Page 75 - 2007 DT 12 Issues

and then helping her into shore to eat. by the military for tasks previously Secretary Athena Sparks said
Afterward, she gently gave her a push performed by dolphins. They can dive that volunteer hours have begun to
out to deeper water to prevent her deeper than 2000 ft. and have rescued stabilize after a two-year decline. The
from stranding. sailors trapped in crippled submarines. board believes that the availability
In another example, a young male They can detect and recover mines and of an Office Manager has provided a
orca at Marineland in Niagara Falls, other unexploded ordinance. Mysteri- “go-to” person for volunteer support.
Canada, started regurgitating fish, ously, pilot whales sometimes beach She also outlined the advantages and
diving “away” and then ambushing themselves in large numbers. Hu- disadvantages of hiring an Executive
seagulls as they swooped to retrieve it. man efforts to rescue the animals are Director to promote future growth and
By chance, the orca’s early ambushes usually fruitless. fundraising. Members were invited to
were video taped by a behavioral psy- Whales and dolphins never cease participate in the discussion. The board
chologist who kept track of other orcas to fascinate and confound our species. will create a job description and make
in the park. Soon enough they, too, had Their antics at Marineland and Sea its decision concerning this position in
taken up the trick and were baiting World amuse us, and like those before the near future.
gulls in the same way. In one instance, us, we are captivated by their mystery President Williams also noted
a young male orca was shown leaping and power. These ancient creatures that our volunteer agreement, which
out of the water and spitting partially are masters of a vast alien world that has never been updated since its in-
eaten fish on the water, then dropping humans can only exploit. q ception, will shortly be reviewed by
back. The orca stayed within striking the BLM.
distance. As soon as a gull swooped Annual Meeting Notes The proposed 2008 Budget was
down to retrieve the morsel, the orca passed unanimously. Norm Wolin
lunged. Another orca cleaned fish moved to accept and Clara Hatz moved
scraps out of the drains to use as his riends met on Saturday, August to approve.
gull bait. 18, for the Annual Business The entire slate of candidates
An innovative feeding method FMeeting. A quorum of 45 mem- for election was voted in by the as-
spread rapidly among humpback pods bers was present to elect new board sembled membership. There were
after being initiated in one pod. Usu- members, review the year’s accom- no candidates from the floor. Con-
ally, humpbacks trap schools of fish in plishments and discuss opportunities gratulations to Director Gary Vetter,
clouds of bubbles by exhaling under- in meeting future needs. Director Mark Beauchamp, Secretary
water, then gulping down the trapped Director Blaine Benedict appealed Barbara Jorgensen and Treasurer Ray
prey. However, a few individuals to the membership for volunteers and Stafford. Thanks to all for contribut-
took a different approach. Just before their friends to help in rebuilding ing your valuable time and effort to
diving for a snack, instead of exhal- some trails destroyed by the recent support the mission of Friends of Red
ing underwater, they slammed their heavy rains. Rock Canyon.
massive tail flukes on the surface of Director Gary Vetter updated the
the water to wrap the fish in bubbles. group about the Cultural Resources Volunteers Needed
Over a number of years, many other Committee and its work in record-
whales in the larger breeding popula- ing all ancient rock art sites within Natural Resources Chair Mark
tion adopted the tail slam, especially the Canyon. Beauchamp is asking for Friends
the juveniles just coming into their President Pat Williams advised the volunteers to help in upcoming proj-
own as independent feeders. membership that the current commit- ects. If you can volunteer for any of
Pilot whales are one of the larg- tee structure is under review. Some these projects, please call the Friends
est members of the dolphin family. committees may be dissolved or folded line at 702-255-8743 and leave your
Huge groups are sometimes found into other groups for efficiency. name and phone number with a
lying motionless in the water, often Norman Wolin, chair of the Li- brief message.
hanging vertically with their heads cense Plate Committee, reported that Trail Repair:
and the foreparts of their flippers ex- the Division of Motor Vehicles is still The recent rains at Red Rock Can-
posed (spyhopping). Long-finned pilot delayed in starting on the plate graph- yon have washed out the work of the
whales raised in captivity are highly ics which were to have been developed
intelligence and have been trained in April. News and Notes, continued on page 7

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