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Happy good news day! A mixed bag of stories for the 13th edition of GGN this week, hope you enjoy.



Heroic Officer Saves Woman At Sea

A volunteer police officer said "it was a natural reaction" to brave ice-cold water and hazardous conditions to rescue a drowning woman from the sea. Kyle Scott pulled the woman to safety after spotting her face down in the water off Felixstowe, Suffolk.

The special constable was wearing his full police uniform when he dragged her out of the sea on 7 March 2023. Mr Scott has been nominated for a Police Federation of England and Wales Bravery Award, external.

"You see someone in trouble, you don't take into consideration your own safety, you just go into autopilot," he said.

"It's only afterwards that you think you could have got taken out to sea yourself."

The woman was unresponsive and it was a struggle to get her out of the sea, but he managed to get her to the water's edge. Members of the public then helped him drag her to a shingle bank, where they provided first aid and tried to keep her warm until paramedics arrived.

Darren Harris, Suffolk Police Federation chair, said Mr Scott "acted in the best traditions of policing, displaying incredible bravery".





First Sighting of Sei Whales In A Century for Argentina

GNN has reported several times over the last three years about large baleen whales returning to waters in which they haven’t been sighted for decades.

Now again, news from Argentina shows that the benefits of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling are still compounding, with sei whales returning to the South American nation’s coastal waters for the first time in nearly a decade.

Overhunting during the 1920s and 1930s led these massive blue-grey giants to abandon their ancestral waters in Argentina.

“After nearly a century of being hunted to near extinction, sei whale populations are now bouncing back and returning to their former habitats,” said Mariano Coscarella, a biologist and marine ecosystem researcher at Argentina’s CONICET scientific agency, who added that the whales “reproduce every two or three years, so it nearly took 100 years for their population to reach a level where people could notice their presence.”

The third largest whale in the world, the sei can grow up to 64 feet (20 meters) in length and weigh up to 31 tons (28 tonnes). It’s also among the fastest whales in the world, and is certainly the fastest for its size group. It can swim 31 mph over short distances.

Despite being recognized on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, there are estimated to be 50,000 sei whales in a global population that is trending up.





Sweet Success Found in a Mexican Honey Co-op

The honey industry isn’t all buzzing bees and rolling hills. Producers have a whole host of dilemmas to deal with, from climate change to an influx of fake honey. Here’s how one co-op is rising above the challenges

Seventy-three-year-old Vitaliano Cauich has worked with bees for more than half of his life – and he loves them. “To me, bees are very important,” he explains, “because I enjoy taking care of them.

“When I come to my apiary, I feel so happy, so I visit them daily. Sometimes, even in my free time, I come here. During the bloom time, I come only for the smell of the flowers the bees are visiting and I feel content when I see the bees working. Seeing the wonderful bees working in order – it cheers me up to work.”

However, making a living as a 21st century beekeeper is not easy, despite Mexico being the world’s fifth largest exporter of honey. A study back in 2005 even went as far as to say both the native bees and traditional ways of production were heading towards extinction.

Educe, founded in 1997, brings together 800 beekeepers who work within 40 individual co-operatives. By teaming up, they can negotiate a better price for their products without the need for an intermediary who would take a cut. Similarly, certifying to organic and Fairtrade standards justifies higher price points.

María Colli, a beekeeper who has worked with Educe for four years, says being a member has helped both her and her community. “The motivation, why I was interested in joining Educe, was the price. It’s a good price for us,” she explains. But it’s not about cash alone.

And, according to Andrés Munguía Zarco, Educe’s treasurer, it’s working. “We are seeing improvements in the income for the beekeepers,” he says. “Many people don’t have to migrate if they can earn a living here. They can stay and then the families keep together in their communities.”





Time to relax with a spot of post-fishing fun!

Bob’s Bathtime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2xBDnEw21A

Spread the positivity!