Ride the walrus

I propose that the walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) and the elephant seal (Mirounga spp.) fight to the death to determine which is rightfully King of the Pinnipeds.

Elephant seals are certainly mean when they're hauled out; however, anecdotal evidence from Inuit kayak hunters suggests that walrus are mean pretty much all the time. Maybe both species respect and avoid each other, and as such divided the world's oceans at a time immemorial: the high Arctic belongs to the walrus, while more temperate oceans in both hemispheres are the domain of the elephant seal.

Attempts at satellite tracking of walrus migration by a Danish research time suggest that walrus value their privacy.

The BBC seems to have a walrus fetish. Consider the plethora of walrus journalism from the UK:

• Ten Walrus Wonders
• Answers to your walrus questions
• Beast in sediment is photo winner*

* This also wins the award for "Nature photo most closely mimicking the way I look when I eat pudding."

Walrus much?

Atomic Tourism

It has come to my attention that a number of Cold War sites are now open for tourism. Road trip, anyone?


Nuclear explosion sites

• The Trinity site in New Mexico is open two days a year
  
• Nevada Test Site
  

Aircraft and missiles on display

• The B-29 Enola Gay is on display at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington-Dulles Airport*
  
• The B-29 Bockscar is on display at The National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio*
  
• The Kansas Cosmosphere, Hutchinson, Kansas, has an outstanding collection of Cold War and Space Race artifacts from both the US and Soviet programs; they also have both a V-1 and a V-2 on display.*
  
• Strategic Air & Space Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
  

ICBM Silos and Nike Batteries

• Minuteman Missile NHS, outside Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota
  
• Titan Missile Museum, Tucson, Arizona
  
• Nike missile site SF-88, Golden Gate NRA, Marin County, California (update: I was there in August 2007 - see my post "If it flies, it dies.")*
  
• Chanute Air Museum, Rantoul, Illinois, has a nice collection of aircraft as well as a genuine USAF missile silo maintenance trainer.*
  

Other atomic tourist sites:

• Atomic Tourist
  
• This dude from Milwaukee has been to several of the above sites and has kindly posted his pictures and narrative: Trinity, Minuteman Missile NHS, and the Titan Missile Museum.
  

* denotes that I've been there and it's totally sweet.


Closing thought, from the journal of one of The Mighty Rando's lab-mates:

The U.S. government has a huge stockpile of nukes. Somewhere between 10,000 and 30,000, although no one--not even the government--knows for sure. Those beautiful engines of destruction were lovingly crafted out of pure taxpayer greenbacks, and by golly, they owe us. I say the government ought to be forced (either by popular vote, or because I damn well told 'em to) to set off one nuke every year at the Nevada test range, on the ground or in the air, just so dads all over the country can pile the family into the pickup or camper and drive out to the desert to see a little fireworks display, USA style. It would be good for all of us. To remind us that nukes exist, that they exist for a reason, and that we Americans are going to be their most important stewards forever. Because we built 'em first, we built the most, and they are not going to go away, no matter how much we might wish that they would. Hell, we ought to invite foreign dignitaries, too. I think that certain terrorist-coddling Middle Eastern heads of state could learn a lot from seeing a few square miles of desert instantly turned into glass.

Ask Doctor Vector: The Star-Spangled Incredible Hulk

Find-A-Species

This is neat: The International Species Information System has a find animals service by which one may search their member zoos and aquaria for a species by common or Latin name.

Other zoo/aquarium items:

• The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has a find a zoo or aquarium tool
  
• The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums also has a worldwide directory of zoos and aquaria
  

Snakes on a lake

We took some time on the way back from Cleveland to tour the Lake Erie shore. We visited Marblehead Light, the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, and the we took the ferry to the town of Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island. It was totally sweet. Then, as if visiting Perry's Victory/International Peace National Memorial wasn't sweet enough, we got a herpetological treat at the ferry terminal back on the mainland: an encounter with a number of Lake Erie water snakes Nerodia sipedon insularum that were basking on the riprap. Any snake encounter is likely to be awesome, but I was especially jazzed because these snakes (and the slightly crazy snake biologists who love them) were recently featured on the Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs.



Sorry, Sam Jackson, but I've far from had it with these snakes. Check off another enounter with a critter on The Awesome List.

The Ohio DNR's guide to reptiles of Ohio points out that the Lake Erie water snake is a subspecies of the northern water snake found only among the Lake Erie islands. It lacks some of the banded coloration associated with other subspecies.

Update December 2007: the Respect the Snake web site has everything you need to know about the Lake Erie water snake.

It wasn't a rock...

...it was a chalk lobster.

Loons

Another video from August 2006: a compilation of loon encounters in northeast Wisconsin.



Yeah, North Woods!

Wolf River rapids

I finally got around to editing and posting my Wolf River rapids movie from August 2006. The first-person view was recorded with the Rocklobstercam Mk II. Props to Paul Jung for the third-person camera angle.