INTERESTING TIMES

Paddlers all know that WV has great rivers. The Cheat River has seven free flowing tributaries and many whitewater sections, including the famous Cheat River Canyon where the downriver Nationals were just held. Once a year, in May, boaters and environmentalists from all over the region converge at the Cheat Fest to celebrate the progress we've made in restoring the Cheat and her tributaries to their former wild glory. There are bands and activities and educational booths and a general feeling of joy in the air, each year, when the festival happens beside the Cheat River.

What happened to the Cheat? Coal mining happened. The coal of the region is embedded in sulfur rich rock that causes Acid Mine Drainage to spill into streams and kill all the fish. It takes very careful management to prevent spills and remediate acid leaks where they do occur. Thanks to Friends of the Cheat, this has happened. Friends of the Cheat has taken a gentle but active approach to building consensus among all those who hold a stake in having clean water and healthy fish in the Cheat. They deserve many congratulations for work well done.

W wants to try sushi in spite of two bad experiences with food poisoning due to fish. Perhaps he does not know the can of worms he is cracking open. I can't get enough sushi once I get started. I'll introduce him gently tonight with a California roll or somesuch. =-]
( restaurants on the tour so far )

Everyone is a genius.
But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree,
it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.
--Albert Einstein

Largest study yet: n = 432
Upshot: High EPA and DHA content omega 3 supplement reduces depression sx in adult pts with major depression as long as they don't also have an anxiety disorder, and works as well as a pharmaceutical antidepressant. Anxiety pts showed trend toward improvement.
SOURCE: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/724130?src=mpnews&spon=12&uac=89474MT
finger prick blood tests for omega 3 status "readily available" (really? where?)
( notes from medscape article )

This is the same piece of music as he used for the previous post, so if you hate the music, don't play it. Dick filmed this otter family fishing and eating their catch on the rocks behind his house. It's stuff like this that confirms for me that I want to live on the crick. Somewhere. Some gurgle or cascade, or even better, small clean river. But back to otters. I might get a chance to study otters this coming summer, and I was already interested. RIVER otters, not ocean, they are different. Know anything about them?

*created new tag for otters, all previous mentions not tagged

At this link Mercola has an interesting video from the University of Calgary that makes it extra-clear why it's worth avoiding unecessary intake of mercury. Of course, some sushi is necessary.

Mercola is no longer the only doctor who is recommending that we avoid eating fish altogether. He also says that flax seed oil does not provide adequate omega 3 oils, and that we should supplement with fish oil that has been tested and certified free of mercury. I guess I'm going to have to give up sushi.

http://ambio.allenpress.com/ambioonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=0044-7447&volume=036&issue=01&page=0062

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/uow-mco030207.php

Here's Mercola on the health risks of consuming mercury-contaminated food:
http://www.mercola.com/2003/jun/21/mercury_fish.htm