See, The Thing About The Young Wizards Series Is

Good News Network

Humpback Whales Are Singing More: Number of Songs Has Doubled as Food Sources Became More Abundant

Eavesdropping on whale songs over 6 years shows the number of days humpbacks have been singing has nearly doubled–with their food source.

"Eavesdropping on whale songs over the last six years is providing new information vital to answering questions about these giants of the ocean.

The number of whale songs detected is associated with shifting food sources, according to the California scientists—and the number of days humpbacks have been singing has nearly doubled.

When monitoring baleen whale songs in the Pacific Ocean, researchers found year-to-year variations correlated with changes in the availability of the species they forage on.

In vast oceans, monitoring populations of large marine animals can be a “major challenge” for ecologists, explained Dr. John Ryan, a biological oceanographer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California (MBARI).

Their team deployed underwater microphones called hydrophones to study and track baleen whales, which communicate over long distances through sound.

“Surprisingly, the acoustic behavior of baleen whales provides insights about which species can better adapt to changing ocean conditions,” said Dr. Ryan, a lead author of the study.

They also monitored songs from blue, fin, and humpback whales off the West Coast of the U.S. to see what the song data could reveal about the health of their ecosystem.

The findings, published in the journal PLOS One, showed “large” year-to-year variations in whale song detection.

“The amount of humpback whale song continually increased, with their songs being detected on 34% of days at the beginning of the study and rising to 76% of days after six years,” said Dr. Ryan.

“These increases consistently tracked improved foraging conditions for humpback whales across all study years—large increases in krill abundance, followed by large increases in anchovy abundance.

“In contrast, blue and fin whale song rose primarily during the years of increasing krill abundance.

“This distinction of humpback whales is consistent with their ability to switch between dominant prey. An analysis of skin biopsy samples confirmed that changes had occurred in the whales’ diets.”

He explained that other factors, including the local abundance of whales, may have contributed to patterns in song detections observed in some years, but changes in foraging conditions were the most consistent factor.

“Overall, the study indicates that seasonal and annual changes in the amount of baleen whale song detected may mirror shifts in the local food web.”

WHALES ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL: • Gray Whale, Extinct for Centuries in Atlantic, Is Spotted in Cape Cod • Sighting of Many Blue Whales Around Seychelles is First in Decades – ‘Phenomenal’ • Majestic Sei Whales Reappear in Argentine Waters After Nearly a Century

“The results suggest that an understanding of the relationship between whale song detection and food availability may help researchers to interpret future hydrophone data, both for scientific research and whale management efforts”, which could better protect endangered species."

-via Good News Network, March 1, 2025

What is an Ocean but a Multitude of Drops?

I’ve been pondering the recurring notion in Young Wizards—introduced in the first book—that “even…unmagical-seeming actions” have importance in the fight against entropy. Whether it’s turning the lights off when one leaves a room, having a kind word for someone in need of encouragement, or just using the bus for transport to an alien mall crawl (“Wizards are supposed to use public transport—it’s ecologically sound!”), these little choices are no less important than galaxy-spanning fights with the Lone Power. And indeed, it’s often the little things—like Nita’s space pen or Ponch’s squirrels—that make the big victories possible.

It’s a concept that recurs in several of my other favorite works of fiction, as well. Rory’s father, Brian, from the most recent season of Doctor Who springs immediately to mind. A down-to-earth sort, Brian spends his screentime changing lightbulbs, carefully watching alien artifacts for days on end, and throwing golf balls for nearby dinosaurs to play fetch with. Unlike most of the Doctor’s associates, he doesn’t progress from these humble beginnings into something “remarkable”—he never becomes immortal or the Bad Wolf or anything like that. But instead, his very mundane habits are exactly what’s needed to save the world on multiple occasions. And when the Doctor offers to let him travel across time and space full-time, his response is simply, “Somebody’s got to water the plants.”

I bring this up because it’s a rather uncommon line of thought, on the whole. Far more common is the desire to change oneself, to journey forth from humble origins and grow into something great, to leave a mark on the world. But examples like the ones I mentioned above suggest that perhaps we’re not on the way to doing something remarkable—we already are, from one day to the next.

In the final lines of Cloud Atlas, both the book and the film (I heartily recommend either, incidentally), one of the protagonists ponders the notion that his efforts to change the world only amount to “a single drop in a limitless ocean.”

"But what is an ocean," he concludes, "but a multitude of drops?"

The same, I think, applies to all of us. We may not all be heroes or luminaries who command the destinies of millions, but within the smaller confines of our individual lives, every choice we embark upon makes a difference. And ultimately, the whole of human history is comprised of nothing else but people making decisions, many of them seemingly unimportant, one day at a time. Taken all together, though, it adds up to something remarkable. No man is an island, and every rock idly tossed into a pond produces ripples.

It’s both encouraging and terrifying to think about.

Sometimes I read stuff and I just wanna shake someone like "WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS"

If Young Wizards characters had Tumblr Blogs:

Nita: A “hipster blog” of sorts with flawless color coordination and all sorts of cheerful posts: beautiful landscapes, inspiring quotes, book reviews, and so on. The pictures of cats, whales, and birds are tagged like they’re the selfies of her close friends. Because they are.

Kit: The geekiest and most exhaustive space blog you’ll ever see. If Mars were to be blown up, it could be rebuilt with perfect accuracy with nothing but the posts about it on his blog. Also reblogs a lot of Dairine’s science-fiction-related posts, and he and Nita are one of those Cute Couples On Tumblr.

Dairine: A fandom blog devoted to Star Wars, Star Trek, and all other things science fiction. Very passionate and argumentative about everything; strongly held opinions get her into a lot of protracted Tumblr debates. Gets into arguments with Roshaun a lot, especially.

Carmela: A glorious, thoroughly disorganized mess of recipes, fashion, NSFW posts, anime, and life advice. Sends Kit a lot of deliberately weird asks.

S’reee: Friendly reblogs of her friends’ posts, interspersed with long, incomprehensible audio posts like remixed whalesong (which they are). And discussion of conservation issues.

Filif: Primarily devoted to very colorful fashion photosets, with the occasional picture of a flower tagged “nsfw.”

Sker’ret: One of those people who reblogs just about everything he comes across, with great enthusiasm. All of those legs lend themselves well to some truly epic keysmashing when he’s excited about something.

Roshaun: Exhaustingly long rants (never, ever put behind read-mores, either), occasionally interrupted by food porn posts, fashion, and impromptu lectures on stellar dynamics. And failed attempts to comprehend memes (“Imagine how is touch the sky” reduced him to nothing but rows of question marks eventually. It doesn’t translate to the Speech well).

Meanwhile in the YW fandom…

(Subject of discussion: Nita and Kit’s hypothetical future wedding. Hat tip to the Slack chat for a lot of this. More to come.)

“How are they going to explain that one of the bridesmaids is a whale?”

S'reee, upon the mention of the hen do: “is it customary for one to bring their own fowl?”

“The Penn gating team can deal Grand Central for a day, we have lives too… sometimes? Oh, who am I kidding, Rhiow and I are so overdue for a vacation. Hurry up and make this ‘wedding’ thing happen, please.” –Urruah, probably

“I think we’re going to have a bit more luck sneaking an undisguised Sker'ret past the Rodriguez grandparents than we would getting Helena to stand on Kit’s side.”

“If only I could stay in whaleshape during the ceremony – I could be your ‘something blue!’”

“'Ree, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re almost as big as the venue….”

When the last living thing dies, death dies too.

Whale talk… a mother and her calf/baby. The best sound you can hear while diving close to whales. Mesmerizing.

It was our destiny to walk in the light of other stars.

Happy Earth Day: Earthrise

One of the most famous aspects of the Apollo 8 flight was the Earthrise picture that was taken as they came around for their fourth orbit of the Moon. This was the first time that humans had taken such a picture whilst actually behind the camera, and it has been credited with a role in inspiring the first Earth Day in 1970. It was selected as the first of Life magazine’s ‘hundred photos that changed the world’.

Taken by Apollo 8 crewmember Bill Anders on December 24, 1968, showing the Earth seemingly rising above the lunar surface. Note that this phenomenon is only visible from someone in orbit around the Moon. Because of the Moon’s synchronous rotation about the Earth (i.e., the same side of the Moon is always facing the Earth), no Earthrise can be observed by a stationary observer on the surface of the Moon.