Moby Dick turns 161

It's a big year for whales!

Today is the 161st anniversary of Moby Dick, the great classic by Herman Melville! To celebrate, we have a lovely image taken by Drew Sutton, Nice Director, photographer and videographer, who travels the world diving with the beautiful cetaceans! This was a sperm whale close encounter in Sri Lanka!

Drew is also a contributing artist in the Moby Dick Big Read project, where you can download a chapter a day of the novel which is read by the likes of Stephen Fry, Tilda Swinton, David Cameron, John Waters and Sir David Attenborough, with artwork presented by Anish Kapoor, Linder - and Drew!

http://www.mobydickbigread.com

Up and coming events include WhaleFest, which returns to Brighton this autumn with a wild weekend of whale and dolphin inspired activities from 27-28 October. A good home for this festival, it was 30 years ago that the International Whaling Commission met at the Brighton Hilton Metropole in 1982 and made the decision to ban whaling. This year, the world’s leading whale charities and whale watching businesses are returning to the same location to join forces on behalf of whales worldwide.

http://www.whale-fest.com/

So, watch this space for more whales!

Bottlenose dolphins windfarm threat.

Drew Sutton , Nice Director, has been back out on the Scottish waters with Philip Hoare as they addressed the issue of the newly approved windfarm plans in the Moray Firth. Photo by Drew Sutton These waters are home to an array of wildlife, including the "UK's only resident population of bottlenose dolphins" and these 227 proposed turbines will disrupt their way of life since they depend on sonar. Have a read of Philip's article and if you can, pop along to Aquatopia: The imaginary of the ocean deep which opened this weekend at the Nottingham Contemporary and will continue at Tate St Ives in October. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/17/sea-invisible-trash-heap-aquatopia Let us know what you think or even better, get involved with the WDC and exhibitions such as Aquatopia! http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/art/aquatopia

Nana’s Manners, Confident Kids- Kickstart starts 21st June

Nana’s Manners believe in giving children the tools they need to learn to do the basics well. We want to empower kids to become confident and independent in the world around them. Nana’s Manners is the inspiration of Kathryn, a mum of two who taught in Primary Schools for ten years. It was whilst teaching in a Reception class that she realised the widespread difficultly 4-5 year olds had in using a knife and fork effectively and independently. As the cutlery kids need to help them learn this life skill didn’t exist, Kathryn decided she was going to design it herself. Nana’s Manners is launching their patented, ergonomically designed cutlery on Kickstarter on the 21st June. They need to reach their target amount in pledges in 30 days to fund their first production run and bring Nana’s Manners to life. Please visit their website to find out more and support them in getting their cutlery out and into little hands. http://www.nanasmanners.com

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