ICP Award

I'm proud to announce that the following image “Can he read” won the 1st prize in the 2010 ICP Awards in the category ”Environment at Risk”.

The International Conservation Photography Awards is a prestigious international photography contest, focused on conservation and the environment. The ICP award was founded and is hosted by Art Wolfe.



The story behind: “Can he read?” was my first thought, as I saw this male fur seal sitting on the old propeller, and he was looking at me as if he was asking himself the same question about me.
Stromness Bay, South Georgia, was once a whaling station, where thousands of whales got slaughtered, bringing some of them to the brink of extinction. There is still a very depressing aura engulfing the place. Feeling an overwhelming sadness and burning anger deep within, I wanted to create an image that shows the desolation of the place, but also the hope that lies within. We need to stop whaling completely and conserve, protect and nourish what's left AND we need to make places like Stromness Bay safer for the seals and penguins who fortunately have reclaimed the place. They have suffered already enough!

The winning images and honorable mentions are now displayed in Seattle's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.
Not only have I won first place in the environment at risk category, our son Tomi also won an honorable mention in the student category. No question hence, that we would attend the opening reception on June 18th in Seattle.
What a great evening! Many, many people came to celebrate the opening, and the Museum and Art Wolfe were the perfect hosts. We met many of the other photographers, chatted with the museums director, Julie Stein and admired the exceptional display.

Opening Night Gala

The Burke Museum



The feeling to see my photograph displayed in a museum was quite overwhelming, the experience to share this moment together with Tomi was beyond words...

The Exhibition Entrance







Art Wolfe with Tomi, in front of Tomi's photograph (lower left)



A big Thank You to my friend Daisy Gilardini, who took all of the above images.

News coverage of the event:

National Geographic News

W UWEEK


Once in Seattle we also explored a bit of downtown and the fish market....Seattle is a fantastic city, but the weather....


Of course, the first stop was...



...yes, the very first Starbucks!

Impressions from Pike's Market











Any guess what that is......yuck!!!



A very BIG Thank you to Kim and BJ! I couldn't have wished for better hosts!!

The Dog Blog: Radar's Story

A Greyhounds Odyssey




When we think of Greyhounds we think dog races (...or a form of affordable transcontinental transportation...). And unfortunately, that is what Greyhounds are bred for today. The origin of the fastest dog on earth is not quite clear. 4000 years old depictions in Egypt show dogs that resemble the modern day Greyhound, other sources place the original Greyhound with the ancient Celts from Eastern Europe. However the origin though, all modern purebred Greyhounds derive from Great Britain. Here the Greyhound was a hunting dog exclusively for the upper class. The so called “Forest Laws” prohibited the common man to breed or own the noble dog. As an all time hunting companion the Greyhound was always in close contact with it's owner, resulting in a friendly, affectionate, even tempered and intelligent character. In fact the Greyhound was so well behaved he even was allowed in church with his owner. All these attributes are still valid for today's Greyhound, but instead of born into a life of luxury the Greyhound now is bred for money, for gambling money!




Ten thousands of Greyhound puppies are bred for the racing industry every year. Most of them will be “disposed of” after only a few months. The rest of them will be trained and further “selected”. At about 18 months the selected few will be sent off to the racing track. While at the race track the dogs are kenneled for most of the day in rather close confinement with only little socialization and they basically have to run for their life, if they don't succeed, they will be either euthanized, sold to research labs or might be lucky enough to get the attention of a rescue organization.
Radar is one of these lucky ones.




Not performing to their owners liking, 12 under-nourished Greyhounds, later lovingly called the “Dirty Dozen” by the rescue organization were scheduled to be shipped from the Tuscon race track to Mexico, when they got taken in by a Greyhound rescue organization. Radar was one of them. Not long after this, Radars new owner, who had signed up with Greyhound Friends for Life to adopt a Greyhound, got a phone call, telling her a Greyhound that matched her profile could be adopted. The family went right away to look at the prospective new family member and fell immediately in love.




And you can see why, his heart is just in the right spot...;-)

They were given the opportunity to see the other Greyhounds, but their heart was already taken. Since Radar had spent his former life only in kennels, the inital days in a “normal “ house were quite a challenge. The first time he was supposed to go up the stairs he was at a loss what to do. On his way to the garden he bumped into the glass door, puzzled by the invisible obstacle. But very soon he became a well adjusted loving dog, who always greets me with a wagging tail and a soft muzzle.




Please help raising awareness about the Greyhound racing issue by getting informed and informing others. Please check out the following links and organizations and feel free to forward the blog to anyone who might be interested.

Organizations:

Greyhound Protection League

Greyhound Friends For Life

Golden State Greyhound Adoption

Links:

Animal Media

The Proof is in the Picture

EPSON INTERNATIONAL PANO AWARD

I'm proud to announce that I have received a bronze award in the 2010 Epson International Pano Awards.

The Epson International Pano Awards is aimed to showcase the work of panoramic photographers, professional and amateur alike, worldwide.
There were two entry classes, one for amateurs (amateur) and one for professional photographers and amateurs (open), with two categories each, Nature and The Built Environment.

The awarded image was entered in the open competition Nature category.

June Conservation Tip

Still looking for a meaningful Graduation or Fathers Day gift?
Or a birthday gift for a good friend? Since most of us have more worldly goods than we actually need, why not give a wildlife adoption.
What is a wildlife adoption and how does it work?
There are many wildlife support groups out there that offer wildlife adoptions. Most of the organizations have different packages, some starting as low as $ 10. You choose the amount of money you want to spend and for this amount a donation will be made in the name of the person you want to give the gift to. The recipient then gets, depending on the organization and the package you chose, a certificate of adoption and other information regarding the chosen animal. The money they raise with the adoption will be used to protect the specified animal and it's environment. Some offer the adoption of one specific animal, like the WDCS (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society), others put it use for the whole selected species, where ever it's needed most.
A few of the organizations I have used in the past are: Defenders of Wildlife, Polar Bears International and WWF
But this is by far not a complete list, just suggestions to start with. Also check with your local organizations.
Not into wildlife? Check out Heifer to support families and farmers in third world countries.
Feel free to add your favorite organization in the comments as an idea pool for others!

Save the Whales

This last weekend people from my town, Half Moon Bay, gathered at the beach to protest lifting the moratorium on commercial whaling. The organizers made a grid with stakes and twine in the sand to form a 100 foot long whale. Protesters wearing black and gray filled in the body and were then photographed from an airplane. This aerial shot will be send to President Barack Obama to protest against the lifting of the moratorium.


Protesters waving to the airplane

What is the moratorium?
Agreed in 1982, and introduced in 1986, the whaling moratorium was brought in after long campaigns by environmental groups pointing out the fact that many populations of the great whales had been drastically reduced by over-hunting. The largest of them, the Blue Whale, had even been driven to the brink of extinction.

The main article of the moratorium of the IWC (International Whaling Commission) reads:
“....catch limits for the killing for commercial purposes of whales from all stocks for the 1986 coastal and the 1985/86 pelagic seasons and thereafter shall be zero.”

As the moratorium applies only to commercial whaling, whaling under the scientific-research and aboriginal-subsistence provisions is still allowed. However since 1994, Norway has been whaling commercially and Iceland began hunting commercially in September 2006. Since 1986, Japan has been whaling under scientific research permits. 2009 about 1700 whales were killed, half of those whales were taken by Japan under the guise of scientific research. One wonders what they are researching that makes it necessary to kill so many whales​?! The US and several other nations are whaling under aboriginal whaling provisions.
The IWC now proposes to lift the moratorium and put in yearly quotas of how many whales can be killed. Supposedly the whaling vessels would have to have observers on board and a DNA registry of whale meat would be required in order to track whales being caught and sold illegally. The question now is, if Norway, Iceland and Japan have killed 1700 whales last year with the limit being zero, how many will they hunt if the moratorium gets lifted???

In my opinion whales should not be hunted, period!

They are extremely intelligent and gentle mammals that already suffered so much through us.
In spring 2007 I traveled to Silver Bank, off the coast of the Dominican Republic, to snorkel with Humpback whales.
Silver Bank is part of the Sanctuary for the Marine Mammals of the Dominican Republic.
Pregnant Humpback whales come to these shallow waters to give birth and “hang around” with the calves until they are ready for their first journey north to the feeding grounds in the waters off Newfoundland and Labrador.

On our first encounter in the water with these gentle giants, we watched a mother with her calf, resting on the bottom of the shallow bank.



After a few minutes the calf came up to breathe. On it's way down back to mom,



it swam really close by me, looking me right in the eye, curious, what strange whale I might be. For seconds our eyes locked. I was so mesmerized, that I completely forgot that I had a camera in my hands. I didn't get the photograph, but I caught something way more important, I caught a glimpse of a deeper understanding between two mammals, one being a whale and one being a human.



All photos © Susanne Weissenberger - White Mountain Photography

May Conservation Tip

Since we are hopefully by now done with this rainy spring, and summer is approaching fast, why not use solar energy to dry your clothes. Just hang them out for the sun to dry. I know it's a hassle with the small stuff, but if you just hang up one or two loads of laundry a week, sheets or jeans for example, it makes a huge difference.
Don't have any outdoor space? Try dryer balls.
As I first got them from our son as a result of a energy saving school project, I was rather puzzled. But I have to say, they really make a difference. I was not standing in front of my dryer stopping the time, but I noted a distinctive shorter running time when the balls where in there. Also fleece items seem to be fluffier with the “ball drying” method.

What are dryer balls? Well, meanwhile you can buy all sorts of plastic dryer balls in stores, but the original dryer balls are soft wool felted balls that you put in the dryer with your wet clothes when you start the drying cycle. The balls bounce around lifting and separating the clothes, allowing the hot air to flow more efficiently. This makes the drying time shorter and therefore you use less energy. If you use 4 balls in the dryer at one time you can cut an average of 25% off your drying time. Our son recommends using 16, so you would save 100%.......

How to make dryer balls: You will need 100% wool yarn, preferably light colors to prevent initial bleeding. It needs to be relatively unprocessed wool, so no super wash or acrylic mix wool, since you want the ball to felt.
Make the core: Wind the wool tightly to a about golf size ball, secure the end and put it in a sock or nylon stocking, knot the sock tightly and wash and dry this a couple of times in your hottest cycle. If you do multiple balls at once, make sure to separate them in the sock or stocking by tying a band around the sock between each ball (looks like a caterpillar).
Finish the ball: Once your core is nicely felted, wind more wool around it, until it has the size of a tennis ball, secure the ends and repeat the sock/washer/dryer exercise. Take the sock off and your dryer ball(s) are ready to use.
I used my original ones for about a year before they were starting to fall apart, but since I have enough wool scraps, I just made myself new ones.

And more dogs...

Dogs just make me happy, can you tell?

After the last blog entry, where I was showing off the photographic results of the Unleashed workshop, many were asking for pictures of my dogs. Well, here they are:

At the Ranch





Peeking



And at the Beach:

The Race




Flying Trouble




Double Trouble...