Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 18:41:21 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Denise Ryan Subject: Help Save Albatrosses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I am normally not the kind of gal that likes to gamble, except for the = occasional big money Power Ball ticket. But, I thought this might be of = interest to some. From Grist Magazine Gloom and doom with a sense of = humor. Impossible, you say? Nah. Visit GRIST MAGAZINE, a beacon in = the smog, at . =20 GOT TO ADMIT IT'S GETTING BETTORS Bettors Will Get a Chance to Help Save Albatrosses A well-known bookie is teaming up with enviros in a creative effort=20 to help save albatrosses, sea birds that are increasingly threatened=20 by a fishing technique called longlining, which involves the use of=20 tens of thousands of baited hooks dragged behind trawlers for 60=20 miles or more. Conservationists estimate that as many as 100,000=20 albatrosses and 200,000 other birds are killed each year when they=20 get hooked on the fishing lines and drown. In order to raise=20 awareness of the albatrosses' plight and generate funds for their=20 protection, the U.K.-based Conservation Foundation is sponsoring a=20 "Big Bird Race" that will track some two dozen albatrosses during a=20 five-month migration from islands off Tasmania, Australia, to South=20 Africa's Cape Horn. A British bookie will take bets on the=20 albatrosses' progress and speed, with proceeds going toward=20 conservation efforts, and bettors will be able to track the birds'=20 status online. straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Miguel Llanos, 12 Feb 2004 = Denise Ryan Washington, DC =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================