CONSERVATION CORNER
(For the week of January 5, 2026)
Dan Guravich: Biologist, Conservationist, Wildlife Photographer
by James L. Cummins
Dr. Daniel A. Guravich was born in 1918 in Winnipeg, Canada, and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba. Although educated as a scientist, he became seriously interested in photography during World War II when, following a rugged tour of duty in the Royal Canadian Armored Corps, he joined a combat photography unit.
Following the war, he received his doctorate in 1949 from the University of Wisconsin. It was then that he moved to Greenville and worked from 1949 to 1952 as a geneticist at the Delta Experiment Station in Stoneville. Discouraged with his work as a cotton geneticist, Guravich opened a camera store in Greenville and offered his services as a freelance photographer. Publishers of seed catalogs and editors of agricultural periodicals realized the extent of his expertise in both photography and their products and soon assignments came pouring in.
Although Guravich is most widely known and respected for his love and experience with polar bears, it wasn’t until 1969, at the age of 51 that he saw his first wild polar bear. It was then, as he watched the bear turn away, that he decided to photograph and publish images of polar bears in their natural surroundings.
As biologist, conservationist, and wildlife photographer, Guravich alerted the world to the Arctic and its heritage and popularized the Far North with its unique wildlife. As a biologist, Guravich understood the nature of the animals. As a conservationist, he sought to encourage others to preserve the Arctic environment along with its wonderful creatures. As a photographer, he captured the images of those things he fought to preserve and protect.
Initially, Guravich had a difficult time convincing editors to publish pieces on polar bears. Finally, the Smithsonian magazine allowed Guravich to travel to Churchill with writer Jack Wiley to report on the object of his fascination. The resulting article, published in February 1978, generated such an astounding flood of interest that the influential magazine published a second piece in 1986.
Guravich passed away almost 28 years ago at the age of 79, ending an eventful, joyful life filled with achievements and surrounded by admiring and devoted friends. Dan Guravich’s work and passion live on through Polar Bears International, the nonprofit organization he founded in 1992 that is devoted to conserving and promoting the understanding of Ursus maritimus, the sea bear or more commonly, the polar bear.
From a personal perspective, I was born in and grew up in Greenville, Mississippi. I worked in Stoneville, Mississippi. As I sat in my office in the evenings after all our staff had gone for the day, I sometimes wondered how the gentleman that introduced the polar bear to the world lived in Greenville and worked in Stoneville. It is also incredulous to realize my father-in-law, Arch Dalrymple, once commissioned Dan Guravich to travel to Amory to photograph his three beautiful daughters.
James L. Cummins is executive director of Wildlife Mississippi, a nonprofit conservation organization founded to conserve, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plant resources throughout Mississippi. Their website is www.wildlifemiss.org.
CONSERVATION CORNER
(For the week of January 12, 2026)
Common Moorhen
by James L. Cummins
The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a bird species in the rail family (Rallidae). Also known as the waterhen or swamp chicken, it is widely distributed throughout the world living around well-vegetated marshes, canals, ponds, and other wetlands. However, it is not found in polar regions or many tropical rainforests.
Adult common moorhens are medium-sized marsh birds, weigh between 6 to 18 ounces, measure 12 to 15 inches in length, and sport a wingspan of 20 to 24 inches.
A distinctive species, the common moorhen does not have webbed feet which lends to it being referred to as a “swamp chicken” as they have long toes that enable them to walk on top of marsh vegetation. The adults are covered in dark plumage save the white undertail. They also have yellow legs and a red bill tipped with yellow. Harder to see, they also have a red band on each leg, just above the upper joint and just below the feathers. Baby chicks closely resemble the adults with their black downy and yellow-tipped red bills; however, the juveniles are browner and lack the red facial shield until they reach maturity. When swimming, the common moorhen looks similar to the coot as it also pumps its head back and forth.
From mid-March to mid-May, the common moorhen arrives on northern parts of its breeding range. The nest is constructed of dead vegetation and lined with grass, taking on the shape of a well-rimmed cup. The nest is usually found over water and anchored to the stems of bushes; however, the common moorhen has also been known to build on the ground or in low shrubs.
Both sexes share in nest building, incubation, and caring for the young and are very territorial during breeding season. The female lays anywhere from 5 to 10 smooth and glossy, greyish white to green with reddish-brown or grey markings. Eggs are laid one a day and incubation begins with the laying of the first egg. Incubation lasts up to 3 weeks, and hatching is usually staggered, with days difference between the hatching of the first and last eggs. The young leave the nest soon after hatching as young chicks can forage for themselves at 3 weeks of age and can fly by 7 weeks of age. They will, however, stay close to the parents until the fall to help raise later broods.
The common moorhen is omnivorous and opportunistic. Their diet consists of crustaceans, earthworms, mollusks, spiders, tadpoles, small fish, and adult and larval insects, especially flies, mayflies, beetles, butterflies, and other bugs. They occasionally eat other birds’ eggs, moss, algae, seed, flowers, berries, fruit, and small aquatic plants. The common moorhen can make a meal of a variety of sources.
With worldwide numbers estimated between 5 and 8 million, the common moorhen is of Least Concern but faces some threats with the degradation and loss of deep-water marshes with emergent vegetation.
James L. Cummins is executive director of Wildlife Mississippi, a nonprofit conservation organization founded to conserve, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plant resources throughout Mississippi. Their website is www.wildlifemiss.org.
CONSERVATION CORNER
(For the week of January 19, 2026)
Whales in the Gulf of America
by James L. Cummins
There are several species of whales found in the Gulf of America. The two most sighted are: the killer whale (orca) and the sperm whale.
In the summer of 2008, four large pods (schools or herds) of killer whales were spotted approximately 125 miles southeast of Pascagoula, Mississippi, by a group of people aboard the Shady Lady Charter Boat. While any sighting of a killer whale is rare, it is even more unusual that several groups of them would be spotted at one time.
Orcas are toothed whales that grow to be up to 33 feet long and can weigh upwards of 3 tons. Orcas breathe air at the surface of the water through a blowhole located near the top of their head. Their diverse diets consist of turtles, fish, birds, seals, and other marine mammals.
The orca’s skin is mostly black with distinctive white patches. They have stocky bodies and rounded heads with a distinctive beak. They have a tall, sickle-shaped dorsal fin and large, paddle-like flippers. The male’s dorsal fin is taller and more upright than that of the female, with an average height of up to 6 feet. The killer whale is the largest member of the dolphin family.
Orcas communicate with clicks used in echolocation, whistles, and scream-like pulses. These are used to communicate with other orcas for mating purposes and for locating prey. It has been observed that different pods have distinctive “accents” and can recognize other members by this accent.
Another whale commonly found in the Gulf of America is the sperm whale. Considered a social species of whale, sperm whales in the Gulf of America exhibit a specific type of vocalization when gathered as a group. This form of communication, called a coda, was found to be a distinctively different dialect when compared to codas of sperm whales in other areas such as the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas.
These whales swim at speeds up to 10 knots but can make short bursts of up to 20 knots. Dark bluish gray to black in color, they may also have white on the belly and lower jaw. The sperm whale also holds the distinction of having the largest brain of any animal–weighing in at 20 pounds.
These two whales, along with other whale species such as Blainsville’s beaked whales, humpback whales, melon-headed whales, Gervais’ beaked whales, and 13 others, have been observed in areas south of the coast of Texas to just south of Florida and up into the Mississippi River Delta and the Mississippi Canyon.
Research and tracking are done to determine the size, age, gender, feeding, and communication behaviors, as well as the distribution of the many species of whales and other marine mammals in the Gulf of America.
So, if you are out on the Gulf of America look for signs of these magnificent creatures. They are truly a sight to behold in their natural habitat.
James L. Cummins is executive director of Wildlife Mississippi, a nonprofit conservation organization founded to conserve, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plant resources throughout Mississippi. Their website is www.wildlifemiss.org.
CONSERVATION CORNER
(For the week of January 26, 2026)
Groundhog Day
by James L. Cummins
Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. But what is it, why is it called such, where did it come from, and what does it mean?
Legend says it is the day that the groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow. If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole. If the day is cloudy and he doesn’t see his shadow, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground. This event occurs each year with Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania.
Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, are the largest members of the squirrel family. The groundhog can grow to over 2 feet long and weigh as much as 30 pounds. They can live up to 6 years in the wild and as long as 10 years in captivity. Though they are usually seen on the ground, they can climb trees and are also capable swimmers. In the spring, females will welcome a litter of up to six, which will stay with their mother for several months.
Since they are mostly herbivorous, their diet consists of wild grasses, berries, fruits, tree bark, and agricultural crops when available. They will binge and purposefully put on weight in the summer, reaching their maximum mass in late August. They become lazy and prepare for hibernation in October. By February, the hibernating groundhogs will have lost as much as half their body weight.
Groundhogs are very well adapted for digging, with short but powerful limbs and curved thick claws. They are covered with two coats of fur: a dense grey undercoat and a longer coat of banded guard hairs that gives it a distinctive “frosted” appearance. Common predators include bears, bobcats, coyotes, large hawks, eagles, and owls. Young groundhogs are often preyed upon by snakes. When alarmed, the groundhog will use a high-pitched whistle to warn the rest of the colony. If the groundhog becomes threatened, they defend themselves with their two large incisors and front claws.
They are excellent burrowers. Groundhog burrows usually have 2 to 5 entrances to provide them with a means of escape from predators. They have also been known to build a separate “winter burrow” for the purpose of hibernation. The tunnels can run as much as 5 feet deep. This can pose a serious threat to agricultural and residential development by damaging farm machinery and causing problems with building foundations. Burrows provide a home not only for sleeping, but for also raising their young and hibernating.
James L. Cummins is executive director of Wildlife Mississippi, a nonprofit conservation organization founded to conserve, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plant resources throughout Mississippi. Their website is www.wildlifemiss.org.
