Critically Endangered
Around the World in 80 Days - Day 30
On our journey with Phileas Fogg we have now docked in Singapore. These rays appear to be known from only 2 small areas. One of their territories is around Singapore, while the other is off the coast of Jakarta. These were first found, or "collected" in 1934 but seemingly were not widely known until the late 1990's. It was around 1996 when one was found in a fish market from what I can tell based on what little information I've seen. They hadn't been seen for about 20 years before then and had been feared extinct. They are a dwarf wedgefish, in fact the smallest of all of them, the largest barely over 2 1/2 feet long. They have a very pointy almost leaf shaped snout. When they are young they have lots of lovely polkadots which makes me almost wish I had not decided to limit myself to adult animals to maintain consistency.
I am glad the ice is essentially gone. My poor in-laws have had no power since Saturday morning (the 13th). Having a well, that means they have no water either. They are very independent though and wouldn't let us take a bunch of water out to them. Thankfully it is warmer so they won't be cold, but that has never been a big problem for them because they have a wood stove. It is more for others who have been without power for as long or longer that the weather hitting the 50's Fahrenheit must seem a welcome relief. Unfortunately that means the things in their fridge and freezer can go bad if they don't get power soon. I've wanted a generator for quite some time, but now I want it even more. I want one that will make it so that if the power goes out we can still power our fridge, freezer, and a computer or two. Our power went out for 10 minutes and my first thought was "oh no, I will have to research today's animal on my phone, and the screen is too small to be very helpful". Yeah, losing all the food we have in the freezer, or my son not being able to log in to school (some 5000 school families aren't able to, it isn't a big deal) wasn't my worry, it was my daily paintings that had me concerned. I do believe I may have an obsession!