>Quinn described hiking on a remote trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park when they encountered a lone hiker coming down the trail toward them.

>“We pulled our gators up over our faces as a precaution (against COVID) and he walked right up to me and said, ‘I don’t appreciate you pulling up that mask’. Then he pulled up his shirt and showed us the pistol strapped to his chest. It was an eye-opener.”

>That wasn't the only thing that prompted the couple to leave their homeland, as the evolving political climate in the U.S. played a part in influencing their decision to leave.

> Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a highly contagious disease that affects rabbits' internal organs, and which can cause death within 24 hours — usually after a bunny begins bleeding from their mouth or nose. It has no known cure.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/31762027

> Signatures is at 22,853.

Eight male elephant seals were identified between June 2022 and May 2023, and individuals were identified based on body marks or scars as well as their "eyeliner cues," the study said.

Frouin-Mouy said she named the eight seals after her favourite group, The Beach Boys, and her favourite one is called Mike, who frequents the research site hunting for food.

A record 86 wild-born pups counted among critically endangered population this summer, researcher says

> Juvenile, female broadnose sevengill sharks caught in Puget Sound, likely meaning they're here to reproduce

> One research scientist says the population is growing, but the whales are also leaving other areas

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/24577384 (!marinemammalrescue@lemmy.ca)

> Patient Profile here: https://mmrpatients.org/patient/el2401-tofino/ > > > Species: Sea Otter > > Patient ID: EL2401 > > Admitted on: 2024/06/17 > > Collection Site: Wikkaninnish Island > > Reason for Admission: Maternal separation > > Weight at Admission: 2.10 kg > > Patient Status: in care > > Time in Care: 20 days > > Current Habitat: Hospital (Intensive Care) > >

> Energy Minister Josie Osborne says the B.C. Hydro projects will create thousands of jobs over the next decade and ensure the region has enough clean, affordable and reliable electricity to power homes, businesses and the economy.

> In the chilly waters of Vancouver Island's Barkley Sound, gardeners are at work on the sea floor.

> The wild population of Canada's most endangered mammal, the Vancouver Island marmot, is anticipated to exceed 350 by the end of the summer thanks to the Marmot Recovery Foundation's captive-breeding efforts. > > It may not seem like many, but 21 years ago the wild population had dropped to a count of fewer than two dozen.

An album of photos from the Cowichan Pride Parade 2024 in Duncan, BC, Vancouver Island. https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBwxvZ

!Photo of Cowichan Pride Parade 2024

> Authors on Vancouver Island are lucky. Many of the region's communities have at least one local, independent bookstore.

> “Just five per cent of the province’s land is in the Agricultural Land Reserve, and seven per cent of that is roads, bodies of water, rivers and perhaps some federal land, so they can’t be farmed even though they are in the ALR.”

> Situated in the attic and bat boxes of the North Oyster Community Centre in Ladysmith, the tiny mammals have formed a maternity colony, entirely made up of female bats and their young pups.

> New research offers a clearer picture of a fault line hundreds of kilometres long off the West Coast that is predicted to generate a major earthquake and tsunami commonly known as "The Big One." > > The study confirms that the northern part of the fault, close to Vancouver Island and Washington, is most likely to produce a major earthquake.