THE NEW BP LOGO by PATRICK STEPHENSON
A QUEER AND DELICATE SHAPE PT. 4- SEXUAL DIVERSITY IN ANIMALS AND NATURE
Do humans who identify as transgender, intersex, or genderqueer have parallels in the animal kingdom as well?
Many animals, especially fish, change sex during their lifetimes. Blue headed wrasse go from female to male. Clownfish go from male to female ( this would have made a really good plot element in finding nemo if you ask me). Lastly, hamlets, a kind of sea bass, are male and female simultaneously. (8) Some coral gobies, a species of fish that live off the coast of Okinawa in japan, may switch genders multiple times in their lives. This ability to change gender can be highly beneficial if you’ve found another goby and it would be easier to switch genders to be able to mate with them rather than swim to some other part of the reef to find a new mate of the opposite gender. (2)
KILLER WHALES STILL KEEPING IT REAL IN SUNNY ORLANDO
A TRAINER AT SEAWORLD WAS KILLED BY AN ORCA WHALE NAMED TILIKUM THIS PAST WEDNESDAY. CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW FOR THE CNN ARTICLE.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/24/killer.whale.trainer.death/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn
ORCA WHALES IN CAPTIVITY HAVE LIFE SPANS THAT ARE OFTEN 20 TO 40 YEARS SHORTER THAN THE AVERAGE WILD ORCA. MOST MALE ORCAS IN CAPTIVITY HAVE NOTABLY COLLAPSED DORSAL FINS, POTENTIALLY CAUSED BY LACK OF USE AS IN THE WILD THEY MIGHT MIGRATE MORE THAN HALF THE LENGTH OF THE OCEAN IN A SINGLE YEAR. SEAWORLD HOUSES AROUND HALF OF ALL THE WORLD´S CAPTIVE ORCAS. FUN FACT: SEA WORLD WAS ONE OF THE FIRST CORPORATIONS TO HAVE IT´S OWN REPRESENTATIVES GO IN AND MODIFY IT´S OWN WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE. WHAT THEY WERE REMOVING OF COURSE, WAS NASTY BITS ABOUT ATTACKS BY THE ANIMALS.
THIS TRAGIC DEATH WAS NOT THE FIRST INCIDENT THAT INVOLVED THIS PARTICULAR WHALE. IN 1999, THE CORPSE OF A 27 YEAR OLD MAN WAS FOUND FLOATING NAKED IN TILIKUM´S POOL. ACCORDING TO SEA WORLD, THE WHALE WAS NOT AT FAULT. THE MAN HAD HID OUT IN THE PARK AND BROKE INTO THE WHALE´S TANK LATE AT NIGHT-SUBSEQUENTLY DYING OF HYPOTHERMIA. HOWEVER, TILIKUM HAD OBVIOUSLY DONE SOME DAMAGE TO THE MAN´S BODY BEFORE OR AFTER DEATH.
WHAT I AM TELLING YOU IS SIMPLY PROPAGANDA. I HAVE A CLEAR STANCE ON THESE ISSUES, SO PLEASE DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION. BUT IF YOU LIKE HUMANS OR WHALES, I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT SUPPORT INSTITUTIONS THAT UTILIZE CAPTIVE ORCAS.
THE NUMBER OF FRIENDS I HAVE ON FACEBOOK IS GREATER THAN MANY ENDANGERED ANIMAL POPULATIONS
THE NUMBER OF FRIENDS I HAVE ON FACEBOOK IS OFTEN GREATER THAN THE POPULATION NUMBERS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES.
I CURRENTLY HAVE 1,047 FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK.
I HAVE 18 TIMES AS MANY FACEBOOK FRIENDS AS THERE ARE LIVING JAVAN RHINOS. THERE ARE AROUND 58 JAVAN RHINOS STILL LIVING.
I HAVE 2.9 TIMES AS MANY FACEBOOK FRIENDS AS THERE ARE CALIFORNIA CONDORS. THERE ARE AROUND 351 CALIFORNIA CONDORS STILL LIVING.
I HAVE 10.4 TIMES AS MANY FACEBOOK FRIENDS AS THERE ARE IBERIAN LYNX. THERE ARE AROUND 100 IBERIAN LYNX STILL LIVING.
I HAVE 2.3 TIMES AS MANY FACEBOOK FRIENDS AS THERE ARE NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES. THERE ARE AROUND 450 NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES STILL LIVING.
I HAVE 3.5 TIMES AS MANY FACEBOOK FRIENDS AS THERE ARE WILD NORTHERN WHITE CHEEKED GIBBONS. THERE ARE AROUND 300 NORTHERN WHITE CHEEKED GIBBONS STILL LIVING IN THE WILD.
I HAVE 61 TIMES AS MANY FACEBOOK FRIENDS AS THERE ARE HAINAN GIBBONS. THERE ARE AROUND 17 HAINAN GIBBONS STILL LIVING.
ALTHOUGH I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ALL THESE SPECIES, I DO KNOW THAT THE RIGHT WHALE IS ENDANGERED THANKS TO WHALING AND THE GIBBONS ARE ENDANGERED THANKS TO HABITAT DESTRUCTION AS A RESULT OF LOGGING AS WELL AS HUNTING. HUMANS OFTEN HUNT GIBBONS FOR THEIR ARM BONES; THESE ARE TURNED INTO CHOPSTICKS FOR THE WEALTHY.
OTHER ANIMALS WHOSE POPULATIONS ARE ECLIPSED BY MY FRIENDS´ LIST INCLUDE THE ARAKAN FOREST TURTLE, ETHIOPAN WOLF, DARWIN´S FOX, BRAZILIAN MERGANSER, AND THE GHARIAL.
HOW MANY FACEBOOK FRIENDS DO YOU HAVE?
