emmavonskulltaker

[emmavonskulltaker]

[emmavonskulltaker]

A Torresian imperial pigeon (Ducula spilorrhoa) forages for berries in Queensland, Australia

by Kenny Ross

[emmavonskulltaker]

Livestock is damaging endangered wildlife habitat in Sierra Nevada National Forests of California.

Last week we released documentation showing the widespread damage to critical habitat for the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, mountain yellow-legged frog, Yosemite toad and foothill yellow-legged frog. Approximately 96% of surveyed meadows and 90% of surveyed streams exhibited signs of livestock damage. The devastating toll livestock grazing takes on soil and streams makes it very difficult for these vulnerable amphibians to survive.

Read more:

https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/livestock-damaging-endangered-wildlife-habitat-in-sierra-nevada-national-forests-2025-06-17

[emmavonskulltaker]

🏳️‍🌈 Join the Monterey Bay Aquarium as we sea-lebrate Pride! 🏳️‍⚧️

Our staff and volunteers gathered in early June to raise the Progress Pride flag in front of the Aquarium. We’ll continue the fun and education with a spot in the Monterey Pride Parade and tabling at the festival on Saturday, June 28! Swim on over to our website for more details.

We envision a future where the ocean flourishes and people thrive in a just and equitable world. To find lasting solutions in support of environmental justice, we need and value diverse perspectives and voices. 

Everything you love can thrive if we work together, and the ocean needs all of us in all our brilliant colors to protect it! 🌈

[emmavonskulltaker]

KILLER WHALES CRAFT KELP TOOLS FOR SOCIAL GROOMING

In a remarkable discovery, researchers have documented wild Resident killer whale (Orcinus orca ater) manufacturing and using tools in a social context. Observed in the Salish Sea from April to July 2024, members of the endangered southern resident population were seen detaching short lengths of bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) and using them during tactile interactions with a partner, a behavior the authors call allokelping. This behaviour differs from playful kelp draping commonly seen in cetaceans, whales in this study deliberately fashioned kelp segments using their teeth, positioned them between their bodies, and coordinated their movements to roll the kelp across one another’s skin.

This represents a potential case of tool-assisted allogrooming, a behaviour rarely documented in non-primates and never before in marine mammals. Statistical analyses suggest that allokelping may serve both hygienic and affiliative functions, being more common among close kin and individuals of similar age, and possibly linked to skin molting. The whales’ use of their entire bodies, rather than limbs, to manipulate the kelp, and the mutual benefit of the interaction, make this a unique form of tool use in the animal kingdom. If confirmed, it would expand our understanding of cetacean intelligence, culture, and the evolutionary roots of cooperation.

Photo: Orca grasps a bull kelp stalk by the holdfast end and detaches a short stipe segment for use in allokelping.

Reference (Open Access): Weiss et al., 2025. Manufacture and use of allogrooming tools by wild killer whales. Current Biology.

[emmavonskulltaker]

Woody Guthrie

[emmavonskulltaker]

i like boldini better than sargent. there i said it

[emmavonskulltaker]

I'm sorry but. My fellow leftists. It's really important that you learn math. When you. They should have mandatory calculus (or at least algebra...) classes at the DSA. They should have mandatory calculus classes at the Maoist cadre. You can't. I'm sorry. It's really really important to know math.

[emmavonskulltaker]

giant redwood trees really are so cool, they just have something incredibly special going on. it's hard to describe if you haven't seen them

[emmavonskulltaker]

wow you are so silly and tall! are you a man or a woman?

[emmavonskulltaker]

Here is an updated picture of one of those featherless emu that was going around. Looks a bit sunburned but looks like a good weight.

Its so interesting how you can see their juvenile markings on their skin! I believe that doesnt happen with featherless chickens.

[emmavonskulltaker]

Common Dolphinfish aka Mahi-Mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), family Coryphaenidae, order Carangiformes, Baja California, Mexico

Mid: w/ Pacific Chub Mackerel (Scomber japonicus), family Scombridae, order Scombriformes.

Top: w/ Striped Marlin (Tetrapturus audax), family Istiophoridae, order Carangiformes.

photographs by William Drumm

[emmavonskulltaker]

Nyasha Matonhodze by Rafael Pavarotti for W Magazine Summer 2025

[emmavonskulltaker]

"King of the Creek" - by Me

This one is the concept illustration for the mural I made in my hometown <3 I Finally have prints available of this beauty in my shop if you are interested: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SpookyMooseStudio

Also, here is what the mural ended up looking like:

[emmavonskulltaker]

Northern Crested Newt or Warty Newt (Triturus cristatus), male in breeding form, family Salamandridae, Romania

photographs by Tibor Sos

[emmavonskulltaker]

fat hog

[emmavonskulltaker]

Picture-winged Leaf Moth (Glanycus coendersi), family Thyrididae, Pahang, Malaysia

photograph by David Fischer