Tess killed this giraffe for fun.
She grins behind his dead body in this shocking viral photo — but right now, we have a precious chance to turn this tragedy into a lifeline for giraffes everywhere!
Join the AVAAZ campaign and stop these bastards killing such beautiful creatures for fun!!
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/giraffe_protection_plan_rbl_loc/?cCAwEjb
Bridlington Bay – an ode
This morning we walked the shore at Bridlington Bay.
The cold still air on our faces,
The winter sun gliding through the sky
Peeping through the misty cloud
Like a moon
Lost in the daylight.
On the beaches the dogs played,
Running free on the wet sands,
Sands revealed by the retreating waves,
As seagulls circled and swooped
With raucous calls.
In the harbor the sanderlings and sandpipers
Pecked a living from the mud,
Industriously trotting and bobbing
To pick invisible morsels,
Oblivious to us.
We walked the length of the bay and back,
Past shuttered ice-cream parlours,
Closed museums and deserted funfairs,
Stranded speed boats and the pirate ship.
A flock of Turnstones skimmed
And wheeled across the wet sand
With black and white flashes
Of wings and body.
A speedy flock,
To swoop and come to rest
On the edge of the promenade
Under the balustrade,
Ignoring the dog walkers and couples
Walking past,
Habituated to humans.
We stopped to admire
The Gansey girl,
Frozen in time,
Waiting patiently
On the pier.
We passed the facades
Of the Punch and Judy and the clowns,
Past the brightly coloured
Beach chalets,
Waiting for summer.
Then back to the plaque
To the two Hawaiian Princes
Who introduced surfing
To Britain from this very beach.
Who had their boards fashioned
By local boat builders.
We read about the exploits
Of Amy Johnson, of Lawrence of Arabia,
Nelson and Captain Cook,
Whose connections
Were renowned.
Then coffee and soup
Overlooking the bay
As the light played
Across the beach and water,
Creating a changing
Mosaic of beauty.
Back along the promenade,
Reading the poems
And words
Set in stone,
Thinking,
Enthralled,
Peering out to sea
And contemplating
The nuance.
Just a few hours
In a tableau
Stretching back
Across centuries,
Millenia,
Of unrelenting, gradual change –
Onward into the unknown.
A tableau
In which
We play
A fleeting role,
As Bridlington Bay
Evolves.
Opher 6.1.2019
There is something magical about walking by the sea. In winter, when the place is shut down and there are no crowds to push through, we see a different side.
There is a beauty, a peace, and time to contemplate. Nature is evident, going on around us, used to us, ignoring our presence.
Among the deserted trappings of the gaudy entertainment it is easy to imagine the intransigence of our presence.
When we are gone and the evidence of our presence is confined to a layer in the rock the bay will prevail.
Great news for the environment!
Laws concerning the efficiency of electrical appliances initiated by the EU have succeeded in cutting our electricity bills by 25%.
EU Legislation has caused the manufacturers of electrical appliances to become more efficient. Our fridges, hoovers, ovens, kettles and other appliances now use much less energy to do the same job. This has not only saved us money on our bills but has reduced the need to burn fossil fuels to make our electricity which is great for the environment. When coupled with the introduction of LED lights this has reduced our electricity use by a quarter. Great stuff!!
At a time when over a third of our electricity is produced by alternative, non-polluting, renewable energy sources, this is brilliant.
The future of our planet does not mean we have to live like hermits in austere houses. It just means that we have to become much more efficient with our energy use (and conservation) and to produce it with non-polluting sources. It is possible!
So well done!!
The Hunt
I hear them come.
I run.
But there is nowhere
To hide.
I dive.
I surface and gasp
And dive.
But they are relentless.
They never tire.
In panic
I strain and race.
Their engines pound
Their mechanical,
Metallic coldness,
Their metronomic
Melody
Of death.
No escape.
No matter which way
I twist and turn.
They hunt me down.
Desperate.
I gasp.
And it hits.
It slams into my side.
Explodes.
Sending white hot barbs
Of liquid fury
To pierce my insides.
No matter how much I struggle
They have me
Torn, bleeding
And pierced
Writhing in agony,
On the end of a rope.
It pulls, it rips, it tears
But there is no escape.
I feel the life blood
Flow freely
As the searing pain
Floods my mind,
As my body weakens.
Yet still,
Futilely,
Driven by the
Will to survive,
With the knowledge
Of the hopelessly,
I thrash.
It is tearing my insides.
The agony is white hot.
My mind shrieks.
Yet there is no escape.
With gaff and hook
They reel me in
And, eventually,
I cease to struggle.
Opher – 28.12.2018
A hundred pound harpoon is blasted from a gun on deck into the flesh of the whale as it surfaces. It penetrates deep and explodes, ripping flesh and sending barbs deep into the tissue to anchor it to the ship.
As many as seven harpoons may be used.
The whale thrashes around in agony as the barbs tears at its flesh but it can’t escape.
It will take half an hour of searing pain until the loss of blood causes it to weaken and die.
The whalers do not care about the whales intelligence, nor its highly developed social life. They do not care about the songs it has composed or its family. They do not care about how much agony they cause. To them it is a big piece of meat to be sold for profit.
They bloody the waters, hack and saw the flesh into lumps to sell.
It is all about the money.
There are many who are wonder that with the terrible damage we are presently doing to the planet, whether the place wouldn’t be better off without us.
There are so many disasters. I reckon the major ones are:
Overpopulation
Global Warming
Species extinctions
Extreme pollution
Presently I think we are in grave danger of totally upsetting the ecological balance of the planet and doing permanent damage.
Would the planet be better off without us? That is debateable but if there is nothing left that is sentient to appreciate it would it matter?
I have a few thoughts.
Well certainly the richness of life and abundance would be better without us.
And certainly there are a number of other creatures who are sentient (and intelligent) who might well prosper without us (gorillas, chimps, elephants, whales to name but four).
I certainly appreciate nature and have a great love for animals and plants. I would like to see them flourish and it distresses me to see them treated so badly and suffering so much.
Then, of course, evolution would work to fill in the gaps. There could well be a new highly intelligent species that would eventually replace us and prove to be more compassionate and a better manager of the planet. So that could be good.
But I have a fondness for humanity. I think we are a bit Jekyll and Hyde. Perhaps there is hope for us? Perhaps we can learn to care for the other life we share the planet with? Perhaps we will learn to be less cruel? Perhaps we will learn to manage the natural world a lot better and learn from our mistakes?
I’d like to think so.
You don’t value what you’ve got until its gone, do you?
And the cruel, vicious side of our nature is really our worst side!
But there are many people who do care for nature. That gives me hope!
