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Monday, August 13, 2007
And now for some good news from Tenerife
Good news is not often the stuff that would sell newspapers, but - despite what the mainstream media will have you believe - there are probably more unreported good things going on in this world than bad. Here's a few.
What's for Lunch, Giant Squid?
Well, it is if you're a calderón tropical (pilot whale) in Tenerife, as ABC report that experts in the archipelago have filmed - for the first time in the world - a pilot whale eating a giant squid in waters off the south of Tenerife, where a deep marine canal could be the habitat of these huge cephalopods.
The director of the Museo de Cetáceos de Canarias (Canarian Museum of Cetaceans) related how, in June, while the center was watching a group of pilot whales off the south of Tenerife, they were surprised when an animal emerged from a deep dive jumping about and, saw that it had an arm and various other parts of a giant squid (estimated to have been from a 5 meter long example) in its mouth.
The whale made several jumps in the water to liberate the tentacle in order to eat it, which they were able to photograph and film on video.
Previously, bits of giant squid, partially devoured, had been found - with bite marks from pilot whales - on the surface of Canarian waters, but experts had thought that the squid died previously and the pilot whales merely played with it. The scientists have now discovered that the pilot whales dive down to 1,200 meters, although 800 to 900 meters is their usual depth.
OK, maybe this is not such good news for the squid, but it's a world first that opens up a new scientific perspective, because, until now it had been thought that the cachalote (sperm whale) were the only cetaceans to feed on giant squid - as analysis of their stomach contents had confirmed.
What the scientists now want to discover is whether giant squid is an occasional treat, or on the pilot whales' regular menu and whether these cetaceans have become specialized in eating them.
They theorize that it could be that the cooperative habits of the pilot whales in the Canary Islands, who are generally found diving together in groups, has made it easier for them to catch these colossal invertebrates.
Video: Calderón tropical en Tenerife - Pilot whale in Tenerife (globicephala macrorhynchus) (Er, not eating its lunch.)
Los calderones tropicales comen calamares gigantes
Short-finned pilot whale Distribution and Threats
The Giant Squid Caught by the Alecton off the Coast of Tenerife, 30th November 1861
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Short-Finned Pilot Whales, Tenerife, ...
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Short-Finned Pilot Whales, Tenerife
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More Whales posters and prints at Art.com
Orishas Visit Sick Kids in Tenerife
Just a few hours before their concert at the Festival Mumes 2007, in Tenerife last Saturday, Yotuel, Ruso and Roldán, the three members of Cuban hip-hop group, Orishas, visited the sick - especially in the children's wards - at the Hospital Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria in Santa Cruz.
The report says that they also gathered a good number of patients into the hospital lobby and performed an impromptu concert of some of their best known songs, singing a cappella.
Other reports (in Spanish) and in English, reveal that the Orishas concert planned in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria on August 24th is to have all profits donated to those who've been affected by the recent fires. Both Orishas and Madrid rock band, Pereza, who are sharing the lineup, have also reduced their performance fees by a considerable amount.
Orishas, con los enfermos del Hospital Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria de Tenerife
Cellular Metabolism Institute in Tenerife in Glycine Finding
The study, carried out at the Cellular Metabolism Institute in Tenerife and at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Granada by Doctor Patricia de Paz Lugo and supervised by Doctors Enrique Meléndez Hevia, David Meléndez Morales and José Antonio Lupiáñez Cara, established that the direct intake of this substance as a food additive helps to prevent arthrosis and other degenerative diseases, in addition to other diseases related to a weakness in the mechanical structure of the organism, including the difficulty of repairing physical injuries.
Glycine supplement helps to prevent degenerative diseases
Canary Islands' Telescopes Help Exoplanet Discovery
A recent BBC report details that The TrES network of three 10cm telescopes in Arizona, California and the Canary Islands were the international team of astronomers who have discovered the new exoplanet, called TrES-4: the largest known planet orbiting another star.
Team finds largest exoplanet yet
Salad Days in Scotland Thanks to Tenerife
There's a little more than a coincidence over Patron Saints and the near identical flags of Scotland and Tenerife creating a fairly strong link between the two. icPerthshire report that, "A Perthshire family firm is about to grow into the biggest fresh herb company in Scotland. Scotherbs near Longforgan is set to double in size as the demand from home cooks for fresh herbs soars." Scotherbs also has a company in Tenerife which grows salad leaves and herbs which are then flown to Scotland.
Scotherbs have the right recipe to keep on growing
This island has plenty of native herbs too and for more information on Herbs of Tenerife Island, Steve Andrews aka the Bard of Ely, is your man.
CD Tenerife Claims Twentieth Title
It's a far cry from the golden days, but it's a result as CD Tenerife yesterday carried off their twentieth title in the final of the pre-season kick around; the Trofeo Teide (Teide Trophy), winning, on penalties, against Sevilla Atlético in front of a homely little crowd of 3,000 in La Orotava.
El Tenerife se lleva el Trofeo Teide en la tanda de penaltis
