A single bluefin tuna weighing 754 pounds has been sold for $396,000. This amount set the new record for most expensive fish. The price paid for the fish equals over $520 per pound. At some restaurants in Japan, bluefin tuna sushi can sell for $24 per piece.

The tuna was sold in the Tsukiji market in Tokyo, which is one of the largest seafood markets in the world. Over 400 types of seafood are sold there, and there are up to 60,000 employees.

Bluefin tuna have been so overfished due to demand for sushi, they are in a severe population decline and some believe they could go extinct fairly soon. They have yet to be declared an endangered species in the legal sense in the United States, but they are currently under review for that status.

While the United States is not the major market for bluefin tuna, as about 80 percent is bought and consumed in Japan, the Gulf of Mexico is a spawning ground, so protecting them in United States waters could at least offer support for their declining population. If you want to do something positive for bluefin tuna, you can avoid eating all tuna in sushi restaurants, because researchers found sometimes bluefin tuna is served even when other forms of tuna are ordered by restaurant patrons. In some cases even the restaurants don’t know exactly what they are serving.

If the conservation issues are not enough, consider the fact that research has shown tuna sushi has been found to contain high levels of mercury, which can cause brain damage. Even though bluefin tuna are very vulnerable right now, and you can see why with such an irrational and exuberant demand, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas set their recommended catch limit at about the same as least year — 12,900 tons, down from 13,500 tons in 2010. ICCAT has been mocked for not standing up to the fishing industry with variations on their name, such as “International Conspiracy to Catch All Tuna.” So when you visit a sushi restaurant or a market selling tuna, just remember that you, and all the other consumers of the world, are the best chance for the bluefin tuna’s survival, based on informed personal choices.

More Fish-y Business
7 Fish Hot on the Black Market
Freshwater Fish Laced with Mercury (Video)
How to Get Nutrients from Fish Without Eating Them

Make that more than 300. Sierra Club, the environmental group, has announced a new list of "epic adventures" for 2011. Maybe it's time you stopped making plans to see the great outdoors, and actually went wild?

The Sierra Club eco-trips offer "rest and relaxation, rugged wilderness challenges, international treks, or outdoor fun and games with the family." That's quite a variety.

The new trips, designed for groups, include backpacking in Oregon's Hells Canyon and family base camping in Alaska's Denali National Park. The old classics include hiking and yoga in California and kayaking in Florida.

There are lists by activity, destination, date and price.

The Alaska Railroad links the port communities of Whittier and Seward to Anchorage, Denali National Park and Fairbanks. © 2002 Alaska Railroad

About the prices: The trips range from $645 for the week-long Hells Canyon hike, which includes vegetarian-friendly meals, two leaders and cooking equipment, wildlife sightings and scenery, to $1,745 for camping and a train ride in Denali.

We mentioned these outings as part of last year's Green Music Group Challenge. Elyssa Bailey of Hudson, New Hampshire, was the victor in that Barenaked Ladies "get outside" contest, and took home a $1,000 gift certificate for a Sierra Outing.

Sierra Club has been offering the outings for more than 100 years. It goes back to John Muir, who founded the organization and "discovered an essential truth while out hiking the high country: If you want people to go to bat for the environment, you've got to get them into the wilderness."

More on Eco-Trips
Travel With Piers Morgan: Growing Sustainability in the World's Most Unsustainable Places
Squeeze Some Green Out of Your Disney Vacation
5 of the World's Most Amazing Gardens

Seasons of camping, hiking, cottaging, and enjoying nature from sun up to sun down come year around, and when the sun gets to be a little too warm, trees offer some much-needed shade. However, while trees offer loads of benefit to humans, we aren't always as kind.

The fact is, trees need to be treated with a little more kindness than we give them, and it's quite easy to find an alternative for our damaging behaviors. Here are five common ways we harm trees, and the simple solutions that can prevent the problems.

Collecting Deadfall for Campfires
Campers and cottagers love a good campfire, and when it comes to firewood, deadfall may seem like and simple source. But taking deadfall out of a forest can do a great deal of harm, especially in an established campground where a lot of campers are looking for wood. The fallen trees and limbs in the bush -- otherwise known as deadfall -- play an important part in nourishing the forest. As the wood decays, it provides nutrients for the soil, which helps living trees and other plants thrive. The bottom line: Don't burn deadfall -- bring firewood or buy it at the campground.

Tying Your Dog to a Tree
It seems like every camper who has a dog ties it to a tree to keep it secure on the campsite. There's no harm, right? Wrong. A rope tied around and then yanked on by an excited dog will wear away at the bark, often causing small and even large pieces of bark to flake off the tree. Once the outer layer of bark is compromised, the tree is more vulnerable to illness and insects. Instead of tying your dog to a tree, purchase a cork-screw stake that can be driven into the ground, and secure your dog to the stake.

Carving Your Initials in a Tree
You see it all the time along trails, bluffs, and cliffs: A tree with someone's initials carved in the bark. It may seem sweet to see "J + M" in a heart carved into a tree, but the fact is it's not so great for the tree. Just as bark flaked off by a rope exposes a tree to illness, so does carving into the bark. Rather than carving your initials in a tree, why not become a sponsor of the trail or a section of a state or national park? That way your contribution can live on without putting a tree at risk.

Hanging Tarps
It wouldn't be camping without a little rain, right? Most people who spend time in the outdoors string up tarps to keep their eating area dry. But even something as light as a tarp can do damage to a tree when you factor in the force of wind. As the wind pulls on the tarp, it will cause the ropes to abrade the surface of the tree, potentially damaging the bark. A stand-alone canopy that can be folded for easy transportation and storage is a greta solution. More and more camping outfitters are making portable canopies that stake into the ground, and many are affordable.

Breaking Off Thin Branches for Roasting Marshmallows
They're gooey and sweet and the perfect end to a day in the great outdoors. Roasted marshmallows are delicious, but if you're popping them on the end of a stick you snipped off a tree, you've just put the tree at risk. There's a reason people prune trees in the late fall or winter: the trees are dormant when it's cooler, and that means less stress on a tree. Summer is just about the worst time to remove branches of any size from a tree. Rather than foraging for a stick in the forest, bring long barbeque or grilling forks from home (and if they don't have a handle, be sure to remember an oven mitt!).

Next time you venture out into the bush, think about how your actions may be harming trees, and look for alternatives to avoid damage.

More on nature:
Glamping Makes Many Happy Campers
How Wetlands are Good For Your Health, Good For The Planet
Bird Watching: Not Just for Dorks Anymore

China announced a ban on animal circuses this week—all 300 state-owned ones of them. It's a huge step for animals, considering how they're treated at circuses—and in zoos—not only in China but around the world.

Here's a glimpse at what some other countries' circuses and zoos look like—it's not pretty.

"In many circuses, wild and exotic animals are trained through the use of intimidation and physical abuse. Former circus employees have reported seeing animals beaten, whipped, poked with sharp objects and even burned to force them to learn their routines. Elephants who perform in circuses are often kept in chains for as long as 23 hours a day from the time they are babies." --DoSomething.org

">Suppliers of animals for circuses are also notorious, sometimes because of secret dealings with zoos.

Tigers, for example, get burned jumping through flaming hoops—they naturally fear fire, and training animals to perform such foreign and often painful acts is not a smooth process, and often requires whips, tight collars, electric prods and other tools.

Cairo

Thinkstock

The Giza Zoo in Cairo was expelled from the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums for reasons, Global Post explains, "including substandard results during an inspection and the inhumane killing of two gorillas thought to be infected with the Ebola virus."

More recently, "for a little illegal personal payment, zookeepers are letting zoo-goers play with any animal they want, including bears, lion cubs, elephants, tigers and seals."

England

Thinkstock

An investigation at a major UK circus found "elephants chained for 11 hours a day, animals being put through their paces in the secretive training ring and an elephant repeatedly jabbed with a metal stick to make her perform."

Not long before, a zoo in southern England had been expelled from the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) because of secret dealings with the Great British Circus, the only UK circus still using tigers in its shows.

An accredited zoo in Canada has also been reported "renting out elephants and other animals for circus shows. The training involved with teaching elephants circus style tricks is abusive and the traveling is hard on the animals."

San Antonio

Jerry Yulsman/Thinkstock

Topping In Defense of Animals' 2010 list of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants (for the fourth time), the San Antonio Zoo "crams two of the Earth’s largest land mammals into a space smaller than many backyards."

"Boo has been terrorizing Lucky, who has no escape route, leading a top elephant expert to warn of dire consequences," the list said. The "herd" of two was the zoo's solution to Lucky having lived essentially in solitary confinement.

Around the world, elephants are trained through the use of an ankus, which IDA USA explains:

a wooden stick with a sharp, pointed hook at the end to discourage undesired behavior. An elephant handler will never be seen working with an elephant without an ankus in one hand or discreetly tucked under his arm. Although an elephant’s skin is thick, it is very sensitive—sensitive enough to feel a fly on her back. The ankus is embedded into elephants' most sensitive areas, such as around the feet, behind the ears, under the chin, inside the mouth, and other locations around the face. Sometimes it is used to smash them across the face.

Peru

Thinkstock

Reports out of Peru have told of lions at circuses "being whipped, prodded, struck with weapons and even pulled by the tail, in order to force them to perform."

Other abuses include "a restrained woolly monkey screaming in terror when his handler forced the animal's head into his mouth," a trainer poorly treating a capuchin monkey and ocelot, and animals being forced to live in small, dirty, rusting, and barren cages—a far cry from animals' natural habitats.

(Check out photographer Frank Noelker's work for a better idea of just how barren—yet visually deceiving to the visitor, for whom murals of forests, savannas and icebergs are painted on the walls of small cages—animals' quarters can be when living in captivity.

Ukraine

Thinkstock

Camels have had their noses twisted to get them to perform his act of bowing down.
At the Kiev Zoo, Global Post reports 51 animals died in 2008 and more recently had lost an elephant, a white camel and a bison.

Learn more about the ugly side of animal captivity with Ric and Lincoln O'Barry, stars of The Cove.

More on zoos and animals in captivity:
Sacramento Votes for Better Treatment of Circus Animals
Do Zoos and Captive Breeding Really Help Endangered Species or Address Habitat Loss?
Beijing Zoo Puts their Animals on the Menu
China Bans Animal Circuses -- All of Them

Here's an adventure story with a deadly twist. There are about 570 whooping cranes left in the world. A group of five recently were sent out on migration, to learn from older cranes and find suitable winter habitat in the U.S. That was, until three of the five were downed by gunshots, and discovered near Albany, Georgia. This mystery has a $12,500 reward attached to solving it.

According to The Tennessean, this was the first migration south for the five birds, who were banded and equipped with transmitters as part of the 2010 Direct Autumn Release program.

The cranes were part of a Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership effort to reintroduce whooping cranes into the eastern U.S., say officials with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who are offering the reward with partners including the Humane Society of the United States. The $12,500 is for information leading to an arrest and successful prosecution of the crane killer(s).

Of an estimated 570 whooping cranes left in the world, 400 of those are in the wild. About 100 cranes are in the eastern migratory population.

The dead cranes were shot sometime before Dec. 30, 2010. They were discovered and reported by hunters. They had last been tracked in Hamilton County, Tennessee, where they roosted on Dec. 10, 2010, with three other whooping cranes.

Whooping cranes are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act, the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and state laws. The investigation includes conservation rangers from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

To give you an idea of how endangered these birds are: Each fall in recent years, pilots from Operation Migration, part of an international coalition of public and private groups, have lead a new generation of whooping cranes behind their ultralight aircraft to wintering grounds in Florida. The three downed birds weren't part of that ultralight effort.

Photo Credit: WCEP, via bringbackthecranes.org.

But if you have information on the downed birds, see the USFWS site. You can find out more about whooping crane recovery efforts at bringbackthecranes.org.

The whooping crane is the tallest bird in North America (5 feet with a 7-8 foot wingspan). The species was at the brink of extinction in the 1940s. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time the endangered birds have been shot at and killed during their recovery. More awareness can't hurt this case.

More on Birds
An Ocean of Plastic...In Birds' Guts (Slideshow)
Counting Birds For Conservation And Fun
Tar Sands: Harmful to Water, Deadly for Birds

I know that what I'm about to say is going to sound entirely spoiled because well, it is. For the past three years I've managed to make a warm winter escape by both work (hosting yoga retreats or writing) and pleasure -- from Brazil to Mexico. For a sun-needy creature and wanderlust like me, the voyages came at perfect timing-- smack dab mid-January or February, breaking up the drudgery of Brooklyn's drab gray sky, and ice-crusted cement. I'd arrive back in my urban abode, refreshed with memories of white-sand beaches, laid-back days and sun-kissed with a glow that re-charged my batteries and left me uplifted until spring's arrival.

Without work taking me away somewhere toasty and tropical, and my yoga studio's demands keeping me local this blustery season, I'm on mission to make not going anywhere entirely OK. As any other wanderlust will attest, this is quite the task.

But as I'd learn this past Friday -- I could, with just a pinch of effort -- contrive an inner glow without taking my annual winter escape. And yes, this busy blogger, yogini, and entrepreneur could somehow manage to swing it in less than 24-hours, in fact four hours to be precise.

Here was my all-star Friday night spa date with myself. For those with with an entire day off, or weekend, can modify to stretch out the staycation. You'll want to make this one last.

The 6:30pm-Stock-Up on Bath Salts

Photo: Comstock Images

It's Friday, 6:30pm, and my meeting with my web designer finishes. In a blistery snow shower, I high tail it from his studio to a neighborhood organic health food store to grab a few weekend provisions: fruit, milk, bread, yogurt and then make a pit stop in the bath/body section to grab herbal bath salts (more on that later). As I near check-out, I see the fresh juice counter closing shop. Oh no! I plop down my basket and make it just in time to order a mixed-veggie juice to go (more on that later, too).

7:30pm: Laze Your Way to a Local Massage Bed

Photo: Maria Teijeiro/Thinkstock Images

I arrive home from the store, no easy fete with snowy sidewalks and two very heavy bags in tow. It doesn't sound like a vacation yet, but it will soon. Promise. I put away the groceries, stick my juice in the fridge, grab my coat and brave the cold once more.

Somehow the cold doesn't feel so cold when you're making your way to a nearby massage parlor, at least not for me. My warm and fuzzies continue all the way through my one-hour acupressure session that included a hot stone massage. Deluxe. My masseuse's petite stature doesn't stop her from giving me the most intensely delicious deep-tissue rub. Like a gambler, I strongly considered staying on the table for another hour but at $55/60-mins. I decide to walk away and keep it affordable. Must. Walk. Away.

The 8:30pm Juice Cleanse

Photo: Thinkstock

...Luckily I walked home straight to the delicious fresh veggie juice sitting in the fridge. The idea of a cold beverage isn't so appealing but once I starting drinking my body thanks me. Fresh juices not only hold a nostalgic space in my heart ever since I sipped the most amazing ones popular in Mexico's Mayan Riviera, as I recently discovered carotenoid-rich fruits and veggies actually bestow a natural glow! My raw juice dinner doubles as a tanning bed sesh-- plus I receive all the vital nutrients needed to re-charge. Score.

9pm: No Computers, TV, or Phone Conversations Welcome

Photo: Thinkstock

To my spa staycation, that is. With an hour to kill before my desired early bed time, a luxurious shower (not too long) is next up. I grabbed my new herbal bath salts sans chemical nasties and hop in for a scrub. Who has time to exfoliate, right? But when you're on staycation, these are the little extras that make the bathroom feel like the beach. Sand exfoliates and darn it, if I can't have sand, I am surely going to have my bath salts. And a post-shower lotion application.

10pm: Me and My E-Reader Snuggled Up in Bed

Photo: Comstock images

Is it sad that this goes down as one of my all-time favorite dates?

I woke up -- no alarm clock needed -- at 8am on Saturday morning. Refreshed, wide-eyed and happy as a clam on the beach -- without having to be on the beach. I did exactly what I set out to do. I sought my inner sun without leaving a 10 Brooklyn-block radius.

More Staycation Ideas:
My Sultry Summer Park Slope Staycation
Staycation Destination: Santa Monica
12 Ways to Enjoy an Island Staycation, Staten Island That Is

We all dream about it. Sitting at our desks, twiddling our thumbs, and dreaming of lands far and wide. Envisioning ourselves dropping it all to circle the globe. We won't be gone forever, unless one of the lands we globetrot to holds us captive by its beauty. But few of us have the guts to do it. We're scared that once we get back our work will have dried up or promotion opportunities will have dwindled. Most universities offer the opportunity to qualify for paid sabbatical leave as an employee benefit, but what if you're not a professor? Is there a way to take a break from work without going broke?

1. Save Your Cash

If you're planning on taking a sabbatical from work without going broke you have to save your dough. Plan about a year ahead of time and save every penny you can for that year. That means bring your lunch every day, make dinners at home, sell items that you no longer use, and avoid buying any cloths that you don't need. Put money in a savings account that's hard to access for when you're feeling especially weak, and resolve to avoid using your car and wasting gas wherever possible. Turn the heat down, the AC up, and drop all your extra change into a big glass jar to be counted at the end of the year. You'll be absolutely amazed at how much you can save. However you plan to save, set up your savings plan and stick to it. Also consider that the cost of taking a sabbatical is often less than your real life because the places that you choose to go can often be cheaper than the U.S. Decide how much money you can survive on per day and stick to your budget once aboard, or you could get yourself into a real pickle.

Photo: Jupiter Images

2. Look For Sabbatical Leave

According to Forbes, hundreds of companies, including Boston Consulting Group, eBay, and Blue Cross Blue Shield, offer paid and unpaid sabbaticals for employees who want to improve their health, recover from job burnout, develop new skills, or clarify what they want to do with their lives. Just be sure you are an asset to your company.

"The concept of working for 40 years and then retiring is outdated," says Elizabeth Pagano, cofounder of YourSabbatical.com. "People should be able to inject bursts of time off into their career paths."

3. Think Eat Pray Love Style

While you likely can't get a book deal like Elizabeth Gilbert which funds your trip to Italy, India, and Bali, you can write your way around the globe. Consider writing for a travel blog and documenting your travel adventures along the way. If travel writing isn't for you, consider writing for a blog that covers your particular expertise. This could include anything from biking to law and everything in between. Unless you're a seasoned blogger and have been doing this for a while, it likely won't support you, but it will at least provide beer money while you're away.

4. Cruise Around the World

Take a sabbatical from your current career on a cruise ship. According to JobFinder, cruise ship jobs are another option. I know that this may seem strange but you can find plenty of cruise ship jobs which cover all industries from chefs and servers, to housekeeping staff, entertainers, spa therapists, and child minders. Your job could also include free lodging, medical aid, and free transportation but you should take into consideration the hard work and the hours. Shifts can last up to 12 or even 15 hours, so be prepared, according to the site.

For more great ideas on living aboard cheaply read:

5 Ways to Travel and Live Abroad for Free (Or Very, Very Cheaply)

More on Travel
More Airports With Havana Flights: Could Open Cuban Travel Be a Reality?
South Carolina Couple to Run Across Ethiopia To Build Schools
6 Intoxicating High Altitude Restaurants

Snake River salmon are a "wow" species. They spawn by making a journey of 900 miles, to altitudes of 7,000 feet in the northwestern United States. No other salmon species on Earth goes higher or farther in the name of procreation. But they have to pass through eight dams on their way there ... and most of these magnificent fish don't make it past four of those dams in the lower Snake River. Such is the story of "The Greatest Migration," which could turn into a "What a Shame" extinction if action isn't taken to remove the four structures.

"The Greatest Migration" is a documentary being used by the nonprofit Save Our Wild Salmon to tell the tale of the vanishing salmon, and try and convince the Obama administration to remove the dams.

The documentary was done by EP Films, a group of three adventure/environmental journalists that produces multimedia content for groups like National Geographic, Wend, and the Wild & Scenic Film Festival.

Which brings us to the latest on the movie. It's being featured as part of the film fest's latest tour, which stops on Feb. 24 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, to benefit the Stroud Water Research Center (which gets credit for telling us about this movie). A trailer is below; you also can view the full 20-minute film here.

Think about the numbers again: 900 miles, 7,000 feet. And each one of us has probably turned down sex at one time or another just because we had a headache.

According to wildsalmon.org, the Snake River salmon spawning grounds are "the highest salmon spawning habitats on Earth, and the largest and wildest habitat left in the continental United States."

Marsh Creek. Challis National Forest, Idaho. Photo Credit: Neil Ever Osborne.

And those four federal dams are blocking access to a majority of the salmon, killing them before they make it to the end of their spawning journey. The dams could be replaced with clean, "salmon-safe" renewable sources, Save Our Wild Salmon argues. Climate change also is a threat to the cold-water species. And we've all probably complained about long lines and delays at the airport, too.

More on Fish
How to Get the Nutrients from Fish Without Eating Them
100 Tons of Fish Die Near Brazil
Wild Salmon In Scotland in Peril

It's 508 feet long and built to mimic the streets of Monaco. This $1.1 billion yacht will become the most expensive in the world. While it's just in the design stages, to call the boat lavish is a blatant understatement.

Red Orbit describes the city atop water:

"The super-ship will feature smaller versions of the state’s famous landmarks such as the Monte Carlo Casino and racetrack, as well as swimming pools, tennis courts, a cinema, a go kart track and a Hotel de Paris. Instead of traditional decks the one-of-a-kind ship will have buildings, and instead of a swimming platform it will have a beach."

The super yacht will require a crew of 70 and will hold 16 guests.

Its designers, Yacht Island Design described the floating metrapolis:

"It is basically a floating city,” company director Rob McPherson said. "We want to create a truly unique environment that could take the principality of Monaco to the ocean."

So, basically, this is along the lines of the $165 million diamond encrusted fruitcake I wrote about over Christmas. The same people that buy la bonnotte potatoes for $300 per lb or civet coffee for upwards of $100 per pound would love to buy a floating city. Think what good you could do with $1.1 billion?

And anyway, I'm much more inclined to buy my own island to get away from it all with the likes of Richard Branson or Elizabeth Sinclair.

More on Travel:
Could You Purchase Your Own Island? 5 Privately Owned Paradises
5 Ways to Travel and Live Abroad for Free (Or Very, Very Cheaply)
6 Intoxicating High Altitude Restaurants

I think we all have one of those hotel horror stories to share. Am I right? Mine was a childhood road trip to Nashville, Tennessee with my parents. On a tight budget, a classically cheap motel was chosen. That night in Tennessee, the sheets were so pill-y and dotted with mysterious stains, I remember refusing to slide even just one leg under cover. Instead, I slept on top of the the scratchy, synthetic comforter. It felt safer that way. My parents and I laughed and cracked jokes through the night but the experience forever shaped my hotel expectations.

There are a few things perfectly acceptable to put up with from conventional budget accommodations: bare bones, outdated furnishings, that scratchy, synthetic comforter, and a bed that serves as nothing more than a place to get some shut eye, not necessarily a sufficient beauty rest. There are however, in my opinion, a few things completely unacceptable: dead roaches, bug bites and crusty sheets among other things. Is that asking too much?

Other frugal travelers on TripAdvisor agree. Here are their 2011 Top 10 decidedly dirtiest hotels here in the US based on user reviews:

1. Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

"There was dirt at least 1/2" thick in the bathtub which was filled with lots of dark hair."

2. Jack London Inn, Oakland, California

"Had to go buy socks so my feet wouldn't touch the carpet."

3. Desert Inn Resort, Daytona Beach, Florida

"They have dead roaches all over the hotel."

4. Hotel Carter, New York City, New York

Photo: iStockphoto

"The bathtub was full of dirty black stuff."

5. Polynesian Beach & Golf Resort, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Photo: iStockphoto

"Hold your nose for the garbage smell."

"Probably more sanitary to sleep in the bathroom of the room."

7. Rodeway Inn, Williamsville, New York

Photo: Flickr/dhReno

"Crusty white stains on the blankets and sheets."

8. Super 8 Estes Park, Estes Park, Colorado

Photo: Flickr/MissMessie

"Mouse feces located around the base of the bathroom."

9. Palm Grove Hotel and Suites, Virginia Beach, Virginia

"Camp out on the beach instead."

10. Econo Lodge Newark International Airport, Elizabeth, New Jersey

"25 bug bites between the two of us."

Let's hope the not-so-glowing reviews inspire the hotel management to regularly break out the eco-friendly cleaning products and investigate humane or less toxic pest management

In the meanwhile, I'm going to skip the cheap-o hotels for frugal green hostels or house swaps. Much cooler, comfortable and sustainable.

You've probably heard about the polar bear who swam more than 400 miles over a continuous nine-day stretch. She was looking for ice, and although polar bears regularly swim long distances between ice floes, the Telegraph reports, "it is feared the animals are being forced to go further as there is less ice because of global warming."

The polar bear accomplished quite a feat in her search for ice (though sadly, she also lost her yearling cub)—but she's not the only animal surprising humans with impressive travel skills, either for purposeful migration or because they show up by chance hundreds or thousands of miles away from home.

Here's a look at some other animals that have turned up shockingly far from home—and not all of the animals here are wild.

Dog - 200 Miles

Thinkstock

Sophie Tucker, a grey and black cattle dog, fell overboard from her family's yacht off the coast of Australia—but instead of drowning, or being eaten by sharks, the dog swam six miles to a small island. She survived there on wild goats for more than four months, at which point local residents noticed her presence and contacted wildlife rangers, who eventually reunited Sophie Tucker with her family.

Bobbie Sue is another dog with a surprising story: a Shih Tzu who, a story on Petfinder says, "went missing 50 miles north of Kansas City and Star was found in Montauk, a four or five hour drive away." It's the result of concerned and resourceful people, but it's still 200 miles—an extra long way for such a tiny, tiny dog.

Penguin - 3,000 Miles

Thinkstock

A Magellanic penguin went 3,000 miles astray in search of food. These penguins usually look for food in groups, but this guy got separated from his flock in the Strait of Magellan, at the tip of Chile and all of South America, and turned up in Peru.

Whale - 6,200 Miles

Comstock Images

A humpback whale—a species that usually migrates from north to south (or south to north) and that also usually sticks to the same route—was found to have traveled a whopping 6,200 miles to the east, starting in Brazil and arriving in Madagascar.

"No other mammal has been seen to move between two places that are further apart," said marine ecologist Peter Stevick.

Black Bear - 2 Miles, Heading for the City

Thinkstock

A black bear turned up on the loose in Des Moines, Washington a couple years ago, but he didn't just wander into town from a nearby park or an inland forest. He got there by swimming two miles across Puget Sound. Authorities said he just jumped in the water and started to swim the two miles across to Des Moines, authorities said Friday.

The Coast Guard Lt. said a general notice was sent out that day to beware of the bear—"It's something we do fairly regularly when there's something in the water," she said. "This time that something happened to be alive."

Turtles - 4,000-Plus Miles

Thinkstock

Leatherback turtles swim for thousands of miles to get from their breeding grounds to a feeding area: one female was tracked swimming 4,699 miles in a straight line from Africa to South America. She averaged 30 miles a day and got to her destination after about 150 days of consistent swimming, MSNBC reports.

The trick for them, though, is not the great distance, but the fishing industry that dominates the oceans with nets and hooks and other dangerous obstacles for turtles. A conservation biologist said, "All of the routes we've identified take the leatherbacks through areas of high risk from fisheries, so there's a very real danger to the Atlantic population."

More on animal migration and protection:
Polar Bear Observed to Swim Continuously for 9 Days Over 426 Miles
Snake River Salmon Make 'Great Migration' of 900 Miles, But Are Going Belly Up (Video)
China Bans Animal Circuses; How About the Rest of the World?

Several Harpy eagles have been discovered in Belize’s Maya Mountains for the first time in 60 years. The eagles were believed extinct in the country, due to habitat loss and overhunting.

“This is incredibly significant for bird conservation in the region. It shows that our work in Belize is effective; protecting wildlife and habitat from overhunting and disturbance, while also sending a positive message about the benefits of conservation to the local communities,” said Lee McLoughlin, Protected Areas Manager for the Ya’axché Conservation Trust. (Source: Fauna-flora.org)

A pair of adult Harpy eagles and a chick were spotted inhabiting a nest. The fact they have reproduced should indicate they are healthy and have enough food sources to continue living a normal life span. There may be two other eagles in the same area, as one source said five were spotted by wildlife observers.

The newly discovered couple may be the most northerly breeding pair of Harpy eagles. The species also used to live as far north as Mexico, but it is thought they were mainly wiped out there. They may now only dwell in Chiapas, Oxaca and Veracruz in southern Mexico, but the populations are so small, they cannot be reliably confirmed.

The Maya mountains are believed to have some of the oldest rock formations in Central America. Some of them are estimated to be 200 million years old. The forested area is a good habitat for Harpy eagles. Some parts of the area are protected in a continuous corridor all the way to the Caribbean Sea. Other animals in these nature preserves are: jaguars, crocodiles, West Indian manatees, lobsters, conch, scarlet macaws and parrots. There are also 220 tree species and 350 bird species. Mahogany and cedar are some of the dominant trees, but these are highly sought for commercial value, and some were taken for industry during the 20th century.

At Care2, we believe that individual actions can collectively make a difference. Whether you start making differences in your home, your community, or across the globe, we are glad to help you on your journey. Join us today! With more than 11 million members, Care2 is the largest online community of people making a difference in healthy and green living, human rights and animal welfare. Join us today!

More on Threatened Wildlife
Know Your Endangered Species? (Quiz)
10 Most Interesting, Threatened and Endangered Frogs (Slideshow)
Environmental Conservation Crisis: A Travelogue in Photos (Slideshow)

Let's call this the underwater version of getting a goat to keep your grass trimmed. Scientists at a Hawaii research center are breeding native sea urchins to do battle with an invasive seaweed that's covering coral reefs.

Coral reefs are important because fish rely on them for habitat, explains Scientific American. The situation is kind of like the monster storm that recently buried the U.S. --- two invasive algae called Kappaphycus alvarezii and K. striatum are blanketing the coral seaweed and smothering it.

The invasive seaweed has been causing trouble in the Aloha State for years. Like another invasive species working its way toward the North American Great Lakes (Asian carp), this seaweed was originally brought in to help. So much for that.

A sample of the offending seaweed, Kappaphycus alvarezii, also known as "smothering seaweed." Credit: Agriculturasp

About 1,000 of the tiny, collector sea urchins were recently released in Kaneohe Bay, the only barrier reef system in the U.S.

It's the first time urchins have been bred to do battle with invasive seaweed in Hawaii, the Star Advertiser reports. The goal is to restore the bay's coral, using up to 25,000 new urchins per month from the breeding site, the Anuenue Fisheries Research Center.

These little buggers are working so far against the algae, which can grow up to 2 meters tall. Who says size matters?

More on Amazing Animals
Endangered Whooping Cranes Make Multi-State Journey Before They're Shot and Killed
Snake River Salmon Make 'Great Migration' of 900 Miles, But Are Going Belly Up (Video)
OK Go 'White Knuckles' Video Features, Helps, Rescue Dogs

There's such a thing as relying too much on technology. Searching Google for information or printing out an online map before a trip is one thing. But what about relying solely on a little electronic GPS device? It can get you lost, in a crash, or worse, killed.

Global Positioning System devices use satellites to triangulate your position on the planet. Various smartphone apps purport to do the same. And they're pretty accurate. Still, where you are on the Earth may not translate exactly to what roads, obstacles, or treacherous conditions await you.

Take this story in The Sacramento Bee, which quotes Death Valley wilderness coordinator Charlie Callagan:

"It's what I'm beginning to call death by GPS ... People are renting vehicles with GPS and they have no idea how it works and they are willing to trust the GPS to lead them into the middle of nowhere."

Or their using their own vehicles, with similarly bad, if not deadly, results.

Just ask my mom. I spent a couple of days recently in Wild Detroit, and used my iPhone and a GPS app to find my way around. Which worked well, most of the time. Exceptions include when I "lost my GPS signal" right before a critical turn, when the app was a few turns behind and told me to drive into a field, etc.

My mom calls the computerized female voice on my GPS app "your lady friend," and the voice seems to prefer side roads to highways, whether or not I switch between fastest, shortest and traffic modes. I did eventually get to my destination, but with the price of gas (more than $3 a gallon, not mention those nasty emissions) and these "Death By GPS" examples, it may behoove us all to plan out our trips a little better. We don't want to be "that person," as in dead, lost or generally looking stupid, driving with one eye on the device, another on the road, and our head in the clouds.

The Badlands, Furnace Creek. Not a Sunday drive. Credit: National Park Service.

In Death Valley, a dozen people have died in the last 15 years from heat-related illnesses, according to the same Sac Bee article. Managers of the national park, which stretches from California to Nevada, are working with companies to remove closed and hazardous roads from GPS maps.

A National Park Service warning about Death Valley is a good reminder for any traveler:

"Travel on the park's hundreds of miles of backcountry roads requires the correct type of vehicle for the road conditions, a vehicle in good repair with all necessary tools and replacement parts, and some knowledge of driving on rough dirt, gravel and 4-wheel drive roads ...

"Cell phones do not work in Death Valley! Do not depend on them. In some cases there is spotty reception, but dependence on a cell phone in an emergency situation can be fatal. Check with the Rangers for specific recommendations on travel safety."

Feel free to share your harrowing stories below, or at least pass on this story to someone who "Drives With GPS."

More on Traveling
6 Tips to Go Car Free
7 Tips to Stay Healthy When Traveling by Public Transportation
Make Traveling Meaningful with Reality Tours from Global Exchange
Sierra Club has 300 Ways to Get Outdoors

A female right whale—there are only 300-400 of them left in the world—turned up dead last week. It had fishing rope stuck in its mouth.

The Montreal Gazette reports that marine biologists had spotted it in trouble more than a month earlier, on Christmas Day, trailing with it about 50 meters of fishing rope because it had gotten tangled in fishing equipment. Right whales migrate about 1,200 miles between the Bay of Fundy in Canada and the southeastern U.S.

There's a lot of fishing territory in there—and as this whale illustrates more than any politician can, the region, and the oceans in general, are in desperate need of better regulation.

Because even where there's been a notion of control over the great seas, it's been false: take the finding, also last week, that 75 times more fish were caught in the Arctic between 1950 and 2006 than was officially reported. Science Daily summed up the problem: "ineffective reporting due to governance issues and a lack of credible data on small-scale fisheries."

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which led the attempted rescue and ultimately pulled the whale to shore once it was found dead, issued a condemning statement about the event and its implications.

Image: NOAA

From the NOAA statement:

The death of a young right whale off Florida drives home the point that while disentanglement responses give the animals a better chance at survival, prevention of entanglements in fishing gear is paramount...

Initial observations lead researchers to conclude this whale had been entangled for months. Parts of the rope that could not be removed during the disentanglement efforts were found to be embedded in the whale’s mouth, possibly impeding it from feeding. The young female was significantly underweight. Weakened and injured by the long entanglement, she was easier prey for sharks.  Bite marks on the carcass suggest that scavenging sharks may have finished off the wounded whale by severing major veins at the base of the tail.

The rope removed from the whale was floating groundline from a trap/pot fishery. NOAA Fisheries Service has prohibited floating groundline in U.S. Atlantic coast trap/pot fisheries managed under the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to try to reduce these lethal entanglements, but it is still used in some international fisheries.

To get a better idea of how bad the problem is:

• From SeaWeb: "Some 60% of photo-identified right whales exhibit scars assumed to be caused by fishing ropes and nets, and numbers of whales have been documented in potentially fatal entanglements or with entanglement injuries that were considered serious."

• From the New England Aquarium: "Vulnerable to vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, about half of all right whale deaths are the result of these human activities. They are also threatened by a low reproductive rate, habitat loss, disease and environmental contaminants. Solutions to reduce human impact on right whales exist, but implementation remains a challenge."

At least half of whale fatalities around the world are thought to be caused by fishing gear entanglement or ship strikes, the report by leading scientists says.

It's not strictly fishing lines: shipping needs to be improved and pollution eliminated. We all know about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, for example. But there's debris everywhere. More from NOAA:

Smaller debris items, such as plastic bags and other forms of land-based debris (i.e. litter), also pose a threat to marine mammals. Sometimes marine mammals ingest debris, mistaking it for food. Similar to entanglements, the ingestion of debris may result in starvation, illness, and death. Unlike entanglements however, ingestion of debris by marine mammals is more difficult to study and monitor and therefore little information exists on the subject.

Back to one of the simpler points made by NOAA: "Prevention of entanglements in fishing gear is paramount." Preventing those entanglements means cleaning up the mess that has become of our oceans.

More on the need for ocean regulations
75x More Fish Were Caught In Arctic From 1950-2006 Than Officially Reported: New Data
Red Snapper Populations in Trouble, Simple Fishing Regulations Can Help
All Ocean-Going Ships Near California's Coast Must Now Use Cleaner Fuel

Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff, most famous for its construction of the RMS Titanic, is rekindling its ties to the ill-fated ocean liner with a $3 million project to restore the Nomadic, the ferry that transported passengers for the Titanic’s maiden voyage.

The European Union and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board awarded the money to the shipyard for the restoration of the steelwork and superstructure of the historic ship, which was made by Harland and Wolff in 1911. In addition to work on the frame, the interior will also be restored to its original luxury décor.

Specifically built to serve ocean liners such as the Titanic, the Nomadic was used to transport first and second class passengers from the French port of Cherbourg to the ship. On the 10th of April 1912, Nomadic set sail with 142 passengers for the Titanic including famous passengers such as the “unsinkable” Molly Brown and John Jacob Aster.

After the Titanic, the Nomadic served 95 years in every position from warship to floating restaurant in France. The ship finally made its way back to its birthplace in Belfast in 2006, where it has been awaiting repairs.

As the last surviving White Star Line vessel, the Nomadic will play a big role in next year’s festivities for the 100th anniversary of the sinking. Harland and Wolff is planning to reopen the ship as a museum to explain the rich maritime and industrial history of the shipyard and travel during that period. The project is slated to start immediately and expected to be done by then end of July.

More on Incredible Boats
The Most Expensive Yacht in the World: It's a City on Water
Boatanic: Urban Farming Aboard Tourist Boats
Travel by Cargo Ship?

It seems that more than ever, airline fees will become the norm for much of our nation's air travel. It means shelling out more dough than ever before if you're not careful. Whether it's the price of oil or airline companies simply trying to stay afloat in the wake of a stagnant economy, the fact of the matter is that prices seem to be going up.

According to faithful travel writer Rick Seaney the forecast is clear, fees in 2011 are going up, up, up.

Here's how to avoid fees that have already appeared or are likely to surface this year:

1. Prep Travel Meals (Recipes Included)

Free airline meals have slowly disappeared in the past few years and now they will likely diminish even for transatlantic flights. If you're planning on traveling extensively this year, make it a habit to pack snacks and meals. This way you can control what you're eating and at the same time you can save between $4 and $8 dollars for every meal or snack that you purchase aboard a plane. This Green Lentil Salad is travel-friendly. Or consider these journey worthy Tan Tan Noodles. And my favorite, these completely naturally sweet, Maple Date Bars will keep for days without losing any of their flavor. Soda and water will likely be the next to go but you can avoid this one by bringing empty water bottles and filling them up at water fountains once in the terminal.

2. Pack Light To Avoid Potential Fees

You're likely well versed about packing light when it comes to checked bags because if not, you're sure to pay steep overweight bag charges. If your carry on is too heavy then you could also be forced to pay to check that as well. So basically you'll be paying for heavy checked or carry on bags this year. So prepare yourself by leaving cloths and especially shoes that you don't plan to wear behind. Trust me, unless you're trying to be a fashionista you'll be glad that you don't have to haul them around or pay for them later.

3. Choose Airlines With the Least Fees

While it seems airline fees are going up, airlines vary greatly. Choose airlines with the lowest fees. Southwest Airlines reduced its number of allowed checked bags from three to two per passenger, but it hasn’t added new fees. While most airlines do charge fees per bag, that price can vary between airlines. You can choose credit cards or hotel deals that reimburse you for checked bag fees. American Express for example, has travel programs which reimburse you if you check bags or buy food on airlines. While these are often fee-based cards, if you're a frequent traveler in the end, you still come out on top.

4. Stick to Your Plans

Most airlines will be or are currently charging change fees for seats that you've already booked if you want to change your plans. This one is easy to avoid, once you make plans, stick to them. Don't get somewhere and decide you want to leave at a later or earlier date or time and not expect to pay for it.

Like this? Follow my Twitter feed.

More on Travel:
Dead Roaches, Bug Bites & Crusty Sheets: TripAdvisor's 10 Dirtiest Hotels
The Most Expensive Yacht in the World: It's a City on Water
4 Tips to Planning a Sabbatical and Traveling the Globe

A site called Green Traveler Guides just became the first green travel website to have its content syndicated by the Reuters news service, which specializes in international fare. That means content from the Guides will now be republished on Business Traveler, a new web channel on the Reuters website. Does this mean more business travelers are going eco? Ties made with organic cotton? Using their hotel towels more than once? Offsetting their airplane carbon emissions?

Green Traveler Guides showcases eco-friendly travel ideas that its writers have researched and experienced. "We won't send you anywhere we haven't been" is one of the site's slogans. The content includes articles on everything from green lodging, restaurants and shopping to general advice on traveling green.

Peter Myers, editor of the Reuters Business Traveler site, calls Green Traveler Guides "easily one of the very best blogs focused on traveling green we'd ever seen," culled from a list of thousands.

So we took a look. GTG is pretty comprehensive, with posts on everything from saving green (money) --- "Travel Secrets of Frequent Fliers" --- to Voluntourism, as in mixing volunteer service with your travel.

This site declares green travel as the future of travel, among everyone from Baby Boomers to Gen Xers and Millenials. Is it more expensive to be more responsible when you travel? It doesn't have to be that way, says this story, and some destinations are already passing on the savings from sustainability to the folks with the suitcases.

Green Traveler Guides is run by Gary and Peggy Diedrichs, the husband a longtime travel writer and his wife, a marketing pro. They both grew up on farms, and are now based in California's San Francisco Bay area.

More on Travel
Sierra Club has 300 Ways to Get Outdoors
More Airports With Havana Flights: Could Open Cuban Travel Be a Reality?
5 Ways to Travel and Live Abroad for Free (Or Very, Very Cheaply)

An agreement between environmental groups and the federal government should protect endangered Pacific loggerhead turtles from the swordfishing industry. Last year 46 endangered Pacific loggerhead turtles were hooked on longlines intended for swordfish in Hawaii. While this may not sound like a significant number, their population has declined 80 percent in just two decades. (Pacific leatherback turtles declined 95 percent in the same period.)

Vessels targeting swordfish pull miles of fishing line and floats with hundreds or thousands of baited hooks in the ocean. Sea turtles sometimes go for the bait and get hooked or become caught up in the many nearly transparent lines. Pacific loggerheads are currently at risk of extinction, according to the Sea Turtle Restoration Project. They also say thousands of these turtles are caught off the coasts of Japan and Mexico and in open ocean. (They migrate to Japan for nesting, stopping in Hawaii, and then return to Baja California and Mexico.) After highseas driftnets were banned in 1991, longline fishing vessels from many nations set over 3 million hooks on 100,000 miles of longline every day, according to an article from the University of Hawaii.

The Center for Biological Diversity had to file a complaint in federal court to prohibit the increase of Pacific loggerhead bycatch, meaning turtles that are accidentally caught when vessels are trying to capture swordfish. The federal government’s loggerhead restoration plan acknowledged the impact of commercial swordfish catches: “A primary threat to the species in the Pacific is from the incidental mortalities associated with commercial fisheries, particularly longline and net fisheries. This threat must be minimized for recovery of this species.”

Swordfish contain mercury, enough that the EPA has suggested women and small children do not eat any. A recent study in California found swordfish and tuna from restaurants and grocery stores contained three times the limit established by the government as acceptable.

Seabirds, humpback whales and false killer whales also can become entangled in the lines. As many as 100,000 Albatross might be killed each year from longline fishing.

See Philippe Cousteau speak on sea turtle rehabilitation in the Gulf:

At Care2, we believe that individual actions can collectively make a difference. Whether you start making differences in your home, your community, or across the globe, we are glad to help you on your journey. Join us today! With more than 11 million members, Care2 is the largest online community of people making a difference in healthy and green living, human rights and animal welfare. Join us today!

More on Ocean Life
What You Can Do to Protect Sea Turtles
Do You Know Your Marine Life? (Quiz)
100 Tons of Fish Die Near Brazil

The preferred sound here is "ribbit," rather than "croak." The critically endangered Lake Titicaca Frog recently made a major leap forward. Frogs in captivity in their native country of Peru have laid fertile eggs for the first time ever.

This isn't a success story ... yet. The tadpoles died, but it's a big deal, say officials with the Denver Zoo, who are helping out on the project. The last time a Lake Titicaca Frog spawned in captivity was about 40 years ago at the Bronx Zoo.

This latest bit of promise comes from a report by Scientific American:

"Biologically unique, the Lake Titicaca frog is covered by loose folds of skin that allow it to breathe indefinitely underwater by absorbing oxygen from the water. Found only in the vicinity of South America's largest lake, straddling the Peru-Bolivia border, the species has seen its population drop precipitously since it was first brought to the world's attention by a Jacques Cousteau documentary in 1971."

A Lake Titicaca frog in a Peru aquarium. Photo Credit: Denver Zoo

Lake Titicaca Frogs are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' Red List, due to pollution, habitat loss and invasive species.

They're also threatened by human consumption. Wrinkly frog legs? No. Superstitious beliefs that the frogs have medicinal and aphrodisiac properties, according to the Denver Zoo.

Zoo officials estimate that 150 of the frogs are killed every day in Peru for human consumption; believers use a blender to make them into soup.

So the Denver Zoo has been working with staff at the University of Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima to set up a holding facility for wild Lake Titicaca frogs. The Denver people also have put together an exhibit on the frogs at a Lima zoo.

It's touchy. The Americans don't want to tell the Peruvians their beliefs are wrong, only that the Denver experts are helping keep the frogs from going extinct.

The Year of the Frog passed in 2008, but 2011 also could mark a milestone for these Lake Titicaca creatures.

More on the Denver Zoo's conservation work with the Lake Titicaca Frogs is available at the zoo website.

Denver Zoo Outreach Specialist Matt Herbert and Denver Zoo Area Supervisor Tom Weaver in Peru's Lake Titicaca in snorkel gear holding a smaller Lake Titicaca Frog. Photo Credit: Denver Zoo

More on Endangered Species
Interesting and Endangered Frogs (Slideshow)
7 Ways YOU Can Save the Frogs
Endangered Whooping Cranes Make Multi-State Journey Before They're Shot and Killed