The Daily Reel: June 18, 2012

• Sea Turtles Turned Away in Cairns Due to Housing Shortage
• Mexico Rejects Developer’s Resort Plans for Baja
• The Daily Show Investigates Idaho’s Two-Headed Fish Phenomenon

Sea Turtles Turned Away in Cairns Due to Housing Shortage

Following a tropical cyclone that tore through Queensland in February 2011, a turtle rehabilitation center has been overwhelmed with the amount of starving turtles that have been left in its wake. A caregiver at the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Center noted that the stranding of sea turtles that resulted from the cyclone increased by 500 percent, but the numbers this year are virtually the same due to slow recovery of their feeding grounds. The facility is only equipped to care for 12 sea turtles at one time, meaning that many have been turned away, and one even being euthanized. Because the center is run by volunteers almost entirely on donations, insufficient funds to feed the turtles prevent them from accepting any more than 12, though there are certainly a lot more that need assistance while waiting for seagrasses to recover.

Mexico Rejects Developer’s Resort Plans for Baja

A developer’s plans to build a Cancun-sized resort along a stretch of Baja California that supports a rehabilitated reef have been rejected by the federal government. Mexico had previously given the developer provisional permits to build the resort, but cancelled them after widespread protests. Cabo Pulmo is the only coral reef in the Gulf of California, and is what conservationists refer to as a model for environmental recovery. The reef was in dire shape 20 years ago until the area residents put an end to commercial fishing and instead developed ecotourism, resulting in an extremely successful rehabilitation. Mexican president Felipe Calderon stated that the permits were being withdrawn because the developer hadn’t sufficiently proven that the resort would not impact the reef. The resort would have commanded a 9,400 acre plot of land, complete with 30,000 hotel rooms, golf courses, and a marina.

The Daily Show Investigates Idaho’s Two-Headed Fish Phenomenon

Ever diligent in their attention to pop culture, The Daily Show investigates the phenomenon of two-headed fish appearing in Idaho’s rivers, suspected to be a result of a high selenium content, a toxic byproduct of phosphate mining. Here’s what they uncovered: