Hey. Kudz--saw the part about the whales!
Orange Beach in not very far from me!
Probably they won't come any further East either.

the whales, what a wild story :D they're saying the orcas have always been there, they just had no idea they had about 200 in each pod. that sounds like a lot, but I'm not ever going out past the islands anyway! lol the dolphins,well,that's sad, I hope no more beach themselves, I think it's 5 adults and 2 calves so far. I looked this article up..

"""2.13 Why do whales and dolphins beach themselves?

If a single whale or dolphin strands, it usually is a very sick (and exhausted) animal. Such an animal often has some infections (pneumonia is almost always one of them) and a lot of parasites (worms in the nasal passages are very common). Sometimes these animals can be rehabilitated, but often they are so sick they won't make it. Some species of whales and dolphins occassionally strand in groups. A stranding of 2 or more animals is usually called a mass stranding. There are a number of theories that try to explain the occurrence of mass strandings. No theory can adequately explain all of them. In some cases it will be a combination of causes. The most common explanations are:

- deep water animals (the species that most often are the victim of mass strandings) can not "see" a sloping sandy beach properly with its sonar. They detect the beach only when they are almost stranded already and they will panic and run aground.

source:

W.H. Dudok van Heel (1962): Sound and Cetacea. Neth. J. Sea Res. 1: 407-507

- whales and dolphins may be navigating by the earth's magnetic field. When the magnetic field is disturbed (this occurs at certain locations) the animals get lost and may run into a beach.

source:

M. Klinowska (1985): Cetacean live stranding sites relate to geomagnetic topography. Aquatic Mammals 11(1): 27-32

- in some highly social species, it may be that when the the group leader is sick and washes ashore, the other members try to stay close and eventually strand with the group leader.

source:

F.D. Robson (?) The way of the whale: why they strand. (unpublished manuscript)

- when under severe stress or in panic, the animals may fall back to the behavior of their early ancestors and run to shore to find safety.

source:

F.G. Wood (1979) The cetacean stranding phenomena: a hypothesis. In: J.B. Geraci & D.J. St. Aubin: Biology of marine mammals: Insights through strandings. Marine Mammal Commission report no: MMC-77/13: pp. 129-188"""""

Kudz, I saw the starter pots on your blog and am definitely going to try them, practical and simple idea (love that)!! I've also used cardboard egg cartons to start seeds. They're small and dry out fast, but work well if you transplant at the right time. I use old cookie sheets to put the egg cartons on, helps when watering too, they get flimsy if you try to handle them otherwise. ~tenderlee

I'm using TP as starter kits. I've found that they come apart easily once they're wet. I've had to rubberband several of them. And they do dry out quite fast so I have to check them everyday. I just potted-up, TP roll & all, one of the tomatoe sprouts last week. I just couldn't see throwing good paper away!
Vickie

W ~ A ~ Y ~ ~ ~ * C O O L * !!!!!!!!!!!!!
love the starter Pots...
Puts a whole new meaning to getting POTTED !!!teehee!!!

Thanks for your wonderful IDEAS ! ! ! &
Your ~~~ WAY COOL ~ ~ ~ B L O G !!!
God Bless !
SusieSunshine