| The World of Pete Perry Updated: 7th JULY 2008 |
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| Here is the latest News from The World of Pete Perry... |
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| IN THE BEGINNING... Pete started drawing and writing stories at a very young age, and by the time he was 11 years old, he was producing a weekly comic, KOMIC KAPERS WEEKLY, known affectionately as the KK, (see left) for his mates at Chapel End Secondary Modern School in Walthamstow. E17. Since then, he has gone on to write illustrated articles for magazines on The Environment, Horticulture and Social Justice, and writing childrens and adult books. WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF PETE PERRY... |
| An original KK |
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| Pete's illustration for GARDENERS CHRONICLE |
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| Widgeripoo Latest! WILDLIFE ALERT - PT 1: THE FINALMARCH OF THE PENGUINS... 2 WHAT KILLED THE DOLPHINS? 1 DISAPPEARING BEES |
| THE FINAL MARCH OF THE PENGUINS WHAT KILLED THE DOLPHINS? |
| WILDLIFE ALERT - A New Series Populations of animal, bird and fish species have dropped worldwide since 1970 conservationists have warned. The LIVING PLANET INDEX have revealed that numbers have declined by 27% in 35 years. So Widgeripoo, is beginning a new series, over the next few months, to explain to our readers the impact of this... |
| DISAPPEARING BEES By APRIL MASKELL I watched a TV programme about the wonderful honey bee, and the fact that in The USA, 80% of them disappeared in a six month period. This happened in 2006. It has happened in France, Spain, certain provences in China, and may be happening in |
| Australia. The scientists were at a loss at the beginning to the cause, but have now isolated a type of virus that acts in a similar way to the AIDS virus in humans: It supresses the immune system of the bee. The bess were also found to be suffering from other ailments, including PESTICIDE TOXICITY. Fungi were also present. All in all, the problem seems to be a combination of all these factors. For us humans, this is extremely worrying: Around 70% of our flowering plants are pollinated by bees. Without this relationship these plants will disappear too. Scientists believe that without something being done, all honey bees worldwide will become extinct by 2035. This is also happening here in The UK.However, the so-called 'expert' they interviewed on TV seems to think this is not happening. SO WHERE DOES HE THINK THEY ARE DISAPPEARING TO? Why is it happening all over the world, but as soon as it happens here, they won't admit to it? A BRITISH SCIENTIST INTERVIEWED JUST SHOOK HIS HEAD AND ANGRILY REPLIED 'NOTHING IS EVER TAKEN SERIOUSLY IN THIS COUNTRY UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE...' How sad! It seems to be a trend with the politicians to hide their heads in the sand and hope it goes away. For people that don't like vegetables, (as bees polinate most of those too) remember that fruit trees are pollinated by bees as well. Flowering plants are also at risk, so unless something is done soon, we may end up with no flowering plants and trees as well. No Apples, pears, peaches, vanilla, no flowering shrubs or trees, - those that rely on cross-fertilization. Personally, I believe that most of this is caused by our over-farming. as with cod, whales, seals and other food sources for people and animals all over the world, the hunble bee has more and more work to do. THEY ARE IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH DISEASES, PESTICIDES, AND URBANIZATION. IT IS A WONDER THEY HAVE SURVIVED AT ALL. I REALLY HOPE THAT THIS PROBLEM GETS SOLVED BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE; WHAT A BORING WORLD THIS WOULD BE IF ALL WE HAD TO EAT WERE GRAINS AND MEAT. HOW COLOURLESS THE LANDSAPE WOULD BECOME IF IT WERE ONLY BROWN AND GREEN... BUT THEN IT'S UP TO US |
| ... and as a recap, here's a reminder of part one of this series... |
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| SO WHAT DID KILL THE DOLPHINS? Is it the fault of humans once again? By PETE PERRY |
| AS YOU WILL HAVE READ OR SEEN ON THE NEWS, ON MONDAY 7th JUNE, 26 DOLPHINS DIED AFTER BEACHING THEMSELVES, IN APPARENT PANIC, NEAR FALMOUTH, CORNWALL. There have been a number of theories as to why this happened: 1: They were scared by live firing by The Royal Navy involving surface ships and submarines. 2: The dolphins natural sonar navigation was disturbed by 'short-rage side scan sonar' used by The Royal Navy to map the sea bed. 3: The dolphins were chasing a shoal of fish, that happened to swim into shallow waters. Well, excuse me, but didn't anyone think to link all these events together? Live firing by Naval ships is likely to scare any sea life, so not only would the dolphins be affected, but so would fish. RN sonar, as I have often said before, WILL affect the natural sonar of the dolphins. So, if the firing scared the fish, and the sonar disoriented the dolphins, it would follow that the dolphins would follow the fish into shallow waters, surely? YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A ROYAL NAVAL NUCLEAR SCIENTIST TO FIGURE THAT ONE OUT! Isn't it about time we started working with nature, rather than against it? |
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| THE FINAL MARCH OF THE PENGUINS? By PETE PERRY Climate Change, oil pollution, depletion of |
| fish populations and rampant coastline development are all contributing to the rapid decline of every species pf penguin throughout the world... and we are to blame... |
| Have a look at the picture above right. It shows a penguin chick soaked through to the skin, because it's downy feathers (see picture above left)are designed to protect it from the cold, - not the wet. Due to climate change however, the ice is melting, leaving the chicks vulnerable to pnuemonia.... TO READ THE FULL 'WORLD SCIENCE' REPORT, CLICK HERE. |