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| Oarfish caught in Japan. |
February 10, 2016 - EARTH - The following constitutes the latest reports of unusual and symbolic animal behavior, mass die-offs, beaching and stranding of mammals, and the appearance of rare creatures.
Deep water oarfish caught alive off Japan
Japanese fishermen made a rare catch on Monday when they found a huge oarfish in their nets.The fish will now be housed at an aquarium.
WATCH: Rare oarfish caught alive off Japan.
- Global News.
Dead sei whale found in Malaysia
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| Dead sei whale. |
The dead whale that was found beached at the Sungai Sarang Buaya river mouth is the same one found and rescued in Pontian two days ago.
Johor Fisheries Department director Munir Mohd Nawi said the mammal is from the highly endangered Balaenoptera borealis species.
Widely known as sei whale, it is the third largest of its kind in the whale family.
He said a forensics team from the Turtles and Marine Ecosystem Centre was examining the carcass.
"This is the same whale that was found and rescued in Pontian waters a couple of days ago.
"The carcass is being towed to the department's jetty here for a post-mortem and to find out the cause of death," he said.
It was recently reported that a whale was rescued by a group of people in Pantai Rambah on Monday.
However the mammal was found beached again in shallow waters along Sungai Sarang Buaya on Tuesday. - The Star.
Body of minke whale washes up at Sheringham, UK
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The dead creature, at first thought to be a giant squid, rolling in the surf at Weybourne. © Sue Webber
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North Norfolk District Council chiefs went to investigate this afternoon. A council spokesman said: "We are currently assessing the situation to see whether it is necessary to remove the minke whale carcass before the next high tide or allow tonight's high tide to move the carcass and for nature to take its course."
Chiefs were advising people not to touch the whale or allow dogs to come into contact with it.
The badly-decomposed body, which has been gradually rolling down the coast, came to rest at Weybourne on Tuesday evening.
It was spotted there, half submerged and in fast-fading light, by villagers Max and Sue Webber, and local fisherman Johnny Seago who thought they could see tentacles and mistook it for a giant squid.
But that theory was quashed later in the night when it was properly examined under artificial light by someone acting on behalf of Norfolk cetacean recorder Carl Chapman.
He confirmed it was actually the Salthouse minke whale.
Mr Chapman said he hoped the mistaken identification would not discourage people from reporting findings for fear they were wrong.
"There are always false alarms but, on the odd occasion, it comes up trumps. I'd much rather people got in touch so that we can investigate," he added.
Dr Peter Evans, director of the national Sea Watch Foundation, said minke whale were relatively rare off the Norfolk coast but were not uncommon around the Dogger Bank, north-east of The Wash. "They tend to live in rather deeper waters," he added.
There had been a "fairly marked increase" in minke whale numbers since the 1980s but that had now stabilised. - Eastern Daily Press.
