Hempstead Town lifeguards to beachgoers at Point Lookout Beach how to surive a rip current. Not swimming when there is a rip current is the best way to avoid death. If you do experience a rip current the fighting against the rip current is the wrong thing to do. The best way to beat the "grip of the rip" is to swim parallel to the shore line until you are out of the force of the rip current. If you can't get out of the rip current then tread water. Take a look:
This raw video from Queen Bess Island in Louisiana shows a pelican struggling to escape from thick oil in the water. The pelicans tries to stretch out its wings but is unable to fly. This pelican was lucky enough to get rescued. Take a look:
Reuters says bird washers are hard at work. There are at least 25 rescued pelicans in one pen.
National Park Foundation and Olympus Launch 2010 Amateur Photo Contest
The National Park Foundation and Olympus have launched the 2010 Share the Experience photo contest. The annual contest runs now through December 31, 2010. The grand prize winner's photo will be featured on an America the Beautiful Federal Recreation Lands Pass. All winners will also receive prizes from Olympus.
"We always tell people in parks to take only pictures and leave only footprints," said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation. "Our annual photo contest is a great reason to get outside and help capture the incredible spaces and places preserved in our national parks."
Share the Experience is the official photo contest of America's national parks and federal recreation lands. You can find information about how to enter at sharetheexperience.org.
Photos: Arches National Park by Durand Johnson (top) and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area by Dan Sorensen (bottom) via National Park Foundation
Hunters Fail to Capture or Kill Pythons in Everglades
PBS recently ran a documentary about the Floriad Everglades python problem called Invasion of the Giant Pythons. Florida decided to turn hunters lose on the enormous reptiles that could potentially decimate local wildlife and kill people's pets. Well, Florida's first python hunting season in the Florida Everglades officially ended April 17th and not a single python was captured or killed. The AP says the state's unseasonably cold winter weather is believed to have killed some of the Burmese pythons but this doesn't explain why hunters failed to capture or kill a single one. Take a look:
The cherry blossoms in D.C. are in full bloom. The timing is perfect for this year's Cherry Blossom Festival, which celebrates the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo in 1912. Take a look:
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper covers the April 2010 isse of Outside Magazine. The issue is called the "Adventure issue."
On Overcoming Fear: "I don’t believe you should be ruled by fear in anything in life. I don't like anything that scares me, I prefer to face it head-on and get over it. Anyone who says they're not scared is a fool or a liar or both. I just don't want that fear in my stomach to be a part of my life, so I work to eliminate it."
On Skydiving Being Senseless: "I have no interest in jumping out of an airplane, or any of the things people do for thrills to push the limit and all that. To me, that seems foolish. There's no point. If people are suffering in a place, to me, it's not a question of whether I'm going to go or not. It's a question of how fast can I get there."
On Helping the Boy in Haiti: "You suddenly find yourself in a situation where, you say ... what do you do? There are some journalism purists who say that you do nothing, that you just watch and report, and I certainly understand that. But in the case of a little boy who got hit in the head with a cement block, no one was helping him. He couldn't get up... Blood was pouring from his head. It was a split second decision to take him out of the situation."
Washington DC's Cherry Blossoms to Bloom in Early April
Washington DC's cherry blossoms are expected to reach peak bloom between April 3rd and April 8th. This is during this year's National Cherry Blossom Festival. Destination DC is offering hotel packages and cherry blossom-inspired restaurant menus to welcome visitors. You can find more details at washington.org/cherryblossom.
The BBC reports that an area where garbage is accumulating in the Atlantic ocean has been discovered. The region is said to be similar to the great Pacific garbage patch.
Kara Lavender Law of the Sea Education Association told the BBC that the issue of plastics had been "largely ignored" in the Atlantic.
She announced the findings of a two-decade-long study at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland, Oregon, US.
The work is the conclusion of the longest and most extensive record of plastic marine debris in any ocean basin.
The scientists said the area of garbage in the Atlantic was "widely dispersed and it's small pieces of plastic" but it covers a very large area. You can read more about it here.
Take a look at this video. It shows a bird - possibly a green heron - using bread to catch fish. Birds are clearly much smarter than previously thought.
Two daredevil kite surfers named Jake Scrace and Lewis Crathern managed to jump over a pier in England reports the Daily News. The kite surfers were given an extra lift by some very strong winds.
Strapped to surf boards and attached to giant kites, the men were lifted more than 40ft into the air by powerful winds and carried over the Victorian structure.
To the gasps of astonished onlookers, Lewis Crathern, 24, and Jake Scrace, 25, flew 100ft through the air before landing safely in the sea.
You can see the amazing jump in the video below. Take a look:
The BBC also has a story about the "epic" pier jump.
These guys appear to have no fear of heights. These men don wing suits and jump off mountain tops. They glide at speeds of 140 miles per hour. CBS News says some people call them bird men. Several of them have died in attemtps to defy gravity. Take a look:
Extreme athlete Luke Spencer dropped down a 70-foot waterfall. Photographer Jed Weingarten shows off some of the images Spencer's plunge. The waterfall was located at Outlet falls in Washington state. Luke Spencer says he injured some ribs and possibly broke them.
REI held its first of many Twinkie Roasts across the country today. The quirky annual employee event is held to beckon Mother Nature to provide a hearty snowfall on behalf of snowsports lovers everywhere. The REI Twinkie Roast began in the late 1970s at the co-op's Berkeley, California store.
REI doesn't formally track the success of its Twinkie Roasts but they do claim some mysterious successes. According to employee accounts, after the Denver store’s 2006 Twinkie Roast, fondly remembered as the burning of the "Twinx" (Twinkie sphinx), there was a Christmas blizzard and the sixth highest single day snowfall on Colorado records. This success was surpassed in 2007 by the burning of the "Twinnacle" (climbing pinnacle wrought from sponge cake) when snow fell in the mountains 59 out of 62 consecutive days.
Larry Brock talks about the Allegheny bike trail, which where a large section of the Allegheny railroad has been transformed so that it can be used by bikers and hikers. The website says that when completed, the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage will connect with the 184.5-mile C&O Canal Towpath at Cumberland, Maryland to create a 334.5-mile traffic and motorized vehicle-free route between Pittsburgh and Washington, DC.
Paul Hochman from Fast Company magazine shares information about the latest camping products with Harry Smith from the CBS Early Show. L.L. Bean has a tent out called the Mountain Light Tent 2. There's a remote control LED lantern and a foldable burner. There's also a headlamp that you strap on your head, which has four adjustable brightness levels. There are also some tents for use with backyard camping - for those who don't want to journey too far. Take a look:
