Echolocation

In this insert, we explore how some blind people are using the “animal” skill of echolocation to their advantage. Bats, whales and dolphins use a form of sonar to locate themselves in space and to detect objects in their environment. This is called echolocation but there is also something called human echolocation. Human echolocation is the ability of some humans to detect objects in their environment by sensing echoes from those objects. This ability is used by some blind people, to navigate within their environment. They actively create sounds, such as by tapping their canes, lightly stomping their foot or by making clicking noises with their mouths and the returning echo gives them an astounding amount of information about their environment. Daniel Kisch of the United States has developed this ability to a fine art and is the leading expert on human echolocation in the world. He is also blind and was recently in South Africa where he taught this amazing skill to a number of South Africans. Dewald van Deventer is one of Daniel's students and took to echolocation in a big way. So much so, in fact, that today he teaches other South Africans about it.

Weekday Vegetarian

UN figures suggest that meat production puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than transport. In the past, being a vegetarian was seen by many as an ethical choice in response to the farming methods of livestock. But more recently, people have started counting the cost of the environmental impact of meat production. And in a world where everyone is becoming more environmentally conscious, meat and meat production would rank high amongst the topics that are worthy of debate and change. Every Monday, Judd, the owner of the Corner Café in Durban, prepares a Meat-Free-Monday meal to do his bit for the environment. Corner Café, a quirky eco-friendly eatery where they use only organic eggs, homegrown herbs and water that has been condensed from the air. It’s a popular Durban hang out and the clientèle are unfazed about the lack of meat on the menu. The choices in the past have largely been binary; a decision eat meat or not. Not everyone is ready to give up meat completely but given the increased awareness of our carbon footprints, what are our real options? A new one seems to be on the table - 'weekday vegetarianism'.

Donkeys

The MyPlanet card is well known in South Africa and the NSPCA is South Africa’s number one charity of choice as a recipient of the benefits from this card. Some of the many animals to benefit from the MyPlanet funds are the numerous hard-working donkeys scattered around this country. The South African National Council of SPCAs and the Donkey Sanctuary in the United Kingdom are currently involved in an outreach programme that aims not only to better the welfare of working donkeys in South Africa but also to inspire, educate and empower local communities. To help with donkey welfare and fight animal abuse, Wendy travels to Limpopo to join Roy Nicles (a representative of the UK’s Donkey Sanctuary) and Mike Allen (Head of the Equine Unit of the NSPCA) for this leg of the outreach project. In this insert, we show how the small act of swiping a MyPlanet card can have a far-reaching effect and not only change a donkey’s life but the lives of everyone in the community.

Penguins

The first ever juvenile African Penguin to be fitted with a satellite transmitter was released by SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) on 26 June. The deployment was made by scientists from the Oceans and Coasts Branch of the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Animal Demography Unit, University of Cape Town, on a chick hand-reared by SANCCOB. The deployment was one of five devices planned and formed part of a collaborative project under the auspices of the Chick Bolstering Project (CBP) designed to investigate the behaviour of juvenile birds and to answer pressing questions about the pressures that they face during early life, with a goal to using chicks abandoned by their parents and hand-reared to create new colonies close to areas of high prey abundance. The transmitter is expected to relay the bird's position for about six months and regular updates will be posted on a website and communicated via later releases.

Eco-warriors

The next Eco-Warriors insert is about a community that is outraged over the state of the Isipingo River in KZN. They have received little feedback to their complaints from the council regarding the ongoing pollution of the river, which traverses an industrial area. Andre investigates…

Vac-from-the-sea

On International Coastal Clean-Up Day, plastic was collected at Hout Bay Harbour by 50 divers. The plastic debris collected was then handed over to local artist and eco-warrior, Simon Max Bannister, to construct South Africa’s first Vac from the Sea artwork in a Woodstock studio in Cape Town. By melting the plastic and using a heated spray gun Simon applies different coloured plastics onto a re-cycled vacuum cleaner to highlight our unique coastal Cape Town position where the hot and cold currents of the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet. The underlying purpose being to raise awareness about the necessity of plastic recycling and to empower people to take responsibility for ensuring a cleaner ocean and beaches.

Daisies

Boeta Gammie is a traffic cop when he’s not writing lyrics and singing about the wonders of nature. His latest offering, 'Die Daisies van Namakwaland', was inspired by one of the best Namaqualand flower seasons ever, because of unseasonal rain this year.