Environment
"Astro" the Wayward Steller Sea Lion (web only)
Each year the Marine Mammal Center treats between 500 and 1200 sick and injured animals, but there are always one or two that stand out from the pod. This time it was a Steller Sea Lion named "Astro."
Video on Jun 26, 2007 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Fatal Attraction: Birds and Wind Turbines
California's largest wind farm cluster at Altamont Pass unintentionally kills golden eagles, burrowing owls and other threatened birds. Now, wind companies, scientists and environmentalists are working to bird-proof these massive wind farms.
Video on Jun 26, 2007 by Gabriela Quirós from QUEST Northern California
Fur Seal Pup Rehab
QUEST sails out with the Marine Mammal Center as researchers release fur seals that stranded themselves on California beaches and try to understand their mysterious behavior.
Video on Jun 26, 2007 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
Fur Seal Pup Rehab
Californians don't normally see fur seals along local beaches, but lately fur seal pups have been stranding themselves in alarming numbers. QUEST sails out with the Marine Mammal Center as they release these stowaways back into the wild and try to understand their mysterious behavior. You may view the "Fur Seal Pup Rehab" TV Story [...]
Post on Jun 26, 2007 by Chris Bauer
Fatal Attraction: Birds and Wind Turbines
With California's ambitious renewable energy goal, the state needs wind power. But California's largest wind farm cluster at Altamont Pass unintentionally kills golden eagles, burrowing owls and other threatened birds. Now, wind companies, scientists and environmentalists are working to bird-proof these massive wind farms. You may view the "Fatal Attraction: Birds and Wind Turbines" TV [...]
Post on Jun 26, 2007 by Gabriela Quirós
Does This House Come With a Prius?
One of the benefits of being on the staff of a nonprofit that is a guest at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is rubbing elbows with great scientists and researchers like Tom Wenzel in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division. I first met Tom after a talk he gave years ago about improving auto fuel economy without [...]
Post on Jun 15, 2007 by Jim Gunshinan
Ray's 50-year love affair with 'dem bones
Photo Dong Lin, California Academy of SciencesWhat would you do if you saw an old guy, with a weather-beaten face and white hair, carving the flesh off the skulls of a dead seal lying in the sand on Ocean Beach, in San Francisco? Would you call the police? If you did, they probably wouldn't care, [...]
Post on Jun 13, 2007 by Donovan Rittenbach
The real Davy Jones locker
Laboratory photo of one of the newly discovered bone-eating worms, Osedax frankpressi, which has been removed from a whale bone On the heels of two humpbacks leaving the Sacramento River for the ocean, you may have seen this other news report on a rotting gray whale carcass on waterfront property at Point Richmond. (There's a [...]
Post on Jun 12, 2007 by Nick Pyenson
Cleaning up Hunters Point
The Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard bears traces of a toxic — and historic– military legacy. It could also be the site of the new 49ers stadium. But cleaning up this 500 acre Superfund site is costly and time consuming. QUEST looks at how the site got that way, and how the Navy is cleaning it [...]
Post on Jun 07, 2007 by Amy Standen
Cleaning Up Hunters Point
The Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard bears traces of a toxic — and historic– military legacy. It could also be the site of the new 49ers stadium. But cleaning up this 500 acre Superfund site is costly and time consuming.
Audio Report on Jun 07, 2007 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Putting Our Greenbacks Into Green
The Whirlpool Duet clothes washer is among the most energy- and water-efficient washers out thereWell, we finally did it. After 16 months of looking, my wife Michele and I bought a house! We move in at the end of this month. It seems fitting that the family we are buying the house from is moving [...]
Post on Jun 01, 2007 by Jim Gunshinan
Abandoned Boats
Abandoned boats in the San Francisco Bay do more than take up space in marinas and harbors – they're a potential threat to public health. The boats, left to deteriorate, can become a wellspring of pollutants, including leaking battery acid, oil, fuel, and lead from paint. But what do you do with these rusting relics? [...]
Post on May 31, 2007 by Andrea Kissack
Abandoned Boats
Abandoned boats in the San Francisco Bay and Delta do more than take up space in marinas and harbors. They can become a wellspring of pollutants, including leaking battery acid, oil, fuel, and lead from paint. But what do you do with these rusting relics?
Audio Report on May 31, 2007 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Keep focus on the Delta… with or without whales
When a humpback whale and her calf took a wrong turn at the Golden Gate Bridge and headed to Sacramento, it drew a lot of eyes (and news media) to the Delta. But while thousands focused on the plight of the whales, another story was emerging from the Delta– a story that was, as an [...]
Post on May 31, 2007 by Ann Dickinson
Green Irony
Our Executive Director, here at the California Academy of Sciences, recently informed the staff that we are not to provide guests with disposable bottles of water, because it's not sustainable. This simple, but challenging, edict got me thinking about the irony of being green. After all, the Earth has been green for billions of years. [...]
Post on May 30, 2007 by Donovan Rittenbach
San Francisco Bay Invaders
Scoop a handful of critters out of the San Francisco Bay and you'll find tourists from far away shores. Invasive kinds of mussels, fish and more are choking out native species, challenging experts around the state to change the human behavior that brings them here.
Video on May 29, 2007 by Amy Miller from QUEST Northern California
Lands End Facelift
The land north of the Cliff House near the old Sutro Baths is getting a multi-million-dollar face life by the National Park Service and local philanthropists.
Video on May 29, 2007 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
San Francisco Bay Invaders
Scoop a handful of critters out of the San Francisco Bay and you’ll find tourists from far away shores. Invasive kinds of mussels, fish and more are choking out native species, challenging experts around the state to change the human behavior that brings them here. You may view the the "San Francisco Bay Invaders" TV [...]
Post on May 29, 2007 by Amy Miller
Lands End Facelift
The land north of the Cliff House near the old Sutro Baths is getting a multi-million-dollar face life by the National Park Service and local philanthropists. The area, rich in history, and in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge will get new trails, catwalks and other features, making it more accessible to millions of [...]
Post on May 29, 2007 by Craig Rosa
Reconsidering Nuclear Power
Not long ago, nuclear power was unthinkable among environmentalists, particularly in California, where a moratorium on new power plants has put a lid on the industry for thirty years. But that sentiment may be changing. You may listen to the "Reconsidering Nuclear Power" Radio report online. Amy Standen is a Reporter for QUEST and Radio [...]
Post on May 24, 2007 by Amy Standen
