Recent comments in /f/news

autopsis t1_jbrjpz9 wrote

Reply to comment by Dull-Bid-7051 in Kiska, sometimes know as the world’s loneliest orca, has died at Marineland by waitingforthesun92

The suffering humans inflict on every aspect of the world is sickening.

Right now, the US Defense Department is funding experiments on animals to determine if radio frequency waves could be the source of the mysterious ailment referred to as “Havana Syndrome.” Basically they are trying to make animals sick to see what happens.

“Symptoms have been described as severe headaches, temporary loss of hearing, vertigo and other problems similar to traumatic brain injury.”

Source

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Derpaderpplerp t1_jbrh7kg wrote

Reply to comment by Hot_Egg5840 in Black couple settles lawsuit claiming their home appraisal was lowballed due to bias by eastbayted

The sale price is used, for the start. Then increases are usually capped to x percent rise per year after for tax purposes.

This protects me as a homeowner from having a massive tax increase just because the housing market has lost its collective mind.

My 300k house now appraises as a million, but im nowhere near that after homestead exemption and the caps on per year increases in my state.

If i sold this place and bought a new place on the other side ofthe road for a million, i would be starting off with that much highersale and appraisal.

This makes it very common for folks to not be able to afford to sell and move up because they would get punched in the wallet by taxes.

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Relevant_Quantity_49 t1_jbrc6wc wrote

Reply to comment by Send_me_snoot_pics in Kiska, sometimes know as the world’s loneliest orca, has died at Marineland by waitingforthesun92

It's a little more complicated than that.

Orcas are socially complex animals, with each pod often having distinct behaviors and vocalizations. To use an anthropomorphic term, orca pods can be said to have distinct cultures. You can't introduce an animal from one pod into another and be assured it will seamlessly integrate; you have to find the animal's original pod.

The rehabilitators never found Keiko's original pod. Instead he was released near a random pod of wild orcas with hopes he would somehow integrate. It was the orca-equivalent of taking some WASP from the American suburbs, dropping them into rural Afghanistan, and hoping it would work out.

It didn't work, so Keiko remained solitary with respect to other orcas. It's no wonder he sought out human companionship; orcas are social animals, and he had years of positive reinforcement around people. Worse, John Q. Public sought him out, further strengthening that relationship.

If we wanted to try again, the best candidate (assuming she's healthy enough) would be Miami Seaquarium's Lolita. We know exactly which pod she came from and where they are--they're one of the best studied pods in the world--and when a vocalization study was conducted, IIRC, in the 90s, she still recognized their calls. Quite frankly, Miami Seaquarium could contribute more to orca behavioral research by supporting such a project than they ever have because it would give us a chance to see whether or not an animal separated from its pod for decades could successfully reintegrate. Would they accept her? Would they take care of her? Would they teach her to be a wild orca again? Answers to such questions would tell us a lot about their capabilities as animals.

(Source for information on Keiko: As an undergrad studying Animal Behavior, I attended a seminar on the effort and failure behind Keiko's rehabilitation, held by people involved in it.)

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