BlueVoice.org, a non-profit streaming video web site, has released a report on the die-off of three species of marine mammals along the west coast of North America. The report is presented as a six minute film accompanied by synchronized metadata as well as text.

Summary:
In recent years so-called "unusual mortality events" have occurred with alarming frequency on the shore of the eastern Pacific. Sea lions have died by the hundreds from domoic acid poisoning, a result of harmful algal blooms. Gray whales have died in unusual numbers during the past two migration periods. The number of killer whales in several well known pods have declined by 20 percent and more. Sea otters are dieing from diseases resulting from pathogens to which they do not normally sucumb.

Many reasons are cited for these die-offs but they are probably the result of synergies of overfishing, warming ocean temperatures, and the many forms of pollution of the marine ecosystem.

"Providing packages of information in the annotated streaming video format is a new way of getting both video and text information to the public, journalists and legislators with high impact," says Hardy Jones, executive director of BlueVoice.org. As the video streams it is paralleled by synchronized data, which may include text, web hyperlinks, spread sheets and graphics. BlueVoice.org can, in many cases, provide video to support broadcast journalists in producing stories on subjects we cover.

>> Top
>> Back to Home