Influential local biologist Ransom Myers passed away Tuesday, and the world is paying its respects. Plus Faith Hill, props from the capital city of Indonesia and more. Full links below.
Ransom Myers, RIP
from Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle, St. John’s and Manchester (UK)
The untimely death of the Dalhousie University fisheries biologist — victim of brain cancer at age 54 — has reverberated far and wide. The most complete story so far is from CBC in Newfoundland, which goes into some of the research that made him internationally renowned:
Myers, who has worked on more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, was among the team that published an article in the Jan. 9 issue of Current Biology called “Saving endangered whales at no cost.” It argued that a change in the U.S. lobster-fishing season in the Gulf of Maine could cut the number of deaths among the 350 right whales, a protected species nearly extinct in Europe, which live in the North Atlantic. Getting caught in fishing gear is a serious threat to the whales, the article said.
Myers’s website at Dalhousie highlights studies on coral reefs, leatherback turtles, the status of marine populations and the wastage caused by commercial fishing. A 2005 study said that a fifth of the fish caught in the United States — 1.06 million tonnes a year — is discarded as unwanted bycatch. (that story here)
The Associated Press also put out a brief story. To read that item as it’s running on other sites, click the name of each of the following news organizations: the Manchester Guardian, Chicago’s Sun Times, the Boston Herald, the Post-Intelligencer in Seattle, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post
Faith no more
from Moncton
If you’ve been waiting to find out whether Halifax or Moncton is going to host the September 1 Faith Hill and Tim McGraw concert, the wait is over. Moncton country station XL96 reports (which in this case means “reprints a press release”) the duo will bring their Soul 2 Soul tour to Magnetic Hill. What exactly is Halifax missing out on/dodging the bullet from? According to promoter Harold MacKay:
“Last year their Soul 2 Soul Tour was the third largest grossing tour in the North America behind the Rolling Stones and Barbara Streisand and this year they are already on their way to being No.1 with sold out shows everywhere on their tour and in fact all of their Western Canadian shows sold out immediately a couple of weeks ago with added shows doing the same thing.” (full “story” here)
Putting the www in “health”
from Palangkaraya, Indonesia
I have no idea why a story about a Halifax-based “e-health” site appeals to the people behind the Palangkaraya Post, but I love that Burning Ears gets to pick it up. Too bad the story itself is too boring to bother quoting (although you can confirm that out for yourself with a simple click here).
Tourist misinformation
from Cary, North Carolina
On his self-described “Spectacularly Mediocre Blog,” Chris Allen offers a dispatch from his visit to Nova Scotia. He has an interesting comment about Citadel Hill’s lack of informative signage:
Maybe I should have read up on the history of this thing while we were there, because after going there, I really don’t know anything about it. That’s about it for the Citadel.
The folks who try to make Halifax tourist-friendly might want to look into that. If they want to help tourists like Chris Allen. (full story here)
Can you beat an Indonesian Halifax reference? Send links here.
This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2007.