World's biggest beaver dam discovered in northern Canada

[The abyss]

Source: yahoo/afp

OTTAWA (AFP) – A Canadian ecologist has discovered the world's largest beaver dam in a remote area of northern Alberta, an animal-made structure so large it is visible from space.
Researcher Jean Thie said Wednesday he used satellite imagery and Google Earth software to locate the dam, which is about 850 metres (2,800 feet) long on the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park.
Average beaver dams in Canada are 10 to 100 metres long, and only rarely do they reach 500 metres.
First discovered in October 2007, the gigantic dam is located in a virtually inaccessible part of the park south of Lac Claire, about 190 kilometres (120 miles) northeast of Fort McMurray.
Construction of the dam likely started in the mid-1970s, said Thie, who made his discovery quite by accident while tracking melting permafrost in Canada's far north.
"Several generations of beavers worked on it and it's still growing," he told AFP in Ottawa.




Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100505/sc_afp/canadascienceenvironmentanimalbeaver

[Skink]

1. You said beaver.

:beer:

[Kablooie]

20. You said dam.

[conspirator]

27. You mean Vagina? nt

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[theoldman]

3. I guess they were busy as a beaver.

There are a few beavers in the DFW area but they do not build dams. They live in existing ponds and the Trinity river.

[Patsy Stone]

4. I sent this to the greatest page

because of the word beaver. I admit it.

[glinda]

5. I do not like that they told where it was. When beavers build a dam it is actually an

ecological wonder as well as an accomplishment of purpose. I love the darn little critters. So under-appreciated. Just am worried some ass hole will try to blow it up.

[daleo]

6. That's a very uninhabited area

It's very hard to get into that area, so the beavers are probably ok.

[U4ikLefty]

11. Tough to get near the beaver.

story of my life

[47of74]

48. Mine too

[raccoon]

24. Wonder if there might be grizzlies or polar bears wandering around that area as well?

That should be a deterrent to assholes.

[daleo]

32. There would be plenty of black bears, maybe wolves

It's too far south for polar bears (though they have been coming farther south lately). That part of Alberta isn't noted for grizzly - it's in the far northeast, rather than anywhere near the mountains.

There is no all-year road into the area, as far as I know (I am not sure about ice roads). The closest road access is from the north, which is an extra day's drive, at least, via the Northwest Territories. Even then, that just gets you to the northern part of the park. You would probably need a long boat trip, or a float plane to get near the southern part of the park.

[Solly Mack]

7. K&R

[RollWithIt]

8. Soon they will learn to make fire and get a copy of the Viet Cong Survival Handbook......

Then we are doomed.


Seriously, smart animals.

[Archae]

9. That's not the biggest Beaver Dam.

There's a bigger one here in WI. ;-)

[saigon68]

37. Been there---- Hwy 151

[rocktivity]

53. Here's another article from AFP

It also says that the biggest beaver dam in the U.S. (and now the second biggest one in the world) is a "652-meter structure in Three Forks...Montana."

:headbang:
rocktivity

[U4ikLefty]

10. Did Stephanie Miller cover this one yet?

I missed her show today...damn!!!

[47of74]

49. If not I mailed it to her

Pretty sure it wasn't on Thursday's show, and I'm about 1/2 way through Friday's show.

[guitar man]

12. Was Wynona

...spotted anywhere in the area? :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBYwYVJNFKg&feature=youtube_gdata

[Union Yes]

13. "Nice beaver. Thanks, I just had it stuffed."

Best movie line ever- Naked Gun

[Initech]

14. Uh huh huh huh huh huh huh... beaver.

[SoapBox]

19. ROFL!

Sorry...but...that's REALLY (from a guy point of view, I guess) FUNNY!

[Igel]

15. Big enough to be seen from outer space?

On Google maps I can look at my house and see the variegated pittosporum growing in my flowerbed. They're perhaps 3 feet across.

I pointed my parents to the right coordinates to see the apt. building we used to live in. They IDed our car. Its door was open. OMG, a car door big enough to be seen from outer space. It must have been huge!

This is a huge beaver dam. But its visibility via Google isn't a big deal. I'm surprised they couldn't ID the beavers involved. And that's with the publicly available images.

[Orrex]

17. Doesn't "visible from space" usually mean "visible with the unaided eye?"

Sure, they located it using Google imagery, but I understood the article to mean that the dam itself is large enough to be seen from space without the aid of telescopes or zoom lenses.

[progressoid]

26. Yeah, I noticed that stoopid statement too.

Hell, with Google maps I can see my car in my driveway.

[Orrex]

30. I can see our four foot by four foot sandbox.

Let's call it the eighth wonder of the world!

[jberryhill]

40. Still a meaningless metric

Yesterday I saw a penny on the sidewalk from an elevation of about six feet. I therefore confirm that the penny was visible from space with the unaided eye.

In fact, I was in geosynchronous orbit at the time, as I usually am.

[Orrex]

42. I've never heard the phrase used except to mean "outside of the planet's atmosphere" sort of context

It's meaningless insofar as you wouldn't want to calibrate your avionics equipment based on it, but in the spirit of best-guess-ery, I think it serves reasonably well.

[jberryhill]

43. The earth is not in space?

I'll bet the term "space" is more frequently used in connection with parking than with a location beyond the atmosphere.

[Orrex]

44. You're putting me on, right?

If you're sitting in your backyard with your friend, and you decide that you'd like a beer from the refrigerator in the house, do you say "stend by while I venture into space to retrieve a cold one?"

[jberryhill]

45. Depends on how many beers I've already had

The gravitational anomalies kick in after about two of them.

But, let's take your definition. The Andromeda galaxy is in space, yes? Can you see the beaver dam, or even the planet earth, from there with the named eye?

No, you can't. So this "visible from space" thing remains meaningless unless you specify WHERE in space you are. You could say that a thing subtends an arc of a given angle from a specified distance, but that is merely a really stupid way to specify its dimensions in the first place. The term "visible from space" is wholly without definite meaning, and reflects a medieval mindset wherein space is "out there" and we are "here" in some sense suggesting we are separate from the cosmos. You, me, and everyone on DU is in space already.

[pokercat999]

46. And after a dozen or so the gravity storms are so prevalent and

strong that you can hardly stand and walking becomes impossible.My guess is that is what was wrong with the guys on the moon...notice how the jumped and hopped all around? I think they drank their way to the moon, they were after-all riding in a glorified beer can.The gravity storms must have been fierce.

[jberryhill]

47. I see a journal article in the making here...

Measurements Of Alcohol Induced Gravitational Anomalies In Localized Planetary Fields

[awoke_in_2003]

54. What is worse....

gravity storms, or High Gravity? :)
http://www.steelbrewing.com/

[Thor_MN]

51. Why does everyone assume Google Maps=Satellite Imagery?

The more zoomed views are arial photography, as in pictures from airplanes. Rural areas may be only satellite images, but the close in views in populated are from planes.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

16. great, Now leave it - and them - alone!

[SoapBox]

18. "I'm a Beaver...You're a Beaver...We are Beavers All..."

"and when we get together, we give the Beaver call!"

(fill in here with a Beaver sound)

Sheesh...stop glaring at me!

This was from a school I went to...we were the Beavers.

...it's still funny though. :)

[Kablooie]

21. That's terrifying. Do you think it will eat Canada?

[colsohlibgal]

22. Wow!

My guess is that this is a lock to make an appearance tomorrow in a Stephanie Miller Show "Beaver File" report.

[Ian David]

23. Nice beaver...

[hlthe2b]

25. I love this story--BIgger than Hover Dam

and built with the technological advances of a 3 1/2 foot long semi-aquatic furry mammal. ;) Heh Heh...

[druidity33]

28. are there pics? nt.

:)

[underpants]

50. ***PIC***

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/biggest-beaver-dam-visible-from-space-20100506-uf73.html

[Dappleganger]

29. Obviously a Union job...

If you want it done right the first time around!

[Javaman]

31. Mrs. Cleaver, the neighbor want to talk to you about your Beaver. nt

[Roon]

35. Ward?

I think you were a little rough on the beaver last night.

[Union Yes]

33. Nuke Canada!

It's the 'Murkan way!

:sarcasm:

[rocktivity]

34. I made this Web page for a friend

I guess I didn't charge her enough!

http://www.profitonlineforbeginners.com/free-article-marketing-tutorial

:headbang:
rocktivity

[drmeow]

36. Thank you

Coming straight off a post about the Gulf, this post really lifted my spirits.

[Vidar]

38. I offer a toast to Canadian beavers everywhere.

[jberryhill]

41. You shouldn't feed them baked goods /nt

[Thor_MN]

52. Will beavers appreciate products made with yeast?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

39. Maybe we can sick 'em on the Gulf spill?