Saving Sea turtles 海亀に救われて

Dear nOmads,

I volunteered to help research the sea turtles at the island called Yakushima couple summers ago. Turns out it's one of the largest spawning beach for sea turtles in the northern hemisphere. 

More and more the beaches where sea turtles can lay eggs are vanishing.
The problem is over-development by us humans.
Its usually nice beautiful white-sandy beaches are their home. Ideal for humans to build a beach house or a resort. But just a little headlight of a car keeps the turtles away because they are very timid and careful a mother turtle refuse to land.
The problem is, the sea turtle comes back only to the beach where they were born.
Its the only place they can lay their eggs.

The research I helped was to check the hatched eggs. In September.
Dig out the hatched eggs and count how many and the condition of them.
Find 40 or 50 eggs from one place digging with your own hands is a lot of work. I digged maybe 5 or so places in an evening... and its very exhausting with summer heat...
And sometimes, the little baby turtles stucked between the eggs comes jumping out to the beach. Its beautiful life saving experience!

Baby sea turtles heads straight to the sea without hesitation marching like a toy solders. Only if they are not distracted by bright light in the other direction, which they mistake as the moon, heads toward the light and gets lost.
Or sometimes deep tire tracks left by 4x4 drove on the beach leads the babies towards the road...


Good news is, this passed few years the number of sea turtle coming back to the beach are increasing! 11,300 turtles in summer of 2012.They need more volunteers in early summer to help sea turtles lay eggs securely.
But these mother turtles are the one hatched 30years ago...year by year the living condition is tougher for them to survive.
Our challenge is not to make the situation any worse.

If you have't taken your summer vacation yet or looking for meaningful summer in the future
Please head down to this beautiful island of Yakushima to help sea turtles. Desperately needing your help!

Here's where I volunteered.
www.umigame-kan.org

Contact:
umigamekan@m7.dion.ne.jp

Save them save you!


Sweet desert •おいしい砂漠•

Dear globalnOmads,

Fossil fuel dependency should lessen, don't you agree?
But i don't mean Pro-nuke, there's nothing clear about nuclear usage.

If you are living in so called oil country bathing in oil money and spending that money like there is no tomorrow on European football clubs...

Isn't there a more useful way?
Invest on your future?
Lets build more solar panel system over the desert!


Think about it,
1. Where else would be the best place to bath a sun without interference? It's a waste land anyway. And it may replace your oil business with less worry of sources running out.

2. By covering the land with solar panels, it will create shadows. This might help grow something underneath it, i.e. plants, insects or worms maybe to start, improves the soil quality? And so many ecological merit from de-desertation.

3. Less ecological damages from generating electricity. No digging, No burning and less transportation. No pollution in the process. No nuke, chemical or bio hazards and wastes.

According to Dr.Faiman, use of 10% of Sahara desert with solar panel will generate enough electricity to cover the whole world.
Imagine the potential!

Come on Africa you could now become a rich energy exporters end to the poverty!
And with the earnings,  please help protect the endangered species like lions, rhinos or giraffes..etc etc, 
so that our kids and their kids can adore them too.