“Mr. Trash Wheel” Removes 6,700,000 Cigarettes from Baltimore Harbor

Adam Lindquist, Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore

A conservation group in Baltimore has employed this innovative water wheel, affectionalely known as Mr. Trash Wheel, to clean up the city's polluted Inner Harbor. In just 18 months, Mr. Trash Wheel has removed 350 tons of garbage from the harbor. That's nearly 200,000 bottles, 173,000 potato chip bags and a whopping 6.7 million cigarettes removed from a waterway so polluted that it failed its 2014 water quality report card.

The clean energy-powered wheel is equipped with a conveyer belt; as the belt turns, garbage and other debris travel up the belt and are deposited into a dumpster and disposed of accordingly.
This remarkable photograph shows just how much of an impact the water wheel has already had in its short life. The photo on the left was taken on April 30, 2014, after a torrential downpour washed a harrowing amount of garbage into the harbor. Just over a year later, a similar storm earlier had almost no recognizable impact on the Harbor.

Source by: http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/nature/mr-trash-wheel-removes-4000000-cigarettes-from-baltimore-harbor/

Thousands of Hungry Seals & Sea Lions Are Washing Up in California

Bill Hunnewell/Marine Mammal Center (Handout photo)

A marine mammal hospital in California has rescued a record number of stranded animals in 2015, prompting concerns about the health of fragile marine ecosystems.

The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California announced that it has rescued over 1,740 stranded seals and sea lions in 2015, shattering "nearly ever record in its 40-year history." In 2009, its previous busiest year, the organization rescued 1,631 animals, a record which was broken for the year by October.

Officials say that this year's increase in strandings is likely related to a large swath of warm water in the Pacific Ocean colloquially known as "the blob." Changes in water temperature (which have been exacerbated by this year's exceptionally strong El Nino) have impacted the distribution of fish populations, making it harder for seals to find food.

At times unable to feed themselves, mother seals have accordingly struggled to feed their pups. As a result, many of the stranded seal pups rescued by the Center are half of their regular size, veterinarians say.

Related: Seal Bonds With Diver Over Tummy Rub & Handshakes

"Our rescue trucks continue to arrive day after day with more starving pups in need of our care," Dr. Shawn Johnson, the organization's Director of Veterinary Science, said in a news release.

"As these conditions persist, we're increasingly concerned about what this could mean for the next generation of sea lion pups too."

The organization underscores the need for further research to better understand how both climatological phenomena like the blob and other human-driven factors -- such as pollution and overfishing -- impact marine ecosystems.

Source by: http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/wildlife/thousands-of-hungry-seals-are-washing-up-in-california/