According to Wikipedia, Jellyfish are found in every ocean, from the surface to the deep sea. Some jellyfish are also found in fresh water; though freshwater species are less than an inch in diameter, are colorless, and do not sting. The best-known jellyfish are the large, often colorful jellyfish that are common in coastal zones worldwide.

The presence of ocean jellyfish blooms is usually seasonal, responding to prey availability and increasing with temperature and sunshine. There is very little data about changes in global jellyfish populations over time, besides “impressions” in the public memory. Case in point: I remember seeing their bodies on the sands of Redondo Beach, California, during my childhood summers, but can’t remember the last time I saw one as an adult. Scientists have little quantitative data of historic or current jellyfish populations, so any recent speculation about changes in jellyfish populations are based on no actual “before” data. It is known, however, that jellies seem to be flourishing in areas where their natural predators have been thinned by overfishing or water pollution.

Jellyfish are popular displays in aquariums around the world. Often the tank’s background is blue and the animals are illuminated by side light, increasing the contrast between the animal and the background. (In natural conditions, many jellies are so transparent that they are nearly invisible.) The Monterey Bay Aquarium used to have a beautiful jelly exhibit, but it has been closed for more than a year. Fortunately, the aquarium still has an educational online exhibit that showcases photos and videos of dozens of amazingly colorful jellies. (more…)

I already love to eat Kettle brand chips. Ironically, I never even enjoyed potato chips until earlier this year when I absentmindedly snacked on a bag of Kettle Tuscan Three Cheese chips at a media event I was attending: From that moment on I was hooked. Since then, I’ve sampled many of the flavors in their line, always delighted by their wonderful crunch and delicious flavors.

Only recently, I happened to notice verbage on the packaging that drew my attention to the company’s sustainability efforts and was pleased to discover the company supports a variety of eco-friendly practices. In fact, green building, renewable energy, habitat restoration, recycling, and reuse make up the pillars of Kettle Foods’ environmental initiative! Awesome practices contribute to their awesome chips!

The new 73,000-square-foot Kettle Foods factory in Beloit, Wisconsin, is the first food manufacturing facility in the U.S. to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)  Gold-level certification for green building. On top, the building features 18 wind turbines that generate enough energy to produce 56,000 bags of Kettle Brand Potato Chips every year – or approximately 28,000 kilowatt hours.

The Kettle Foods headquarters in Salem, Oregon, is home to one of the largest commercial solar power arrays in the Pacific Northwest. As a producer of renewable energy, Kettle Foods’ 616 solar panels generate 120,000 kWh of electricity annually – enough to make 250,000 bags of Kettle Brand Potato Chips each year, and reduce Kettle Foods’ annual CO2 emissions by 65 tons.

When Kettle Foods’ headquarters moved to Oregon in 1999, the company set out to restore a federally designated natural wetlands on the company grounds.  Invasive non-native species including Himalayan blackberry bushes and Scotch Broom were removed and the grounds were replanted with native plants such as Aster, Camas, Red Alder, Lupine, and Sword Fern in addition to aquatic plant species such as Wapato and Marsh Pennywort which enhance biological diversity in the wetland pond. (more…)

Here is an amazing video at YouTube that shows an elephant painting a portrait using its trunk to manipulate the brush. The pachyderm starts with a clean canvas, and finishes with what could be described as a self-portrait. Heck, it’s certainly better than anything I have painted recently!

You can watch another video of a baby elephant painting at this YouTube.com link.

It’s really amazing! This article at GreenMuze describes The Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project (AEACP) was founded in 1997 as a unique charitable program developed to help raise awareness about the plight of endangered Asian elephants and to help make the lives of domesticated elephants a little better. The revenue generated from their paintings is used to care for the elephants and provide them with better food, improved shelter, and proper veterinary care. The AEACP has received attention and support from around the globe.  The AEACP’s work with elephants has been featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation and Esquire, as well as featured on CBS Sunday Morning, the Lehrer NewsHour, and a substantial segment on 60 Minutes.

According to an article at the BBC news,  the giant mammals even had an exhibition of their paintings at an Edinburgh Gallery in 1996. According to Victoria Khunapramot, who imported the paintings from Thailand, “They are very intelligent animals and create the entire paintings with great gusto and concentration within just five or 10 minutes.

“They are trained by artists who fine-tune their skills, and they paint in front of an audience in their conservation village, leaving no one in any doubt that they are authentic elephant creations. The only thing they cannot do on their own is pick up a paintbrush, so it gets handed to them.” They are gently trained to paint abstract designs, flowers, and elephant portraits. (more…)