Tag: environment

Categories
Environment Tragedy at sea

Chasing the Thunder.

French version of Chasing the Thunder: "À la poursuite du Thunder".
French version of Chasing the Thunder: “À la poursuite du Thunder”.

This book is sure to please fans who can understand French and true stories. “In pursuit of the Thunder – the story of the longest naval chase of all time” quickly hooks us, especially since it is a first in maritime history. The authors of this investigative story are two experienced journalists by the name of Eskil Engdal and Kjetil Saeter.

The information they were able to collect through multiple interviews around the world allows the reader to better understand what hides behind the theft of fishery resources in Antarctica.

This illegal fishing is a big business where the mafia, especially Spanish, does not hesitate to order the cutting of fishing nets or simply to sink a trawler to prevent the obtaining of evidence. Click on the link for a video of this maritime accident.

The chase takes place in inhospitable waters and spans several months and over 15,000 kilometers as we follow the stories of several members of the chase team as well as the illegal fishermen.

The authors discuss the squandering of resources, the lax legislation regarding illegal fishing in international waters, the methods that criminals use to remove a boat’s registration from the registers, the lack of political courage at the international level, the omerta that reigns in the villages where illegal fishermen operate, money laundering and modern slavery.

The Thunder’s captain does everything in his power to escape the pursuers. This escape leads him to sail in very risky areas through passages almost blocked by ice, hoping that the smaller pursuing ship will not dare to venture on the same route. He also steers his trawler into areas where strong waves risk sinking the pursuing ship.

Captain Peter Hammerstedt of the pursuit ship Bob Barker does not back down from any obstacle that stands in his way during the chase. He shows a determination that infuriates the Thunder’s crew and lead them to make mistakes.

The ecological thriller Chasing the Thunder was screened in 2019 at the World Biodiversity Conference.

In March 2023, more than 100 countries signed a treaty on high seas diversity, after 15 years of effort. Greenpeace welcomed the treaty, but demands that it be translated into action…

Reading this book alone will awaken the reader to many previously under-reported aspects of illegal fishing on the high seas, all in the context of a hunt unique in the history of maritime shipping.

Click on the links for other books on the environment, geopolitics, tragedies at sea or controversial issues on my blog.

Title: À la poursuite du Thunder

Authors: Eskil Engdal and Kjetil Saeter

© Actes Sud, 2021 for the French translation

ISBN: 978-2-330-14724-2

Categories
Photography

A Pileated Woodpecker at Work in Quebec City.

Pileated woodpecker at work on a tree in Québec City
Pileated woodpecker at work on a tree in Québec City

The Pileated Woodpecker has a height of 48 centimeters. The work it did on this tree in Sillery, in Quebec City, caused damage over a meter long. But the tree was already in bad shape, as the bird naturally chooses the trunks that are easiest to perforate. Let’s just say that after this Pileated Woodpecker is done with the tree, the owner will have to prune his tree for safety.

Wood chips resulting from the work of a Pileated Woodpecker
Wood chips resulting from the work of a Pileated Woodpecker

Above is a glimpse of the wood shavings gathering at the bottom of the tree as the Pileated Woodpecker gets busy.

Click on the link for more pictures of Quebec City in Winter on my blog.

Categories
Environment Photos of Quebec

Heat wave in Quebec City in December 2022.

Global warming affects everyone
Global warming affects everyone

End of December 2022. It’s hot in Quebec City. The city was first swept by a storm that left hundreds of thousands of Quebecers without power, some for more than a week. A heat wave then swept through the province of Quebec for several days.

One positive aspect of this warm air is that it melted the thick layer of ice and snow that had accumulated on the roofs of homes during the December 23 storm, resetting the clock for the remaining portion of the winter to come.

But when it comes to winter sports, it’s a different story. One had to walk around town on the last day of 2022 to see the changes in just a few days.

Passing by the public skating rink maintained by the municipality on the Battlefields Park, I took this picture that sums up the situation: a warm rain falling on the snow and accelerating the melting to the point where a thick fog sets in, puddles of water several centimeters thick covering a layer of ice.

I use this water to add the reflections of the skaters in the photographic composition. Fortunately for them, the sportsmen benefit from a mechanically cooled ice rink to continue practicing their favorite activity.

Click on the link for more pictures of Quebec City in Winter on my blog.

Categories
Photos of Quebec

Mosaiculture of Québec City 2022

Giraffe in the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022
Giraffe in the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022

The exhibition of Mosaïculture of Québec City 2022, entitled “Once upon a time…the Earth“, ends in a few days, after having been a great success throughout the summer.

Two elephants at the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022
Two elephants at the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022

More than six million plants were used to build 200 animals and insects in the Bois-de-Coulonge, not to mention the flowers along the way to further enhance the tour.

Four zebras at the Mosaïcultures Québec 2022
Four zebras at the Mosaïcultures Québec 2022

In a few months, hundreds of thousands of visitors will have walked through the circuit of 90 minutes to visit the largest edition of mosaiculture since its creation in 2000 in Montreal. In Québec City, more than 80% of the works were exposed for the first time.

A beekeeper and his bees at the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022
A beekeeper and his bees at the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022

The site had to be prepared nine months in advance. As intensive watering became mandatory, Québec City temporarily modified its watering regulations, explaining that it was an exhibition and not a horticultural production.

The man who plants a tree at the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022
The man who plants a tree at the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022

Above, a shepherd plants a tree in a place that seems to be very unfertile, indicating at the same time the need not to give up when it comes to saving the planet.

These Québec 2022 mosaicultures will have been another major tourist attraction for Québec City, after a cascade of other summer events. In fact, there have been times when so many tourist activities overlapped at the same time, that residents and tourists had to make choices. A spectacular rebound from a pandemic that forced people to make sacrifices for two years!

Click on the link for more pictures of Québec City in Summer on my blog.

Categories
Photography

A lucky American Robin.

An American Robin and its fledgling in Sillery, Quebec City.
An American Robin and its fledgling in Sillery, Quebec City.

In Quebec City, an American Robin came to make its nest near our back door. Since it had been there brooding without giving birth to anything, we were beginning to believe that the mother was sterile.

Major construction work was to begin shortly at our home and would last a few weeks. We were almost glad that no chicks were born, as this would simplify the transportation of materials.

A day before the renovations were to begin, the first chick was born. From then on, all construction workers would have to be blocked off and asked to make a detour each time they needed to take scraps out of the house or bring in new material.

All labor groups agreed to our request without a second thought. For two weeks, electricians, plumbers, floor layers, delivery people and installers of all kinds came and went, sometimes asking for updates on the condition of the mother and her chicks.

In Quebec City, three two week old American Robins.
In Quebec City, three two week old American Robins.

The photo above shows the three chicks one day before they fledge. The lack of light due to the location of the nest, as well as the desire not to disturb the fledglings, necessitated the use of a powerful telephoto lens and a camera capable of cropping without loss of quality. A full-frame camera Canon 5DSR with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto made the job easy. The ISO was set to 200 and I severely limited the depth of field to get the best possible shutter speed to avoid motion blur.

This morning, all the birds had left the nest. The parents were flying around nervously, attacking predators while the young were quickly learning to become independent. The blue jay that regularly visits us for its “dish of the day” was denied access to the backyard by both parents.

There are now three new American Robin in the area and it is almost certain that the mother will return next year to the same location, given the success this year.

Click on the link for more pictures of Quebec City in Summer on my blog.

Categories
Environment

Popularity of Plastics

Old publicity on the promising future of plastics.
Old publicity on the promising future of plastics.

Times are changing and plastic is losing steam because of its effect on the environment. However, there was a time when it was just the opposite and when we praised the promising future (with good reason!) of plastic. Above you can see a photo of an old advertisement with a very different message than what we hear today. We even offer to teach you how to use plastic at home!

Click on the link for other articles on environment on my blog.

Categories
Environment

Bird photography : the Pileated Woodpecker in Quebec.

Pileated Woodpecker (female) at work on a silver maple in 2020.
Pileated Woodpecker (female) at work on a silver maple in 2020.





Last week, a Pileated Woodpecker female landed on our silver maple. When it digs a hole in a tree to find food, the bird hits the trunk harder and at a much slower rate than the Hairy Woodpecker. This is what caught our attention.





This Woodpecker is impressive, especially when it is the first time that we have the chance to observe it at work. The Pileated Woodpecker measures between 40 and 49 cm and is found in Canada and the United States. When its work is completed, it leaves a hole of about 10 x 7 cm in the tree.





Click on the link for other articles on the environment on my blog.


		


	


	

		
		


			

		


		
	


	






	



	


		
			

				
					Categories				
				

					Photos of Canada				

			


			
The Lake Agnes Tea House, in Alberta.

		


			

		


		
	





	


		


			

A view of the Lake Agnes Tea House, Alberta 2018.
A view of the Lake Agnes Tea House, Alberta 2018.





The Lake Agnes Tea House can be reached by a very well maintained 3.5 km pathway that starts outside the Château Lake Louise. The climb is only 400 meters (1300 feet). Lake Agnes is located at an altitude of 2134 meters. From there, it is possible to continue the ascent up to the Big Beehive, which tops at 2270 meters.





No road allows an access by car to the Lake Agnes Tea House. This means that a part of the products needed for the tea house have to be brought up by foot by employees. The garbage is disposed in the same way, when employees go down the mountain. Customers can help by bringing down a little bag of garbage when they are ready to head back to their hotel. That eases the employee’s task. The tea house menu offers only a few choices, since there is no electricity. But the experience is always interesting.





The picture above was taken during summer 2018 with a Canon 5DSR camera equipped with a Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens. The focal length was adjusted to 200mm and the ISO to 2500 for this photo taken with a hand held camera.





For other pictures of Canada, click on the following links of my blog: 







Other Provinces and Territories of Canada Photos







Province of Quebec Photos


		


	


	

		
		


			

		


		
	


	






	



	


		
			

				
					Categories				
				

					Environment Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec				

			


			
Freezing rain on a plant during winter 2019

		


			

		


		
	





	


		


			

Freezing rain and nature during the winter 2019 in Quebec City.
Freezing rain and nature during the winter 2019 in Quebec City.





The effects of the freezing rain that fell over Quebec City this winter were not only negative. Photographers seized the opportunity to immortalize rapidly changing situations.





In the picture above, the “blue” that is visible in the ice represents the reflection from the magnificent winter sky. On a bigger screen, the ice shows the white birch trees that were surrounding the scene.





In order to avoid any distractions, the background was kept blurred by setting the aperture to 3.5. The presence of moderate wind required a higher shutter speed, in this case 1/6400. The ISO was limited to 250, to protect the quality of the picture during the enlargment. The 50.6 megapixel full frame sensor offered all the necessary flexibility during the digital processing.





The picture was taken with a Canon 5DSR equipped with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II USM telephoto lens. I only had that lens at the moment of my walk. The focal length was 200mm with the stabilizer “on” and a setting of “1.2 meter/infinite” instead of the usual “2.5 meters / infinite”.





For other pictures of Quebec City, click on the following
links of my blog :







Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Autumn







Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Winter







Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Spring







Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Summer


		


	


	

		
		


			

		


		
	


	






	



	


		
			

				
					Categories				
				

					Street photography				

			


			
The ideal access to school in Quebec City

		


			

		


		
	





	


		


			


The St-Louis-de-Gonzague school in Quebec City.
The St-Louis-de-Gonzague school in Quebec City.




By cropping very tightly a picture of the St-Louis-de-Gonzague school’s entrance, in Quebec City, it is possible to modify the access to the school.





To the right of the hole in the wall, you can see “Entrée des élèves”, which means “Entrance for students”. With this reinterpretation, the students are invited to leave school as soon as they arrive. At a time where the society promotes an alternative education and the environment, this is an ideal opportunity for the students!





For other street photos, click on:




Street photography