National Wildlife articles from June 1999

National Wildlife archives from June 1999

Tough Job, Harsh Place.
June 1, 1999... East Island sounds like the sort of place people dream of visiting: an undeveloped Hawaiian island located hundreds of miles away from civilization. So by all appearances, George Balazs could be considered one of the luckiest guys in the...

These Rare Birds Flock to a Shopping Mall In Search of Home Furnishings.
June 1, 1999... Atlantic Coast least terns shopping for safe nesting grounds are finding a good deal at Glynn Place Mall in Brunswick, Georgia. A flock of about 200 terns has recently been nesting on the mall's gravel and tar roof, one of a growing number of...

Tracking the Treasures, Toys and Trash That Wash Up on the Nation's Shores.(Curt Ebbesmeyer investigates and reports cargo spills in the ocean through his Beachcombers' Alert newsletter)(Brief Article)
June 1, 1999... For Curt Ebbesmeyer, it all began in the early 1990s when his mother wondered aloud about the source of hundreds of Nike shoes that had washed up on beaches in the Pacific Northwest. "To tell you the truth, I was more than a little curious...

Bordering On Extremes.(bird migration in the Southwest)
June 1, 1999... Along our southern border, birds not seen elsewhere in the United States cope in a region that is growing drier Dove song may be a beautiful sound, but last spring so many white- winged doves had staked out territory in San Antonio, Texas,...

Death in the Gulf of Mexico.
June 1, 1999... With dead creatures at its bottom and survivors fleeing its edges, an annual dead zone spooks fishermen and challenges scientists Just south of Whiskey Pass, where the last of Louisiana's barrier islands gives way to open sea, Gene Foret...

NWF Takes Action.(Brief Article)
June 1, 1999... Stopping Runoff Before it Starts Halting various proposed projects in the lower Mississippi River basin that would destroy critical wetlands and wildlife habitat to create more agricultural land is an NWF priority. One goal of these...

The Return of KAUILA.
June 1, 1999... In Hawaiian legends, a turtle named Kauila watched over children playing on the shore. Now people are returning the favor. Working by moonlight, Tim Clark waved an electronic scanner over the green sea turtle's flippers. He was looking for...

Helping Kemp's Ridley Escape the Dragnet.(Brief Article)
June 1, 1999... For biologists studying the Kemp's ridley, the world's smallest and most endangered sea turtle, the 1998 nesting season offered hope that the species may survive. Nearly 4,000 Kemp's ridleys' nests were counted last year--a fourfold increase...

Green Times in the Virgin Islands.(Brief Article)
June 1, 1999... Things are looking up for green sea turtles in the easternmost part of their U.S. range, too. About 40 females nested last summer on East End Bay Beach in St. Croix--more than twice the number of past years, says Amy Mackay of the St....

Seeking an End to a Flood Of Claims.
June 1, 1999... After years of repeatedly rebuilding houses, some communities are now opting to move homeowners to higher ground Back when he lived with one ear permanently tuned to the weather forecast, Carl Moose used to joke that he never needed to...

How Houseplants Help Clean Pollutants From the Air in Your Home.
June 1, 1999... Perhaps you remember the news from more than a decade ago that spider plants seemed to do a spectacular job of cleaning the air. The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), which tested the abilities of three common houseplants to...

A New Film Brings the Complex Lives Of Wolves to the Giant Screen.(Brief Article)
June 1, 1999... It was a tricky shot, and the film crew was not sure whether the notoriously un-predictable actress would cooperate. She had to walk down a tunnel, pause before a window, then enter a subterranean house and peer over the shoulders of Pat Tucker...

NWF Seeks Return of Wolves to Remote Northeast Forests.
June 1, 1999... With wolves now thriving in Yellowstone and central Idaho, the National Wildlife Federation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other groups are exploring the possibility of restoring the eastern timber wolf to remote areas of the...

HALF-ASLEEP DUCKS.
June 1, 1999... Sometimes in a film the most important moment is a very small event. For biologist Niels C. Rattenborg and his colleagues at Indiana State University, such a moment came when a sleeping duck closed only one eye. The scientists wanted to learn...

Smart Snakes.
June 1, 1999... Why should a snake be able to navigate a maze? That's a question neuroscientist David Holtzman of the University of Rochester found himself asking while pondering how to test the memories of snakes. Previous tests using mazes indicated that...

Hidden Costs Of Alien Invasion.(Brief Article)
June 1, 1999... What do mongooses, purple loose-trife, green crabs and English sparrows all have in common? Along with a host of other plants and animals that are not native to the United States, they cost the nation $123 billion a year. That's the conclusion...

Stranger Than Fiction.
June 1, 1999... Believe it or not, there is an animal that can survive being put in a vacuum, cooled to -456 degrees F., heated to 304 degrees F. or exposed to more than 1,000 times the radiation that would kill a person. The creature (above, enlarged 880...

Show Us Your Skill with a Camera.
June 1, 1999... June 10 is fast approaching! That's the deadline for the 1999 National Wildlife Photo Contest, open to both amateur and part-time professional photographers. Winners receive cash prizes. For the latest details about rules and submission...

ATTACKING A KNOTTY PROBLEM.(Brief Article)
June 1, 1999... Stretching for hundreds of miles northwest of Honolulu is a string of islands and coral reefs that act like a giant filter, snagging huge amounts of marine debris. The waste interferes with the health of the reefs and with the lives of wildlife...

HELLDIVER.
June 1, 1999... Just when scientists think they understand the red-necked grebe, they discover something surprising about the water bird's behavior "Ouch! Take it easy!" Bonnie Stout has her hands full. She's just snared a red-necked grebe, a tough,...

CAUGHT IN A DOG FIGHT.
June 1, 1999... Competing with coyotes and other larger canines, the swift fox struggles to survive in its grassland home The swift fox is the rarest wild dog in North America. Able to streak more than 35 miles an hour over short distances, it is also the...

Entertain, Educate and Conserve.(Brief Article)
June 1, 1999... Audiences watching the new National Wildlife Productions giant-screen film Wolves expect to be entertained. And the production delivers, with spectacular images of the magnificent creatures' resurgence in the wild. But there is far more here...