Bob's Blah Blah Blog

I’ve been watching the BBC’s “Planet Earth” and it is nothing short of breathtaking. At some point during the show, Richard Attenborough’s narrative proclaims Earth to be a “fragile place” in order to add some dramatic tension to the unveiling of the stunning crystal formations deep within a cave. I caught myself nodding in agreement, then, I hit the pause button. Something wasn’t right. That sounded good, but what did it mean? Is the earth really that fragile? If so, how could these crystals, or the tiny insects from the previous episode, or the newly born joeys from the episode before that — all survive? How does such a “fragile” environment endure the intense seismic activity, meteor storms, sun flares, core radiation, tidal waves tornados, lightning and every other form of natural threat to the planet, let alone that which caused by humans?

The answer was in the narrative itself. Volcanic eruptions a thousand times more devastating than an atomic bomb. Lightning strikes that wipe out thousands of miles of forest, home to species endangered not by man, but of the very circumstances of their existence. Millions of years of constant climate fluctuation that leaves a story of destruction, death — and rebirth in its diary.

Then a thought occurred to me. Maybe the earth is not intended to provide a safe, stable habitat to any of its inhabitants. The earth will continue its cycle of destruction and creation — with or without us. And maybe we have to pretend we are part of the cause in order to deal with the inevitability of our own demise on this planet. Just as other species have come and gone on this great blue marble, so will we come to pass — if not of our own accord, of some larger plan we have no knowledge of whatsoever — the natural evolution of our planet.

So I was curious. What did I not know? In a time when all I read is how we are diminishing the life expectancy of our earth, destroying its critical natural habitats and running its native life into extinction, I found countless news stories from the last few years that remind me how little we really know about our planet — and its ability to protect, evolve and create new life. I learned that not all discoveries of new species were under the protection of depths not explored, or heights not conquered. That species continue to die, survive and evolve of their accord every day. That we are helpless in the grand scheme of our existence.

Today, British scientists formally announced their discovery of forty or more new animal species in a volcanic crater on the island of Papua New Guinea. Before you turn the page, we’re not talking about a few new microscopic organisms or some little spider that lives under a rock. These explorers have found a real life, “Land of the Lost” — and not a crappy Land of the Lost starring Will Ferrell either. Grunting fish, giant rats the size of a large, well-fed cat and a bat that nobody has ever seen before highlight the find, and there may be more out there. Stay tuned for next week’s episode for the conclusion to our story.

In September of 2007, World Wildlife Fund scientists announced the discovery of 11 new animal and plant species in Vietnam including a snake, five orchids, and two butterflies among others.

During the last few years, over 50 new species of animals and plants were discovered in yet another ‘Lost World’ on the island of Borneo. In fact, over 361 new species have been identified on Borneo since 1994. Among them are tree frogs, a whole range of vegetation and 30 brand new types of fish including a catfish that sticks to rocks.

And there seems to be more surprises as technology allows us to explore the depths of our oceans.

These newly discovered sea worms cast off green glowing body parts to confuse attackers.

Here’s an eyeless crustacean with a head equipped with powerful prehensile limbs and poisonous fangs nobody knew about until 2006.

And not too long ago, University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists uncovered 7 new species in a region of the Arctic Ocean said to be teeming with marine life previously unknown to us.

And lest you think these new discoveries are limited to uncharted forests, volcanic craters and the darkest depths of our waters, new flora and fauna are regularly being discovered right in our (relatively speaking) back yards. A few of these new discoveries over the last several years include:

• Fifteen new birds in North America
• Six new bats in Guyana
• Eight new fungi in Western U.S.A.
• Two tiny strange worms and a new crustacean in the Canary Islands
• 12 new plants in Mexico

What an amazing and wonderful world we live in. If only we knew it better than we think.

And yes, I have an agenda in sharing this with whoever may come across this information — pure, unadulterated fascination with knowledge not driven by any political or economic concern. We should all try that more often. For I believe that science funded by special interests — whoever those special interests may be — is nothing short of a marketing plan disguised as fact.