Once L&N finally got us out of bed and out of the house, they took us to Lake Michigan to cool off from the stifling heat. where we parked next to this statue of Karel Havlicek, who Wikipedia says was a Czech writer. The bio didn't mention Chicago so it wasn't clear why the statue was here. But at the end was this addendum:
A Monument was raised to Havlicek in Chicago by Czech residents of the city in Douglas Park. Unveiled in 1910, the statue by Joseph Strachovsky shows Havlicek in a revolutionary pose, dressed in a full military uniform and a draped cape with his outstretched arm motioning the viewer to join him. The Monument was moved to Solidarity Drive on today's Museum Campus in the vicinity of the Adler Planetarium in 1981[2]. In 1925 a biographical film was released.
The rest of these will have to pretty much speak for themselves.
This is from the spit that has the planetarium at the end. That's the Shed Aquarium (lower left) which our hosts are boycotting because they have "sentient beings" in captivity, including Beluga Whales. I tried to find something about protests over the whales, and had to go through a lot of google pages until I found this 1991 Sports Illustrated article:
Recently the Shedd, a not-for-profit aquarium that first opened more than 60 years ago, has been the site of numerous protests. And as they have been doing for the past three years, animal-welfare groups throughout the world continue to file legal suits to prevent belugas from being taken into captivity. Lately the battle has escalated. In September two of the Shedd's six belugas died, prompting the governments of Canada and the U.S. to join in an investigation into what killed the seemingly healthy captive whales.
More recent articles talk about two baby belugas born at the aquarium, one of which died. You can even go into the water and pet a beluga. As an Alaskan who can from time to time see wild belugas, I have to remember that seeing these belugas live may do more good to protect our Cook Inlet belugas by making more people aware of these great animals. It's a hard call and I don't have enough information to form a conclusion. Two calves were born here in December, but only one survived (though this article focuses on the one that survived and the death of the other one is buried in the article.) The article also says
Beluga newborns in the wild have a 50 percent survival rate and only 10 percent of calves born to first-time mothers live.I'm not sure how they know this. The ten percent rate sounds like bad, if not impossible, evolutionary odds.
Did I say it was hot?
Re seeing belugas in captivity, Nancy Lord makes the same point in her wonderful book Beluga Days - that it increases awareness of this unique whale. And the belugas in Cook Inlet are unique to this area - they don't migrate in or out of the Inlet or cross-breed with other pods. If they disappear from the Inlet, they won't be back. cs
ReplyDelete"Beluga newborns in the wild have a 50 percent survival rate and only 10 percent of calves born to first-time mothers live."
ReplyDeleteHm, well, if that statistic is about "first-time mothers," then it sounds like the eldest children die, but their younger siblings often live. Well, 50% of the time isn't great, but it's better than 10%.
Interesting to hear about Cook Inlet. I didn't realize those guys were such homebodies. Are they in any danger at the moment, or are they doing well?
m
Here's the status according to NOAA:
ReplyDelete"Abundance and Status
The Cook Inlet beluga whale stock was estimated at 1,300 animals in 1979. Annual abundance surveys conducted by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) from 1994 to 2007 have resulted in population estimates ranging from a high of 653 animals (in 1994) to a low of 278 animals to(in 2005), with a 2008 abundance estimate of 375 Cook Inlet beluga whales. Aerial surveys documented a 47% decline between 1994 and 1998.
In response to this significant decline, NOAA Fisheries designated the Cook Inlet beluga whale stock as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in May 2000. Surveys between 1999 and 2008 have demonstrated a further decline of 1.45% per year. In October 2008, NOAA Fisheries listed the Cook Inlet beluga whales as endangered under the Endangered Species Act."
Naturally, the Municipality is fighting the designation in fear of serious economic impacts.
"Sentient beings"? I suppose they don't visit the zoo because "sentient" apes are captive, too. Why do people who seem to be intelligent try to antropomorphize *animals*. They are not human, not "sentient".
ReplyDeleteI agree that if it helps to raise awareness of how endangered apes, whales, and dolphins are, display of captive animals is probably a good thing.
The streets, they look almost dusky with the tall buildings. Are they like this most of the day?
ReplyDelete