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The Octopus's Garden
by Bryan Jáuregui | Adventure, Conservation, Education, Wildlife
This article was originally published in Janice Kinne's Journal del Pacifico
There was a thief in the aquarium and no one knew what to do. The institution had just recently purchased 10 Australian Pineapplefish at a price per head
California Two-Spot Octopus, The Pacific Ocean. Photo by Kaia Thomson
that brought tears to the financial officer's eyes, and now these expensive beauties were
disappearing – eerily, quietly, and exactly one fish per night. Management's initial hypothesis was that night-time employees were seeking to boost their fortunes by selling the fish on the black market, so they set up monitoring stations at employee exits to inspect bags and purses. No pilfered fish were found, and they kept disappearing, one fish each evening. Puzzled, and anxious to protect what remained of their investment, aquarium officials finally decided to set up a camera monitoring system at the Pineapplefish tank to try and catch the thief in the act. Turns out, it was the perfect inside job.
Three tanks away the giant Pacific octopus planned and executed the crime. He figured out how to undo the lock on his tank, walk past the (obviously less delectable) Barrier Reef Anemonefish and Bicolor Parrotfish, open the tank of the Australian Pineapplefish, and leisurely enjoy his midnight snack. He then carefully replaced the top of the Pineapplefish tank, walked back to his own tank, and put the lid back in place.
An Octopus planning? Picking a lock? Walking? The aquarium theft story is one that is widely told in marine science circles, although no one seems to remember the name of the aquarium or exactly when it happened. Even Snopes.com is not entirely sure. Yet the story has such wide currency as those who study and work with octopuses (yes, it is "octopuses" as the greek-derived word octopus will not suffer a latin ending like "I") know an octopus could easily plan and execute such a caper. In fact, the remarkable intelligence of octopuses, coupled with their other-worldly, alien-seeming bodies, has given rise to a spate of books in recent years that explore and celebrate these amazing creatures. In Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea and the Deep Origins of Consciousness, Peter Godfrey-Smith talks about engaging with octopuses as "probably the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien." In The Soul of an Octopus Sy Montgomery tells wonderful stories about the octopus friends she made at the New England Aquarium, their personalities and their sophisticated cognitive skills of being able to imagine what is in another creature's mind. And in Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea, Harmon Courage discusses how "the big-brained cephalopod can navigate through mazes, solve problems and remember solutions, and take things apart for fun."
Mirror Minds
Octopuses and humans last shared a common ancestor (a wormlike critter) about half a billion years ago, so minds of the two groups developed into complex, sentient entities completely separately. As did their bodies, which seem to be almost the inverse of each other. Octopuses can shape-shift through cracks no larger than their eyes. Humans lack such fluidity. Vertebrates are structured around a central nervous system centered in the head, while the brains of an octopus – whose neuron numbers are comparable to those of mammals – are distributed, with two-thirds in their 8 arms and only one third in their heads. This means that the arms can engage in independent problem-solving behavior, like how to open the tank of the Australian Pineapplefish, while the owner can be checking to see if there is a similarly worthy object of its attention in another tank. As Godfrey-Smith notes, "An octopus is so suffused with its nervous system that is has no clear brain-body boundary." Imagine.
And that's just for starters. Vertebrates have just one heart, while octopuses have three. Two of the hearts are engaged solely in the task of moving blood beyond the gills, while the third heart is tasked with keeping circulation flowing for the organs. When an octopus swims, the organ heart actually stops beating, which explains why in many cases an octopus would rather walk, or crawl, than swim, as swimming is exhausting for them. And walking does come in handy when getting out of the water for an aquarium hunting expedition.
Common Octopus Juvenile, Sea of Cortez. Photo by Kaia Thomson
But perhaps of all the cool things that an octopus's brain/body can do, the most amazing is its ability to disguise itself by almost instantaneously changing not only the color and pattern of its skin, but the very texture of its skin to everything from small bumps to tall spikes to match its surroundings such that even the most determined and observant predator or prey cannot distinguish it from nearby coral, algae-covered rocks, kelp fronds or the sandy seabed. And color also denotes mood. As Sy Montgomery wrote upon meeting an octopus named Athena, "As I stroke her with my fingertips, her skin goes white beneath my touch. Later, I learn this is the color of a relaxed octopus." Alternatively, "An agitated giant Pacific octopus turns red, its skin gets pimply, and it erects two papillae over the eyes, which some divers say look like horns."
It is tempting to chalk up the body-changing abilities of an octopus to instinct alone, but Dr. Jennifer Mather, a comparative psychologist who studies octopuses, has found that octopuses use specific disguises for specific species in specific conditions – both offensive and defensive. That is, it is another sign of the octopus's intelligence. Dr. Mather believes that the octopus's loss of the ancestral shell is what lead it to develop this intelligence. Being shell-free allows the octopus to be an active predator like a lion, rather than a passive muncher like a clam. But the dozens of different prey species that it hunts require different hunting strategies, just as different strategies are required for defending itself against different predators. Dr. Mather has documented that octopuses will often use what is called the Passing Cloud display – flashing pulses of color that move across the octopus like passing clouds – to startle an immobile crab (one of its favorite foods) into moving and give itself away. To catch shrimp, octopuses have been seen to compress themselves, creep up to the shrimp, extend an arm up and over the shrimp, then touch it – an act which scares the shrimp right into the mouth of the octopus.
Common Octopus, The Pacific Ocean. Photo by Kaia Thomson
On the other side of the equation, if an octopus is being hunted by a hungry fish it might rapidly change color, pattern and shape; fish have strong visual memories for certain images, and if an octopus is rapidly changing from light to dark, from spots to stripes, the fish can't place it and moves on to something it can identify to eat. But if that psychedelic display is not enough, octopuses have many more tricks in their bag – including the ability of some species to deploy a pseudomorph, a life-size self-portrait made from a cloud of ink and mucus. This essentially freaks out and disorients the predator, allowing the octopus to get away. It seems that octopuses actually enjoy messing with the (lesser) minds of would-be predators. The mimic octopus, rather than making itself look like something passive such as coral or rock to avoid detection, transforms itself to look and act like venomous creatures such as jellyfish, sea snakes and spiky lionfish to send its would-be predator running the other way.
Octopuses also employ tools for defense. Researchers in Indonesia have documented octopuses lugging half coconut shells across the ocean floor, assembling them into spheres, and climbing inside for protection. An octopus at the Middlebury octopus lab found that a sea urchin was hanging around too close to its den so she ventured out, found a piece of flat slate, and erected it in front of her den like a shield.
As Sy Montgomery notes, "…of all the creatures on the planet who imagine what is in another creature's mind, the one that must do so best might well be the octopus – because without this ability, the octopus could not perpetrate its many self-preserving deceptions. An octopus must convince many species of predators and prey that it is really something else….(then) assess whether the other animal believes its ruse or not, and if not, try something different. "Writes Godfrey-Smith, "When surviving requires decision-making, brains have developed awareness. Sentience," he notes, "has some point to it."
Common Octopus. The Pacific Ocean. Photo by Kaia Thomson
Montgomery, Godrey-Smith and numerous others have documented that octopuses can readily distinguish different people, even if they are wearing identical uniforms, and that they have very particular feelings about those different people. With people that they like, they will touch them, hold their hands and arms, give them gentle squeezes, and allow themselves to be stroked. They are friendly and engaged and will readily come to the surface of their tank for interaction. People that they don't like may be subjected to rude squirts of water and – if the visitor is too close – even a bite. But what about with each other? Every Valentine's Day the Seattle Aquarium hosts the Octopus Blind Date, in which the partition between the tanks of a male and female giant Pacific octopus is lifted and nature is allowed to take its course – six hearts beating as three might be the romantic view. But in 2016 the blind date was cancelled due to fears that the 70-pound male, Kong, would simply find his 35-pound date a tasty snack, a decidedly unromantic outcome. While it was a loss for Seattle's octopus sex voyeurs, it was a new lease on life for Kong. Mating, while ensuring the survival of the species, is a death knell for male octopuses, who die shortly thereafter. This close link between sex and death might account for some octopuses rather hands-off approach to sex – literally. The males and females of the Algae octopus will find houses next to one another so that the male only has to reach his hectocotylus (sex arm) out his front door and into her's to get the job done. The Argonaut octopus doesn't even get that intimate. Males simply detach their hectocotylus and send it off to mate with a passing female.
Female octopuses can lay up to 400,000 eggs, which they attach to the ceiling of their dwelling and lay in long strings like translucent ropes of pearls. They guard and tend their eggs diligently until they hatch. Sy Montgomery reports how her octopus friend Octavia in the New England Aquarium wove her egg chains and tended them with meaningful rituals, even though there was no male to fertilize them. Of course the eggs never hatched and Octavia succumbed to death a few months later, as do all female octopuses once their reproductive cycle is over.
Octopuses are the blue bloods of the marine world. Truly. Octopuses evolved a copper rather than an iron-based blood, and it's the copper that turns their blood blue. Copper is more efficient at transporting oxygen than hemoglobin in deep ocean environments, where water temperatures are low and there is not much oxygen. But this system also means that octopuses are very sensitive to changes in acidity, and when the ocean's pH gets too low, octopuses can't circulate enough oxygen. There is therefore a great deal of concern in the scientific community about what will happen to octopuses with the increasing ocean acidification being brought about by climate change.
Octopuses have existed on the earth for at least 296 million years, the age of the oldest known octopus fossil. That's over a thousand times longer than humans. "The sea is the original birth place of the mind. When you dive into the sea, you are diving in to the origin of us all'" writes Godfrey-Smith. It is perhaps for this reason that Godfrey-Smith dedicates his book to "all those who work to protect the oceans." As Carl Safina notes, "As we change the world, let's bear this in our minds: Other minds are living their own lives here with us on earth."
In Baja California Sur our two oceans, the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez, are filled with many of the 300 species of octopus that inhabit the world, and it is possible to visit many octopus gardens and match wits with these amazing creatures when snorkeling and diving. Jacques Cousteau, who called the Sea of Cortez the Aquarium of the World, tells a charming story in his 1973 book Octopus and Squid: The Soft Intelligence. "Our friend Gilpatric … brought an octopus home and put it in an aquarium, which he then covered with a heavy lid. A short time later, the aquarium was empty, and Gilpatric found the octopus going through his library, book by book, turning the pages with its arms." And that's a true octopus story.
Cowboy Ambassadors: The Vaqueros of Baja California Sur
by Bryan Jáuregui | Adventure, Culture, Ranchero Culture
The American Cowboy is the quintessential symbol of what made America great: strong character, diverse skills, creative problem solving, resilient nature and beef on the table. The iconic cowboys loved their whiskey, played their harmonicas, and sported nicknames like Cactus Pete, Deadeye Jake and Kid Curry. But If you look under the buckskin a bit you'll find that the original American cowboys likely preferred tequila, played bass fiddles, and had nicknames like El Coyote, Güero de las Canoas and Dos Santos Biel. And that's exactly why Meg Glaser, Artistic Director of the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada invited 5 Baja California Sur vaqueros (cowboys) to be the guests of honor at the 31st National Cowboy Poetry Gathering: they are the living link between the Spanish missionary soldiers that came to Baja California 300 years ago, and the American buckaroo. Yep, as surely as the Statue of Liberty came from France, and the melody of the Star-Spangled Banner came from England, the American Cowboy came from Mexico. Juan Wayne would have been a more apt screen name for the Duke.
Don Jose y La Pancha. Painting by Carlos Cesar Diaz Castro
The Western Folklife Center (WFC) focuses on making connections with other horse and ranching cultures from around the world. They have hosted cowboys from the far-flung corners of the earth, including Mongolia, Hungary and Brazil, but nothing they had ever done prepared them for the challenge of hosting the vaqueros of Baja California Sur. Says Meg, "The BCS vaqueros live almost completely off the grid so they didn't have passports, US visas, or even email access. It was incredibly challenging to get these men who live on roadless ranches, some of whom must ride 6 hours on mules to get to the nearest highway, from Baja to Nevada, but together with the great Baja team we did it and it was one of our most successful programs ever. Many of our buckaroos in Nevada and other parts of the west are pretty well versed on the history and the connection between the American cowboy and the Mexican vaquero, but very few of us realized that it was such a vibrant living culture. It was a real eye opener for all of us."
Of course back in the day both Nevada and Baja were part of the Spanish California Provinces (Nevada in Alta or Upper California and present day BCS in Baja or Lower California) and cowboys and cattle – imported from Spain to satisfy the conquerors' demand for beef – flowed freely throughout the region. In fact, the regions were so integrated culturally and linguistically that it wasn't until the 1960s that people from Baja California were required to have a passport and visa to travel to the USA. The lingua franca of cowboys demonstrates the cultural link between the two Californias: "buckaroo" is the Americanization of the word "vaquero", "chaps" comes from the Spanish word chaparreras, or leather leggings, "rodeo" comes from the Spanish word rodear, to surround, and "mustang" comes from the Spanish word mostrenco. The modern livestock industry in the USA continues to thrive on early Mexican techniques for handling cattle including branding, saddle cinching and using a hand-braided lariat – from the Spanish la reata – to rope cattle.
Chema with his guitar in the Sierras.Photo courtesy of Saddling South
But now there is most definitely a border, and crossing it was a tremendous experience for the whole team. Says vaquero Jose Maria Arce Arce, who goes by Chema, "Just imagine. I had to ride a mule for several hours out of the Sierras as part of the journey to the airport, then suddenly I was on a huge airplane and we flew over my ranch – I recognized it immediately and was amazed to see it from the air. This trip was my first time on an airplane and my first time in such a nice hotel. Imagine a horse that is accustomed to poor grazing areas then he's put in a green pasture. That is what it felt like to me." Trudi Angell has been Chema's friend and business associate in the Sierra San Francisco since 2005, and she was the main organizer of the trip. The vaqueros nicknamed her "La Caponera" or "the bell-mare" of the trip: the one to follow. She sat next to Chema's cousin, Bonifacio, or "Boni" on the first flight. "His eyes lit up like a kid as he turned around at lift-off and practically shouted " 'Chinga! The cars all look like ants!' Forty minutes later when we flew over the Sierra San Francisco, Chema and Ricardo (Chema's son who's known as Teté) were pressed to the window pane and were practically beside themselves when they saw their ranch from the sky. It was a wonderful experience."
Chema, Teté and Boni are Los Regionales de la Sierra, a musical group that plays traditional ranchero music from the northwest of Mexico, much of it resonant of eras long gone by. Chema plays accordion and guitar, Boni plays bajo sextoand accordion, and Tetéplays the northern ranchero bass fiddle. In Elko they performed often at schools, juvenile facilities and the Western Folklife Center itself, and were accompanied by singers Damiana and Duna Conde, daughters of the renowned Baja California Sur musician, comedian and political satirist Raul Conde. The crowds and other musicians simply couldn't get enough of the group, and they were feted everywhere they went. Even Sourdough Slim, an acclaimed western singer who regularly plays the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall Folk Festival circuit invited the vaqueros to jam with him at the historic Pioneer Bar one evening. Observes Meg, "They were a smash sensation."
Carlos' stand up paintings of Boni, Chema and Tete. Part of the BCS exhibit.
The great reception to their musical skills wasmatched only by the tremendous enthusiasm for their skills as ranchers and craftsmen. Chema, Dario Higuera Meza and the other vaqueros met with American cowboys and shared information on ranching lifestyles, including working and breeding donkeys and horses. Says Chema of his American counterparts, "They are the same people that I am. I completely identified with them… the only difference is in the way they dance!" Dario, who is one of the few artisans left in BCS who knows how to create traditional ranch crafts using the old Baja California methods (he received an honorary degree from the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur in recognition of his unparalleled skills and contribution to BCS culture), gave daily demonstrations on horsehair rope making and leather braiding, and in particular bonded with several native American families over different methods of tanning and spinning rope. They were so enthralled with Dario they invited him to a Navajo festival. Chema's nephew, Juan Gabriel Arce Arce – nicknamed Biel – gave daily demonstrations on leatherworking and other traditional ranch skills. Biel consistently wins the top prize at state-wide leatherworking contests.A traditionally tanned leather trunk that he made with ornately woven edges and beautiful hand tooling was purchased by a Basque ranching family from Elko for US$5,000.
Biel's Chest
McKenzie Campbell, one of the people responsible for getting the vaqueros to Elko, is the founder of Living Roots, a non-profit which helps BCS ranch families capitalize on their skills. At the request of the WFC gift shop, she made sure that the group brought many leatherwork pieces made by Teté, Dario, Biel and other ranchers, includingpolainas (leather gators), miniature vaquero saddles, belts and teguas (riding shoes). McKenzie also brought other BCS ranchero crafts including embroidered purses and bags, as well as tepetes, rag rugs that women make with scraps of cloth. It allsold like hot cakes in the gift shop.
The vaqueros are direct descendants of soldiers imported by the Jesuit missionaries in the 1700s. Recruited as part of a deal with the king of Spain that gave the Jesuits administrative autonomy in Baja California in return for protecting the territory from pirates, these "soldiers" were in fact largely people from Moorish Spain who had the excellent ranching and agricultural skills the Jesuits needed to develop their missions. They became known as the "soldiers of leather" to distinguish them from fighting "soldiers of metal". When the Jesuits were subsequently kicked out of Baja, the "soldiers of leather" who worked the missions were given the lands by administrative fiat and from that point on Baja ranchero culture flourished. Largely forgotten by the rest of Mexico for several
Fermin Building the Rancho Exhibit
generations and isolated by geography, the architecture, ranch tools, farm implements and cookware of BCS ranches remains to this day very similar to that developed by their Spanish forbears 300 years ago. "The BCS rancheros are a piece of the past that has survived until today" says Fermín Reygadas, a professor of Alternative Tourism at the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur who has worked with Baja Californiarancheros for over 30 years.
Fermín, who counts ranchers as some of his best friends in Baja, envisioned and happily executed the task of recreating a typical ranch dwelling with an hoja (palm-frond) roof and palo d'arco walls for the exhibit at the WFC. Working with La Paz artist Carlos César Diaz Castro in Elko a full month before the vaqueros arrived, Fermíncreated a truly astounding exhibit which everyone agrees captures the heart and soul of BCS ranchero life. Says Trudi, "The BCS exhibit was left up for 8 months and a woman from the WFC sent me a special note to say that the local folks from Elko came again and again to see the exhibit, bringing visiting friends and family. They had never seen this type of reaction to an exhibit before."
Carlos Painting Tete. Photo by Karla Fernanda Amao
The whole project got started when Rick Knight, a professor from Colorado State University and board member of the WFC, went on a mule trip with Trudi'scompany,Saddling South, in the Sierras. Chema was their guide at the Sierra San Francisco rock art sites, and he and his family entertained the group around the campfire at night. Rick informed Meg Glaser of the incredible experience he had had and in 2012 Meg came down to see it for herself. She knew right away she had to get the vaqueros to Elko.Three years later – which included intensive months of effort by Trudi in the quest for Mexican passports and US visas for 5 people who live almost completely outside the system (letters to the US Consulate from Nevada Senator Harry Reid, the BCS State Board of Tourism, the Western Folklife Center and several others all had to be obtained) – the group was in Elko. The connections made between people and cultures moved them all. Says Chema, "The best part is that we went so far and met people we had become friends with at the caves in the Sierras." Says Meg, "The best part is that the social connections extend far beyond Elko and many people have already gone to Baja Sur to visit the Sierras and learn more about the vaquero culture." Says Fermín, "The best part was watching the vaqueros bond with the US ranchers discussing knots and ropes, sharing ideas and experiences. It really showed how connected we all are."For his part, Dario, who is not one of the musicians, had so much fun that he wrote a song about the whole experience.
Elko Group Portrait Back Row, Left to Right: Karla Fernanda Amao (Carlos's wife), Carlos Cesar Diaz Castro, Dune Conde, Fermin Reygadas Dahl, McKenzie Campbell, Chema (Jose Maria Arce Arce), Damiana Conde, Ricardo Arce Arce (Tete), Juan Gabrial Arce Arce (Biel), Bonifacio Arce Arce (Boni). Seated Front Row: Trudi Angell, Dario Higuera Meza, Teodora Montes Botham, Meg Glaser. Photo courtesy of Western Folklife Center.
Concludes Chema, "I never had a childhood because I've worked since I was a little boy. I now feel very proud that people know me and our life here at the ranch, both through the movie Corazon Vaquero and our trip to Elko. We represented the Baja California vaqueros to the cowboys of the US, and they really respect all the things we can do. It was a beautiful experience. But I'm still the same humble
Chema and his grandaughter Azu. Photo courtesy of Saddling South
rancher I have always been and I haven't changed my way of life. All of my grandchildren are becoming ranchers and I'm very pleased about that." Fermín calls the vaqueros of BCS "an oasis of common sense humans." Maybe Chema's grandkids will be the next generation of Cowboy Ambassadors, connecting US cowboys to their living roots in Baja California Sur. Could there be another ride for the bell-mare? Possibly. Trudi says her first thought when she woke up after the trip to Elko was, "We have to take this show on the road!"
Sea Turtles: A Baja Road Trip
by Bryan Jáuregui | Adventure, Education, Wildlife
by Bryan Jauregui, Todos Santos Eco Adventures
This article first appeared in Janice Kinne's Journal del Pacifico
If they had a World Championship for Insult Hurling, China's entry of "Son of a Turtle!" may not seem like obvious prize material. But a review of sea turtle reproductive habits reveals why the insult might be a contender: A female sea turtle will mate with several males prior to nesting season, storing the sperm of all her paramours in oviducts separate from her eggs for extended periods of time – sometimes years. When the time is right for nesting, her body will allow the sperm to fertilize the eggs, resulting in what scientists like to call "multiple paternity" for her offspring. In other words, little baby sea turtles have no idea who their daddies are. Get it?
Loggerhead Turtle. Photo by Colin Ruggiero
The Star of the Sea of Cortez: Estrella Navarro Holm
by Bryan Jáuregui | Adventure, Sports
She's been free diving since before she could walk, but every time she gets in the water for a competition she reflects on the old nightmare: She's swimming peacefully at the shore when the ocean suddenly starts retracting away from the beach at great speed like it does before a tsunami. She's caught in the enormous power of the angry water, completely out of control. She's filled with dread of the cold and the dark, terrified of being so absolutely alone.
"But competitive free diving is at least 70% mental" says Mexican free diving champion Estrella Navarro Holm. "And it was free diving that finally put that old nightmare to rest. In competition they allow us a few minutes on the rope at the surface before the dive, and I use that time to do my deep breathing, face any fears I may have, and relax into the dive. Once the count reaches zero, the rules allow only 30 seconds to get your face in the water, so you have to be ready." Ready to dive 70 meters (230 feet) into the black of the ocean with no oxygen, no light, no friends, just the air in your lungs and your wet suit to protect you? Fear is the only rational response. "Yet", says Estrella, "once my face is in the water the training kicks in and my diving reflex is activated. My whole system has a physiological response to my mental state and I am completely prepared to go. The first few meters are hard because my body is heavy and buoyant with air, and I have to really work to get down. But then at about 30 meters the free fall starts. It's as if the wet suit and my skin fall away, and the water in my body merges with the water of the ocean. Each molecule of water feels very intense. It's like flying, but in slow motion. The free fall is the most beautiful, spiritual experience – it's what makes people free diving junkies." Knew there had to be a payoff.
And that payoff has paid off big time for Estrella. The La Paz native has broken the Mexican national free diving record 21 times, she was the first Mexican on the medal podium in a free diving world championship, and she's the first woman in Latin America to medal in the discipline of constant weight no fins. And unlike most world champion athletes, she didn't enter her first major competition until she was 24. This gave her the time to earn a degree in marine biology from the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur (UABCS) in La Paz, widely acknowledged as one of the best marine biology programs in the country. And she's using that degree to pursue her other great passion in life, ocean conservation. Among other accomplishments, she is co-author of a paper titled Global Economic Value of Shark Ecotourism: Implications for Conservation, that appeared in Oryx, The International Journal of Conservation, published by Cambridge University Press. Yes, the one in England.
It is often the case in life that we don't fully appreciate what we have at home until we travel elsewhere. And as Estrella traveled the waters of the globe for competitions, she found that her fellow athletes scarcely believed her when she described the riches of the Sea of Cortez, marveling – some skeptically – when she told them about diving with sea turtles, sea lions, whale sharks, whales, dolphins and more. Their wonderment (incredulity) gave her an idea for combining her passions: invite the best free diving athletes in the world to La Paz to share the wonders of the Sea of Cortez and, at the same time, promote ocean conservation. Says Estrella, "I sent out 250 personal invitations via Facebook to my free diving friends, and I was so thrilled that 24 of the best athletes in the world accepted the invitation to compete in our program, Big Blue. But I was even more excited that they took up the call to be ocean ambassadors, to return to their home countries and promote strong ocean conservation measures. This is really the success of Big Blue."
Indeed, as part of the Big Blue program in November 2015, Estrella, working in coordination with the tourism board of Baja California Sur, organized a conference on ocean conservation where she presented the shark research in which she and her co-authors demonstrated that shark ecotourism around the world currently generates US$314 million a year and supports 10,000 jobs – a vastly higher and more sustainable number than those associated with shark landings each year. That is to say, as is generally the case when speaking of wild flora and fauna, the living, breathing resources of the world are worth more to mankind alive than dead.
Estrella wants to keep bringing that message to the world, and plans to make Big Blue an annual event in La Paz, her home town and a great staging area for exploring the Sea of Cortez. Estrella is part of a growing cadre of world class athletes that grew up in La Paz and the Sea of Cortez (Mexican board diving champion and Olympian Paola Espinosa's dad was actually Estrella's competitive swimming trainer when she was a little girl, and the two champions remain friends) and their love for their home town is helping to fuel growing interest in La Paz as a destination for top competitions in many sports including stand up paddle boarding, water polo, swimming and, of course, diving.
But unlike her fellow champions in other sports, Estrella doesn't worry so much about the march of time. One of the greatest female free divers of all time, Natalia Molchanova, became the first woman to dive 100 meters (328 feet) at the age of 44, and continued to dominate the sport for another decade. (Her son Alexey swept the Big Blue competition in La Paz and is the reigning world champion.) So that means that for the foreseeable future, Estrella can continue to both compete in oceans around the world, and create the knowledge and ambassadors to help protect them. Saving it all for the generations to come. That's what truly makes the champion Estrella Navarro Holm the Star of the Sea of Cortez.
To learn more about Estrella and Big Blue please visit:
www.estrellanavarro.com
www.bigblue.com.mx
Saving Espiritu Santo
by Bryan Jáuregui | Adventure, Culture, Wildlife
Espiritu Santo photo by Carlos Gajon
If famed aviator Charles Lindbergh had not fallen in love with the daughter of the US Ambassador to Mexico, the story of Isla Espiritu Santo might be just another sad tale of extraordinary natural beauty undone. But the courtship of his future wife in Mexico instilled in Lindbergh a lasting affection for the country. So when in 1973 his friend and fellow conservationist George Lindsey invited him on a scientific exploration of the Sea of Cortez, Lindbergh jumped at the chance. The two men and their scientific team wended their way through numerous islands between Bahia de Los Angeles and La Paz, ultimately arriving at Espiritu Santo. Lindbergh was enthralled. The islands made such an enormous impression on him that during a trip to Mexico City a few months later, Lindbergh requested a meeting with the president of Mexico to discuss protecting what he now considered one of the most beautiful areas on the planet, the Sea of Cortez. Four years later the Mexican government issued a decree establishing 898 islands of the Sea of Cortez a Flora and Fauna Protection Area (Zona de Reserva Natural y Refugio de Aves Migratorias y de la Fauna Silvestre). George Lindsey, then the Director of the San Diego Natural History Museum, strongly believes that Lindbergh's intervention helped to create the governmental awareness needed to get the decree enacted. It was a good beginning.
Espiritu Santo photo by Cabo Rockwell
Around the same time as Lindbergh's transformational trip to Baja, a former Grand Canyon river guide named Tim Means was setting up the first major ecotourism company in La Paz, Baja Expeditions. Means' business thrived as word of Baja's remarkable flora and fauna spread, and demand grew for access to the natural wonders that the area's remote location had kept pristine long after the west coast of the US had been heavily developed. But conservation-minded eco adventurers were not the only ones attracted to the area, and by the 1990s the pressure on Isla Espiritu Santo was intense: a real estate developer wanted to create a resort casino on the island. From the outside it seemed absurd that a casino had even the remotest possibility of being approved in a natural protected area, but Mexico's traditionally lax approach to conservation enforcement afforded the developer optimism.
Espiritu Santo photo by Craig Ligibel
While most of the islands in the Sea of Cortez were federal lands, a few were privately owned, and Espiritu Santo was owned by an ejido. Ejidos, created as part of Mexico's land reform movement after the Revolution of 1910, are rural collectives of people who own property communally. Traditionally ejidos were not allowed to sell their property, but the constitutional obstructions to ejido land sales were removed in 1992, and the ejido owners of Espiritu Santo lost little time in taking advantage of this new freedom. By 1997 they had sub-divided 90 hectares around Bonanza Beach into 36 lots and were selling them off. Cabins were actually constructed on some of the lots, but in a move that would have made Lindbergh proud, a federal judge deemed them illegal under the 1978 decree and they were torn down. But the real estate developer who owned some of the properties was pushing hard on his casino proposal. Tim Means was prepared to push back.
Means started his onslaught by personally buying two properties smack in the middle of the developer's proposed casino area. This immediately diminished the attractiveness of the project for the developer, and inclined him towards negotiation. Means then enlisted the aid of leading Mexican businessmen in the area, who retained and paid for the law firm that was ultimately able to arrange the buy out the developer and all but one of the remaining properties for sale on Bonanza Beach. This all took a great deal of time and maneuvering, but Means and his team persevered. All the properties they bought were donated to the federal government.
When the immediate threat of the casino was neutralized, Means and a coalition of conservationists were able to put together a deal to purchase the rest of the island, which they bought from the ejido for US$3.3 million. Their subsequent donation of Espiritu Santo to the nation is commemorated by a famous sculpture of a dove on the malecon in La Paz.
The purchase structure that resulted in Espiritu Santo's conservation in perpetuity demonstrates the power of collaboration among a diverse group of constituents when fighting to preserve wilderness areas: about one third of the money came from Mexican funders, another third from American funders via the Nature Conservancy, and the rest through an anonymous gift to the World Wildlife Fund. The David and Lucille Packard Foundation then donated US$1.5 million towards the future management of Espiritu Santo. This type of international cooperation set the stage for future and ongoing battles against mega-developments elsewhere in Baja California Sur. As a direct result of Means' successful activism, Espiritu Santo and 244 other islands in the Sea of Cortez were subsequently named a World Heritage Site in 2005.
But none of this would have happened without the will of the Mexican people. As a result of colonial rule, the Mexican citizenry traditionally felt they had no voice in government, so agitation for change was not a big feature of public life. But in the 1970s this started to change, most notably in the environmental arena, and Mexicans began to create organizations committed to protecting the country's immense natural resources. This process lead to the creation of the Secretaria de Desarollo Urbano y Ecologia (Secretary of Urban Development and Ecology) in 1983, and in 1987 the general law of ecology and natural resources. One of the early successes of all this effort was the 1988 declaration of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the states of Mexico and Michoacan.
Worthy of Protection. Photo by Carlos Gajon.
The people of Mexico in general, and of Baja California Sur in particular, are now intently focused on protecting their natural heritage. In Baja California Sur residents have banded together in recent years to defeat mega-developments in Balandra Bay, El Mogote and Cabo Pulmo, using the reach and resources of both local and international NGOs to aid their cause (See our blog post Conserving the Beauty of Baja). Public outrage and grassroots campaigning have stymied the efforts of companies seeking to operate open-pit gold mining companies in the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains. Like Lindbergh and his nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, they are succeeding against considerable odds. Like Tim Means and his environmental coalitions, they are hunkered down and ready for the long haul. As the great conservationist Teddy Roosevelt once said, "Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind." The protection of Isla Espiritu Santo and the islands of the Sea of Cortez wrought by Tim Means and his coalition will speak to the world for generations to come.
Sources: Two excellent books and Tim Means provided the source material for this article. The books are Isla Espiritu Santo: Evolución, rescate y conservación by Exequiel Ezcurra, Harumi Fujita, Enrique Hambleton and Rodolfo Garrio; and Wildlands Philanthropy: The Great American Tradition with essays by Tom Butler and photographs by Antonio Vizcaino.
Todos Santos Eco Adventures operates a tent camp on Isla Espiritu Santo from which visitors can explore the wild natural beauty of the island and the Sea of Cortez.
Why do we care about Espiritu Santo and other areas of Mexico?
There are over 200 countries in the world today but only 12 of them can claim to be "mega-diverse". A country is considered mega-diverse if it has between 60% and 70% of the total biodiversity of the planet, and Mexico is one of only 3 such countries with coastlines on both the Atlantic and Pacific (the United States and Colombia are the other two). Mexican government sources indicate that Mexico's global ranks for biodiversity are as follows:
Reptiles: #2
Mammals: #3
Amphibians: #5
Vascular plants: #5
Birds: #8
That's something worth bragging about – and protecting!
This article was first published in Janice Kinne's Journal del Pacifico


Minneapolis, Minn. – The Minneapolis Parks Foundation today accepted a $3 million "birthday gift to Minneapolis" from the General Mills Foundation in the form of a three-year lead corporate contribution to the RiverFirst Campaign. Ken Powell, Chairman of the Board and CEO of General Mills, presented the gift at an event in the Mill District on the Minneapolis Central Riverfront, the birthplace of General Mills 150 years ago.
RiverFirst is a Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board-led vision for regional riverfront parks and trails that will transform the Upper Mississippi into a world-class cultural and recreational destination for residents and visitors, as well as a regional economic engine for the 21st century. The Minneapolis Parks Foundation is the Park Board's primary philanthropic partner in the public-private RiverFirst Initiative.
General Mills Foundation is making the RiverFirst grant in honor of the company's 150th birthday and to commemorate the company's community roots.
The multi-year grant will go toward three RiverFirst signature projects on both sides of the Minneapolis Central and Upper Riverfronts, including a critical trail link and pier at 26th Ave N, a future riverfront park and beach at Hall's Island (Scherer site), and Water works, an iconic destination on the Central Riverfront.
The Water Works project is on the Central Riverfront, where General Mills was born. The area is already home to popular landmarks such as the Stone Arch Bridge, St. Anthony Falls, the Pillsbury "A" Mill and original Washburn Mill. An expansion of Mill Ruins Park, the Water Works project will result in an iconic destination for residents and visitors – including a park pavilion, historic ruins, a natural classroom and play and picnic spaces.
General Mills' $3 million commitment to RiverFirst brings fundraising to $9 million in the first six months of the Minneapolis Park Foundation's $15 million philanthropic fundraising campaign, with other funding coming from private individual donors. The Minneapolis Park Board is providing public sector support to RiverFirst primarily through grants from local, state and Federal sources.
When the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board was founded in 1883, community leaders envisioned protecting the city's lakes and riverfront for the public good. Already developed and heavily industrial, the 5.5 miles Upper Riverfront was the only stretch of the Mississippi River unavailable to early parks leaders, leaving North and Northeast Minneapolis scarce access to regional natural resources.
The Minneapolis Park Board, with philanthropic support from the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, will break ground on Water Works and Hall's Island in late 2016.
To learn more about RiverFirst, visit www.mplsparksfoundation.org/riverfirst. For more information on General Mills' 150-year history, visit www.generalmills.com.
General Mills and its Foundation contributed more than $150 million to charitable causes in fiscal year 2015. The General Mills Foundation partners with remarkable nonprofits across the globe to strengthen communities and nourish lives through grantmaking and employee volunteerism focused on our hometown communities. To learn more about our philanthropy and community engagement, join us on Facebook at Facebook.com/GeneralMillsGives or visit us at http://www.generalmills.com/en/Responsibility/general-mills-foundation.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is an independent, semi-autonomous body responsible for the Minneapolis park system. With 179 park properties totaling 6,801 acres of land and water, the Park Board provides places and recreation opportunities for all people to gather and engage in activities that promote health, wellbeing, community and the environment. More than 21 million annual visits are made to the nationally acclaimed park system. Its Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, neighborhood parks, recreation centers and diversified programming have made the park system an important component of what makes Minneapolis a great place to live, play and work. Visit www.minneapolisparks.org for details.
The Minneapolis Parks Foundation is an independent, donor-supported nonprofit that brings visionary leadership, philanthropic investment and private sector expertise to support innovation and equity throughout the Minneapolis park system. It co-leads the RiverFirst Initiative with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and is responsible for private fundraising and implementation of the Water Works and 26th Ave N to Ole Olson projects. It also supports innovative projects for Minneapolis parks through equity funding and champions world-class design through its Next Generation of Parks™ Lecture Series. Get involved at MplsParksFoundation.org.
Individuals or companies interested in contributing to the RiverFirst Campaign are invited to use our online donation form. Those wishing to make gifts of $10,000 or more are asked to email Chief Development Officer Jennifer Downham at JDownham@MplsParksFoundation.org or by phone at 612-822-2656. Thank you!


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BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Use of complementary and alternative medicine in Germany – a survey of patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Stefanie Joos1,2,
Thomas Rosemann1,
Joachim Szecsenyi1,
Eckhart G Hahn2,
Stefan N Willich3 &
Benno Brinkhaus2,3
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine volume 6, Article number: 19 (2006) Cite this article
Previous studies have suggested an increasing use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of our study was to evaluate the use of CAM in German patients with IBD.
A questionnaire was offered to IBD patients participating in patient workshops which were organized by a self-help association, the German Crohn's and Colitis Association. The self-administered questionnaire included demographic and disease-related data as well as items analysing the extent of CAM use and satisfaction with CAM treatment. Seven commonly used CAM methods were predetermined on the questionnaire.
413 questionnaires were completed and included in the analysis (n = 153 male, n = 260 female; n = 246 Crohn's disease, n = 164 ulcerative colitis). 52 % of the patients reported CAM use in the present or past. In detail, homeopathy (55%), probiotics (43%), classical naturopathy (38%), Boswellia serrata extracts (36%) and acupuncture/Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (33%) were the most frequently used CAM methods. Patients using probiotics, acupuncture and Boswellia serrata extracts (incense) reported more positive therapeutic effects than others. Within the statistical analysis no significant predictors for CAM use were found. 77% of the patients felt insufficiently informed about CAM.
The use of CAM in IBD patients is very common in Germany, although a large proportion of patients felt that information about CAM is not sufficient. However, to provide an evidence-based approach more research in this field is desperately needed. Therefore, physicians should increasingly inform IBD patients about benefits and limitations of CAM treatment.
The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widespread and still increasing in the Western world [1, 2]. The term complementary medicine refers to a group of diagnostic and therapeutic disciplines that exist largely outside the institutions where conventional health care is provided and taught [3]. The wide range of disciplines classified as complementary medicine makes it difficult to find defining criteria that are common to all. Furthermore, the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches which are summarized among the term CAM depend on traditions and historical developments of a country and therefore, vary considerably among countries [4]. Also, the extent to which CAM is practiced by physicians or non-medical therapists differs considerably among countries. In Germany, medical doctors can obtain a variety of additional qualifications relating to specific CAM methods (e.g. chiropractic, homeopathy) or to naturopathic medicine in general (naturopathy). In 2004 the German federal medical chamber documented 15.970 additional qualifications of medical doctors in chiropractic, 5.538 in homeopathy and 13.502 in naturopathy (= 18.5% physicians working in the ambulatory sector). In addition, about 2.5% of the ambulatory physicians are qualified in the field of physical medicine [5]. Furthermore, around 25% of the physicians in the ambulatory sector have passed a special training in acupuncture. In near future, acupuncture will also be a qualification accredited by the local medical chambers such as chiropractic or homeopathy. Moreover, in Germany many physicians are providing CAM in their daily practice without having an additional CAM qualification [6].
Other health care professionals such as pharmacists, dentists, physiotherapists or midwives also practise some form of CAM. Official data on CAM qualifications for these health care professions are not available.
Apart from the regular health care professionals Germany has one state-regulated profession – the 'Heilpraktiker'. A 'Heilpraktiker' has to pass an examination on basic medical knowledge and skills at a local public health office to obtain a state license. 'Heilpraktiker' only practice in the ambulatory sector and their services are not covered by health insurance funds. Any CAM method can be performed by a 'Heilpraktiker' as long as it is consistent with the general standards of good professional practice in health care as supervised by the local public health office. In general 'Heilpraktiker' provide a variety of CAM methods. Within the last ten years the number of 'Heilpraktiker' increased from 9.000 in the year 1993 to nearly 20.000 today.
In Germany, the overall percentage of individuals with CAM experience increased from 52% in 1970 to 73% in 2002 [5]. A recently published national representative sample shows that herbal medicine, exercise therapy and hydrotherapy are the most frequently used CAM methods [7] – all of them belonging to the so-called classic naturopathy, also known as kneippism from its originator Sebastian Kneipp (1821–97), a German priest. Besides the classic naturopathic methods homeopathy, manual therapy and acupuncture are commonly used CAM therapies in Germany [7].
It is commonly known, that patients with chronic diseases rank high among CAM users. Several surveys in patients with IBD have shown rates of CAM utilization ranging from 39% in Austria to 47% in Switzerland and Canada [8–11]. A survey among German IBD patients found 51% with experience in CAM. Homeopathy and herbal medicine were the most commonly used types of CAM in this recently published survey [12].
The purpose of our study was to estimate the extent of CAM experience among IBD patients in Germany and to obtain information about the most commonly used CAM methods, about CAM providers and about perceived effects of CAM therapy.
Participants and data collection
We surveyed IBD patients meeting at patient workshops organized by the German Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis Association (DCCV e.V.). The DCCV [13] is a national organization established by patients and for patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). The patient workshops of the DCCV take place regularly in different regions of Germany and are open to the public. Normally experts are invited to give lectures on recent developments in diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities in order to inform patients. Three of these workshops (which were not specific to CAM) took place in different German federal states (Erlangen; October 1998/Aachen; May 2000/Tübingen; June 2000). A questionnaire was handed out to all participants of the workshops. The questionnaires were distributed on the tables in the convention hall and had to be completed during the workshop or were to be returned by mail.
The 4-page structured self-administered questionnaire contained questions on patients' demographic data (10 items) and on characteristics of the disease such as duration of disease, current medication and satisfaction with conventional therapy (16 items). Detailed questions were asked about knowledge and interest in CAM and CAM use specifically for their IBD symptoms (15 items). The items were designed as yes/no questions or open-ended questions or to be answered on a 5-point Likert scale.
Within the questionnaire CAM was defined as 'all non-conventional therapy methods, which are based rather on personal experience than on a scientific basis'. Seven CAM therapies which are commonly used in Germany were predetermined in the questionnaire: classic naturopathic medicine (incl. herbal medicine and hydrotherapy), Traditional Chinese Medicine incl. acupuncture (TCM), homeopathy, Boswellia serrata (incense), probiotics, neural therapy (= pain therapy with local anaesthetics) and anthroposophic medicine.
Patients were asked to assess the perceived therapeutic effect of CAM treatment on a 5-point Likert scale and to indicate where they received the CAM therapy: general practitioner, gastroenterologist, clinician or 'Heilpraktiker" (= state registered non-physician CAM practitioner).
Data analysis was completed with SPSS (Version 9.0). Descriptive statistics (mean and proportions) were used to describe each variable. The chi-square test was used to identify significant differences in CAM use regarding possible predictive patient characteristics such as age, gender, weight, graduation level, membership of DCCV, site of workshop, disease, current medication, smoking status, special diets, regular exercise or type of health insurance. Since no significant differences were found for any of these variables during statistical analysis, data in the result section will be presented for the complete sample only.
Due to the fact that probiotic therapy was missing on the list of predetermined CAM methods within the Erlangen questionnaire, the percent values for probiotic use were calculated for the sample without Erlangen patients.
According to information given by the German Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis Association about 250 patients participated at the workshop in Aachen, 250 patients in Tübingen and about 340 patients in Erlangen (n total = 840). Altogether 413 patients completed and returned the questionnaire which corresponds to an overall response rate of 49% (Erlangen 61%, Aachen 35%, and Tübingen 47%). All 413 questionnaires were included in the final analysis sample.
All in all there was a greater proportion of patients with Crohn's disease (n = 246) than with Ulcerative Colitis (n = 164) returning the questionnaire. 3 patients did not indicate their diagnosis. Table 1 shows the demographic, disease-related and treatment characteristics. Duration of disease was 14 ys in average and patients consulted their general practitioner about 12 times a year for their IBD. About 80% of the patients had been hospitalised because of IBD at least once and 39% had undergone some kind of surgical intervention for their IBD. 45% of the patients stated that they were satisfied with their current conventional treatment: 64% of the patients receiving aminosalycilates, 36% being treated with corticosteroids and 17% taking immunosuppressive drugs (Table 1). 55% of the IBD patients reported side-effects due to their conventional treatment. 25% of the patients were on a special diet (vegetable diet, sugar-reduced diet, whole foods etc.). On a 5 -point Likert scale 32 % of the patients indicated that they feel stressed or highly stressed by their disease on a physical level and 36% on a mental level.
Table 1 Sociodemographic and disease-related characteristics of the study population.
Comparing the three sites Erlangen (n = 207), Aachen (n = 88) and Tübingen (n = 118) some small, however not significant differences were found. Tübingen-patients had been slightly less hospitalised and had undergone fewer surgical interventions compared to patients in Erlangen and Aachen. In addition, the application of pharmacotherapy, in particular aminosalicylates, was slightly lower among Tübingen-patients.
Use and provider of CAM
52% (n = 215) of all patients reported the use of some form of CAM to treat their IBD currently or in the past (Table 2). The most frequently used therapy method was homeopathy (55%), followed by probiotics (43%), classical naturopathy (38%), Boswellia-serrata extracts (36%) and acupuncture/TCM (33%). Anthroposophic medicine (7%) and neural therapy (5%) were applied less frequently.
Table 2 Previous or present use of CAM
CAM was initiated in 40% by a general practitioner, in 29% by a practicing gastroenterologist and in 15% by a clinician. 44% of the patients visited a so-called 'Heilpraktiker" for the CAM treatment. 54% of those patients, who received CAM treatment not by their general practitioners, informed their GP about the additional treatment with CAM. There were no significant differences in CAM use regarding any patient-related characteristics.
Benefit, risks and costs of CAM
Within the questionnaire patients were asked on a 5-point Likert scale how satisfied they were regarding CAM treatment for IBD. Most satisfied were patients treated with probiotics (57%), followed by patients treated with acupuncture/TCM (49%) and Boswellia serrata extract (44%) (Table 3). 15% of the CAM users notified side effects of the CAM treatment, in general. However, the questionnaire did not assess side effects of specific CAM methods in detail.
Table 3 Subjective rating of the efficacy of CAM treatment
73% of the patients receiving CAM reported that they financed the treatment in part or completely themselves. Only 23% of all patients felt sufficiently informed about CAM treatment in IBD. Most respondents required that CAM should be reimbursed by the statutory health insurance (96%) and that research in CAM should be increased (97%).
52% of the 413 patients participating in our survey reported some form of current or previous CAM use for their IBD. These findings correspond to results in previous surveys in selected groups of IBD patients attending specialty clinics in North America and European countries [8, 10, 11, 14]. In our survey homeopathy was the most frequently used CAM method, followed by probiotics, classical naturopathy (including herbal therapy), Boswellia serrata extracts and acupuncture/TCM. However, it is difficult to compare surveys of CAM utilization among countries because the extension of specific CAM methods is tightly linked to the traditional and cultural background of a country. While herbal products are very popular both in North America and in Europe, homeopathy is less used in North America, but very popular in Europe. As expected, the most commonly used CAM methods among our IBD patients are comparable with data from the neighbouring countries Austria and Switzerland [9, 10]. In both of these countries as well as in the German survey of Langhorst et al. homeopathy was the most frequently used CAM method [12].
Various previous surveys have indicated that CAM users are generally more likely to be female and to be better educated [7, 15]. In our study, duration of disease, gender, age and previous surgery/hospitalisation were not predictive for the use of CAM. Nor we could confirm the findings of Langhorst et al that steroid medication and academic education are strong predictors for CAM use [12]. Furthermore our results do not support the assumption that our patients use CAM because of dissatisfaction with conventional treatment or side effect profile of conventional medication. This lack of CAM-predictors is in accordance with the Swiss survey of Quattropani et al [10]. Accordingly, due to our data IBD patients using CAM seem not so different from non-users of CAM – at least regarding the evaluated predictors. Nevertheless, there may be differences between CAM users and non-users in terms of patients' perceptions of disease, expectations towards treatment or preferences for shared decision making. These factors would be interesting to assess in future surveys.
In some of the prior studies patients were asked to state the perceived effects of CAM treatment [10, 11]. In the survey of Hilsden 67% of present CAM users and 35% of prior CAM users resp. reported beneficial effects regarding their IBD symptoms [11]. In the Quattropani survey 61% of the patients reported an improvement while using CAM [10]. However, no further differentiation regarding specific CAM methods was reported in these studies. In our survey the perceived beneficial effects varied between 57% for probiotic therapy and 34% for treatment with classical naturopathy incl. herbals. Although explanatory power of this data is limited it can be regarded as an indicator for patients' satisfaction with a specific CAM method.
A strength of the study is that CAM was defined clearly within the questionnaire and that CAM methods most commonly used among German patients were predetermined in the questionnaire. Furthermore, the survey was based on patients participating at IBD workshops organized by a self-help association but open for public. In contrast, most of the previous studies only included patients visiting special IBD clinics [8, 11, 14]. We therefore surveyed a less pre-selected collective. However, it was not a non-random sample and therefore a bias can not be excluded, because our population may still not be in conformity with the general IBD population, as 46% of the surveyed patients were members of the self-help association DCCV. Those patients may have different strategies to manage their disease. For example, they might take more responsibility for their health-care and the management of their treatment. The study may therefore overestimate the use of CAM among IBD patients.
A limit of our study is that the response rate only could be estimated retrospectively, since the questionnaires were not handed out personally to each patient. It may be possible that some patients did not recognize the questionnaires or that patients interested in CAM rather tended to complete the questionnaire than patients not interested in CAM leading to a possible selection bias. However, this argument may be invalidated by a comparison of our results with the study of Langhorst et al. who surveyed a randomly drawn sample of German IBD patients [12]. We found high corresponding results regarding CAM use (52% vs. 51%) and the high popularity of homeopathy (53% vs. 55%).
The most common CAM therapy used by patients in our survey was homeopathy. This finding might be influenced by the fact that homeopathy was established by S. Hahnemann, a German physician. Since homeopathic treatment is not reimbursed by the statutory health insurance, homeopathic therapies often are self initiated by the patients, provided by 'Heilpraktiker' or by homeopaths (physicians with the additional qualification 'homeopathy') in private practice. Unfortunately, in our survey we did not ask which CAM therapy was administered by which type of practitioner or which CAM therapy was self initiated by the patient resp. Perceived effects of the homeopathic treatment were less positive compared to the other CAM methods. Interestingly, in a Medline search no clinical study assessing the efficacy of homeopathic preparations in patients with IBD could be found.
Our data shows a frequent use of probiotics. This may be the consequence of several recently published clinical studies with probiotic preparations in the treatment of UC and CD [16–18]. According to the positive results of those studies the usage of probiotics for maintenance of remission is recommended in the updated guideline for Diagnosis and Therapy of Ulcerative Colitis by the German Society of Digestive and Metabolic Disease and the Competence Network of IBD [19]. Therefore, in Germany probiotic therapy can be prescribed for the treatment of IBD and will be paid for by the statutory health insurance. Despite implementation of probiotics in the national guideline, this therapy is originated from the field of CAM and it is therefore an excellent example for an evidence-based integration of CAM into conventional treatment.
Acupuncture/TCM was also frequently used by our IBD patients. Considering the popularity of acupuncture the high number of physicians with an additional training in acupuncture therapy in Germany is not surprising. Moreover, also many 'Heilpraktiker' provide acupuncture. Nevertheless, at present there are only a few observational studies on the effect of acupuncture in UC [20, 21] and one single randomised, controlled study in MC patients [22]. MC patients showed a decrease of disease activity as well as an improvement in quality of life after acupuncture treatment in this study.
One third of our patients reported a therapeutic approach with Boswellia serrata extracts/incense. Preparations from the gum resin of Boswellia serrata have been used as a traditional remedy in Ayurvedic medicine in India for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. In clinical trials promising results were observed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and bronchial asthma, but to date results from larger randomised controlled studies are missing [23–25]. The therapeutic approaches with Boswellia serrata may have been self initiated by the patients or recommended by 'Heilpratiker'.
55% of the patients reported side effects on their conventional medication and 20% were completely dissatisfied with their current conventional treatment. According to previous studies this might be the main reason for IBD patients to enter CAM treatment [8]. Side effects of CAM therapy were described by 14% of our IBD patients. Unfortunately, the questionnaire provided no further information about type or severity of the perceived CAM side effects. Only 23% of the IBD patients in our survey felt sufficiently informed about CAM.
Physicians should address their patients straightforward regarding CAM and offer evidence-based information about specific CAM methods. On the basis of available scientific data they should aim at guiding patients through the 'CAM jungle'. At the same time, further clinical studies assessing the most commonly used CAM therapies are urgently needed. Research in CAM offers the chance to discover new treatment options in the management of IBD but may also protect patients from ineffective and expensive 'pseudo'-therapies.
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Chen Z: Treatment of ulcerative colitis with acupuncture. J Tradit Chin Med. 1995, 15: 231-233.
Zhang X: 23 cases of chronic nonspecific ulcerative colitis treated by acupuncture and moxibustion. J Tradit Chin Med. 1998, 18: 188-191.
Joos S, Brinkhaus B, Maluche C, Maupai N, Kohnen R, Kraehmer N, Hahn EG, Schuppan D: Acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of active Crohn's disease: a randomized controlled study. Digestion. 2004, 69: 131-139. 10.1159/000078151.
Ammon HP: [Boswellic acids (components of frankincense) as the active principle in treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases]. Wien Med Wochenschr. 2002, 152: 373-378. 10.1046/j.1563-258X.2002.02056.x.
Gupta I, Parihar A, Malhotra P, Singh GB, Ludtke R, Safayhi H, Ammon HP: Effects of Boswellia serrata gum resin in patients with ulcerative colitis. Eur J Med Res. 1997, 2: 37-43.
Gerhardt H, Seifert F, Buvari P, Vogelsang H, Repges R: [Therapy of active Crohn disease with Boswellia serrata extract H 15]. Z Gastroenterol. 2001, 39: 11-17. 10.1055/s-2001-10708.
The authors thank the DCCV e.V. for their assistance with the study. Special thanks to Cornelia Mahler for their assistance in preparing the manuscript.
Department of General Practice and Health Services Research, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Stefanie Joos
, Thomas Rosemann
& Joachim Szecsenyi
Department of Medicine I, Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
, Eckhart G Hahn
& Benno Brinkhaus
Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Economics, Charité University Medical Center, Berlin, Germany
Stefan N Willich
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Correspondence to Stefanie Joos.
The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.
SJ, BB, TR, JS and SW conceived the study and draft the manuscript. SJ, BB and EH participated in designing the study. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Joos, S., Rosemann, T., Szecsenyi, J. et al. Use of complementary and alternative medicine in Germany – a survey of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. BMC Complement Altern Med 6, 19 (2006) doi:10.1186/1472-6882-6-19
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patient
Statutory Health Insurance
Local Public Health Office

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In the past five days, six pitchers have reached the fifth inning or later with a no-hitter intact. History tells us that there's a good chance one will go even deeper tonight.
September 28 is one of four dates sharing the record for most no-hitters with six. The others are April 27, May 15 and September 20. The date pulled into a four-way tie on the final game of the 2014 season, when the Washington Nationals' Jordan Zimmermann no-hit the Miami Marlins.


text:
University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)
Now...altogether, 7th War Loan
Atom JSON IIIF Presentation Manifest IIIF Image Information v2 IIIF Image Information v3
https://digital.library.illinois.edu/items/da74b8a0-0d92-0135-23f6-0050569601ca-1
Poster, color, 12,7 x 9 in., published by the United States Government Printing Office
The first Series E U.S. Savings Bond was purchased by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 1, 1941. During WWII war bonds were a source of monetary income for the United States government. Americans were urged to buy war bonds and war savings stamps. Purchasing bonds was considerd not only patriotic, but also an investment in victory. While the initial goal of selling war bonds was to finance the war, it had the positive side-effect of raising morale on the home-front. By the end of the war 85 million Americans had invested in war bonds. Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 8, 1945, now know as V-E Day (Victory in Europe). The 7th War Loan bond drive began a few days later, on May 14, 1945. During the six weeks of this drive over 26 billion dollars worth of war bonds were sold. This poster features a painting of the Puliter Prize-winning photograph taken by news photographer Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. The photograph is of soldiers raising the American flag on Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima's importance lay in it's location, midway between Japan and American bomber bases in the Mariana Islands. In the 36 days of fighting that as the battle of Iwo Jima, there were 25,851 United States casualties. Virtually all of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island died in this battle.
Lesson Plans / Themes
14 Political systems
Author or Creator
United States. Treasury Department. War Finance Division
Beall, C. C. (Cecil Calvert), 1892-1967 [artist]
Subject / Keywords
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 1882-1945
War posters, American
Economic aspects
Collection Publisher
ww20018p
Title Now...altogether, 7th War Loan
Description Poster, color, 12,7 x 9 in., published by the United States Government Printing Office
Interpretation The first Series E U.S. Savings Bond was purchased by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 1, 1941. During WWII war bonds were a source of monetary income for the United States government. Americans were urged to buy war bonds and war savings stamps. Purchasing bonds was considerd not only patriotic, but also an investment in victory. While the initial goal of selling war bonds was to finance the war, it had the positive side-effect of raising morale on the home-front. By the end of the war 85 million Americans had invested in war bonds. Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 8, 1945, now know as V-E Day (Victory in Europe). The 7th War Loan bond drive began a few days later, on May 14, 1945. During the six weeks of this drive over 26 billion dollars worth of war bonds were sold. This poster features a painting of the Puliter Prize-winning photograph taken by news photographer Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. The photograph is of soldiers raising the American flag on Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima's importance lay in it's location, midway between Japan and American bomber bases in the Mariana Islands. In the 36 days of fighting that as the battle of Iwo Jima, there were 25,851 United States casualties. Virtually all of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island died in this battle.
Lesson Plans / Themes World War II
Author or Creator United States. Treasury Department. War Finance Division
Other Contributors Beall, C. C. (Cecil Calvert), 1892-1967 [artist]
Temporal Coverage 1945
Collection Publisher Illinois State Library
Rights Copyright Not Evaluated
Resource Identifier ww20018p
Date Created 37202
Collection Title Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)
Collection Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)
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text:
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