Take an 18th Century Carriage Ride Through Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

On the morning of December 31st, we took a ride back in time.
A carriage ride through Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. 

We bundled up a into our open carriage and took a tour along the streets where only foot traffic and horse drawn vehicles could go.

Take a minute and come back to the 18th Century with us!

HD
For More trips through time and space...
Subscribe to TheEarthMinute.com

Listen to The Earth Minute in an Antique Clock Shop - Pacific Grove, CA

Stroll Kew Gardens, London (Palm House) 

Walk Back in Time, Seoul Korea (palace and gardens)
 
New Year's Torch Parade, Snow Summit, Big Bear CA  

Baby Moose Loose in Alaska!

Just outside of Anchorage, Alaska is a wetlands area called 

Potter Marsh.

It's an easy walk with wildlife viewing and a beautiful panorama of the marshlands.  

We noticed a group of folks peering quietly over the boardwalk's railing and saw...

HD

a female moose  ... and two babies! !

 

Nothing's much cuter than a baby moose!

See more wildlife at TheEarthMinute.com

Meet a Roosevelt Elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti)

You never know what wildlife you might encounter if you keep your eyes and ears open.


HD

a younger bull Roosevelt elk; Redwoods National Park

The Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) is the largest surviving subspecies of elk in North America. Comparable in size to a horse, a bull Roosevelt elk weighs between 700 and 1100 lbs., measures 5 ft to the shoulder and has a length of 8-9 ft from nose to tail.

Amazingly, despite the large size of this creature, hundreds of people walking along a trail in Redwoods National Park in California missed the huge bull elk that was feeding just on the other side of the shrubbery. I became aware of him when I heard him snort and saw the rustling of the grass.

We are very fortunate in the United States. Our national and state parks, wilderness areas, public and private wildlife refuges, and protected areas provide us with places to experience and discover the wild creatures that share our Earth. Step away from technological and human distractions and you too may discover an Earth Minute of your very own.

Discover other wildlife close-ups and places to see wildlife in California and around the world.

Visit TheEarthMinute.com each week for a new one-minute discovery

Meet the Dugong

Share a minute with a rare marine mammal, the dugong (Dugong dugon).

HD

Most Americans are familiar with the endangered Caribbean manatee (Trichechus manatus), a slow moving herbivorous mammal that swims in shallow warm waters from Florida and the Caribbean to coastal South America. The dugong is related to the manatee, but it lives in the Pacific Ocean from Micronesia and the Philippines to Taiwan, South East Asia, and Indonesia to northern Australia and the Pacific islands. Unfortunately, only the Australian population is monitored and there is concern that this gentle plant-eater may be disappearing across much of its territory.

Watch the dugong swimming and you will note that it has a fluked tail like a dolphin, rather than a spoon-shaped manatee tail. The dugong swims faster than the manatee and is known to travel further when migrating. 

However, because it lives across a wider area, little is known about wild dugongs except that they eat sea grass. They are important creatures in their marine ecosystem because their grazing encourages the growth of sea grass higher in nutrients. In captivity, dugongs are picky eaters, refusing more nutrient-rich greens and preferring romaine lettuce. 

Unfortunately, romaine is low in nutrients. It takes a crew of people to keep the dugongs healthy. They refill special feeding trays all day long that hold the lettuce upright underwater like sea grass. 

Like their closest land-relative, the elephant, dugongs can live to around age 70. They also do not reach sexual maturity until after 10 years old and mothers care for their offspring for several years, spacing calves three to seven years apart. They are very slow to reproduce. 

In 2014 there are only five dugongs in captivity in the world. The two pictured here are orphaned individuals that were unable to survive in the wild.  (more about Pig and Wuru at the Sydney Aquarium in Australia).

See more Australian wildlife:
Cape Tribulation, Queensland - Watch Green Tree Ants
See Natural Art on a Tropical Australian Beach (sand dabbler crabs)
Flying Foxes in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia
Sea Birds on Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia  
Spotting a Lace Monitor in the Wild
Australian Great Barrier Reef Swim (parrot fish, zebra fish, giant clams, coral)

Swim over to The Earth Minute each week for a new one-minute adventure.

Sounds of San Francisco - Hyde Street Pier

Sounds of San Francisco

Hyde Street Pier, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, 
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
 San Francisco, CA

Not only are the sights fascinating, but when you listen closely... the sounds are as well...

hd

 

Alcatraz island

Australia Great Barrier Reef Swim

Swimming over the Great Barrier Reef!

 22 nautical miles from Cairns, Queensland,
is Michaelmas Cay.

 North Queensland, Australia.

HD

Yes, we were each wearing a "stinger suit" to protect us from jellyfish as we went snorkeling over the reef.

We used VisitCairns.com/au  and   

Seastar Cruises, and they were so great and knowledgeable!  

 

See more on Michaelmas Cay at TheEarthMinute.com!

Sea Birds on the Great Barrier Reef - Michaelmas Cay, Queensland, Australia

22 nautical miles from Cairns, Queensland, is Michaelmas Cay, a bird reserve and incredible place to snorkel, dive or do some bird watching! 

A dive boat, certified for ecotourism, takes you directly to a strip 

of sand beside the protected nesting sites.

 HD

The sounds were fantastic!  So have a look at the video and listen to the recording from the beach. Wait for the surprise!

Can you spot the brown booby among the common noddies? 

We used Seastar Cruises, and they were so great and knowledgeable!   Below is one of their pictures.

Wind Across Western Mongolia

The wind can howl whisper to you in Mongolia.

Listen to an intimate recording of the dust and grit blowing from the mountains across the plains and valleys.

Put on headphones, if you have them... 

The roads within Mongolia become dirt tracks across the landscape. Here there is little to stop the wind.

 HD

 

This is all one highway down the valley.
In Mongolia, like in the old Western US, you wouldn't want to ride horseback on a trail directly behind someone else and eat their dust! 

Most of the plant and animal life stays down within an inch or two of the rocky soil. 

 See and hear more at  TheEarthMinute.com

Subscribe via e-mail and receive an e-mail when the next TheEarthMinute.com is posted.

Flying Foxes in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia

See flying foxes with an over 2 foot wingspan in
Cairns, North Queensland, Australia!

 These very large fruit-eating bats Pteropus sp. roost downtown in Cairns in giant ficus and eucalyptus trees. 

 You can hear them chattering and fanning themselves to keep cool from several blocks away.

Here's more information on the bats!

http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/41675/FlyingFox_Fact_Sheet.pdf