Surfing With Friends

What's small, black and white, and enjoys surfing with friends? No, not a baby zebra on a surfboard. (Please ignore the picture. It's a mistake. The answer is not a dolphin.) Unfortunately. Can zebras even surf? Are there even zebras living by the sea? Hmmmm... There should be, even if there aren't.

But anyways, let's leave such essential questions of the universe for later. The answer to the riddle wasn't penguins, either, in case you were wondering. Though they fill the requirements a bit more thoroughly than baby zebras. The asnwer is the most endangered dolphin in the world: the Maui's dolphin. (Fooled you, didn't I?) There are fifty five of them left hanging around New Zealand's West Coast, and the number steadily decreasing due to the use of nylon fishing nets, which entangle them, strangle them, and eventually kill them as they sturggle, every movement just entrapping them further...
Cheerful, right?
Many researchers predict an unhappy future as well. It's likely they'll go extinct in 20 years unless we use one of the most cliched lines of all time: unless we do something about it. The New Zealand government has proposed plans for a ban on these fishing nets within a 450 km range, but conservationists have lashed back violently, saying that these plans merit a death sentence for the dolphins, as they don't cover enough of their range. They want a bigger area covered to guarantee full protection.
What do you think? Should people be satisfied with the government's plan and see that as a starting point for more? Or should one, big, plan be passed guaranteeing absolute safety for these undoubtedly cute critters? (Sorry, Blobfish!)

The Glasswing Butterfly

A Miscellaneous Post

How big is a blue whale?
Bigger than a pen? Bigger than a (normal-sized) book? Bigger than your computer screen?
Pro tip: the answer is yes. But you already knew that.
In fact, here's a great link that shows you just how big a blue whale really is.
That's really it. I just wanted to share that site.
And this one.
And this one too.
And these.
In fact, here's another one.
Be careful of this one. It bites.

HAPPY DANCE TIME!!!!

HAPPY DANCE HAPPY DANCE HAPPY HAPPY DANCE
Anyone who knows me in the slightest knows that I am completely against whales and dolphins in captivity. That's a huge no-no. The day that the US bans this inhuman practice will require a happy dance of unprecedented measures. But today another country has seen the right. Today another country has realized how cruel this is. Today another country has recognized dolphins and whales and non-human persons, which basically says that whales and dolphins are really smart and almost human. Today another country has banned captive dolphin shows. What country? India.
"Whereas cetaceans in general are highly intelligent and sensitive, and various scientists who have researched dolphin behavior have suggested that the unusually high intelligence; as compared to other animals means that dolphin should be seen as ‘non-human persons’ and as such should have their own specific rights and is morally unacceptable to keep them captive for entertainment purpose," reads the ministry's statement. TAKE THAT USA! But the sad part is India is only one of four countries, and that too the biggest, to have banned whales and dolphin captivity.
What do you think of this ban? Do you believe that whales and dolphins should be in captivity? Tell us in the comments.

The Glasswing Butterfly