Orca sounds used to frighten whales back to sea

http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2007/US/05/24/delta.whales.ap/index.html

POSTED: 8:02 a.m. EDT, May 24, 2007

The two Humpback Whales apparently took a wrong turn during their migration back to the feeding grounds of Northern Pacific. They traveled 90 miles into the inlands of Sacramento. They turned around until they reached the Sacramento River Bridge, and began swimming in circles. Scientists hope that the sound of Orcas will threaten the whales back into the ocean. They also acknowledge that the whales were spotted slapping their tails on the water, which shows that they are in distress. Their deep cuts appeared worsening, and the cuts were probably from propellers. A 3-4 foot cut on the whales appeared to have pierce through the blubber layer. The freshwater environment have made the normal, smooth skin of the whale rough and pitted. But what concerns the scientist the most is the whales slapping their tails on the water. Because this is abnormal and scientists now need to drive the whales back into the ocean without causing the whales to have more stress.

I think scientists should try to get the whales back into the ocean because the whales have spent more than a week in fresh water and they are not physically able to live in fresh water. Their cuts have appeared worsening and they appear to have a lot of stress. So hopefully the two whales will be able to return back to the ocean in the next couple of days and make it to their migration to the feeding grounds.

Wayward whales take another wrong turn

http://robots.cnn.com/2007/US/05/22/delta.whales.ap/index.html

POSTED: 8:21 p.m. EDT, May 21, 2007

The Humpbacks nicknamed Delta and Dawn had traveled around 20 miles south of the port of Sacramento, and swimming toward the state capital. They turned around again this afternoon after scientist positioned dozen of boats in front of them. "They're at this point lost. We don't think they have any clue," said Rod McInnis of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Their current route will lead them to muddy deltas that could trap these whales. To get back to the Ocean, the two of them must make it to the San Francisco Bay, and swim under the Golden Gate Bridge to make it back to the Ocean. The whales were swimming toward the Pacific at 3:30 pm Sunday. They swam as far as the Rio Vista Bridge before turning around. Scientists believed that the vibrations from the traffic startled the two whales. The goal is to "make as much noise to be as obnoxious to the whales as possible" to get them to move back toward the ocean, said Ed Sweeney, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Zoo hatches endangered Asian turtle

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/05/01/turtle.birth.ap/index.html

POSTED: 3:12 a.m. EDT, May 2, 2007

An Arakan forest turtle in Zoo Atlanta was hatched. This is the fourth of the Arakan forest turtle to be born there. Zoo Atlanta is the only facility in the world to successfully breed these turtles. They were believed to be extinct for close to a century, but were later rediscovered in an Asian foodmarket in the mid 1990s. The Arakan forest turtle is endangered due to the fact that many people use it for cooking and medical uses. The turtle, native of Arakan hills has a horrible survival rate, and the turtle only mates once a year. The turtle eggs take 100 days to hatch. Zoo Atlanta has a pair of mating turtles since 2001, they manage to buy the two turtles from a Chinese Food Market. There are only 12 of the turtles living in captivity in the U.S; Zoo Atlanta, the St. Louis Zoo, the Miami Metro Zoo and River Banks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina.

I think we should try to have more facilities in the world to help breed Arakan forest turtle. Because there is only one facility in the world that can successfully breed them. Arakan forest turtles are extremely rare and its sad to see that people are not recognizing this, and are continuing to kill them for food and medical use.

'Shocking' Legoland coaster death

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/04/30/lego.death.ap/index.html

POSTED: 8:37 a.m. EDT, April 30, 2007

A 21 year old employee of Legoland amusement park was killed in a roller coaster accident. The employee, who was not identified, died immediately on Sunday after being hit by a roller coaster car. Apparently she jumped over the security fence to pick up a wallet for one of the passengers. Than the rollercoaster car came and the accident happened. Legoland manager Henrik Hoehrman, was shocked by this accident and said that nothing like this has ever happened before. The accident took place at the Legoland amusement park 240 kilometers west of Copenhagen. The Danish Legoland opened in 1968.

This is extremely shocking because the employee was just trying to help the passenger find the wallet. And it’s unfair for the employee, because she was only trying to help and unluckily a roller coaster came and hit her.

Police referred Cho for counseling in 2005

POSTED: 10:34 a.m. EDT, April 18, 2007

Cho Seung-Hui , who was responsible for Monday's shooting was just referred for counseling for being suicidal, and having inappropriate contact with girls. This 23 year old Korean killed 32 people on Monday before taking his own life on the Virginia Tech Campus. The police first contacted Cho in November 2005 when a student complained about him calling her and contacting her in person. Cho was than sent to the university's Office of Judicial Affairs, no threat was made against Cho. The next month, another student complained about instant messages sent by Cho. The police asked him to see a counselor, he agreed, and he was sent to an independent mental health facility in Blacksburg.
Nikki Giovanni said she immediately suspected Cho, when she found out about the shooting. Cho's poetry was so intimidating, that Giovanni had to removed him from her class in fall of 2005. And two of her students quit her poetry class because Cho was taking photographs of them in class. Ian McFarlane, a classmate of Cho said two plays written by Cho was so twisted. The two plays Cho wrote was Richard McBeef, Mr. Brownstone, and I personally have the read these two plays and i can say that they are extremely sick and disturbing. And both plays talk about violence and people wanting to kill someone. Cho bought a Glock 9mm from a gun shop owner. The big question was why was the campus not closed down, and the students warned before Cho came back to the Norris Hall 2 hours later and did the
deadliest mass shooting.

Wrong-way driver killed in crash with Greyhound bus

A car was driving on the opposite lane on the highway and collided head on with a Greyhound bus early Saturday. Killing the driver of the car and injuring 20 other people. Heather Marie Thomas, 23 was driving southbound in a northbound lane on interstate 85 at 3:05 am. "After the crash, panic erupted in the bus because the door was jammed shut and the car was smoking, raising a threat of fire," said passenger Clint Cannon. "They thought the bus was going to explode." The bus driver did a great job to prevent the accident from being worse, because he prevented the bus to flip over. Clint Cannon said, everytime the bus turn left, the car would turn left, when the bus turned right, the car would turn right. 20 people were taken to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries

Two police officers killed in Charlotte

Sean Clark 34 and Jeffrey Shelton 35 were responding to a disturbance call at the apartment complex, when they were both shot at the parking lot. They both died after in the hospital. "It's a real tragedy for us, the officers, for the families, for the communities, that we've lost two in one incident," said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Darrel Stephens. Clark has been with the police department for 1 year and Shelton had worked there since 2001. They used helicopters and police dogs in a search for suspects. No suspects were found though. Both officers were married, Clark and his wife were expecting a baby.

I think this is a tragic lost to the police department and a even more tragic lost to Sean Clark's family because he and his wife were both expecting a baby, and now the baby will be born without ever seeing his father.