Skip to main content

Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

Palo-Santo-Candles

Shocking Development

Oceanic Blasts Harm Ecosystems

Oil companies have received federal permission to use seismic airguns to find oil and gas deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean floor during offshore oil exploration from New England to Florida. Repeated every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, for days and weeks at a time, the airguns are so loud that they disturb, injure or kill marine mammals, sea turtles and other wildlife, harm commercial fisheries and disrupt coastal economies. The proposed testing could injure 138,000 whales and dolphins and disturb millions more, according to government estimates.

Impacts include temporary and permanent hearing loss, disruption of mating and feeding, beach stranding and deaths. Whales and dolphins rely on their hearing to find food, communicate and reproduce. Airgun blasts can kill fish eggs and larvae, and scare away fish from important habitats. Catch rates of cod and haddock declined by 40-to-80 percent for thousands of miles following seismic surveys. Nonprofit environmental watchdog Oceana is working to halt the use of the devices and stop the expansion of dangerous offshore drilling that follows the seismic testing.

 

Rich Carey/Shutterstock.com

Global Briefs
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

Upcoming Events Near You
Follow Us On Facebook