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The Citizen, 1996-05-22, Page 5The Short of it By Bonnie Gropp He's a big boy now International Scene By Raymond Canon THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1996 PAGE 5. Arthur Black A unique aviation story It is quite obvious to anybody who knows me well that flying is one of the passions of my life. I recall one time when my father took me, shortly before he was killed, to a nearby flying field, to show me the aircraft that were located there. It was at that moment that I resolved that some day I would learn how to fly. If a dream sticks with you long enough, you resolve to make it real in some way, and so it was that I did military service in the air force, learned how to fly and eventually owned my own aircraft. Because of this I have a voracious appetite when it comes to aviation journalism; I read just about everything I can get my hands on. I came across a story that is somewhat different than anything else I had read, one not of aircraft and/or their pilots, but the story of a man and his efforts to influence the flight patterns of birds, more specifically Canada geese. The man in question is Bill Lishman and his story revolves around his efforts to get Canada geese to migrate south. If this sounds a bit bizarre, it needs to be pointed out that, because of some kind of changes in their habitat, such geese do not always head south when the cold weather comes. My granddaughters and I regularly go to feed the hundreds of geese on the river during the They spend their lives in the dark depths of the ocean. They never get within a half mile of the surface unless they're sick or dying. And they're big. More than 2,000 years Lgo the Roman naturalist Pliny described ine with arms "knotted like clubs" with a head as big as a wine cask. A medieval Swedish observer wrote of "monstrous fish" of "horrible forms with huge eyes ... One of these Sea-Monsters will drown easily many great ships provided with many strong Mariners." Several famous novelists have used the giant squid to great dramatic advantage. In Moby Dick, Herman Melville waxed apocalyptic about a "vast pulpy mass, furlongs in length ... long arms radiating from its center and curling and twisting like a nest of anacondas." In 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, author Jules Verne invented a squid so huge it wrapped the submarine Nautilus in its embrace. Even as I speak, there's a movie making the rounds called Beast, the main character of which is a 100- foot-long architeuthis. Literary flights of imagination? No doubt. But there have been bits and pieces of giant squid washed up, snagged in deep sea fishing nets and found in the guts of sperm whales to make it clear there's something mighty big swimming around down there. In 1861, a French corvette actually did battle with a 25-foot squid off the Canary Islands. Crew members attacked the squid with a hail of rifle and cannon balls. They tried to haul it aboard but the skipper chickened out and cut it loose "lest the creature damage or winter; they have, over a period of time, become quite tame and allow us to come much, much closer than we used to. At any rate Lishman discovered that there is a natural phenonomen called imprinting in which certain birds will follow anything they see move during the first 24 hours of their life. He set out to see if he could induce some of the geese to do exactly that with an ultra-light plane. He and a friend set out to find some of the eggs in the nests in the vicinity of his farm north-east of Toronto and bring them back to the farm. Keeping the eggs in the proper condition to induce them to hatch as normally as possible, he then took the goslings and introduced them to his ultra-light aircraft. It was not the easiest of tasks as he discovered. The tiny birds needed a lot of coaching to get them to follow the plane off t the ground and in the air. They would be distracted by such things as gravel pits until slowly but surely they got the idea. Plans were then, ade for the great trip south. On a cold autumn day in 1993 they took off. Two planes were to guide the birds and the third was to fly cover in case of any problems. It had been decided not to do too long a stretch and the first landing was in the United States, just south of Lake Ontario. The birds made it over the lake in good condition but it took them about 10 attempts to follow the planes into the first airstrip. However, they delighted spectators by landing right in front of them. It also delighted the media, which was represented in great numbers. injure the ship and the crew." The largest specimen ever measured was found on a beach in New Zealand in the late 1800s. It weighed about a ton and was just slightly longer than your average Greyhound bus. So ... is there any chance that there are some really, really giant squid down there — bigger than anything we've ever seen? Doctor Clyde Roper thinks so. He's a marine biologist and curator of an exhibit called In Search of Giant Squid, currently on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington. This fall, Dr. Roper hopes to head for the squid jigging grounds off New Zealand, fold himself into a deep-diving submersible and become the first human being in history to observe — and film — the giant squid in its natural habitat. Roper believes there's a very good chance he'll find "massive, unbelievable animals" up to 75 feet long. Fictional flights of fancy aside, is Dr. Roper likely to be in any danger down there, surrounded by squid? Well, there was that photographer taking shots of squid underwater off the California coast a few years back, who was attacked by a "hive" of swarming squid. They actually began to pull him down until he had the presence of mind to use air bubbles from his regulator to "hose" them off his body. The diver came out of it with what Roper describes as "giant hickeys" all over his skin. And those were just little squid, no more than a hundredth the size of architeuthis. Good luck down there, Dr. Roper. My son is 13. Like every kid his age, he doesn't usually take life too seriously. His enjoyment is uncomplicated. He loves baseball and Green Day, playing the guitar and playing cards. With no longer the unblemished countenance that exuded ingenuous wonder, his face occasionally surprises me these days with its new look of maturity, even cynicism. Yet, still, in the right circumstances, at just the right time, his eyes can brighten, an open spontaneous smile appears and I am reminded once again of the freshness and beauty of being so young, so innocent. Like other children his age, my son has learned he will be disappointed at times, that there are surprises, often unpleasant ones that will sneak up on him. He isn't so sure about whether or not adults always know best, but he will grudgingly take our word for it most times. If not he knows he is responsible for his actions. Like his peers, he generally expects little more from life than to have fun and I expect little more from him than he choose his friends, and make his decisions, wisely. Certainly energy and exuberance can get them into trouble now and then, but it's usually fairly minor. There is nothing complicated about their entertainment, no dark thoughts, no sinister motivation. They just do what kids do. How then do we understand the mind of an 11-year-old boy, who not only understands the crime of rape, but actually instigates and commits it? How do we reason with someone who possesses the vulnerability of youth in tandem with a terrifyingly thuggish comprehension of how the law protects him? He is a child. He is a child, who in his few short years has logged a record of crimes worthy of any hardened criminal. He is a child, who masterminded a vicious gang rape, which included oral, vaginal and anal intercourse, by luring a 13-year-old girl into an apartment with him and three other very young boys. He is a child, who police say scoffs at the fact that he is protected from custody because of his age. He is a child whom the crime weary Toronto police can hardly wait to see turn 12 so that something can be done. He is a child, not, his mother says, a monster. I think I beg to differ. For whatever reason, perhaps none of them his fault, this child has evil inside. When someone has gone this bad and continues to get worse, it is obvious that measures must be taken. While I'm reluctant to lay blame on the often besieged parents, it would seem a reality check is in order for this Mommy Dearest. There is no rule book to make the job easier. Occasionally, parents find the task beyond them, as they look in bewilderment at an offspring, who despite the right seasoning, turns foul. But to wear blinders as you pass by the issue of vileness is giving a wayward youth the lead on the path to Hades. If we can do one thing for our children, it's show them early the punishment will fit the crime. Bleeding hearts suggesting this child did not understand the severity of his actions, will do him no benefit. It was an adult crime; if he's capable of rape at this age, I shudder to think of the future; and his knowledge regarding his rights shows a worldliness. He's definitely a big boy now. At best, he needs help and should not be given back to society until he gets it. Imagine the hickeys! There is no new thing under the sun Ecclesiastes 1:9 Well, perhaps not new, but there are some uncommonly strange and unlikely critters out there that, despite our scientific sophistication, we still haven't laid eyes on. Never mind the sasquatch and the abominable snowman. Forget about UFOs and quirks and quarks. How about architeuthis? His common name is ''giant squid" and the simple fact is, even though marine biologists and fishermen know he's down there somewhere, no one has ever seen a giant squid in his natural habitat. Oh, we've seen squid, alright. All kinds of squid. Newfoundlanders jig for them. I can go down to a favourite Spanish restaurant and order up a dish of calamaris any time I want. But neither the Newfoundlanders nor I will be tucking into a dish of giant squid. Squid of any size are never going to win a beauty contest. They are, at least to the conventional human eye, an apparition right out of your worst nightmare. There is for starters, those huge, unblinking eyes and a corolla of undulating sucker-pocked tentacles surrounding a parrot-like beak. The thought of such a creature pulsing silently through the depths, and as big as a railroad car, is enough to give anybody the cold sweats. Giant squid are something else again. Ground fog and wind kept them there for two days but finally they were airborne again, landing that night in another field in the state of New York. The third night was interesting; the field was in Pennsylvania, at the bottom a valley with hills of 300 meters on either side. All this took 20 minutes to get the birds down, but down they came. Lishman also discovered that the geese have many ploys to cope with temperature, wind and weather. In flying we can lose height rather quickly by doing what is called side-slipping; the geese have their own form of that and can do it even while in formation. Finally they reached their destination in Virginia and the question now was whether they would know enough to migrate back to Canada the following spring. Furthermore, would they come back toihe place of their departure. Sure enough most of them did! There is much more to the story than I have related. One thing that Lishman discovered was that he could do the same imprinting with swans as with geese but bureaucracy got in the way of that attempt. I was also amazed at the amount of patience he showed since the birds were at times anything but willing learners, preferring instead to show an independent streak. He could also have accomplished very little without the help of interested Americans who were as anxious to see the experiment succeed as he was. All in all his efforts make a fascinating story and certainly unique in the history of aviation. If you wish to read the full details, see if your local library has his book.