spagat dem Leser glaubhaft zu machen dass diese fiktive Geschichte tatsächlich in unserer Welt spielen könnte.
Das Buch ist sehr zu empfehlen, für Fans von Delfinen sowieso ein absoluter Pflichtkauf! Ich warte jedenfalls schon auf die Fortsetung!
For more, go to: http://www.dolphin-way.com/the-book/
September 13, 2012
“Disabled dolphin” to be retained and trained in US
When researchers found a deaf dolphin on a mudflat along the Louisiana coast back in March, it was severely sun burned and clearly far from home. Then, it was soon discovered, the 2-year-old dolphin was also deaf.
“This animal is disabled,” Institute of Marine Mammal Studies Director Moby Solangi said. “It is deaf and it was in very serious condition and now the government has deemed it non-releasable. So it cannot go back in the wild and can’t survive. So IMMS is going to take care of it for the rest of its life.”
Initially, the animal was rescued by researchers with the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans. He was nursed back to health and then transferred to the Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport.
“Audubon did a great job in rescuing it. Now we’re going to continue that rehabilitation for this animal. We’re absolutely delighted. This will become an important tool for educating the general public about the need to protect and conserve our environment.”
Emma Jarvis works with the institute as a dolphin trainer. She knows that taking this dolphin on will present a bit of a challenge, but she’s confident it will work out.
“We don’t know the extent to which he’s deaf yet, so we’re hoping he can still hear our whistle a little bit to the point that it will be useful. But there’s definitely ways of doing silent bridges, which is telling them they did it correctly without them actually hearing a tone. Hopefully we’ll be able to incorporate that if we need to, but there’s definitely ways to get around every challenge,” Jarvis said.
If all goes as planned, the institute is hoping to get the dolphin trained and performing with the rest of the dolphins. It will take some time, but in either case the important part is that now he has a home.
“He would never be able to survive in the wild, but we have the ability to train the animal. He interact with people and he will be able to perform. I think it will be a great opportunity for the young kids and the public to come and see him,” Solangi said.
Full story: Wlox13
September 10, 2012
Dolphins to be denied protection in Scotland?
Whales and dolphins may not be included in new protected areas about to be created in Scotland. Guess why not?
Sign the petition here
September 7, 2012
Talking about Dolphin Way on ‘Great Minds Think Aloud’
Mark Caney was invited as a guest author on ‘Great Minds Think Aloud’ blog to talk about dolphins and the book, Dolphin Way, today.
September 4, 2012
Were Scottish whales injured by an undersea earthquake?
Sixteen pilot whales, including four calves, were injured by an undersea earthquake on 11 August 2012. They died in a mass stranding on the coast of Fife in Scotland.
The pod of 26 was discovered inside a cove on a small sandy beach at the base of steep cliffs in Pittenweem, near St Andrews, shortly after 7am on Sunday (02 Sept 2012). A further 24 pilot whales from the same pod have been seen in the shallows three miles along the coast at Cellardyke. They were being closely observed amid fears they might also beach.
A spokesman for Fife coastguard said: “The usual scenario would be that the whale that is leading the group has become ill, or has lost its way, and gets beached and the rest will follow on, although we do not know for sure if that is what happened.” This statement is wrong. All the whales in the pod are lost and swimming along with the flow of the surface currents.
The pod had previously been injured by potent pressure changes (seaquakes) induced into the water by the following undersea earthquake:
Magnitude mb 5.3 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
Date time: 2012-08-11 17:47:30.0 UTC
Location 1692 km W of Dublin at 52.21N; 31.46W
The quake was focused only 3 km below the ocean’s surface at an intersection of an east-west trending transform fault and a small section of the north-south running mid-ocean ridge axis.
Full story: Deafwhale
Super-trawler cleared to fish in Australian waters
A huge Dutch super-trawler was Tuesday given the go-ahead to fish in Australian waters but with tough conditions to minimise by-catch such as dolphins, seals and sea lions.
The 9,500-tonne FV Margiris repelled Greenpeace protesters to dock at Port Lincoln in South Australia last Thursday for re-flagging as an Australian vessel before its proposed deployment to Tasmania for bait-fishing.
Environment Minister Tony Burke sought legal advice about whether he could intervene over concerns that dolphins and other marine life would inadvertently get swept up in its huge nets.
But he said he had been told he does not have the power to block it fishing in Australian waters.
“Under national environmental law I don’t have the power to block it altogether,” he told ABC television, but said the trawler’s operators would have to prove they were doing everything necessary to minimise by-catch.
“What I do have is the legal power to impose a number of restrictions on it based on the impact it can have, not on the fish that it’s targeting, but on the by-catch — the seals, the dolphins, the fish that are protected and listed and I have responsibility for,” Burke said.
“The big vessel will have to fish within the rules so that the impact it has on the environment is no more than if it was fishing on a small vessel,” he added.
Under conditions imposed by the government, fishing will have to be suspended if a dolphin dies in the ship’s nets or if three or more seals perish. It will also be banned from sea lion hunting grounds.
Source: AFB
September 2, 2012
Pilot whales just stranded in Scotland
A total of 16 whales have died after being stranded on the east coast of Scotland.
Ten others were refloated after being kept alive by vets from British Divers and Marine Life Rescue.
The incident between Anstruther and Pittenweem in Fife involved pilot whales, each of them approximately 20ft (6m) long.
Click to watch the video report
Source: BBC
September 1, 2012
Win a copy of Dolphin Way!
Dolphin Way
by Mark Caney
Giveaway ends October 01, 2012.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Watch the video trailer for the book:
