It's the time of the year when the ducks are overly aggressive. Many of them have new 
ducklings, and they don't appreciate people walking by - unfortunately most pathways around here go right by wetlands/ponds/lakes, making it difficult to avoid them. They seem to slowly be getting less aggressive towards people - maybe realising we won't actually hurt them for the most part. This is an Australian Shelduck, but the Wood Ducks are actually way more aggressive - maybe because the Shelducks are so big? - probably one of the largest birds I've personally seen (also one of the best looking birds I've seen when you see them up close - the bright brownish-orange neck plus all sorts of greens/blues/purples when they spread their wings.
I was at the West Coast Eagles game in Subiaco (just outside of Perth) on Friday night. I twas the semi-final (winning would have put them towards the AFL Premiership game this year - the equivalent of the Stanley Cup, which they won last year). Unfortunately the top 4 players for the team including their Captain and highest goal scorer and assist maker were all out with injuries, so it didn't look that good for them. They managed to tie the game in the last minute, taking a preliminary final game to overtime for the first time in over 15 years! It was an incredibly exciting game - they did end up losing, but they put on a great show without their key players and probably left with more respect since they never complained or even mentioned that fact in the media.
I've been busy with my project. As you can see by these pictures, the wetland hardly appears healthy. The reddish colour is caused by iron in the water, and oily or whitish looking film is actually bacteria - the bacteria may actually be helpful in removing iron from the water (causing the red colour). It potentially may actually be removing the contaminants before they enter the lake (which is why you can see them by colour),
so even though it doesn't look nice, that's part of its job. I can't actually say for certain though - colourful water means the contaminants aren't in solution or dissolved and can be relatively easily filtered - the hard thing is that the clear water entering the lake could either be cleaner, or it could just have the contaminants dissolved and therefore more easily able to enter plants and animals and cause harm. So I'm still working on that! Also a bad thing: animals tend to naturally swim upstream and with less rainfall some get get trapped in the wetland (it's almost a "perfect" natural trap - we've found lots of turtles, etc. that were obviously burned by the acid in the wetland. I had to deal with some vandalism - someone (or more likely a few people) decided it would be a good idea to tip over one of the automatic sampling units at the
site - must have been kids, because you think adults would at least steal the $200 battery, not to mention the $15000 piece of equipment. They tipped over an entire concrete slab that weighed about 150 kilograms, which is why I think it wasn't one person haha, but we fixed it and put metal stakes in the new concrete down about 5 metres so I doubt it'll be tipped again anytime soon unless they plan to be able to push the stakes through concrete, 5 metres of soil and part of the sidewalk. Other than that the project is going well and I'm starting to analyse my water samples. We think there's a problem in the drainage pipes somewhere, because some of the physicochemical factors in the water (like dissolved oxygen and oxidation-reduction potential) are way off of surface-flowing water and more indicative of water that has been contaminated by sewage. So we're trying to figure that out as well. Suffice to say in means more caution taken in collecting data - in the conditions we're getting in the water it's highly possible that the sulfur in the water/soil could become a gas, which in high concentration has no odor, but is still toxic, so there's lots more to do now before being able to actually collect samples.
The brown almost dead looking landscape down here is slowly getting more colourful as spring continues. A lot of the previously desert-like areas are covered in bright pink and yellow flowers, and wild orchids are popping up all over the place. I haven't had my camera with to catch those places, but I'll try to get a few pictures!
I'm heading about 1 1/2 hours south of Perth for Tuesday-Friday to teach at the ecology field camp. It should be a good time, and will probably help us get some of the students more excited about everything. I realise I probably felt the same way, and until you actually get outside doing everything for real it's sometimes hard to see it as useful or "exciting". I'll try to get a bunch of pictures - my prof says it's not the coolest place in the entire world but should be a good way to see some more of Australia!
Don't worry - I'll watch out for the big spiders ;).
The only other thing on the calendar of big events is the Red Bull Air Race, which is coming to Perth for the final race in November! It's a pretty exciting race - definitely a thing to see! - they have it on TV here from the other countries, and it's pretty impressive.
A few other interesting facts:
ducklings, and they don't appreciate people walking by - unfortunately most pathways around here go right by wetlands/ponds/lakes, making it difficult to avoid them. They seem to slowly be getting less aggressive towards people - maybe realising we won't actually hurt them for the most part. This is an Australian Shelduck, but the Wood Ducks are actually way more aggressive - maybe because the Shelducks are so big? - probably one of the largest birds I've personally seen (also one of the best looking birds I've seen when you see them up close - the bright brownish-orange neck plus all sorts of greens/blues/purples when they spread their wings.I was at the West Coast Eagles game in Subiaco (just outside of Perth) on Friday night. I twas the semi-final (winning would have put them towards the AFL Premiership game this year - the equivalent of the Stanley Cup, which they won last year). Unfortunately the top 4 players for the team including their Captain and highest goal scorer and assist maker were all out with injuries, so it didn't look that good for them. They managed to tie the game in the last minute, taking a preliminary final game to overtime for the first time in over 15 years! It was an incredibly exciting game - they did end up losing, but they put on a great show without their key players and probably left with more respect since they never complained or even mentioned that fact in the media.
I've been busy with my project. As you can see by these pictures, the wetland hardly appears healthy. The reddish colour is caused by iron in the water, and oily or whitish looking film is actually bacteria - the bacteria may actually be helpful in removing iron from the water (causing the red colour). It potentially may actually be removing the contaminants before they enter the lake (which is why you can see them by colour),
so even though it doesn't look nice, that's part of its job. I can't actually say for certain though - colourful water means the contaminants aren't in solution or dissolved and can be relatively easily filtered - the hard thing is that the clear water entering the lake could either be cleaner, or it could just have the contaminants dissolved and therefore more easily able to enter plants and animals and cause harm. So I'm still working on that! Also a bad thing: animals tend to naturally swim upstream and with less rainfall some get get trapped in the wetland (it's almost a "perfect" natural trap - we've found lots of turtles, etc. that were obviously burned by the acid in the wetland. I had to deal with some vandalism - someone (or more likely a few people) decided it would be a good idea to tip over one of the automatic sampling units at the
site - must have been kids, because you think adults would at least steal the $200 battery, not to mention the $15000 piece of equipment. They tipped over an entire concrete slab that weighed about 150 kilograms, which is why I think it wasn't one person haha, but we fixed it and put metal stakes in the new concrete down about 5 metres so I doubt it'll be tipped again anytime soon unless they plan to be able to push the stakes through concrete, 5 metres of soil and part of the sidewalk. Other than that the project is going well and I'm starting to analyse my water samples. We think there's a problem in the drainage pipes somewhere, because some of the physicochemical factors in the water (like dissolved oxygen and oxidation-reduction potential) are way off of surface-flowing water and more indicative of water that has been contaminated by sewage. So we're trying to figure that out as well. Suffice to say in means more caution taken in collecting data - in the conditions we're getting in the water it's highly possible that the sulfur in the water/soil could become a gas, which in high concentration has no odor, but is still toxic, so there's lots more to do now before being able to actually collect samples.The brown almost dead looking landscape down here is slowly getting more colourful as spring continues. A lot of the previously desert-like areas are covered in bright pink and yellow flowers, and wild orchids are popping up all over the place. I haven't had my camera with to catch those places, but I'll try to get a few pictures!
I'm heading about 1 1/2 hours south of Perth for Tuesday-Friday to teach at the ecology field camp. It should be a good time, and will probably help us get some of the students more excited about everything. I realise I probably felt the same way, and until you actually get outside doing everything for real it's sometimes hard to see it as useful or "exciting". I'll try to get a bunch of pictures - my prof says it's not the coolest place in the entire world but should be a good way to see some more of Australia!
Don't worry - I'll watch out for the big spiders ;).
The only other thing on the calendar of big events is the Red Bull Air Race, which is coming to Perth for the final race in November! It's a pretty exciting race - definitely a thing to see! - they have it on TV here from the other countries, and it's pretty impressive.
A few other interesting facts:
- Many overly (and somewhat unreasonably) popular WA nightclubs now scan your ID upon entrance and require a fingerprint in case you do something stupid. Talk about potentially excessive control. Also, too bad people are stupid enough to cause this to occur. I boycott these places and go to the smaller pubs with live music, which actually are better and should have the better reputations (but at least that means they are less crowded!).
- Switching light bulbs (or light "globes" as we call them down under) to the relatively new compact fluorescent bulbs (CFBs) can reduce in a year the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions of 800,000 cars through reducing energy used from power plants (based on the average time lights are used and cars are driven in North America). The average home switching every light bulb to a CFB and potentially reducing 100W bulbs to 65W bulbs saves between $50-$100 in energy costs monthly starting the first month the switch is made! The bulbs cost more - about $8/bulb - but also last 10-12x longer than traditional bulbs.
- Recycling newspapers is important - each time a stack of newspapers measuring less than 40" tall is recycled (less than 4') it equates to saving at least one 40' tree.
- Idling cars 10 minutes less per day can keep 550 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air every year.
- Natural cleaning supplies (such as Method, Mrs. Meyers, Seventh Generation and Shaklee) limit the effects felt by asthmatics. In fact, the majority of asthma attacks are caused by the build-up of scents and gases from cleaning products within the house. The US EPA recently announced that the majority of homes within the USA have worse air quality inside the home even in highly polluted urban areas due to the types of cleaning products used.
- TVs, computers, printers, scanners, DVD players, etc. all draw power even when they are turned off. Smart power boards are now being created that stop energy from being drawn when the equipment they are connected to is turned off. Some are even smart enough to have groupings, where, for example, if you turn your TV on, the DVD/VCR, etc. is put back into standby mode, but if the TV is turned off the DVD/VCR power is once again cut-off automatically. The boards typically cost between $50-$80, but most households see a $50 energy cost reduction monthly within the first month.
- The Arctic Northwest Passage is open. That much ice has melted. I'm willing to bet the next large conflict will be based on who "owns" that water, the convenient shipping route that it opens up and the significant oil reserves below.
- People on Australian Idol need to learn to stop being nervous and just sing. They all sounded good before. Now they sound horrible. Just sing! I'd rather you miss one or two notes and sound like you're really trying (i.e. this week during rock week like you're trying to sing rock) than just hear you play it safe and hit notes but sound boring. No one sells records sounding horribly boring.
Labels: ECU, Miscellaneous, Perth, Research, Things to See
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