General News in your Area

Are the orcas starving?
As salmon runs decline, killer whale numbers take hardest hit since 1990s

By ROBERT McCLURE
P-I REPORTER

Showing signs of starvation as salmon runs faltered up and down the West Coast, Puget Sound's orca population lost seven of its number over the past year, bringing the population to just 83, anxious scientists reported Friday.

The development marks the biggest reduction in the orca population since a series of bad chinook salmon seasons in the 1990s battered the killer whales' numbers.

Revealing the degree to which the orcas are interrelated to a far-flung marine ecosystem, the collapse of California's Sacramento Valley chinook run seems likely to be partly to blame for declining killer whale numbers, said Ken Balcomb, founder of the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island.

The same fishery collapse off the California and Oregon coasts shut down salmon fishing this year for humans, too.

"We know that we're having bad chinook years, and every episode of bad chinook years, the (orca) population declines," Balcomb said. "It's like if you don't feed your pets -- they don't survive. ... They start losing body fat. They're like an old sawhorse."

Of particular note: the death of two reproductive-age female orcas in the space of a year. They usually survive at the highest rate of any orcas, with the chance of death in any given year only about 1 percent.

"That's unusual," said Brad Hanson, an orca biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle. "That's a bit disconcerting."

Scientists aren't predicting much better salmon numbers next year -- a forecast that could lead to more orca deaths. Females give birth in the winter, when food supplies are lowest. Yet that's also when they must lactate, which requires extra food energy.

Studies have shown that orcas have a strong preference for chinook salmon, pursuing other prey only when their primary food source is scarce. That makes scientists wonder whether there is something particular about chinook salmon that the orcas need to thrive.

Two of the orca families -- L and K pods -- have been seen in recent years feeding off the California coast in the winter. That was unheard of before early this decade, leading scientists to speculate they are driven to swim hundreds of miles just to meet their minimum nutritional requirements.

Then last winter, they likely found many fewer salmon -- even after an energy-draining swim to California.

Experts believe the population of the J, K and L pods that frequent the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound probably originally numbered between 100 and 200.

"Eighty-three is low. The real number that's of concern is that we only have about a dozen reproductive females," Balcomb said.

It's conceivable that one or more of the missing orcas might have wandered off on its own and is still alive. But orca scientists doubt that because it's only been documented happening two times in history. Other than that, orcas always have stayed with their families. Researchers are pretty sure all seven are dead -- and it makes sense, because supplies of their favorite food were so low.

The two recently deceased females were Blossom, also known by the scientific notation J-11, and Splash, also known as L-67. The latter showed signs characteristic of starvation -- particularly a depression behind her skull where blubber should be. The condition is known as "peanut head." Disease could be another factor.

Another recently deceased orca, known as L-21 or Ankh, was thought to be 58 when she disappeared. In general, orcas enjoy life spans similar to humans and become reproductively active on a similar timeline as well.

Others among the dead include two born in the past year or so. Loss of babies is not nearly as unusual as the deaths of adults in what should be the prime of their lives.

Fred Felleman, an activist who began studying the orcas in the 1980s, said back then they seemed to have little trouble finding food.

"We used to have whales that would rest in groups at the surface, flopping around like lions on the Serengeti sitting under a tree," he said. But now they are underwater hunting more and, "I've watched a steady progression over the years of the whales getting more and more dispersed. ... As the prey became more diffuse, they had to spread out."

In recent years, scientists have noted in the orcas extremely high levels of chemicals known to interfere with reproduction, finding food and other functions.

It's hard to say exactly what's killing the orcas, Hanson said. Sure, it's clear they're sometimes not getting all the food they need. But what happens next?

There's evidence that the orcas in times of low food supplies begin to burn their fat supplies -- just like humans. They, too, are mammals.

But scientists know the fat is where PCBs and other long-lived industrial chemicals are stored. Do these chemicals, once freed, have some other effects? Studies on dolphins showed they caused reproductive problems. Studies on Puget Sound harbor seals showed the chemicals made the seals more likely to get sick. Dolphins and seals are mammals, too.

Hanson and other scientists are trying to assess the health of the orcas by collecting their waste and what's in the breath they exhale through their blowholes.

"We're really trying to look at what sorts of stressors are these animals up against," Hanson said, "because right now the animals disappear and we really don't understand what's happening.

"Is this directly starvation? Maybe, maybe not. There might be something else going on."

Hanson took samples of L-67's skin and blubber, which will be tested for disease.

Decades ago, orcas were regarded as pests and even shot at. Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, their population was reduced drastically by captures, as the marine mammals were shipped off to aquariums and water theme parks. Their number dipped to 71 by 1976, when Balcomb began to do the first census of the animals.

They reached a population peak of 97 in 1995, before a series of salmon-poor years sent their numbers plummeting to a low of 79 in 2001, a Center for Whale Research census showed.

Officially, the orcas are counted each July 1. So several won't be recorded as missing until next summer. Some also are born and die before the official count.

ORCA NUMBERS

Current population

83

Seven Puget Sound orcas most likely died this year

Modern population peak

97

Reached in 1995, before a series of salmon-poor years sent their numbers plummeting to a low of 79 in 2001

Original population

100- 200

What experts believe the J, K and L pods originally numbered

P-I reporter Robert McClure can be reached at 206-448-8092 or robertmcclure@seattlepi.com. Read his blog on the environment at datelineearth.com.

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Ive read several storys lately about this, its a good sign of a bad thing. Confused

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A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

oh that is a beautiful place I love Vancouver.

here is my beautiful city

Very Happy

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Ah, thats gerat Kim, thee old Sky needle ? they call it ..... i forget its been so long.
I used to deliver Hot Tubs to Yakama, great road trip that was for me. Got to do it 3 times a month.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

This wasn't in my area, but no one else posted it and I thought it was interesting.
Last night a huge fireball lit up the night sky in western Canada. It is believed to be a meteorite that landed in northern Alberta. Click on the "Meteor Over Edmonton I" video for the best footage:

http://canwest.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/canwest-globalnational-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=onlyonline&maven_referralObject=3211857

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"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

Thats freakin cool Surprised

Wonder where it hit ?. Good find.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

They say it would have broken up into a lot of smaller pieces before hitting the ground. Must have scared the snot out of some people. Shocked

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"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

I saw that on Yahoo, that is awesome, I wish I had seen something like that

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We only have one Earth, take care of her and she will take care of you. ~ probably someone else

I know, I hope that someday I'll see something that awesome.

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If I can do it, so can you, says reformed thug
Ex-bait-car thief finds stability, new life with baby
Elaine O'Connor, The Province
Published: Monday, November 24, 2008
One of B.C.'s worst car thieves -- immortalized in a bait-car video for fleeing from police in a stolen car while high on meth and waving a gun in 2004 -- has a new use for the footage that made him famous.

It will serve as a cautionary tale for his baby daughter.

Robert Osborne, the man who stole 1,000 cars, has a new lease on life, thanks in part to parent- hood.

Rob Osborne, with his baby Charla, wants others in trouble to know they can straighten out, too.

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Font:****He recently had a child with his former girlfriend and is looking forward to his first Christmas with his baby daughter, Charla. The couple share custody, but Osborne has recently been caring for her on more of a full-time basis.

"I've never known such responsibility and love in my life," the single dad said of fatherhood."Before, I always wanted a life like this, but I never thought it would happen." Osborne was paroled on Oct. 1, 2006, and has been clean of meth for more than four years and for two years has been steadily employed as an industrial painter.

As a volunteer, he talks to incarcerated youth at the Burnaby Youth Detention Centre, and youth with substance-abuse issues in the Watari program for people at risk. Osborne also taped a warning about the dangers of car theft and meth for a Stolen Lives video for the Insurance Corp. of B.C. and IMPACT (Integrated Municipal, Provincial Auto Crime Team).

He wants people who once doubted his ability to stay straight to see it is possible to get free of meth and crime, even for hardened criminals.

"Before I had children, when I first got out, everyone was asking me, 'How did you do it?' The last two years haven't been easy. I am not perfect, but I am pretty proud of how things have changed," he said.

"I'd say that whatever life that you feel is impossible for you right now, if you get clean, you really can get there quicker than you think." So that he never forgets his own motivations for staying clean, Osborne named his daughter after his sister, Charmaine, and his mother, Carla, who passed away in 2004 and whose death inspired him to quit using drugs.

"There are two things I take the most pride in now," he says, "being a father and work." Friend and mentor Ed Griffin said: "Robbie is excited about his baby girl. He's working full-time.

"He's doing fine, he's now just learning how to live in the world." Now, instead of getting high and stealing cars, Osborne wakes at 5 a.m., drops his daughter at a relative's house for daycare and heads to work on the bus.

Becoming a parent has also helped restore his relationship with his parents and siblings.

These days, the man who used to go for jacked-up joyrides has considerably tamer pursuits.

On sunny weekends, he takes his daughter and family pet to the dog park near their Surrey home. Other days, it's visits to Guildford Mall or evenings with his family.

And he's thinking hard about how to keep his daughter from making the same mistakes he made.

"When she does get old enough, I might sit down and show her that video and say, 'That was me three years before you were born.' And I'll have a talk with her about drugs. I'm going to make her aware of it.

"I'm going to try to do the best I can. I have confidence that she'll turn out good. I have confidence in my new ability.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Here's the latest on that meteorite. Get out there and start looking, Turd!

By Chris Purdy, The Canadian Press
SASKATOON - A leading researcher says one of the largest meteors to streak
over Canada in the last decade broke up into pieces that may have landed in
central Saskatchewan.
Planetary scientist Alan Hildebrand from the University of Calgary plans to spend
the weekend in the Manitou Lake area near the town of Macklin, Sask., about
100 kilometres south of Lloydminster, near the Alberta boundary.
As co-ordinator of the Canadian Fireball Reporting Centre with the Canadian Space
Agency, Hildebrand was busy Friday talking with some of the witnesses who sent
him 300 e-mail reports about the fireball they saw light up the night sky Thursday.
With their descriptions of the meteor - its brightness, colour and sound - he
pinpointed the most likely fall location to be near Manitou Lake.
"Right now, the important thing is not searching because we don't know which
field to search in. It's a big world," Hildebrand said. "What's important now is
finding proximal eyewitnesses, so you know where meteorites might have fallen."
Meteor sightings have been widely reported across the Prairies, from Edmonton
to Regina to Swan River, Man. Witnesses heard sonic boom rumblings and
reported it was as bright as the sun.
Cattle farmer Trevor Crisp had just finished hauling a load of animals when he
arrived at his home near the village of Richard, about 200 kilometres west of
Manitou Lake, for supper Thursday night. It was completely dark outside.
"All of a sudden everything lit up," said Crisp. "I thought it must have been a
lightning strike.
"You could hear quite a rumble going through, and you could see a bit of
vibration in the windows. It was pretty neat."
Tammy Evans was getting some sleep before her night shift as a nurse in
North Battleford, Sask., when her worried 10-year-old daughter ran into the
bedroom.
"She said there was a flash of light, and she said the house shook twice and
it sounded like dinosaurs were walking."
Minutes later, Evans received a call from her brother-in-law who was driving to
Edmonton.
"He said the whole sky lit up, and he had to squint because he couldn't see."
Hildebrand says the meteor could likely be seen up to 700 kilometres away,
into the northern United States. It contained about a tenth of a kiloton of
energy when it entered the earth's atmosphere, equal to 100 tons of the
chemical explosive TNT.
"It would be something like a billion-watt light bulb."
Besides sonic boom sounds, he said witnesses also reported hearing hissing
or crackling noises like frying bacon. Fireballs can act as radio transmitters,
Hildebrand said, causing odd sounds.
He said other people saw the meteor break into pieces and turn red as it
slowed down.
Because it came down over the bald prairie instead of ocean or forest, there's
a good chance meteorites may be found, said Hildebrand. He just wants to get
to them before they're covered or ruined by more snow.
Martin Beech, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Regina,
said meteorites are valuable to learning about the history of the solar system.
The artifacts are 4.5 billion years old.
"Picking up a meteorite is almost equivalent to doing a space exploration mission
between Mars and Jupiter," he said.
Richard Herd is curator of Canada's national meteorite collection in Ottawa,
with samples from 1,100 different meteorites that have landed across the country.
He said the biggest meteorite fall occurred northeast of Edmonton near the town
of Bruderheim in 1960. More than 700 fragments recovered totalled 300 kilograms.
About 75 fireball events are reported each year.
Rick Huziak, an amateur astronomer in Saskatoon, helps operate a fireball
camera on top of the University of Saskatchewan physics building that captured
video of the meteor.
Although the camera records one every two to three weeks, this meteor was
among the brightest seen in Canada in the last dozen years, he said.
"It was quite spectacular. The ground lights up all over the place."
Huziak said only one in a thousand fireballs actually drop meteorites. Most
meteors burn up completely.
Phil Langill, director of the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory at the University
of Calgary, said he wasn't lucky enough to see the meteor.
But if someone is lucky enough to find one of its meteorites, they should be
careful not to contaminate it.
"So if anybody finds it, they should pick it up carefully with a Ziploc bag or
something like that and not touch it with their hands."

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"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

Fire hits Bellingham fire station

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BELLINGHAM -- A fire truck was damaged in a fire at a Bellingham fire station.

The fire department says an electrical problem started the fire in the truck's engine compartment at 2:20 a.m. Monday, and the crew in the station was alerted by an alarm.

The Bellingham Herald reports firefighters and sprinklers put out the fire.

No one injured. Minor smoke damage to Station No. 4.

------

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The city recently passed a group of new laws that should be no brainers, but proved somewhat controversial for the reasons noted:

Bottled water will no longer be sold at city owned facilities. This is to reduce the amount of plastic produced and reduce litter. (Water bottles have long been recyclable, and are made from recycled plastic.)

Beginning next year, grocery stores will have to charge customers $.05 for each plastic bag they provide to customers. Many smaller chains already do this; now large supermarkets will have to follow suit. Again, this is intended to reduce the amount of plastic produced and to reduce litter. (Most people, however, reuse the plastic bags they get their groceries in, mainly as garbage bags. Now we will have to buy garbage bags.)

Coffee shops will no longer be allowed to put plastic lids on cardboard coffee cups. The cups are recycled, but not the lids, and the city says it is too much trouble for the recycling centres to separate the lids from the cups. (Coffee shops say that other municipalities recycle both the cups and the lids, and they are now in the position of having to have different containers for various parts of the country.)

Plastic bags will now be accepted for recycling, as they have previously been in other municipalities.

Biodegradable 'plastic' bags will now be banned. Huh? That's right. Some stores - such as Mountain Equipment Co-op - have recently been providing bags made from plant material that seem to be just like plastic bags, but are completely biodegradable. (Unlike the so-called biodegradable bags of a few years ago that, it turned out, merely broke down into smaller particles of plastic.) The reason these bags are - ironically - now banned is because it's impossible to tell the difference between them and real plastic bags. Since recycling centres can't tell the difference, and have no use for biodegradable bags, they are now banned so that they won't end up in recycling centres.

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"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

yeah were working on some same laws here.

I use canvas bags and in Les's shop he is selling canvas bags as well might get me a couple. and I have drastically cut down on plastic bottles. Very Happy

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I've cut down on plastic bottles, too. I now use metal canteens.
As for plastic bags, it seems to me the best thing to do is ban petroleum based bags and have stores provide biodegradable bags. They should cost no more than plastic bags to produce, since there is a lot of waste plant material out there, and we aren't using it as much as we should to make cellulosic ethanol for out vehicles. We wouldn't have to recycle them, as they could go to the land fill dumps with our garbage where they would decompost faster than anything else there.

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"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

Taking a chilly dive for polar bears

By KERY MURAKAMI
P-I REPORTER

Matt Reynolds and Lauren Brown were among those concerned enough about polar bears, and the global climate change threatening them, that on Saturday they were willing to make like the bears.

Related content

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With a blue towel wrapped around her shoulders, Brown, 22, stood at Seattle's Matthews Beach a little after 11 a.m. In a few minutes she and about 20 others were supposed to jump into Lake Washington and, through their cold, raise awareness about global warming.

But while the cause was worthy enough to get Brown, Reynolds, 21, and their friend Katherine Rice, 20, to the water's edge, all three blanched at the reality of the cold lake in front of them.

"We're reassessing," Brown said.

On New Year's Day, others run into the water from the same beach as part of the annual polar bear plunge. But that's strictly for fun.

Kristina Byrne, 25, who organized Saturday's event for EarthCorps, which builds trails and other environmental projects in the area, said the frigid soak was part of International Climate Action Day, during which groups in 92 countries were holding similar polar bear plunges, rallies and other actions to raise awareness of the issue even as global leaders meet at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Poland.

The polar bear, Byrne said, is a symbol of the ramifications of global warming, which is melting polar ice and driving the bears either inland or on thicker ice further out to sea, away from their food source.

And so what better way to show concern for polar bears than to have a polar bear plunge?

The event was also designed to promote an exhibit by photographer Steven Kazlowski at the University of Washington's Burke Museum documenting the plight of the polar bear.

Saturday was a fortuitously mild day and organizers of the polar bear plunge measured the water temperature at 49 degrees. But, still, it is December.

"Apprehension," was how Rice described the way she and her friends were feeling.

But Rice, a student at St. Martin's College and a member of the campus Kiwanis Club, said she's not always good about being green, "so I try to do the little things I can."

And Reynolds, who is president of the University of Puget Sound Kiwanis, where he and Brown are students, said global climate change has to be attacked locally.

As the time to plunge drew near, Byrne told the group, "This is a little step to tell the people who are talking about really important things in Poland that we want more than just talk."

With that, Jessie Dye, who is hosting an AmeriCorps member from Namibia, told the group, "Prepare to take your final warm breath."

Adding quickly, "I mean, not forever."

Byrne did the polar bear plunge for climate action day at Chesapeake Bay in Maryland last year. The anticipation is worse than the reality, she noted.

"But it's still cold," she said.

Which was what the others were about to find out.

Dye counted down: "One, two, three."

The group jumped up and down, clapping and whooping and ran into the lake.

A collective scream went up to clear blue sky.

"Oh my God!" one woman yelled as chilly waters hit flesh.

Some ran in, turned around and ran back out. Others, like Byrne, lingered, but not for more than half a minute, splashing each other.

After she toweled off, Brown said she focused on watching everyone else as she ran to take her mind off the cold.

"It was like a shock," Reynolds said.

Gina DiCicco, a 24-year-old EarthCorps member, said she'd planned to go under the water as she ran in, but then the cold hit her when she got knee deep and she thought that wasn't such a good idea.

Dave Olson, a 63-year-old teacher at Fife Alternative High School, was the only one who dove under the water.

"A little chilly," he said as he walked out. But not as bad as the time he fell through the ice as a child at Chautauqua Lake in upstate New York.

"Probably some hanging on to my youth," Olson said when asked why he'd gone in. "But really, I've been reading about the climate change thing and I've been encouraging my students to volunteer."

wow that's great stuff

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Weatherman says we could be headed for snowiest Christmas on record !! Surprised

20 centimetres expected through Wednesday

By Cheryl ChanDecember 24, 2008 8:01 AM

Another winter storm is forecast to barrel its way through B.C.’s South Coast..

“We’re back in snow mode again,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Mark Madryga.

“The difference with this one is the air’s going to be a bit milder, so there’s a good chance we’ll see a bit of rain mixed in with the snow.”

Up to 20 centimetres is expected, beginning overnight, and continuing through to tonight. With afternoon highs nudging 2 C, some of that snow will turn into rain in Victoria and Metro Vancouver.

Christmas Day will see a couple of leftover flurries and even a little sunshine, said Madryga.

With 27 cm on the ground yesterday, Vancouver is on pace for its snowiest-ever Christmas Day. The record of 30 cm was set in 1964.

“If we get our snow, in all likelihood we’ll have the greatest amount of snow on the ground in Vancouver ever recorded,” said Environment Canada’s Greg Pearce.

The city had received 47 cm this month — almost three times the December average of 16.3 cm.

Staff Sgt. Jim Simmil of the RCMP’s Fraser Valley traffic services said one person died in a single car crash on the Coquihalla Highway yesterday, just north of the old toll booths.

“A single vehicle may have hit the median and there was one fatality,” he said.

TransLink ran eight trolleys equipped with ice-cutters and glycol sprays overnight to prevent a repeat of yesterday’s transit headaches after ice coated overhead trolley lines.

After a full day of operations with two runways, Vancouver International Airport has cleared its backlog of delayed flights, and was gearing up for the next dump of snow with crews working around the clock to keep runways and aprons clear.

Claims to the Insurance Corp. of B.C. jumped 20 per cent last weekend, compared with the previous weekend. BCAA said homeowner claims for things such as broken pipes are double the normal.

In a wacky weather twist, normally balmy Victoria is duelling it out with Ottawa for the whitest Canadian city this Christmas.

Victoria was Canada’s snowiest city yesterday with 41 cm of snow, compared with 38 cm in Ottawa.

Victoria is expecting another 10 to 20 cm today, while Ottawa is forecast to receive five to 10 cm.

“It’s going to be close,” said Madryga. “It’s just a matter of how much melts.”

With milder temperatures forecast for the weekend, snowmelt might present the next problem.

“How fast the snow melts will be the next concern,” said Madryga. “We don’t want it to be too rapid.”

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

This survival story has been getting a lot of media attention locally:

Paul Morse
Hamilton Spectator

ANCASTER–The survival of 55-year-old Donna Molnar, buried for three days in a snowdrift on a farmer's field, defies all the odds, says her family.

"Another hour and she might have been dead," her husband David Molnar said yesterday.

It was not just her physical strength and endurance that kept her alive, Molnar said.

"She is a strong Catholic ... and spends a lot of time praying for others involved in personal tragedies and family issues," he said, fighting the exhaustion etched on his face.

"I believe the reason she survived is because God literally reached down and cradled her until they could find her."

Molnar's amazing feat of survival began Friday when a vicious blizzard enveloped southern Ontario, shutting down schools and businesses across the region.

A high school secretary, Molnar began her unexpected day off by baking. It's believed she was on her way to buy some baking materials when she headed out to the store in the family van.

"She wasn't wearing much, just a winter coat, typical boots, things you'd wear to go to the store – not to go hiking for hours or climbing Mount Everest," her husband said.

Her vehicle was found Saturday in rural Ancaster, at the parking lot of Lindley's Farm and Market, closed for the season.

There was no sign of Molnar.

Rescue teams with dogs made an intensive search of the area, but high winds kept blowing the missing woman's scent away.

It was around noon on Monday by the time a search and rescue dog named Ace found Molnar in a field off Fiddler's Green Rd., several hundred metres from her van. Her core body temperature had dropped to 30C, seven degrees below normal.

She was awake and lucid, and told rescuers she'd been lying in that spot for a long time.

Police formed a flying squad to clear the highway and rush her to hospital intensive care, where doctors placed her in a special heating bag to slowly raise her temperature, a process fraught with dangers.

"There are a lot of things that can go wrong. She is certainly not out of the woods yet," her husband said. "It could affect her heart or other organs."

The hospital reported her condition last night as serious but stable.

She suffered frostbite on her extremities, her husband said, but doctors don't yet know if they will be forced to amputate.

The family thinks Molnar was forced off the road by the extremely poor visibility and driving conditions along Fiddler's Green Rd. at the height of the blizzard.

They think she became trapped in her vehicle when a plow clearing the road sealed off the lot.

David Molnar said it is possible his wife attempted to walk to a nearby home for help and became disoriented.

"I think she may have fallen ... or twisted her ankle and couldn't go any further."

Local media reports have detailed Molnar's history of depression, which her husband dismissed yesterday. "There is no pre-existing history that is relevant."

Instead, Molnar and his son Matt, 20, profusely thanked all the people who helped find her.

"I want to make sure everyone understands the incredible effort of the rescuers who found my wife alive," he said.

"They persevered undeterred. They had hope when sometimes I did not.

"We are eternally grateful."

During the three days that Donna Molnar was missing in the rough, two storms dropped more than 30 centimetres of snow on the area.

Police say Molnar was found lying down, buried in a snowdrift, with only a small breathing hole for air. During her ordeal, temperatures at night dropped to —16C, with a wind chill below —25C.

The fact that she was entombed in snow likely saved her life, experts say, because it formed an insulating cocoon that kept her just warm enough to prevent coma and death.

_________________

"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

Hey Dave, I saw on the news where 6 people were killed in an avalanche in BC and 2 were missing. Confused

What have you heard about this?

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Using dial-up is like riding a tricycle at Indy.

^ The 2 that were missing were found. And the 6 killed im not sure where that was. Haven't been reading the paper lately or watching the news much.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing