March 21, 2014 - EARTH - The following constitutes the latest incidents of mass animal die-offs, stranding, and beaching across the Earth
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Two Dead Sperm Whales Wash Up On A Beach In Shetland, Scotland.
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| One of the Unst sperm whales. Siobhan Pirie |
Scottish Natural Heritage has confirmed that the lower jaw of one of the two dead sperm whales that washed up on a beach in Shetland earlier this month has been sawn off . The environmental agency has been in discussion with local police about what potentially could be a wildlife crime. However, they have not officially reported it and police confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that they are not investigating. SNH advised that it was a crime to possess any artefact from a protected animal be it a sperm whale or a Siberian tiger. Meanwhile, the council environmental health department is warning people to stay away from the carcasses while plans are being put in place to dispose the two whales, possibly at the weekend. Ideally, the two 40-tonne carcasses will be towed off Scolla Wick, near Muness, and taken to nearby Sandwick beach where they could be buried. However it will be a logistical challenge to deploy sufficient manpower and machinery, including a number of vessels, to complete the recovery and disposal within a short weather window forecast for Saturday. Environmental health officer Patti Dinsdale said notices warning the public to keep away from the Scolla Wick site would be put up on Thursday. She added: "Please note that while there is no specific health risk known from whales, the carcasses are decomposing and, as such, may present a public health risk. "There is also a small risk of explosion from the build up of gases in the gut cavity." She added: "Weather permitting, the whales will hopefully be removed at the weekend, however the area should still be avoided until the gut contents have washed away - which may take a few weeks or perhaps months depending on the weather." -
Shetland News.
Death Toll Of Water Birds On Frozen Lake Erie Likely To Number Tens Of Thousands.
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| Red breasted mergansers and coot on Lake Erie. WKYC |
The Great Lakes are the winter home to millions of sea birds and waterfowl that need open water to survive. The frigid weather of the past few months left 92 percent of the lakes covered in ice, and that left diver ducks out in the cold.Jen Brumfield, a naturalist for the Cleveland Metroparks explains, "With the freeze-over, all of these birds are piling into very, very small, open-water outlets where they become stressed. There is limited food for them there, so they starve and die." As the frozen lake thaws, carcasses of the deceased ducks are washing up along the shore by the hundreds. The waterfowl are mostly diver ducks, like greater and lesser scaup, redheads, canvasbacks, and red-breasted mergansers.Prior to dying, many ducks have flown off to look for food. They run out of strength and land in people's yards, driveways or roadways. Some have been rescued and taken to wildlife rehabilitation centers, like the one at the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village.
Tim Jasinski has been working to get the ducks healthy again and released back to the wild."We received 36 red-breasted mergansers since the beginning of the year. It's been pretty crazy," he said.The weak are nursed back to health on a mixture of commercial duck chow and PediaSure. As they get their strength back, they can switch to their main diet, fish. But fish are expensive."Our budget is slashed through July 31," Jasinski says. "These birds can eat up to a hundred minnows or small goldfish a day. It's very expensive."The nonprofit nature center is looking for donations to get them through. They've had more than 135 ducks brought into the center.
WATCH: Brutal winter causes massive duck die-off.
They usually see 20 over a normal winter.Tragically, some of the ducks are just too weak to survive.Brumfield says, "The Cleveland Museum of Natural History will be taking many of the deceased for study."Waterfowl dieoffs are not new, but this year the numbers are much higher due to the harsh weather."It's survival of the fittest," Brumfield said. "Mother Nature is rough, but there is good that comes from this. It weeds out the old, the sick, and strengthens the gene pool."The dead waterfowl pose no threat to humans, but if you see any, feel free to call the Cleveland Metroparks and file a report. They are tracking numbers of the dead ducks.If you see an injured duck or any injured wildlife or want to offer help, you can contact the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center. -
WKYC.
Dead Grey Whale Washes Ashore Near Long Beach, Washington State.
A dead grey whale washed ashore on the Long Beach Peninsula and was observed at about 189th Street in Klipsan Beach on Thursday morning. This is near the start of the grey whales' annual northward migration in the Pacific Ocean. The whale has a visible wound in it abdomen, but this may have been post-mortem. -
Chinook Observer.
Ten-Fold Increase In The Number Of Dying Water Birds Rescued In Toronto Due To Extreme Cold.
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Calls about dead birds to Toronto Animal Services went up 66 per cent
between Jan. 1 and Mar. 12,
compared to the same period last year.
Torstar News Service |
Toronto's ducks and geese are among the hardest-hit victims of this year's brutal winter weather. Calls about dead birds - found stuck in the ice or floating lifeless in the water - shot up 66 per cent between Jan. 1 and Mar. 12 compared to the same period last year, according to Toronto Animal Services. Meanwhile, the city's only wildlife rescue charity has been overwhelmed with dozens of fragile, injured and dying birds, making this the worst winter it has seen in 21 years of operation. "They're weak and they're starving," said Nathalie Karvonen, executive director of the Toronto Wildlife Centre. "Some of the birds are having traumatic injuries as well because they're in a weakened state." The centre has rescued about 10 times as many water birds as it does during a normal winter, more than 130 since December. Admissions of wildlife are up 50 per cent overall, said Karvonen. Many water birds spend the winter on Georgian Bay, which has frozen solid for the first time in 20 years. The mass migration led to an intense food competition this year, as thousands of fish-eating birds compete for a few small pools of water. The charitable wildlife centre has been running on overdrive, with volunteers and staff working daily overtime.
The cost of specialized food, medical supplies and even orthopedic surgery is skyrocketing, and Karvonen gently urged Toronto residents to donate. "A lot of the birds that have been coming in . . . are exclusively fish-eaters. It's not like you can get them a bowl of bird feed," she said. "Some days we've been spending over $400 on live fish alone in one day." Across the province and in upstate New York, water birds are starving to death. Carcasses began piling up in the hundreds in early January in the Niagara River corridor, spanning from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. In Cobourg, Ont., one man's quest to save dying ducks and geese is taking him all the way to court. Bill Thompson, a 73-year-old military retiree, began feeding the birds on the harbour near his home after he noticed in January they were starving. The waterfowl were lethargic and barely moving, he said. "I had to feed them, or just let them die - and I can't do that," he said. "It was very severe.
They were just lying there." He began visiting the harbour twice a day to feed the birds corn. But he's received two $105 tickets for violating Cobourg's bylaw against feeding wildlife, which he plans to fight in court. "If the judge says, 'Sorry, you have to pay it,' then I'll pay it," Thompson said. "It's a lot more important to keep birds alive than a couple hundred dollars." Defenders of the bylaws say that feeding birds is illegal because it often results in negative consequences for wildlife. Ducks and geese have survived for thousands of years without handouts, experts point out. But Thompson said he's lived by the lake since 2007 and has never fed the birds until this year, because the winter has never been this severe. He plans to stop feeding them as soon as the ice melts. "Because they've been fed, they're starting to act normally . . . they're very active now, whereas before they were very lethargic," he said. "It's like night and day." The Toronto Wildlife Centre is urging the public to call 416-631-0662 or visit TorontoWildlifeCentre.com if they see an animal in danger. -
Metro News.
Man Snaps Photo Of Rare Black Flamingo.
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This photograph, taken by Don Presser of Carmel, shows what could be
the
world's only "documented" black flamingo, in a salt pond in Eilat,
Israel.
Other photos have been taken in the Middle East of what is
believed
to be the same bird. Dan Presser/Contributed Photo |
When he couldn't find any snakes on a desert plain, a Carmel man turned his camera lens to a salt pond and captured an even rarer sight - a black-feathered flamingo. Don Presser, 70, photographed what he said could be the "one and only black flamingo in the world" on a trip to Eilat, Israel, in February. Presser sent the image to Monterey County bird experts who identified it as a rare melanistic Greater Flamingo. Other photographs of a darkly-hued flamingo in Eilat first appeared on birding websites last spring, and some sites also claimed the bird is one of a kind. It's unclear if what Presser saw is the same bird. "I think there's only one, but there might be more," he said. "Let's put it this way: it's very rare." Bird experts at the San Diego Zoo have heard reports of the melanistic - or darkly colored - flamingo, although none was familiar enough with the case to comment on it further, said Christina Simmons, a public relations officer at the zoo. Tim Fitzer of the Sacramento Audubon Society said he hasn't heard of the bird, but he isn't surprised by it. The odds of a flamingo being born melanistic are very low, he said, but there are lots of flamingos out there. "Anything can happen, you know?" Fitzer said.
Presser, who owns FourWinds Travel in Carmel, traveled to Eilat in the southern deserts of Israel hoping to photograph snakes, but cold, rainy weather ruined any chance of that, he said. But he loves taking pictures of all critters, he said, and noticed a stand of flamingos wading in a salt pond. The black-feathered beauty stood out and Presser asked his tour guide about the animal. "He said, 'That can't be a flamingo. There's no such thing as a black flamingo,'" Presser recalled. While the guide went on with the tour, Presser got to a better a vantage point and snapped a few photos. "It looks like a duck. It quacks like a duck. It might be a black flamingo," he reasoned. Flamingos are famously pink, but they can have a genetic irregularity that causes them to produce extra amounts of a pigment called melanin. When a flamingo has this condition, it appears unusually brown or black and is called melanistic, said Don Roberson, author of the book Monterey Birds. Albino animals have a similar condition, except their melanin is in short supply or absent. Leucism is another related condition and a white, leucistic hummingbird has been fluttering around Hatton Valley in Carmel, Roberson said. The hummingbird may appear albino at first glance, but it doesn't have the pink eyes and feet of albino birds. Melanistic animals are thought to be less common than albino animals, according to information provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University. It could be, however, that albino animals are simply easier to spot, Roberson said. "That's just an educated guess," he said. In any case, he said, the dark-feathered flamingo "is quite rare." -
Monterey Herald.
Dead Dwarf Sperm Whale Found At Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina.
A whale that washed up onshore in Pine Knoll Shores has been identified as a Dwarf Sperm Whale. This is the smallest species of whale in the world and rarely spotted at sea. Scientist Keith Rittmaster of the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort says most everything scientists know about the Dwarf Sperm Whale has been found out by studying ones that have washed ashore, like the one from this past weekend. Rittmaster says it is hard to even determine how many Dwarf Sperms there are in the world, since they are hard to spot and definitively identify at sea. Dwarf Sperm Whales look very similar to Pygmy Sperm Whales, which are more common. The whale that washed up near the Trinity Center off of Salter Path Road was 452 pounds and about 7.5 ft. Scientists quickly identified it as a fully grown adult male.
Rittmaster says the Dwarf Sperm live in deep water dozens of miles off the coast. He says scientists puzzle over how Sperm Whales, so recently dead, can make it all the way to shore. The whale was necropsied, which is an autopsy performed on an animal. The cause of death is still unknown but will hopefully be determined when the results come in. Scientists and volunteers from the NC Maritime Museum, Trinity Center, NC State University's Center for Marine Sciences and Technology, NC Division of Marine Fisheries, and Carteret Community College, UNC Wilmington participated also and two veterinary residents from NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine all helped with the necropsy. The skeleton of the whale was buried near the Trinity Center under 3ft of sand. This will naturally decompose the whale. The excavated bones are hoped to go on display at the Trinity Center, near where the whale was initially found. The center teaches area children about science, nature, and animals. If you find a stranded animal, call The regional Marine Mammal Stranding Network reporting hotline at 252-241-5119. -
WCTI12.
26th Dolphin Found Stranded Along South Carolina's Coast This Year.
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| Dolphin in Broad Creek. (Hilton Head) Island Packet |
A dying bottlenose dolphin washed ashore Monday morning on a southern Hilton Head Island beach, the 26th dolphin stranded along South Carolina's coast this year, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration marine biologist. The dolphin was found alive on the beach between Sea Pines and Marriott's Grande Ocean Resort at about 8 a.m., but it died before marine biologists could reach it, said marine mammal stranding program scientist Wayne McFee. McFee said no cause of death has been determined, but a necropsy would be performed Tuesday in Charleston. A likely cause is the morbillivirus strain that has ravaged dolphin populations along the East Coast. McFee said 95 percent of the dolphins tested for the virus have tested positive. In 2013, there were 112 stranded dolphins in the state, the "highest South Carolina has ever seen," McFee said. McFee said people who come across dolphins on beaches should leave them alone and call the Marine Mammal Stranding Network at 800-922-5431. He said people tried repeatedly to push the dolphin found Monday back into the ocean. Pushing it back into the water doesn't help the animal and could result in injury to the person if the dolphin tries to resist, he said. S.C. Department of Natural Resources Lt. Michael Paul Thomas said people should not handle the dolphins because of the possibility of transmitting diseases. The morbillivirus cannot be transmitted to humans, but infected dolphins could be carrying other diseases or bacteria that can be transmitted, he said. -
Slate.
