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International Octopus Day – 8 October

On October 8th, World Octopus Day celebrates one of the earth’s oldest creatures.

The animal is best known for its eight legs and ink-squirting abilities.

However, there is so much more to know about this fantastic creature.

Octopus fossils date back over 300 million years.
This means that the octopus is older than the dinosaur!

Here are some other cool facts about these cephalopods:

  • 300 species of octopuses
  • 500 million neurons in their brains and arms
  • Octopuses come in all colors, shapes, and sizes
  • A rare type of octopus has tentacles that glow in the dark
  • Some octopuses live in shallow waters while others live 2.6 miles below the surface of the ocean
  • The largest octopus on record weighed 156 pounds
  • Their mantle changes color so that it blends into its surroundings
  • An octopus can swim nearly 25 miles per hour for short distances
  • They mainly eat mollusks, crustaceans, and even smaller species of octopus
  • Some species of octopus lives in every ocean in the world and along every coast of the U.S.
  • The female octopus lays up to 400,000 eggs
  • Large octopus only live up to 5 years

Many people are enamored by the octopus and for a good reason. There is simply no other creature on earth, quite like the octopus. Some consider them the most intelligent being on the planet.

Besides being super smart, the octopus is likened to Houdini. Since the octopus doesn’t have an internal skeleton or a protective shell, it squeezes through narrow openings.  Lacking any bone structure, an octopus has even been known to escape from a jar with a closed lid. They indeed are unique and unusual animals!

 

Source: Text & Image: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/international-octopus-day-october-8/

Journée Mondiale de l’Orque – 14 juillet

Journée Mondiale de l'Orque

Les journées mondiales consacrées à la défense des animaux en général ou à une espèce en particulier sont déjà nombreuses et le site des Journées Mondiales  fait volontiers le relais.La journée consacrée à l’orque se distingue des autres de deux façons : elle est une initiative privée et elle soigne sa communication.C’est Ingrid Visser, biologiste marine, spécialiste des cétacés et plus particulièrement des orques qui l’a lancée en 2013. 

Accroître la protection de l’espèce

Cette journée mondiale a pour objectif de sensibiliser le grand public aux orques qui vivent dans les océans, mais aussi aux menaces auxquelles ces populations sont confrontées.

Campagne pour la journée mondiale de l'orqueLa Journée Mondiale de l’Orque permet aussi de soutenir les associations et organismes rassemblant les personnes qui s’intéressent à cet animal et qui se battent pour sa sauvegarde.

C’est assez !

Nous avions parlé de l’effort de communication. Le slogan choisi en est l’illustration. Malheureusement, le jeu de mot est purement fancophone. Mais, comme disait ma grand mère, « c’est assez dit la baleine, je me cache à l’eau »…

Un site à visiter : www.cestassez.fr    Source: Texte & Image: Journée Mondiale

World Ocean Day – 8 June 2022

Every year on June 8, World Ocean Day is commemorated to remind people of the importance of the oceans and the major role they play in everyday life. According to the United Nations, the day intends to raise awareness about the impact of human activities on the oceans and to create a united movement for the species of the ocean. Besides, the day is also observed to make raise public awareness of the ocean and its resources in order to promote global ocean and resource sustainability. The day intends to highlight the various resources that mankind derives from the ocean, as well as the various threats that the ocean faces. 

World Ocean Day: Significance

The day offers a unique opportunity to not only honour, but also to conserve and safeguard our oceans. The United Nations data suggests that the ocean produces at least 50% of the oxygen and it is also termed as the « lifeline of planet Earth. » The oceans also absorb more than 30% of carbon dioxide, mitigating the effects of global warming. They also produce a wide variety of goods and services that are crucial to our health, economies, and weather. According to the UN, the ocean is key to the global economy with an estimated 40 million people expected to be employed by ocean-based industries by 2030.

World Ocean Day: Theme

The theme for World Oceans Day in 2022 is « Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean. » The focus of this year’s theme is on the ocean’s role in sustaining life and livelihood. Plastic garbage being dumped into the oceans is becoming a matter of great concern as it is damaging the life there and putting the ocean’s inhabitants at risk. This year on the occasion of World Ocean Day, the UN will organise the first hybrid celebration of the event, which will be broadcast live from the UN Headquarters in New York.

 

Source: Text: Republicworld.com   Image: UN

World Reef Day – 1st June

The Marovo Lagoon in the Solomon Islands is the largest saltwater lagoon in the world. Protected by a double barrier reef, it’s home to unique marine life and coral, making it a bucket-list destination for divers. The beauty and diversity of life contained within its pristine, 700 square kilometres are the perfect inspiration for World Reef Day, observed every year on June 1 to bring awareness to this vital but largely unseen part of our natural world. Reef Day also kicks off World Oceans Month, a time to celebrate and learn more about these vital ecosystems.

Although coral reefs occupy less than 0.1 percent of the planet’s oceans, they support up to 25 percent of the world’s marine species. They have rightfully earned their nickname, ‘Rainforests of the Sea.’ Coral is not a plant, but part animal and part mineral, a marine invertebrate that secretes calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. They grow in colonies, usually in warm, shallow waters, and form vast colonies that we see as reefs, providing the basic platform for marine life to flourish around them. They even provide benefits to land, protecting shorelines from the forces of the ocean.

Unfortunately, coral reefs are under immense environmental pressure due to pollution, overfishing, and particularly from changing ocean temperatures. A warming ocean and acidification due to increased carbon dioxide have resulted in coral bleaching—when under stress, corals lose their colour. The yellow whip and red gorgonian you see here are what healthy coral look like, but vibrant, hearty coral are swiftly becoming the exception rather than the rule. Recently, even the previously robust and thriving Marovo Lagoon began showing signs of bleaching, a sobering reminder that the beauty we see here is fragile and becoming more precious.

Source: Text: Bing    Image: Wallpapersafari

Journée Mondiale des Manchots – 25 avril

Journée Mondiale des Manchots
Que les maladroits du monde entier se rassurent, ce n’est pas d’eux qu’il s’agit…
La Journée mondiale des manchots, en anglais la « World Pingouin Day » concerne bel et bien l’animal polaire en voie de disparition au sujet duquel il convient d’alerter l’opinion mondiale. La date du 25 avril a été retenue car elle coïncide avec la date habituelle de migration des manchots de Terre Adélie. Les manchots sont des oiseaux marins qui vivent exclusivement dans l’hémisphère austral. Ils sont régulièrement confondus avec les pingouins, mais attention, ce sont bien deux espèces différentes vivant dans des régions du monde différentes…

Changement climatique

« Nous savons que le réchauffement climatique modifie radicalement l’environnement dans l’Antarctique et que les animaux des écosystèmes de l’océan Austral luttent pour s’adapter », explique Cassandra Brooks, spécialiste des manchots à l’Université de Stanford (Etats-Unis).

Les manchots sont aujourd’hui menacés directement par le changement climatique qui modifie leurs conditions de vie et risque de les faire mourir de faim, sauf à entreprendre une migration géante dans un océan austral bien peu accueillant pour leurs colonies géantes. Les scientifiques qui ont étudié le phénomène estiment que 70% de manchots royaux pourraient disparaître d’ici à la fin du siècle.

Source: Texte & Image: Journée Mondiale

World Sea Day – 28 September 2023

The World Sea Day has been marked since 1978 by decision of the 38th session of the International Marine Organization of November 1977, initially celebrated on March 17. Since 1980 it’s been celebrated on one of the days of the last week of September. The goal of the World Sea Day is drawing the community’s attention to problems, connected with the pollution of water basins, global warming and illegal fishing.

The sea always fascinated people. Many poets and artists worship the sea in their works while people of all walks of life annually dream about a holiday at the seaside.

At the same time, according to the UN, annually about 21 million barrels of oil leak into the ocean causing death of tens of thousands of seabirds and mammals.

Over the last 100 years 90% of the world reserves of tuna and codfish have been fished out.
The global warming has led to the rise of the world ocean water level by 10-25 cm. The myth that the global water resources are inexhaustible has seriously affected the biodiversity of the world ocean, Alexei Knizhnikov, the coordinator of the World Wildlife Fund’s department for the environmental policy in oil and gas sector, says.

« Just two examples. Whale fishery has almost killed some species of whales. The classical example for Russia is the gray whale in the Okhotsk Sea. It had been considered to be extinct way back in 20th century. But in the end of the 20th century a hundred of these whales was detected and now we are doing our best to preserve the population of these whales. The second example is the extinction of sturgeon because of very aggressive fishing. »

The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in April when an explosion of an oil rig led caused a huge oil spill showed how terrible the negative impact of human beings on the environment can be, the expert says.

« That oil spill has halted the industrial fishing in the water area which size is equal to the size of Greece. The environment disasters are now getting country-scale and the next step is a continent-scale. »

Source: Text: IDEA International Dialogue for Environmental Action Image: dissolve.com