by Nikki Silverstein
HERO: A motorist alerted a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer that a frantic duck paced back and forth at a storm drain near the Golden Gate Bridge. CHP officers Kenji Burrage and Matt Smith responded to the scene and rescued eight ducklings stuck in the storm drain. Mama was reunited with seven of her babies and relocated next to the bay. Unbeknownst to the officers, one duckling wandered away after being liberated. Once the lone baby was discovered, the officers searched in vain for the rest of the family. Officer Burrage placed the duck in his motorcycle’s saddlebag and rode to San Rafael. At every stoplight, he checked on the little one, who is now doing well at WildCare. We can’t stop quacking about the compassion of those ducky officers.
ZERO: The Tiburon Salmon Institute (TSI) received a letter evicting them, by July 1, from their home at the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies. The property owner, San Francisco State University (SFSU), remains unresponsive to the public outcry. Perhaps Karina Nielsen, Romberg’s director, has never watched the delight of school children as they release young salmon into Richardson Bay at TSI’s annual Kiss and Release event. Maybe SFSU President Leslie Wong is ignorant about the salmon population’s struggle to survive the drought and human impact. The institute has released more than a million salmon into the bay during the last 42 years and educated thousands of children about salmon and their habitat in creative, hands-on ways. Help TSI by signing the petition at change.org.
Got a Hero or a Zero? Please send submissions to
ni***************@ya***.com
.
