The Karoo Shale Gas Community Forum said today that fracking critics are ignoring the needs of the Karoo’s poverty-stricken residents. Spokesperson Vuyisa Jantjies criticized those who oppose fracking by Shell, by saying: “If you have still the demonstrations that you have had, I will tell you that they’re purely white, rented crowds, that come and toyi-toyi in front of Parliament.”
Bad cellphone reception and weak signal strength might be caused by the sun, according to new research. Solar flares emanating from the sun could be to blame for telecommunications customers’ slow internet, signal reception issues and GPS problems, thus taking some the pressure off the network providers, for now.
One of the passengers on the two light aircraft that went missing in George’s Valley, Limpopo, is a Durban air show coordinator, according to organisers. They won’t release a name however, out of respect for the person’s family.
About 1000 Thai dogs – destined to be cooked and eaten in Vietnam – escaped a gruesome fate when they were rescued by police before the weekend. As you’ll see from the video, they were stuffed into tiny cages, stacked high in scores of crates. Even though the story has a happy ending, please be warned that the visuals are very disturbing.
At around lunch time yesterday, two light aircraft travelling from Limpopo to Gauteng’s Rand Airport simply disappeared off the radar. Between 12 and 14 passengers, including some kids, were on board when the planes departed after an airshow in Tzaneen.
Earlier this year 2oceansVibe reported about a tribe in western Brazil, living some 50 kilometres from the Peruvian border, that had until then, not been contacted by modern man. Sadly the tribe has gone missing after drug traffickers overran Brazilian guards posted to protect the area around which the tribe was living.
“Boom.” Of course, there can only be one reason for this unusual meteorological blessing: The TBG is on the Mountain. Coincidence? I think not. Come on. Don’t be silly. [Headline image source:tablemountain]
Aleksandr Pylyshenko, a Ukrainian artist who owns a private zoo in the city of Vasilyevka, plans on living in an enclosure with Katya and Samson, his lions, for five weeks to raise money to improve the zoo’s living conditions and to increase awareness of underfunded private Ukrainian zoos. So that makes sense.
Developing Story A light helicopter flipped on its roof on UCT’s Middle Campus early this morning. Injuries or deaths are as yet unknown. Confirmed reports are that a photographer and the pilot survived the crash unharmed. More pics, and audio after the jump!
The future is officially nuts. It’s getting to a point where stuff like this probably won’t shock you anymore. It should. Be shocked. These robo-seals, called ‘Paro’, not only bring comfort to recovering Japanese tsunami patients, they also sing, clap, and even take part in the residents daily exercise routines.
If all goes according to plan, it won’t be long before residents in Jozi face fines for improperly managing their waste. While the move will definitely result in a fair amount of complaining, it’s arguable that recycling has been happening around the world for ages. In fact, it should be a habit and duty for all of us.
A leopard that mauled 11 people in a fierce showdown with villagers and forest officials, in the Indian town of Prakash Nagar, West Bengal, has died of knife wounds after being captured. It’s been reported that the animal was also stoned by villagers after forest officials had eventually managed to subdue the panicked animal.
The last time a 500kg, three-metre long Great White jumped into my boat, I woke up safely under my duvet, with my great white cat playing bouncy castle on my bed. You have to hand it to these boys though, not only did they escape this situation unscathed but they had to shack up with sharky, while being towed to Mossel Bay harbour.
In a scene straight out of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, a five-year-old boy got into a frightening tussle with a Bengal tiger at a golf estate in Limpopo on Saturday. You read all of the above correctly.
Yesterday, the Sunday Times carried a story about a dog attack. A four-year-old girl was mauled by a Rottweiler in the upmarket Hyde Park shopping centre last Monday. But what was unique about this? The dog’s handler is a dog whisperer and also claims to be “Africa’s number one dog expert.”
Taking the Bear Grylls survival lifestyle to the next level, a crew member of the final space shuttle mission aboard space shuttle Atlantis, which departed on Friday, will reportedly be testing out a new system designed to turn urine into a sugary-flavoured sports drink.
A massive sand storm, called a “Haboob”, wreaked havoc in Phoenix, Arizona when it came roaring through the desert like an apocalyptic nightmare on Tuesday night. The massive storm resulted in absolute chaos, delaying flights and causing power outages across the city.
“When it snows in East London” is a bit like saying “When hell freezes over”. That is, it never happens (not what you thought I was saying). But this week, the windy city has experienced unusually low temperatures coupled with unbelievable snowfall. Click through for photos of Vincent Park shopping centre in the aftermath of flooding and snow yesterday.
“Jy speel op Avbob se stoep!” If you aren’t familiar with this Afrikaans saying, get Johan in the office to translate it for you. This is exactly what the dove in this video is busy doing. Watch as this cheeky bugger sides up to a sleeping cat and… no, rather watch it yourself. This is too priceless to spoil!
In their never-ending pursuit to find nuts, squirrels can sometimes forget to look left and right before crossing the road. The end result of this is not always nice, trust me, I work in Stellenbosch and see this daily. But check out this cheeky bugger – attempting to outrun a Lamborghini LP670-4 SV going at 160km per hour. That’s bold!
Scott Ramsay is about to embark on a year-long journey through South Africa’s 31 most beautiful and precious wilderness spots. He begins his journey this Monday, and for over 365 days, Scott will be updating his website with great written, photographic, and video content documenting the places, people, and wildlife that he sees. Check out the great video after the jump!
You guys remember that VW commercial that ran during the Superbowl with a tiny Darth Vader? Well, Greenpeace does. And they’ve made a spoof follow-up in an effort to call attention to the automaker’s environmental record. Liberal media sentiments aside, it’s cute – click through for a tiny Vader and a Message About The Environment.
Personally, I took Shakespeare as more of an opium den kind of a guy, but I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be the first to admit that. Anyway, a South African anthropologist from Wits University has set in motion a request to open the graves of William Shakespeare and his family to determine, among other things, what killed them.
A house here in Cape Town’s Noordhoek has become the most sustainable building in South Africa, after building was completed this month. It was constructed using Hempcrete, a breathable building material made of hemp, lime, and water. And even though it is described as an “unassuming, down-to-earth cannabis shack” it actually looks rather luxurious. More pics inside.
This scary looking creature is, in fact, a dog. Its short, patchy pieces of hair, spindly, hairless little legs and protruding tongue were enough to ensure that “Yoda” now officially holds the title: “World’s Ugliest Dog”.
The Chinese are being weird again. But since they gave us paper, the compass, and dominoes, perhaps we should let this one slide. The latest craze over there involves dyeing their pets to look like wild animals such as pandas and tigers. See pics inside.
We’ve been following the developments of the Greek financial crisis closely here at 2oceansvibe. What’s more is that dogs have been absolutely killing it this year and so we bring you, Loukanikos, who has hated Greece’s austerity measures, corrupt politicians, and the plight of the Greek people since 2008.
Here at 2oceansvibe we are very much about the “vibe”. And this canine has it! If animals could read, I’m pretty sure this dog would be a regular visitor here. He has become the latest “awww cute, man!” thing on the internet due to his ability to crack a grin just like us humans. Day made!
Boy, those Russians are tough! Take this 36 year-old scientist for instance – swimming naked with Beluga whales in minus 1.5 degrees Celsius! Natalia Avseenko wants to explore the possibility of taming them before they are transported to dolphinariums around the world. Why naked? They do not like to be touched by artificial materials such as diving suits, duh!
While the rest of South Africa spent last night enjoying the lunar eclipse, Cape Town was battered by a storm that dropped as much as 50mm of rain in the space of a few hours in places. The storm was accompanied by gale force winds and lighting that have caused widespread damage in parts of the city.