Plus, ending hot flashes; the real Jesus; meeting our closest relative; skateboarding for change
|  | Saturday, December 10, 2022 | | | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPH BY JASON GULLEY
| | Once, the manatees came back from near extinction. Can they do it again? How can an animal so beloved face so many threats simultaneously?
That’s what photographer and Nat Geo Explorer Erika Larsen kept wondering as she worked to show the gentle grazers of the sea (above, a ribbon of eelgrass in the mouth of a manatee). At dark, from Florida’s Crystal River, she could hear them, “these gusts of breath.”
“We began calling them ‘the sounds of the ancients.’” What’s being done to save them?
See the full story here.
Please consider getting our full digital report and magazine by subscribing here. | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPHS BY ERIKA LARSEN | | | Popular: The presence of manatees seems everywhere in Florida, photographer Larsen says. At left, the Cotton family stops at Blue Spring State Park to see manatees. At right, Torie Arrison shows off her face painting at Crystal River’s Florida Manatee Festival. | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY JASON GULLEY | | | The Fish Bowl: That’s the name of the underwater observatory in a warm natural spring where visitors watch the swimming and ever-eating herbivores—the manatees consume about 100 pounds of food a day. Increased development has reduced seagrass, manatees’ main food, prompting several alarming die-offs. Calves learn from their mothers and other manatees where to go in winter. Read more. | | | |
 | | ILLUSTRATION VIA NORTH WIND PICTURE ARCHIVES, ALAMY | | | |
 | | VIDEO BY LUISA DÖRR | | | Where are these skateboarders? They are rebels with a cause—to promote young women and Indigenous heritage in their nation. They’ve spurred a movement. “We need to feel proud,” says one of the women athletes. Where are they? Click here to find out. | | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPH BY KATIE ORLINSKY
| | Without them, we don’t get our pictures: Sure, photographers take the images, but an array of people get the photographer to the story—and try to keep them safe. That’s the theme of this story and this week’s Overheard at Nat Geo podcast. Pictured above is Corinne Danner, who brought Nat Geo Explorer Katie Orlinsky aboard as camp cook on an annual spring bowhead whale harvest in Alaska. “It was a privilege and awe-inspiring to spend time with Corrine and her family and to learn about their land and way of life,” Orlinsky told our Mallory Benedict. “None of it would have been possible without her.”
| | | |
| | All in the family: Endangered great apes and chimps are our closest living relatives. Photographer Vincent Musi mentioned that to Viktor (pictured above from our Instagram), a 37-year-old bonobo at the Fort Worth Zoo. (Viktor wasn’t sure to what to make of that, Musi reports.) Viktor and nine other bonobos at the zoo resolve many conflicts with love and affection over hostility. Primatologist Frans de Waal believes that bonobos may have more empathy for one another than humans are capable of. | | | |
Today’s soundtrack: “I’m a Manatee,” John Lithgow
This newsletter has been curated and edited by Mallory Benedict, David Beard, Sydney Combs, and Jen Tse. Amanda Williams-Bryant, Alec Egamov, Rita Spinks, and Jeremy Brandt-Vorel also contributed this week. Have an idea? We’d love to hear from you at david.beard@natgeo.com. Thanks for reading!
| | | |
| SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS | | We'd like to hear from you! Tell us what you think of our emails by sharing your feedback in this short survey.
| | | |
Clicking on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and National Geographic Channel links will take you away from our National Geographic Partners site where different terms of use and privacy policy apply.
This email was sent to: mitch.dobbs.pics@blogger.com. Please do not reply to this email as this address is not monitored.
This email contains an advertisement from:
National Geographic | 1145 17th Street, N.W. | Washington, D.C. 20036
Stop all types of future commercial email from National Geographic regarding its products, services, or experiences.
Manage all email preferences with the Walt Disney Family of Companies.
© 2022 National Geographic Partners, LLC, All rights reserved. | | |
