Today’s good news story comes from (where else) the Good News Network. Here it is in its entirety.

Don’t call it a comeback; blue whales have been here for years, rocking their peers and putting sailors in fear.

The largest animals on Earth are returning to the coastal Californian waters in larger and larger numbers, with sightings on whale-watching trips becoming increasingly common.

According to a 2014 study investigating the impact of ship strikes on the blue whale population, the western Pacific population of these cetaceans has reached 97% of its pre-whaling levels.

“When we’re able to take collective action and think about balance, such that people and the activities that we want to support like shipping, like recreational use, like commercial fishing, all of those things can coexist.”

Commercial fishing tackle can harm whales, so the industry took measures to reduce this, and it worked.

Too many blue whales were killed every year in ship strikes, and so Pacific shipping narrowed their lanes to avoid areas where whales congregate, and are now agreeing to reduce their speeds when entering and exiting harbor areas.

The current estimates suggest that as many as 2,000 blue whales travel up from Mexico to Southern California waters every year, a large chunk of a global population that may be topping 25,000.

Scientists believe there is a population of 200 such animals near the city of Ostend.

“I was born in Ostend. I’ve lived my whole life here, and I couldn’t remember seeing a seal,” says Inge De Bruycker, founder of the North Seal Team to Euronews. “It’s new. It’s like, come on, when we built this dam here about seven, eight years ago, we sometimes had one. Occasionally, but just one.”

The good news here is that combined efforts are bringing these animals back from endangerment. Today’s JohnKu talks about how to help the planet. I hope you have a terrific weekend.

Co-operation by John W. Howell © 2023

It takes more than one,

Working together for good . . .

The animals thrive.

Today’s good news comes from the Good News Network and is a story with a twist. Finding a tooth is in itself not the best good news. What happens later is definitely good news.

Woman Finds Foot-long Mastodon Tooth From Ice Age on a California Beach

By Andy Corbley Jun 15, 2023

When a California woman found what looked like used firewood on a beach, she snapped some photographs of the nevertheless strange-looking object and went on her way.

As it turns out, she had stumbled across something remarkable—a mastodon tooth, and after posting pictures of it on Facebook, set off a chain reaction that led to quite the saga.

“She didn’t know what it was, the importance of it. It looks like a piece of old firewood. So she left it there. It’s understandable,” said Wayne Thompson, a paleontology collections advisor for the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.

KRON4 News reports that Santa Cruz is a hotspot for mastodon remains, and Thompson himself actually reassembled a whole mastodon skull for the museum once: it took 2 years.

Thompson contacted the woman, Jennifer Schuh, explaining the situation and asking her to go back and retrieve the foot-long bone, but, as she arrived there, she realized that unlike her, someone else didn’t pass up the chance to pocket the super rare find.

A weekend of beachcombing didn’t turn it up, and so Thompson went to social media pleading to the new mystery owner to do the right thing and turn it over to the museum.

Then, a call came in from the nearby town of Aptos. Jim Smith had found it on a regular beach jog. According to Mr. Smith, he also didn’t know what it was but took it home rather than to social media.

Jim donated it to the museum.

“It’s super, super, super important for understanding elephant life in Santa Cruz County during the last Ice Age. There are only a few mammoth specimens, and mammoths are more common than mastodons. Aptos was a popular destination for Ice Age proboscideans,” Thompson told KRON4. “It’s a piece of Santa Cruz history.”

Alive for between 5 million and 10,000 years ago, mastodons are the smaller, rarer cousins of mammoths, and while Santa Cruz is famous for their remains, this is only the third-locally recorded mastodon fossil.

Schuh didn’t get to take home such an important piece of natural history and set it above her mantle, but she went online and bought a scaled replica to wear as a necklace, saying it’s not often one gets to touch something with so much history.

The good news here is Jim Smith was a conscientious citizen and turned the tooth over to the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. Today’s JohnKu talks about conscientiousness. I hope you have a super weekend.

The Right Thing by John W. Howell © 2023

Doing the right thing,

Is not a glory matter . . .

But citizenship.

Today’s good news story comes from my favorite source, The Good News Network. Here it is unabridged.

New York Cop Grabs Suicidal Passenger in First Rescue of its Kind on Staten Island Ferry

It was a rescue that police said had never been done before hanging off the edge of a Staten Island ferry boat.

They were there because an emotionally disturbed man had inexplicably climbed out of the window onto a railing on the outside of the ship, seemingly ready to jump.

Then, after trying to reason with the silent would-be jumper, Officer Gambino, who was roped to the boat from an anchor point above, moved like lightning to grab hold of the individual and press him up against the side of the boat.

“Some people were in dry suits, and some were in rope harnesses in case he went into the water or stayed on the ferry,” said NYPD Emergency Service Unit Sgt. Darion Brooks. “We were prepared for both.”

Brooks told ABC 7 news that this particular rescue strategy had never been attempted before but that the ESU trains for dozens of different situations, some of which have involved potential jumpers.

The moment of arrest was captured in stunning detail by a news helicopter, and the man was transported to a hospital where he could receive psychiatric attention.

Here is the video of the rescue.

The good news here is that there were trained police officers who were able to save a life. Today’s JohnKu talks about rescues. I hope you have a great weekend.

Response by John W. Howell © 2023

Thinking of police,

More comes to mind than defunding . . .

Think rescue response.

Today’s good news story comes from the Good News Network. The following is the story in its entirety.

In an incredible story of luck and survival, a Texan was pulled from her submerged car after 3 hours under the water.

The woman had been reported missing by loved ones but was only discovered because a fisherman happened to see the faint outline of a car roof sticking up out of the water in a Texas lake.

The call to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office came in on Friday morning, according to a press release. At Lake O’the Pines, a fisherman said he saw a Jeep about 40 feet from the boat ramp.

It took 18 minutes for deputies to arrive. They determined it was too dangerous to wade out to the vehicle and instead took the fisherman’s boat out to the car after a wrecker had arrived to tow it out.

“It was at that time they saw the woman,” Police Capt. Chuck Rogers told Business Insider. “The fisherman and wrecker employee was able to help the woman from the Jeep. They placed her into the boat, and she was brought to shore.”

Longview Police Department in Texas, located about 25 miles south of the lake, had the woman, whose identity was not released, listed as a missing person, though no reports have emerged as to why or when.

Emergency services arrived and treated her for hypothermia—it had been a brisk morning, and the water was not warm.

Regarding the woman’s survival, details haven’t been released as to how much water entered the Jeep, how much air was available, or how long she was under; she claims at least several hours.

As soon as a car begins sinking in water, a very limited amount of time exists to save oneself, but there are effective methods that everyone should know of. The first step is to try and open the door, though usually sinking occurs too fast, or the weight of the water outside prevents this. The second step would be to open the window.

A car door, if unlocked, can be opened once the car is fully submerged and the air pressure inside and outside equalizes. If there are passengers in the backseats, the first priority is to stay calm, unlock all the doors, unbuckle all seatbelts, and open all the windows. If no one can escape during the sinking, everyone should be able to open the door and swim out once the whole car is submerged.

In the case of the Texas woman, her car was not fully submerged, which removed the immediate risk of drowning but meant the door and windows were stuck shut. She managed to survive in the cold water for 3 hours.

In such a case as this, hypothermia becomes a real risk, especially for young children and the elderly. Breaking the windows should become a top priority if there is a tool inside that’s capable of doing so.

If oxygen is entering the car from outside, continuously move the limbs as that will help generate heat, but if air is not coming into the cabin, the best option is to remain as calm as possible, slow and control your breathing, and use a phone if possible to call for help.

The good news here is the woman fought to survive despite the odds. Today’s JohnKu talks about inner strength. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Heart by John W. Howell © 2023

When times get tougher,

Our internal strength remains . . .

The best hope for help.

Today’s good news comes from the Good News Network. Here it is in its entirety.

A Trip to Delaware Hardware Store Turns into Life-Changing Moment

When Lowe’s employee Dave Urban came across the Getty family in the PVC aisle, he thought he would be helping them find the right fittings or something like that.

It was after he heard what was being built and who it was being built for that he took the time to do more than just help.

The Getty family was building parallel bars to help their son William practice walking.

“He was born very prematurely, just 23 weeks, so as a result, he has quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy, and one of our goals for William is to get him walking,” mom Jessica Getty told local news.

So inspired by young Will, Dave ended up spending half an hour cutting and fitting the PVC right there in the store, ensuring that everything was perfect to help Will get started finding his feet in the world.

“Then came the test. Will got up, out of his wheelchair, and grabbed hold of those bars. I think you saw that courageous smile of his. Sense of pride, ah, it keeps getting me,” Urban said, holding back tears.

The whole family saw how much it meant to Dave, and quickly made a lasting friend out of the man, who himself said the experience rewarded him “100 times back.”

The good news here is one man cares for others and takes the time to help. Today’s JohnKu talks about the highest form of giving.

Generosity by John W. Howell © 2023

When no one’s looking,

A good deed done selflessly . . .

Ranks as number one.

Here is the video.