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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (May 21, 2021) - Hospitalman Illiana Medina of Naval Hospital Jacksonville’s Behavioral Health team notifies the clinic manager of a walk-in patient. Medina, a native of El Paso, Texas, says, “Having a good work - life balance helps keep sailors focused on their mission and being safe.” May is Mental Health Month. Good mental health helps service members be mission-ready, prepared to deal with the unique stresses of deployment, and equipped to identify when they need help. (U.S. Navy photo by Deidre Smith, Naval Hospital Jacksonville/Released). #FacesofNHJax #MindMissionReady
ADULT SEA OTTERS: 2015
Animal Classification
Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)
Description
Sea otters are members of the weasel or mustelid family. Like other members of this family, they have very thick fur. In fact, at 850,000 to one million hairs per square inch, they have the thickest fur of any mammal. Their fur actually consists of two layers, an undercoat and longer guard hairs. This system traps a layer of air next to their skin so their skin does not get wet. Sea otters are usually dark brown, often with lighter guard hairs. Alaskan sea otters tend to have lighter fur on their heads. Sea otters are the smallest marine mammals. In California adult females weigh 35-60 pounds (16-27 kg); males reach up to 90 pounds (40 kg). Alaskan sea otters are bigger with males weighing up to 100 pounds (45 kg).
Range/Habitat
Sea otters once ranged from Mexico to Alaska and even to Japan. Currently, the California population numbers around 2,800 and is found from Half Moon Bay to Morro Bay. There is a much larger population in Alaska, and sea otters are still found in Russia. Sea otters inhabit shallow coastal areas and prefer places with kelp. The kelp acts as an anchor that the sea otters use to wrap themselves in when they are resting.
Mating/Breeding
Females give birth to one pup and usually have their first pup at the age of four or five. Their pregnancies last four to five months. Pups can be born any time of year, but in California most are born between January and March, and in Alaska most are born in the summer. When born, the pups weigh from three to five pounds.
Behavior
Sea otters are social animals, with females and pups spending time together in one group and males in another. Pups stay with their mothers for the first eight months of their life. The pups' fur traps so much air that they actually cannot dive under water. When mothers leave the pups wrapped in kelp to hunt, pups bob on the surface of the ocean like a cork. Mothers spend much time grooming pups and often carry them on their chests. Pups begin to learn to swim at around four weeks of age. Sea otters are one of the few animals to use tools. They eat animals with shells, like clams and abalone, and use a stone to break open the shells. When sea otters are under water searching for food, they store what they have found in the loose skin folds at their armpits. Adult sea otters can eat 25%-30% of their body weight in one day!
Status
Sea otters in California are a threatened species due to past over hunting for their beautiful fur. Although sea otters are protected now, they remain vulnerable, especially to oil spills. Unlike other marine mammals, sea otters do not have a blubber layer. Therefore, they rely on their fur to keep warm. If their fur is oiled, it loses its insulating qualities and the sea otters soon chill. Otters are also affected by the oil fumes or poisoned by eating food exposed to oil. Most sea otters quickly die in an oil spill. Several thousand sea otters died in the 1989 Exxon oil spill in Valdez, Alaska. Other threats to sea otters include infectious diseases, parasites, boat strikes, entanglements, and toxins.
At The Marine Mammal Center
The Marine Mammal Center began rehabilitating sea otters in 1995. Since that time, we have rescued up to 207 sea otters.
Want to learn more about marine mammals?
SOURCE: www.marinemammalcenter.org/
An information campaign to stop bullying in our schools is a major campaign for prosocial behavior. This is a problem that society must deal with, and we are attempting to do it through popular media.
Photo from www.advertolog.com
CA. SEA LIONS: MOSS LANDING
Description
California sea lions are known for their intelligence, playfulness, and noisy barking. Their color ranges from chocolate brown in males to a lighter, golden brown in females. Males reach 850 pounds (390 kg) and seven feet (2.1 m) in length. Females grow to 220 pounds (110 kg) and up to six feet (1.8 m) in length. They have a "dog-like" face, and at around five years of age, males develop a bony bump on top of their skull called a sagittal crest. The top of a male's head often gets lighter in color with age. These members of the otariid or walking seal family have external ear flaps and large flippers that they use to "walk" on land. The trained "seals" in zoos and aquariums are usually California sea lions.
Range/Habitat
California sea lions are found from Vancouver Island, British Columbia to the southern tip of Baja California in Mexico. They breed mainly on offshore islands, ranging from southern California's Channel Islands south to Mexico, although a few pups have been born on Año Nuevo and the Farallon Islands in central California. There is a distinct population of California sea lions at the Galapagos Islands. A third population in the Sea of Japan became extinct, probably during World War II.
Mating/Breeding
Most pups are born in June or July and weigh 13 to 20 pounds (6 to 9 kg). They nurse for at least five to six months and sometimes over a year. Mothers recognize pups on crowded rookeries through smell and vocalizations. Pups also learn to recognize the smell and vocalizations of their mothers. Breeding takes place a few weeks after birth. Males patrol territories and bark almost continuously during the breeding season.
Behavior
California sea lions are very social animals, and groups often rest closely packed together at favored haul-out sites on land or float together on the ocean's surface in "rafts." They are sometimes seen "porpoising," or jumping out of the water, presumably to speed up their swimming. Sea lions have also been seen "surfing" breaking waves. California sea lions are opportunistic eaters, feeding on squid, octopus, herring, rockfish, mackerel, and small sharks. In turn, sea lions are preyed upon by Orcas (killer whales) and great white sharks.
Status
Their population is growing steadily, and California sea lions can be seen in many coastal spots such as the Monterey Coast Guard jetty and PIER 39 in San Francisco. The current population is approximately 238,000.
At The Marine Mammal Center
California sea lions are our most common patients at The Marine Mammal Center. In 2009, we admitted over 1700 animals. Nearly 1400 of these were California sea lions. The most common reasons California sea lions are rescued include: malnutrition, domoic acid toxicosis, leptospirosis, cancer, pneumonia, entanglement in debris or fishing gear, gunshots, and other wounds. In 2009, many of the sea lions that stranded were malnourished yearlings. Animals can become severely underweight from maternal separation, disease, lack of food sources, effects of El Niño and other environmental factors. In 1998, the Center diagnosed the first case of domoic acid toxicosis in marine mammals; a condition caused by harmful algal blooms which causes the animals to have seizures. Although the Center has conducted extensive studies to better understand this disease, hundreds of sea lions are affected annually. (Source: Marine Mammal Center 2015: www.marinemammalcenter.org/)
Kentucky behavioral health professionals participate in Operation Immersion at Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center in Greenville, Ky., Nov. 14-16, 2012. The goal of the event was to reduce stigmas attached to Service Members receiving behavioral health care and increase the quality of such care in Kentucky. (Kentucky National Guard photo by Cody Stagner, KYNG Medical Outreach Coordinator/Released)
Saving the planet one step at a time
Have you heard of climate change?
Temperatures are getting higher. Storms are getting worse. Ice is melting and sea levels are rising. Portions of the coast of Bangladesh are likely to go underwater, lost forever. Millions will become homeless. The ability of the earth to sustain people is threatened.
Why is climate change happening?
Because people are burning up fossil fuels (diesel, petrol, natural gas, coal) at such rapid rates that future generations are now threatened.
Is it possible to slow climate change?
Yes, but we cannot continue to waste time. Carbon dioxide levels are rising rapidly. That is where the number 350 comes in. If we can limit CO2 in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million then we can avoid the worst of the harm to come.
Is there anything we can do?
No one person cam stop climate change but everyone contributes something significant. We can slow out own use of fossil fuels by walking and cycling and taking cycle rickshaws rather than using motorized transport. We can reduce our use of electricity. We can avoid, as a nation, burning coal (pure carbon) or selling it to others to burn. We can encourage the government to act to encourage reductions in fuel use and to encourage walking, cycling, and rickshaws.
This will mean making some changes. Fortunately most of those changes are likely to
increase rather than reduce our quality of life. Imagine being able to cycle safely in
Dhaka. Imagine the air being fresh and clean. Imagine children and youth being able to play in side streets. If we move our focus from cars to people, from traveling long
distances to accessing basic needs close to home, we can reduce congestion and all the misery it causes, We can have more time with family and for the other important parts of life.
Remember 350 is not just a number. It is not just an ideal. It is something we can all work to make a reality.
Syed Saiful Alam
shovan1209@yahoo.com
How to Improve Your Child's Positive Behavior by Relinquishing Control by Jennifer Johnston-Jones, PhD
of the Monarch butterfly is explored in this novel, along with the clash between science and the faith among conservative evangelicals, in a truly wonderful book by Barbara Kingsolver.
More here: www.npr.org/2012/11/06/164102081/flight-behavior-weds-iss...
Reading in the knit-and-read book club.
Summer break may be here, but that doesn't mean the work stops. More than 500 DMPS faculty and administration attended the two day base camp focused on improving student behavior and school culture.
Anita Li (M.S. ABA '13) from Florida is about to get a participant for one of the operant chamber experiments. An operant chamber is a container in which an animal is placed that has various manipulanda (like levers, or in our case, IR hoops) that are linked to some consequence (food, water, lights, etc). They are used to study learning.
When I got home from bird-watching yesterday, I found this little tree toad cuddled up next to the charger for my mobility scooter. When I pulled the cord out of the hole where I store it , I apparently shocked (only in the sense of "surprised") the toad despite its unperturbed appearance. He jumped down the hole like those suicidal lemmings one reads about. It looked like the hole extended down about five feet to a cement floor. Later, though, I got a flashlight and peered down the hole and was glad to see a blockage less than a foot below the opening, However, there was no little toad. I guess he managed to use his sticky little feet to make his escape. Strangely, though I saw him cuddling next to the charger again this morning.
Thank you for your visit.
That's not a halo around the head of artist Dei Xrist, it's the raised dome of a '60s salon hair dryer chair, one of the items Xrist and Marc Bisson brought from their home to the House of 1000 Dust Catchers exhibit at the 119 Gallery in Lowell, MA. Dave Bacon contributed objects to the exhibit, as well.
Exhibit runs Jan 12 - Feb 13, 2010. 119 Chelmsford Street, Lowell MA
(Dei Xrist has been in front of the camera a time or two. Without a word from me, she sat herself down, put her hands on her lap, set her shoulders, and tilted her head, making a just-right classic pose.)
Tenuous link: halo
Primary School students were rewarded for all their positive behavior with a special event with Luau Relay Races.