How Oil Affects Birds. Massive oil spills often make headlines because of their destructive impact on wildlife and the environment, but what many people don't realize is that even a small amount of oil – no more than a dime-sized drop – can be deadly to birds. Understanding how oil affects birds can raise awareness of just how hazardous any oil spill or similar pollution can be. Where Oil Spills Come From Large scale oil pollution disasters come from obvious sources: offshore drilling, tanker leaks and illegal dumping.
Yet small oil spills and leaks, such as a damaged jet ski, leaking motorboat, illegally dumped quart of motor oil or runoff from road pollution can be just as deadly to birds and other wildlife. Many of these small spills and slicks go unreported, often because only a small area, even just a few yards, is affected. Yet even the smallest spill can have a fatal impact on the birds that come into contact with it. Birds Affected by Oil Spills How Oil Affects Birds More Impacts of Oil on Birds. Water Guide. Shark Truth. Shark Truth - Hua Foundation. BC Hydro's website on Site C Clean Energy Project. Problem.
E-Magazine on invasive species, water, by Young Naturalists' Club of BC. SalmonWILD by Young Naturalists' Club of BC. Cougar Creek Streamkeepers - Rain gardens - Nature Trust of BC. A drab entrance to an exciting place The Nature Trust of British Columbia (TNT) is hugely important in the protection and management of natural habitats throughout the province. Yet the entrance to TNT’s headquarters, located on the 2nd floor of a North Vancouver strata office building, was rather drab and lifeless. Two drain chains brought water down from the entrance portico into what appeared at first glance to be gravel-filled infiltration chambers. But no, they were in fact just decorative patches of white gravel, disguising standard old drains that connected to the storm sewer system. Strata on board TNT CEO Doug Walker checked with the Strata Association to make sure there were no objections (and there weren’t) to replacing the fake infiltration areas with functioning miniature rain gardens.
Staff on task On a sunny October day, TNT staff – with help from a couple of Cougar Creek Streamkeepers – set to work. First, bricks and compacted gravel/soil were removed. That was easy! Georgia Strait Alliance | Caring for our coastal waters. Managing rain and stormwater runoff. The City of Vancouver designs streets, country lanes, and rain gardens with absorbent materials to reduce surface flooding and divert stormwater runoff from the sewer system.
The absorbed water is filtered by the ground and released slowly into local streams, similar to nature's own processes. These designs help create more attractive, enjoyable neighbourhoods. Some integrated stormwater management designs used by the City are shown below. Sustainable streets The City designs streets where stormwater runoff filters naturally through planted areas into restored ponds and streams. At the same time, the streets are designed to calm traffic and encourage walking. The photo shows Crown Street, Canada's first environmentally friendly street. Country lanes Innovative lane designs have a rural ambiance and use absorbent materials to manage rainwater environmentally. Rain gardens Planted areas behind curbs channel and filter stormwater from the street. Watershed Champions Program | Create a Rain Garden.
What not to pour down the drain. Whatever goes down the drain directly affects aquatic life, water quality, and the liveability of your neighbourhood. Help protect our waterways by properly disposing of household items. Food scraps: compost them When food enters the ocean it requires oxygen to decompose. The more food in the ocean, the less oxygen there is available for fish and other organisms. Instead of using your in-sink garburator, recycle your kitchen scraps with your yard waste for pickup by the City, or purchase your own composter.
Cooking grease: put it in the garbage Grease quickly turns solid within sewer pipes, and can cause blockages that lead to backups and sewer overflows. Pour hot cooking grease into a tin can or drink carton to cool and solidify before disposing the grease into the garbage. Medication: return it to the drug store In many places around the world, trace levels of pharmaceuticals can be found in the water supply. PlasticShore - Homepage. Surfrider Foundation Vancouver. Chris Jordan - Midway. On Midway Atoll, a remote cluster of islands more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent, the detritus of our mass consumption surfaces in an astonishing place: inside the stomachs of thousands of dead baby albatrosses. The nesting chicks are fed lethal quantities of plastic by their parents, who mistake the floating trash for food as they forage over the vast polluted Pacific Ocean.
For me, kneeling over their carcasses is like looking into a macabre mirror. These birds reflect back an appallingly emblematic result of the collective trance of our consumerism and runaway industrial growth. Like the albatross, we first-world humans find ourselves lacking the ability to discern anymore what is nourishing from what is toxic to our lives and our spirits. ~cj, Seattle, February 2011 For updates on Chris Jordan”s upcoming film ALBATROSS, visit www.albatrossthefilm.com. ALBATROSS film trailer. Trailer - riverblue - riverblue. Citizen scientists are uncovering their creeks in Metro Vancouver | Evergreen. PSF. Uncover Your Creeks in Metro Vancouver | Evergreen. The Pacific Streamkeepers Federation. Still Creek Enhancement. Why Still Creek is important Today, Still Creek is one of only two remaining visible streams in urban Vancouver.
Located in the east side of Vancouver, Still Creek forms an important part of the Brunette River system. Still Creek flows for 17 km through densely populated sections of Burnaby and Vancouver, ending in the Fraser River in New Westminster. How the City developed this plan The City prepared the Still Creek Enhancement Study working with community groups, property owners, environmentalists, and “stream-keepers”. The study outlines 10-year actions leading to a 50-year plan for the beautification, protection and restoration of sections of the creek that run through Vancouver.
The purpose of this plan The revitalization efforts are part of a larger plan to reduce flooding, reconnect people with Still Creek and its natural beauty, and improve long-standing environmental issues throughout the Still Creek Watershed. Challenges. Daily Catch Seafood Company | Vancouvers newest supplier of sustainable seafood. Latest News | Ocean Wise. Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Vancouver Aquarium :: Home.