March 14, 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.
Giant sperm whale found dead on East Bali beach
A beached whale, reportedly measuring 16.2 meters in length, was found in Klungkung, East Bali early on Monday morning.
Local fishermen Negah Sunarta, 37, and Nengah Darpa, 35, found the whale
at Batu Tumpeng Beach, Gelgel Village when they were catching lobster.
"We usually look for lobsters on this beach. We were shocked with the
whale. After we approached, it turned out to be dead," Sunarta said, as
quoted in a report by Praise Sukiswanti, published by Sindo News.
The whale caused quite the commotion as hundreds of curious people apparently gathered around it to gawk and take pictures.
Unfortunately, as you can see from some of these photos posted to social
media, the dead whale was not allowed to rest in peace right away as
people saw a photo op and jumped right on.
Breaking News ! 16 M. Whale stranded on Pantai batu tumpeng klungkug / Bali this Monday morning 14/03/2016 at 4 AM pic.twitter.com/K02vvd7jXY
Along with the many photos all over Bali social media, the presence
of the poor washed up whale was confirmed by Klungkung Police Chief
Arendra Wahyudi, who said on Monday afternoon that police were still
coordinating with the Klungkung Department of Fisheries and Marine
Affairs, the Natural Resource Conservation body (KSDA), and the Regional
Disaster Management Agency (BPKB) to remove the whale from the beach.
A KSDA officer, Wayan Surata, told Tribun Bali that the whale was Physeter macrochepalus, or a sperm whale.
He added that he believes the whale was separated from its group and
must have drifted off before it was stranded on the East Bali beach,
that's part of the whale's migratory route. - Coconuts Bali.
Dolphins, whales found dead on Queensland beach
A female whale, her calf and a dolphin have been found dead on Sunshine Coast beaches in Queensland.
The pygmy sperm whale calf and dolphin became stranded at Peregian
Beach, while the mother whale was found about 2km north near Noosa on
Sunday, the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection says.
Samples have been taken from the animals and a local council is arranging for the carcasses to be removed.
Photos of the animals were posted to the Peregian Beach Village Facebook page on Sunday.
"Sadly 3 sea mammals have washed up dead on the early morning high tide," the post read.
"The Coolum Coast Care team are on the scene with Humpback Whale
research scientist Dr. Michael Noad, who just happened to be coming down
to check the surf."
The post said it wasn't known how the mammals died, but it appeared the whales had been bitten by sharks. - 9 News.
More than 1 million sea slugs wash onto Thai beach
Marine experts are attempting to understand why more than a million sea slugs washed up on a Phuket beach this morning.
The name 'sea slug' is a common name used specifically for gastropods
that are not shell-bearing or appear not to be shell-bearing. Experts
believe that the sea slugs found on Kamala Beach are, in fact, sea
hares. However, they have yet to determine the exact species.
"Adult sea hares are mostly large, bulky creatures. Juveniles are
usually not noticed along the shoreline," said Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong
from the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). "However, that doesn't
appear to be the case here."
WATCH: Slimy balls infest Kamala Beach.
'Sea hare' is a direct translation from the Latin lepus marinus,
which is derived from their rounded shape and from the two long
rhinophores that project upwards from their heads, thought to look
similar to the ears of a hare.
"A team was sent up there to collect samples of both the animals and the
seawater to determine exactly what has caused this," said Charatsee
Aungtonya, a marine expert from the Department of Marine and Coastal
Resources (DMCR) Region 5.
Officials at the PMBC and the DMCR Region 5 were made aware of the
situation after local social media networks became abuzz with pictures
of the tiny marine creatures on the shore of Kamala. - Phuket Gazette.
The whale flapped its tail in the water but could not right itself
February 5, 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.
Body of sperm whale that died on Norfolk beach to be tested; 29th to die in Europe within 4 weeks
British Divers Marine Life Rescue said the bull died shortly after 8pm
on Thursday. It had been stranded at Hunstanton since that morning.
Stephen Marsh, operations manager at the rescue organisation, said:
"We're very sad to confirm that the whale has died but it is a bit of a
relief because it had been in quite a lot of suffering." He added that
work would now be carried out to establish the circumstances surrounding
the beaching.
The whale is the 29th to have died after becoming stranded on beaches in northern Europe and the east coast of England.
Last month, three dead whales washed up on the Lincolnshire coast and another was found at Hunstanton.
The Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme,
which examines all whale, dolphin and porpoise strandings in the UK, is
expected to take samples from the Hunstanton whale on Friday. This
could help establish what the whales, thought to have come from the same
bachelor pod normally living off the west coast of Norway, were doing
in the North Sea.
A sperm whale is stranded in shallow water after the tide came in at Hunstanton Beach in Norfolk, eastern England, on February 4, 2016
Rescue workers battled to save the whale
Investigations have started on the second whale
which has washed up on Old Hunstanton Beach, the second in the area
within a week.
One theory is that the male whales could have taken a wrong turn while
heading south to find females or been lured by food, Marsh said.
Teams spent much of Thursday making the Hunstanton whale comfortable but
said it was not a rescue attempt as it had little chance of survival.
High tide arrived at 2.50pm, engulfing the whale, but it was unable to
move.
Even if it had returned to the sea, it was likely to become stranded
again and would almost certainly die because of internal injuries
suffered since coming ashore, the BDMLR added.
Marsh said strandings could happen naturally and the recent increase
might be due to a rise in whale populations. "It will get more attention
because it's a big animal but strandings do happen naturally, and we
are just not used to seeing them as we decimated the population through
whaling," he added.
"The females and calves stay in warmer waters and the males leave as
they become sexually active and form bachelor pods. They will then go
back to the warmer areas on an annual basis to mate. We don't know if
they were trying to migrate down to the tropics, but there's no sign yet
of any man-made activity that would cause them to come in, but that is
being investigated." - The Guardian.
Federal environmental officials have rescued a young gray whale stranded on a beach in Baja California Sur.
The environmental protection agency Profepa said the whale was found
during a routine inspection at El Mariscal on the Laguna Ojo de Liebre
in Guerrero Negro near the city of Mulegé.
A roll-and-tow technique was used to rescue the whale, which was found
to be in good condition, and release it back into the sea. Officials
said it might have been separated from its mother, become disoriented or
caught by a low tide.
The Ojo de Liebre is one of two lagoons in the El Vizcaino Whale Sanctuary and are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. - Mexico News Daily.
Dozens of dead and dying starlings found on road in Wichita, Kansas
Starling.
About 40 Starlings were found dead on a street and in a neighborhood in West Wichita on Wednesday.
"It's kind of weird," said Seth Dugan, who works nearby.
The birds were found dead on Carr Avenue, south of Kellogg and Maize Road.
"Completely clear and then come back out 20 minutes later and
there was a ton of birds laying out here and people were stopping and
taking pictures on their cell phones," said Dugan.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Wichita Fire Department responded to the
scene and gathered the dead birds. The Kansas Department of Wildlife
Parks and Tourism also responded and investigated the cause of death.
Wildlife Biologist Charlie Cope has ruled out poison and guns as the cause of death.
WATCH: Dead birds everywhere.
"Occasionally,
a couple may come in contact with electrical line," said Cope. "Those
birds being in contact and getting electrocuted, that would be my best
guess based on years of doing this."
Cope added that Starlings are not protected by federal or state law as
they are an "invasive species" and not native to North America.
If you need assistance with picking up stray, sick, injured, or dead
animals, call your local animal control agency. The Wichita Animal
Control can be reached at 350-3360. - KAKE.
Fish rain down on Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
Fish on the road in Dire Dawa.
Residents of Dire Dawa observed the rains of fish in the town.
According to sources, it was dust particles that was dropping in balls. Later the fish drop everywhere.
The residents are familiar with such a rain since it rain in the past.
While asked his comments on the unusual incident Haromaya University
Academician in the field of Meteorology and Climate Mr Efrem Mamo said
such incidents are common in areas where ocean currents and winds are
heavier than the usual.
Mamo who said he had once heard similar thing happening in Hawasa about 10 years ago added, to have a clear view on today's happening it will be necessary knowing recent day's metrological data of Dire Dawa town.
February 4, 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.
Dead sperm whale washed ashore at Ganjam, India
The sight of dead body of a 35 feet long and 10 feet round sperm whale
washed ashore shocked locals on Tuesday near Kantiagada village that
under Ganjam block.
The whale is suspected to have died five days back.
Informing about the body that washed ashore, Khalikote Forest Ranger,
Dilip Kumar Martha, said, "We doubt that the whale died four or five
days back. Initial investigations suggest that the whale died after
being hit by a ship. The Odisha museum has also been informed about the
whale if they ever want to preserve it. If they don't, the whale will be
buried near the coast." - Iamin.
Blue whale rescued off Dapoli, India
The whale, weighing approximately 25 tonnes, was seemingly stranded
in the shallows during the night because of the high tide and was then
trapped in the sand.
Sightings of whales along the coastline of Maharashtra seem to
have become a common occurrence. Three days after a 45-feet-long Bryde's
Whale was found dead on the Juhu beach, another behemoth whale was
spotted around 200 km away from Mumbai.
A 40-feet-long blue whale was spotted stranded in the shallow waters of
Dapoli beach in Ratnagiri district by members of the Sahyadri Nisarg
Mitra on February 1,who successfully rescued it and sent it back into deeper seas.
According to the environmental group, on a chilly morning at around 6
am, a volunteer of the group saw the whale struggling to keep itself in
the waters, almost 100 metres from the shore.
The whale, weighing approximately 25 tonnes, was seemingly stranded in
the shallows during the night because of the high tide and was then
trapped in the sand.
"Immediately, the volunteer alerted other members of the group and we
informed the forest officials," Project Director, Mohan Upadhye from
Dapoli said. The distress call by the group was heeded by around 25 men
of the village, alongside a strong force of forest officials as well.
Upon reaching the spot, they saw that the whale stuck in the
sand. Efforts started to keep it in water, while a veterinarian checked
the mammal for any injury.
"The vet found that the whale was suffering from some infection, he
administered an injection and then the whale started beating water with
its tail," Upadhye added.
A herculean task involving watering the whale and checking its vitals was carried out for more than five hours.At
5 pm, during the high tide, the group brought two trawlers to tow the
whale back into deeper waters. They safely attached a thick rope to the
tail of the whale and started to tow it into the deep sea.
"The rope broke twice because of the sheer weight of the whale. However
on the third attempt, we were successful in putting it in deep waters," Upadhye told.
Swimmers untied the rope from the whale which gracefully dived in the Arabian Sea, before surfing up once. - DNA India.
Rare wild jaguar spotted living in U.S.
Researchers
in Arizona have released video showing jaguar living near Tucson. It is
thought to be the only living jaguar in the United States.
Bleak scene: The creatures are
male and about the same age as a number of others who have washed up on
the coast of northern Europe over the last few weeks
February 2, 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.
North Sea sperm whale death toll increases to 23 as another 8 are washed up on German coast
Eight dead sperm whales have died after they were washed up on a German
beach today, taking the total number of dead whales to 23 after a
devastating number of beachings during the past month across northern
Europe.
The eight whales found near the northern town of Friedrichskoog were
young bulls, around the same age as the animals discovered three weeks
ago at various North Sea spots.
They were lying close to each other in the mudflats of a restricted area
of the Wadden Sea national park, the Schleswig-Holstein regional
environmental authority said in a statement.
Since the 1990s, a total of 82 sperm wales have been found stranded in the Wadden Sea in Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.
The sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales, and the largest
toothed predator.It can measure up to 20 metres (67 feet) long and weigh
over 50 tonnes.
'The males of this population spend their winters in the north
Atlantic.During their migrations, individual animals mistakenly wind up
in the shallow and nutrient-poor North Sea,' the authority said.
The shallow water makes it difficult for them to use their acoustic orientation to navigate and many become beached.
Wildlife protection groups also blame the underwater noise from sea
traffic and oil platforms for interfering with acoustic signals.
Huge: There are various theories why the whales end up in the North Sea
rather than the Atlantic - but the nutrient-poor waters can prove
catastrophic for them
Sombre: Eight sperm whales were washed up on this beach near the northern town of Friedrichskoog in Germany
The devastating news comes as three of the dead sperm whales which were
washed up on a British beach were covered in sand to stop them being
moved by the tide and later taken to a landfill site to rot.
The majestic creatures are thought to have died at sea before beaching
at Skegness in Lincolnshire and have since become something of a gory
tourist attraction, with people taking selfies with the corpses and some
scavengers even attempting to cut off 'trophies' from the creatures.
East Lindsey District Council Council workers covered up the bodies with
sand to stop them being moved by the high tide and a spokesman
confirmed they will then be taken to a landfill site.
'We are well rehearsed when it comes to removing whales from the beach,
we have had a few down the years including one which is bigger,' a
council spokesman said. 'The whale at Lagoon Walk, which was further out
on its own, moved overnight in the high tide so it is now further up
the beach.
'We are preparing to move the whales, but it won't be today. Today, we
are bringing in tractors to cover the whales in sand so they don't move
again.
'Because there are three of them we need to find landfill that's deep enough. We are almost there but we have to do it properly.
'We are putting sand on them this afternoon because if we don't they
could move further along the beach where it might be more difficult to
reach them.'
The bodies of the whales were cordoned off by council workers in a bid
to protect the carcasses as they are examined by scientists trying to
work out why they died.
A build-up of methane gas later caused one of the whales to explode as
marine biologists collecting samples for a post-mortem examination cut
at its skin and blubber, with shocked witnesses describing a bang and a
'huge blast of air' followed by a foul stench.
The three whale carcasses were found on the Skegness beach on Sunday
morning, after another was washed up on beach in Hunstantonm, Norfolk,
last Friday.
A fifth whale was also found at former RAF bombing range in nearby
Wainfleet - five miles from Skegness - last Monday, and is believed to
be from the same pod.
Shocking: At least 23 whales have been stranded
across the coastline of northern Europe and may have come from a single
whale pod
Graffiti has been sprayed on the bodies of two of the whales on the
beach near Gibraltar Point in Skegness. Messages reading 'Fukushima
RIP', 'CND' and 'man's fault' have been written in white lettering on
the bodies of the whales.
Scientists from the Zoological Society of London were carrying out post
mortem examinations on the whales yesterday, and experts are
investigating whether the group are linked to 12 sperm whales that have
washed up on the Dutch island of Texel and the German islands of
Wangerooge and Helgoland since January 11.
Samples have been collected from four of the five whales, but the team
from the Zoological Society were struggling to reach the fifth whale,
which was washed up yesterday on a former Ministry of Defence bombing
range, which could contain live explosives.
The samples will then be brought back to London to be analysed in the hope that this could explain why the whales died.
It is thought that the sperm whales accidentally entered the North Sea - where the sea floor is not particularly deep.
As the animals rely on sonar to navigate, when they end up in a shallow sandy seabed, they can become disorientated and die.
Richard Johnson of the UK Coastguard said: 'We believe that the three whales at Skegness died at sea and then washed ashore.
'We are advising members of the public to stay away from the beach. We
have informed the Receiver of Wreck and we are expecting an officer from
the Zoological Society of London to attend the scene and carry out
tests on the whales.' - Daily Mail.
Humpback whale, 2 dolphins & porpoise found dead along Oregon and Washington coast
A 24-foot humpback whale was among four marine mammals that washed
ashore last weekend, along a stretch of the Oregon and Washington
coastline, according to Keith Chandler, the manager of Seaside Aquarium.
The whale was found on the beach in Seaside on Sunday, a harbor
porpoise washed up near Fort Stevens on Saturday and a striped dolphin
was found on Cannon Beach on Saturday, Chandler said. Another striped
dolphin washed up in Ocean Park, Washington, also on Saturday.
Chandler said the deaths could be in some way connected and all of the mammals were dead before they reached the shore.
"It's quite a wide area, but it's a big ocean," he said. "We had
some really heavy surf, so when you see one, you often see more than
one."
He explained that the deaths could be disease-related, or another issue.But there were no obvious signs of trauma.
As first reported by The Daily Astorian,
a team of marine experts from Portland State University and the Oregon
Marine Mammal Stranding Network will conduct a necropsy on Tuesday, to
try and determine the whale's cause of death. They will collect samples
and take measurements and photos as they study the dead whale. Then, the
samples will be sent to PSU for further study.
Chandler said the humpback was fairly small, and looked to be a
juvenile, probably not more than a year old. Young whales usually remain
close by their mothers at that age, but he said no adult whales have
been spotted near Seaside recently.
Gray whales are most common along the Oregon Coast, but it's not rare to see a humpback whale farther offshore, he said.
Last September, a group of humpbacks were spotted feeding in the mouth of the Columbia River. It caused quite a spectacle.
As for the whale that washed up Sunday, Chandler said a city crew will
bury it under the sand, once the necropsy is completed on Tuesday or
Wednesday.
He added that people who are curious can feel free to come by to take a
look. However, he warned not to touch the whale, as it may carry
diseases which could potentially spread to humans or pets.
"We have some orange fencing around the whale, to discourage people from
going in, and some signs explaining that it may have diseases. We're
most concerned about dogs getting close. Hopefully people will make
sure their dogs will stay away," he said. - KGW.
May 19, 2015 - 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.
Mystery over 1,300 birds found dead on Chilean beach
Chilean authorities said Monday they are investigating what killed
some 1,300 seabirds that mysteriously turned up dead on a beach.
The birds, which belong to the Procellariidae family, may have drowned after getting trapped in fishing nets or died from a disease such as bird flu, which is not endemic to Chile, said the country's Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG).
Image: Daniel Oses (RBB)
Image: Daniel Oses (RBB)
Image: Daniel Oses (RBB)
They were found Sunday afternoon by visitors to a small black-sand beach in the southern town of Lenga, a cove with several hundred inhabitants who live mainly on fishing and tourism.
SAG said it was analyzing samples taken from the birds to try to determine the cause of death.
Hundreds of birds were found dead in the same area in 2010. Authorities determined they had been caught in fishing nets. - France 24.
Mass death of seabirds in Western U.S. is ‘unprecedented’ – unexplained changes within ocean to blame
Blue-footed diving seabirds called cassin's auklets, including this one, have been washing up dead by the thousands on beaches
from San Francisco to central British Columbia.Photograph by C. Moses, COASST
In the storm debris littering a Washington State shoreline, Bonnie Wood saw something grisly: the mangled bodies of dozens of scraggly young seabirds. In the storm debris littering a Washington State shoreline, Bonnie Wood saw something grisly: the mangled bodies of dozens of scraggly young seabirds. Walking half a mile along the beach at Twin Harbors State Park on Wednesday, Wood spotted more than 130 carcasses of juvenile Cassin’s auklets—the blue-footed, palm-size victims of what is becoming one of the largest mass die-offs of seabirds ever recorded. “It was so distressing,” recalled Wood, a volunteer who patrols Pacific Northwest beaches looking for dead or stranded birds. “They were just everywhere. Every ten yards we’d find another ten bodies of these sweet little things.”
Cassin’s auklets are tiny diving seabirds that look like puffballs. They feed on animal plankton and build their nests by burrowing in the dirt on offshore islands. Their total population, from the Baja Peninsula to Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, is estimated at somewhere between 1 million and 3.5 million. Last year, beginning about Halloween, thousands of juvenile auklets started washing ashore dead from California’s Farallon Islands to Haida Gwaii (also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) off central British Columbia. Since then the deaths haven’t stopped. Researchers are wondering if the die-off might spread to other birds or even fish.
“This is just massive, massive, unprecedented,” said Julia Parrish, a University of Washington seabird ecologist who oversees the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), a program that has tracked West Coast seabird deaths for almost 20 years. “We may be talking about 50,000 to 100,000 deaths. So far.” Although there doesn’t appear to be a link to the virus that killed tens of millions of sea stars along the same shores from California to Alaska over the past 18 months, some scientists suspect a factor in both cases may be uncharacteristically warm waters. The U.S. Geological Survey and others have performed animal autopsies, called necropsies, on several of the emaciated Cassin’s auklets.
Volunteers have been counting and tagging emaciated juvenile Cassin's auklets like these, which washed ashore near Pacific City, Oregon.
Photograph by J. Forsythe, COASST
They’ve found no evidence of disease or trauma—no viruses or bacteria, no feathers coated with spilled oil. The birds appear simply to have starved to death. “There’s very little evidence of food in their GI [gastrointestinal] tracts or stomachs,” said Anne Ballmann, with USGS’s National Wildlife Health Center. At first scientists weren’t too surprised by the carcasses washing ashore. When young auklets fledge in late summer, they all enter the water at the same time and start competing for food—shrimp-like krill and tiny crustaceans called copepods. For various reasons, last summer’s birth class of Cassin’s auklets was gigantic. Researchers expected a higher death toll, too. But they now are perplexed by the sheer numbers of dead birds and the spreading geographic extent of the die-off. “Death at this level and over this much real estate has to be from more than just that,” Parrish said.
By comparison, not one of the five largest U.S. bird mortality events tracked by USGS since 1980 is estimated to have topped 11,000 deaths. In Europe, according to the U.K.-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the worst die-off on record occurred in 1983, when 57,000 guillemots, razorbills, puffins, and other seabirds perished in the North Sea and washed up on the British coast. “You get some of this with seabirds every year,” said David Nuzum, with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “You get so many juveniles out there, and they’ve got this steep learning curve for feeding after being separated from their parents, so you always get a die-off in winter. But I’ve never seen anything like this, ever, and I’ve been here since 1985. - National Geographic.
Herd of elephants trample man to death in Bengal, India
Soren was gored to death by the elephants
With shrinking forests owing to increasing human pressure, the
man-animal conflict is on the rise. The latest in this regards is the
killing of a man by a wild elephant in the forests of Bankura district
of West Bengal on Monday.
This unfortunate incident occurred in Gokul Mathura village under
Barjora Forest Range in the district when a herd of elephants gored a
man to death in Bankura district, said a forest official.
He said that an old man whose name was Biswanath Soren and was around 65
years old, was sleeping under bamboo thickets on the edge of forest
when a herd of at least a dozen elephants while passing through the area
attacked him.
Soren was gored to death by the elephants, said Divisional Forest Officer of Bankura (North).
Earlier in April, a forest guard was killed in tusker attack in Onda under Panchet Forest Division in Bankura district.
Prior to the present incident, a forest official was attacked and
injured by an elephant in Jalpaiguri district on Sunday (May 10).
Referring to the Sunday's incident, a forest official said that a herd
of elephants had entered the Bhandiguri tea estate. While efforts were
on by forest staff to drive them away, range officer Sanjay Dutta was
attacked by one of the elephants. He sustained minor injuries on his
hand, said a forest official of the Jalpaiguri forest division. - Indie Leak.
A tidal wave of starving sea lion pups has washed up on the shores of California
One of over 430 sea lions that the Marine
Mammal Care Center in San Pedro has taken in since January 1. His shaved
marking happens to spell out “LA.”
Photo by Caroline Anderson
[An unusually large number of sea lions stranding in 2013 was a red flag] there was a food availability problem even before the ocean got warm.” Johnson: This has never happened before…
It’s incredible. It’s so unusual, and there’s no really good explanation for it. There’s also a good chance that the problem will continue, said a NOAA research scientist in climatology, Nate Mantua.
Experts blame a lack of food due to unusually warm ocean waters. NOAA declared an El Nino, the weather pattern that warms the Pacific, a few weeks ago.
The water is three and a half to six degrees warmer than the average, according to Mantua, because of a lack of north wind on the West Coast. Ordinarily, the north wind drives the current, creating upwelling that brings forth the nutrients that feed the sardines, anchovies and other fish that adult sea lions feed on. - ERN.
The ocean off the coast of California is “turning into a desert” – marine ecosystem crash is unprecedented
A cart of deceased malnourished and dehydrated sea lions that had been stranded along the northern California coast, await their turn for necropsy.
Photograph: Peter Dasilva/EPA
The waters of the Pacific off the coast of California are a clear, shimmering blue today, so transparent it’s possible to see the sandy bottom below. Viewing the ocean from the state’s famous craggy headlands, it’s impossible to know that the ocean’s unusual clarity is hiding a cruel beauty: clear water is a sign that the ocean is turning into a desert, and the chain reaction that causes that bitter clarity is perhaps most obvious on the beaches of the Golden State, where thousands of emaciated sea lion pups are stranded.
Sea lions are a ubiquitous part of the Californian landscape – they’re up and down beaches, piers and wharfs, with an overall population estimated at around 300,000. They have the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to thank for their existence, passed by Congress in response to concerns about dwindling populations of marine mammals, including sea lions.
Now, the familiar creatures have become victims of their own success, with some arguing that their population may have reached natural capacity, and others blaming it on changing environmental conditions in California. Over the last three years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has noticed a growing number of strandings on the beaches of California and up into the Pacific north-west.
In 2013, 1,171 sea lions were stranded, and 2,700 have already stranded in 2015 – a sign that something is seriously wrong, as pups don’t normally wind up on their own until later in the spring and early summer. The problem, explains Justin Viezbicke of NOAA, is those crystal-clear waters. “The main contributing factor that we’re looking at right now and talking about with the biologists and climatologists on the Channel Islands [a major sea lion rookery] is the lack of upwelling. We haven’t had the strong north winds that drive the currents that create it, and because it hasn’t materialized – it’s moved the prey further and deeper from the moms that are foraging.” - Guardian.
Dead pygmy sperm whale found near Melbourne Beach, Florida
Biologists suspect severe heart disease, coupled with 10 feet of rope
and piece of a plastic bag in its stomach, caused a 10-foot pygmy sperm
whale to beach itself Monday at Spessard Holland Park.
"It's really, really sick," Megan Stolen, a research scientist with the
Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, said shortly before the whale was
euthanized. "It's very, very skinny."
The whale showed signs of severe heart disease, Stolen said.
But biologists plan to examine the whale's remains to test for the
so-called morbillivirus. They'll test whether that measles-like virus,
which killed more than 1,600 dolphins since July 2013, also contributed
to the pygmy sperm whale's death.
The virus has been killing bottlenose dolphins along the Atlantic Coast
for more than two years in the worst outbreak of the virus in almost
three decades.
The virus claimed 740 dolphins from New Jersey to Florida in 1987.
Monday's was one of three recent whale to beach themselves in the region
in the past few weeks, but the deaths are not considered related.
On May 7, Hubbs researchers received a report from Canaveral National
Seashore staff that the whale had stranded alive on the beach within the
national park.
The whale washed out for a while but then washed back onto the beach at Kennedy Space Center.
Hubbs staff euthanized that whale, too. Whales rarely survive beaching.
But NOAA Fisheries also mandates all whales and dolphins that beach
during a morbillivirus outbreak must be euthanized to prevent spread of
the virus.
The dolphins infected with the virus wash up with lesions on their skin, mouth, joints, or lungs.
Since July 2013, the virus has killed more than 1,660 bottlenose
dolphins, from New Jersey to Brevard, more than 300 of them in the
Florida, according to NOAA Fisheries.
Stolen said about 30 dead bottlenose dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon
region have tested positive for the virus. But as many as 100 in the
region may have died from the virus, the Hubbs researchers suspect.
If tests continue to show no morbillivirus infections, NOAA Fisheries
may soon consider declaring a formal end to the unusual die-off, Hubbs
officials said earlier this month. That would also end the mandatory
euthanizing of the stranded dolphins and whales. - Florida Today.
Mass die off of fish washes ashore in Canakkale, Turkey
Canakkale
's bell township Büyükpaş hit the village at the edge of the shore
after the mass fish deaths occurred in the hundreds of fish started to
smell Kocabas tea with the effect of heat. Bell township Büyükpaş village on the edge of passing Karabiga the sea
spilled Kocabas tea return to red in color with the waste in mass fish
deaths occurred in previous days, pike, carp and yellowfin species of
fish are still hitting the shore along the 15 kilometers of tea from
Etili Katrandere.
Kocabas remaining plugged in Büyükpaş village bridge protection set on
the tea 1 meter in the dead pike Agriculture Tayhan of the villagers
said the smell began, "In 2007, the waters of the Kocabas tea was dead
blue, turning the fish.
We could not open our windows the smell of dead
fish for a month. 5 days Today before continuing to shoot dead fish
ashore in flowing red color Kocabas tea. Dead fish began to smell the
warm weather, "he said. - Milliyet. [Translated]
February 17, 2015 - 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.
Rare beaked whale found dead near Byron Bay, Australia
Rare beaked whale washes up dead
A rare whale has been found washed up on the state's far north coast.
The Gray's Beaked whale was discovered on Seven Mile Beach, south of Byron Bay.
Lawrence Orel, from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, said whales which beach themselves are usually sick.
He said scientists will be keen to examine the skeleton.
"The beaked whales are quite rare," Mr Orel said.
"They're generally found in the deep ocean, so it's quite rare for them to be seen close to shore.
"But stranded beaked whales are of considerable interest to the science
community, and this is possibly a Gray's Beaked whale, which is one of
the more unusual species.
"The carcass will be buried and... all the organisms that live in the sand will proceed to do their thing.
"In about 18 months to two years time you end up with a nice clean
skeleton which becomes very interesting and valuable to science." - Customs Today.
Dead sperm whale found near Glenburn, New Zealand
The 14m sperm whale carcass found on a South Wairarapa beach at Glenburn near Honeycomb Rock.
Workers
from Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa iwi yesterday recovered the bones and
teeth of a 14m-long sperm whale found dead on a South Wairarapa coastal
beach.
Iwi authority chief executive PJ Devonshire said the
carcass of the whale - an adult male weighing about 48 tonnes - was
discovered washed up and lying between rocks on a beach south of
Glenburn near Honeycomb Rock a week ago Saturday.
A Department of Conservation ranger believed the animal had died of old age.
He said the DoC Honeycomb walkway extended along the stretch of coast
where the whale was found and a group from the iwi had travelled to the
location on Tuesday, securing and blessing the carcass in a ceremony
during which the whale was also named Te Pani o te Moana - orphan of the
ocean.
The name given to the whale also recalled the deaths
over past weeks of several Maori elders including Masterton kaumatua
Pani Himona, who died on January 25 this year, Ngati Porou leader
Apirana Mahuika, who was farewelled at a tangi last week, and Kahungunu
elder and Maori performing arts leader Tama Turanga Huata, who died on
Wednesday.
"Tradition says we should name the whale. The name
Pani describes an orphan and is also a word used for how you feel when
you lose someone," he said.
"We have lost two senior elders
nationally and Uncle Pani Himona here at home, and to have the whale
come to us this way as well, the name is a connection for us all. It is
symbolic of the passing of our elders."
Genburn Station owners
John and Helen McFadzean had been alerted to the whale after fielding a
call from a 77-year-old station guest who discovered the carcass a week
ago Saturday while cycling a coastal route to nearby Pahau, Mrs
McFadzean said.
The carcass was seen floating in waters off the
coast a day earlier, she said, and the naming and blessing ceremony
last week had drawn a small crowd of guests captivated by the spectacle.
Mr Devonshire said the recovery of taonga, or treasure, from
the carcass of the whale included waiata and karakia - songs and prayer -
and will precede meetings about the distribution and cultural uses of
the "resources" across marae throughout the region.
"We will
take the ribs and the jaw and try to process and utilise as much of the
whale as we can. We will take as much as we can to use as resources
among our people. Sperm whale teeth carry much prestige and the bones
can be used for carving taonga that can be shared across the marae of
the Wairarapa.
"We want to use this as a real learning
opportunity for our people. It will be about learning how to process and
work with the whale, and what cultural obligations do we have to the
whale. That's from the first karakia and naming it to when we start to
carve the bones, and remembering the stories of the whale from the past
that remain with us." - NZ Herald.
Peculiar fish found dead on North Devon coast, UK
Peculiar fish found dead
A strange fish has washed up on the North Devon coast.
It was discovered yesterday at Northam Burrows by Nick Porter, who was
walking his dogs when he spotted what he believes is a Parrot Fish.
He said: "Interestingly, the carcass was not apparently decaying as you would expect a fish to do.
4,500 Birds killed due to avian flu in Bauchi State, Nigeria
The Avian influenza,
also known as bird flu, has hit three local government areas of Bauchi
State, affecting 14,666 birds out of which about 4,508 have so far been
culled by government officials.
According to the Director,
Veterinary Services, in the state Ministry of Animal Resources and
Nomadic Resettlement, Dr Bala Lucshi, who disclosed this to journalists
on Sunday, five farms were affected in Bauchi, Katagum and Toro local
government areas of the state.
He explained that the birds culled
by officials from the ministry included chickens, turkeys and pigeons,
adding that the outbreak was first recorded in the state at Baraji Farms
in Magama Gumau town in Toro Local Government Area on January 28.
Two
farms at Inkil in Bauchi Local Government Area and Azare, the
headquarters of Katagum Local Government Area are also reported to have
the disease. Lucshi said the ministry had promptly moved in to ensure
that the disease was curtailed so as not to spread to other parts of the
state.
Samples taken from the affected farms had since been sent
to the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Vom, Plateau
State, for laboratory confirmation of the disease in the state.
He
added that the earlier ban placed on movement of poultry products in
and out of the state was being enforced in order to ensure strict
compliance, saying that surveillance rate by officials of the ministry
had been heightened.
However, he advised people of the state to
ensure that they cook their poultry products very well before eating
them. And for the affected farmers, the director promised that the
Federal Ministry of Agriculture would compensate for each of the birds
culled. - Information NG.
1 out of every 3 seal pups born last summer have already died in California, United States
Sea lion pups recently brought to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach rest in their pen while being treated at the center. The number
of sea lions rescued on the coast is above average for the season.NICK AGRO, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Low
weights among sea lion pups on remote Channel Island breeding grounds
and effects of a warmer ocean on adult females and yearlings could bring
record-high strandings to Southern California beaches.
Marine
mammal experts say the numbers could hit even higher levels than in
2013, which federal officials called an unusual mortality event.
Already
this year, staff at marine centers from Sea World in San Diego to the
Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito are doing nearly daily rescues.
The difference this year: Starving pups showed up as early as December. Sick females and juveniles are also being found.
In the first three weeks of the year, sea lion rescues were up almost 20 percent over 2013 at some of the marine rescue centers.
The
National Marine Fisheries stranding coordinator has asked centers to
provide their intakes. So far this month, Sea World in San Diego has 48
and Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach has 28. Fort MacArthur
in San Pedro has 73, the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute
has 10, and the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito has 35.
Dr.
Hendrik Nollens, a veterinarian at Sea World and a member of a task
force assembled by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to
study 2013 mass strandings, is not surprised.
Where there was no
advance warning for the 2013 strandings, experts had already predicted
El Niño impacts on lactating mothers and yearlings for 2015. Centers
were told to gear up.
El Niño brings warm ocean waters that push
down nutrient-dense upwellings that fuel ecosystem richness, forcing sea
lions to hunt longer distances and do deeper dives for their prey.
“This
year could be a perfect storm,” Nollens said. “An El Niño climate event
affecting the females and yearlings and something still unexplained
affecting the skinny pups.”
Peter Wallerstein, who owns a
nonprofit organization that helps rescue sea lions for Fort MacArthur,
has been out on the beaches between Pacific Palisades and Long Beach
nearly every day. When schoolchildren on a beach cleanup surrounded a
skinny pup, Wallerstein wrangled him in.
SeaWorld San Diego veterinarian, Dr. Hendrik Nollens (R), along with animal care specialist, Mike Glenn, performs a physical examination on a
rescued harbor seal pup at the park's Animal Rescue Center. COURTESY OF SEA WORLD
“Usually, a healthy sea
lion will run into the water away from people,” Wallerstein said.
“People do silly things. They want to get close, but sea lions have 10
times greater bite than a pit bull and they’re very quick on land,
unlike a seal, which drags its body.”
The pup was one of more
than 30 he’s taken to Marine Mammal Center at Fort MacArthur. The center
is already 20 percent ahead of January 2013 numbers, and there’s still a
week to go.
“The difference is we’re not just seeing little
pups,” said Lauren Palmer, a veterinarian there. “Females and yearlings
are coming in with respiratory issues and elevated abnormalities in
their blood work. It’s really hard to wrap our head around the story of
what’s happening.”
Sharon Melin, a wildlife biologist with the
National Marine Mammal Laboratory working with National Marine
Fisheries, has studied sea lion populations on San Miguel Island for
more than two decades, looking for factors influencing trends in
populations including El Niño, disease and competition for food.
She
works with National Marine Fisheries Service as part of a research
program established on San Miguel Island in 1968 bolstered with funds
from the Marine Mammal Protection Act, enacted in 1972.
Melin
travels to the island twice a year – once in September and once in
February – to study behavior, check for disease and weigh sample
newborns. She’s watched the sea lion population rise 5 percent each year
until 2000. Researchers estimate there are now more than 300,000 sea
lions colonizing the Channel Island rookeries.
Each June 100,000
sea lions come to the Navy-owned island. The breeding colony about 60
miles from Ventura Harbor is one of the largest in the world.
When
sea lions converged on the island in 2012, there was no sign of a
problem. A year later, nearly 70 percent of the newborns had died.
Many
were left for days waiting on the beaches starving and losing weight.
Marine mammal centers in 2013 took in more than 1,500 sea lion pups –
five times higher than in a normal year.
The mothers – to nourish
themselves and provide milk – swam as far as 120 miles north toward
Monterrey in search of sardines and anchovies.
In the El Niño
climate, some of these are scarce and they feed on less fatty fish
producing less nutrient-rich milk. The mothers generally spend three to
four days hunting. Diminished prey can make them stay out for six days.
In
their struggle to survive, pups followed other, older sea lions out
into the ocean too early. Those that made it littered Southern
California beaches. Thousands more died on the islands along the way.
Melin that year recorded pups at only half their previous weights.
Last
year, sea lions produced just half the number of pups following the
high death rate. But their weights were closer to the ideal – 37 pounds.
Stranding numbers were normal.
When Melin traveled to San Miguel
last September, the weights were down again. But sometimes the pups
rebound. She noticed that not all of them were skinny. In some cases it
seemed the mothers had figured it out and still had plump pups. She
reported her findings to National Marine Fisheries, who funded another
research trip out last month.
But the skinny pups had only gained
4 pounds. Melin put GPS tags on a dozen females to track their foraging
habits. The tags will likely stay attached until April. Melin will
compare that data with GPS tags put on sea lions after the 2013
strandings.
Later this month, she will go out again.
“We’ve told the centers to prepare for the worst,” she said. - OC Register.
February 11, 2015 - 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.
Thousands of dead starfish wash ashore on Isle of Palms in S.Carolina, United States
Amy Campanelli - Facebook
Thousands of starfish washed up on the beach at Isle of Palms over the weekend.
And it turns out, this happens a few times each winter on Lowcountry beaches.
Usually,
strong off-shore winds push them onto the shore at high tide and
they're stuck until the tide comes back in. Over the weekend, wind gusts
were coming in stronger than 20 miles an hour.
Monday Night, we
spoke with Mel Bell, the fisheries management director for the
Department of Natural Resources who said this is pretty normal.
Amy Campanelli - Facebook
Amy Campanelli - Facebook
Bell said the last time this happened was in December on Fripp Island.
The problem? On the bottom of the ocean, Starfish can't really "stick" to the sand, so they end up going with the tides.
He says the amount of starfish that washed up on IOP this weekend is pretty standard for one of these events.
As
for the health of the starfish, Bell says they have had issues in the
Pacific with disease, but we haven't seen any issues here. - WBTW.
Residents of Fanø were treated to an usual sight on Wednesday: the partially rotting corpse of a 12-metre sperm whale.
The rotting corpse of a 12-metre-long sperm whale has washed up on the
shore of the Danish island Fanø, local police said on Wednesday.
The massive creature was naturally garnering attention, but the Danish
Nature Agency (Naturstyrelsen) warned that curious onlookers should stay
away from the whale, which it characterized as "a bacteria bomb".
"Experience from previous whale strandings shows that many people want
to go up and touch the dead whale, but it can be deadly as dead whales
are often indicted with pathogenic bacteria," the Nature Agency wrote on
its website.
The nature officials said that tests would be
performed on the whale to determine its cause of the death and the
Fisheries and Maritime Museum in Esbjerg will attempt to determine if
the whale's skeleton can be preserved for future display. But first the
whale has to be moved, and that will be no easy task.
"The
sperm whale is laying solid in the water and can first be pulled onto
land on Thursday," Southern Jutland Police wrote on Twitter.
The Nature Agency said that it could take days or even weeks to remove the whale from the area. - The Local.
Rare Sowerby's beaked whale found dead at Point Lance, Canada
Biologist with DFO are hoping to perform a
necropsy on a rarely-seen whale found beached on the shore in Point
Lance, Newfoundland on Saturday.
Biologists
with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in St. John's are hoping to
perform a necropsy on a rarely-seen whale found beached on the shore in
Point Lance on Saturday.
A dead Sowerby's beaked whale was discovered on the beach in Point Lance on the Cape Shore.
Crews with DFO went to the site with a trailer to haul the carcass to its offices.
Jack Lawson, a scientist with DFO, said the species is "relatively rare" in the Newfoundland and Labrador region.
"In Canada, it's listed under the species at risk act as special
concern, partly because we just don't know much about them. These
animals have been rarely seen at sea, partly because they don't approach
boats and they're kind of inconspicuous," said Lawson.
"They don't have a big blow and they're not fond of large groups, and
they're rarely seen ashore, so we really don't know. There could be many
of them offshore, but they're reclusive deep water animals."
The species generally lives in the north Atlantic ocean, and averages a full-grown length of just under five metres.
According to Lawson, this will be the first chance he'll have to
perform a necropsy on one of these whales. He added that scientists will
need to determine if the adult female was pregnant when it died, or
gave birth.
"From a biologists point of view, it's dead which
is a bad thing, but on the other side of things it gives us a really
good chance to look at this animal, which appeared to be a pregnant — or
is a pregnant female," he said.
Lawson said the whale is
currently stored outside the DFO building in St. John's, and they're
hoping to perform the necropsy when weather permits — likely in March. -
CBC.
Cobra strikes out at trucks on highway near São Paulo, Brazil
Unhappy: Snake is not pleased as trucks drive by on its patch of road
This
is the scary moment a huge cobra left drivers in Brazil in no doubt
about who rules this certain section of road on the Sao Paulo highway.
The angry reptile can be seen striking out at vehicles as they pass by -
and it seems he holds particular contempt for large lorries.
Oblivious to the small issue of their size, the snake repeatedly strikes
at the tyres of the trucks as they tentatively roll past.
WATCH: Angry cobra defend his turf.
All the cars slowed to avoid the animal, but that wasn't enough for the cobra, who wanted the road all to himself.
The 32 second footage has had over 55,000 views since it was uploaded
to NúcleoMultimidia Estadao's YouTube channel on February 6.
It
is not clear exactly what happened to the snake and whether he managed
to find his way safely across the road, although he seems more than
capable of defending himself. - Daily Mirror.
Hundreds of dead fish and birds found in a lagoon in General Baldissera, Argentina
The pictures were taken this week by a fisherman in
the lagoon of General Baldissera.
A
resident of this town on social media published a series of images of
the nearby lagoon General Baldissera in which hundreds of dead fish and
birds observed in moribund state.
By the time the reason that generated this slaughter of animals in one of the most visited natural sites in the area is unknown.
Photographs published in the dead fish floating on the surface, a large amount of algae, and other dead birds dying observed. The scenario is worrying and generated an alert among the residents of the rural area.
The affected lagoon is located in the southeast of Cordoba, a few kilometers south of the town of General Baldissera. While it is not exploited the sheet of water for fishing, usually go for the activity groups informally.
Since last week the lagoon shows part of his dead fauna. Witnesses thought the situation would be temporary motivated by some climatological question.
However, as of last Monday a greater number of animals are observed lifeless.
The journalist Ivan Ghi, FM Urban Monte Corn, published the photographs that reflect the situation in social networks. In the same dead fish and birds, and the surface of the fully enclosed lagoon vegetation are observed.
This is the first time the lake has this problem, so some neighbors and regular fishermen agree that they could have thrown some chemical liquid in place that affected animals.
Note that the gap is in the middle of a purely agricultural area in which soybean performed. A daily performing fumigation by region or ground equipment applied in seed lots planes are observed.
At the moment, were not found in drums or containers of chemicals dumped area, although a complaint may be done for Environment of the Province to investigate the incident. From Prevention Network Monte Corn, developers tasks awareness of the health of people, they regretted what happened and alerted those who usually consumed in fishing and fish. May generate health problem in those taking these animals as they present an advanced state of putrefaction. - La Manana. [Translated]
2 Turtles found dead, 80 dead since January along the Adriatic coast of Italy
From January 80 turtles found dead on beaches Adriatic
Since
early January, according to data from the portal Geocetus - project
developed by the Research Center of Pescara cetaceans Onlus to create a
georeferenced database of strandings of cetaceans and sea turtles along
the Italian coast - are eighty specimens of Caretta Caretta found dead
on the beaches of the middle Adriatic: thirty in Abruzzo, forty in the
Marche, Molise in four and five in Emilia Romagna.
Only today, the carcasses of two turtles 'Caretta Caretta' were found
on the beach, in the Abruzzo region, not far from the Tower of Cerrano,
one in the town of Silvi (Teramo) and the other in that of Pineto
(Teramo), while other dead specimens, according to the study center is
non-profit organization cetaceans, always in the day, were found on the
beaches of neighboring regions. In
Abruzzo, the discovery took place a few kilometers from the marine
protected area 'Torre del Cerrano' where in September 2013 there was
what was called an "event of the century" and that is a great birth of
turtles, at least 18 specimens. On the spot, today attended the men of the Coast Guard of Silvi and veterinary staff of the ASL of Teramo. Carcasses - in poor condition - were transferred to a warehouse. Tomorrow the experts of the Center studies cetaceans non-profit organization will conduct the necessary investigations.
"Since the beginning of the year, between Romagna and Molise - the
President of the Center studies cetaceans, Vincenzo Olivieri - there are
dozens of specimens. Only today have been found at least seven
carcasses. Just look at what happened January 1: a real catastrophe.
From unique necropsies performed showed that the specimens have died by
drowning. So it is possible that the deaths are due to interference of
fishing nets. " - Ansa. [Translated]
Hundreds of cattle have died due to industrial pollution in Cosoleacaque, Mexico
Cows die poisoned by the indifference of hydrocarbons PROFEPA / Photo Pens Free
Two years ago, José Manuel Balcazar Diaz remembers his herd integrated as d e 300 animals, now are you like 30. The constant leaking fuel by Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), has caused many fields in the region die slowly and with this, the animals that feed on grass or drink water in the area. From 2013 to date, estimated, he died about March 00 head of cattle, including calves, cows to market, heifers and steers. Responsabilizas to leakage of brine poisoning of cattle on his ranch, L to Cienega, adjacent to the town of Carrizal, municipality of Cosoleacaque. In the village, people live mostly rural activities also small restaurants and spas look. The family of Jose Manuel, however, remains for many years with ranching. In partnership with an uncle, use several acres of land near swamps to breed wild cows, "these only when we cling to sell, do not give milk is won almost savage". Man's life changed field in 2013 "s and I were dead cows as before, but in that year were many, including 100 that were missed by the flight of the white matter," he says. The substance out of a Pemex pipeline passing through his property, "it goes, reaches the water and cows take it, soon get sick". The man has the stock where it is already affected, gets skinny, sick of diarrhea despite veterinary treatments. Shortly not eat well and die. In his ranch there are dozens of skeletons and gnawed by the passage of time and animals c Arrona as witnesses of the tragedy allegedly fostered by the parastatal. Last week, took the case to the Federal Office for the Environment (PROFEPA), but did not hear them, "tell me that the manager was walking in Xalapa". These lands and cows were part of an inheritance from his grandparents, he says proudly at his ranch. In the distance a young stallion neighs vigorous and dogs sniff the master. "Now
I have not let my kids, since 2013 I have died and 300 animals, and now
I only have like 10 cows, maybe a little more, but I have nothing.I'm broke because ". The
livestock requires that the relevant authorities will compensate for
the years have passed in their fight to stop leaks that substance or at
least get paid the damages without being heard. "Leaks there still, nobody made and we already noted in PEMEX pipeline" he says. In cure his cattle have fared time and savings, "no medication to help them get lean, get diarrhea and die",
but that has suffered most is to see how their animals are dying,
"suffer much, makes me want to mourn to see my animals as they die. " - Plumas Libres. [Translated]
7,000+ Birds killed due to avian flu in Hunan, China
A new outbreak of H5N6 high-path avian flu has been reported at a farm in Hunan province.
The veterinary authority sent Follow Up Report No.5 dated 6 February to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
According
to that report, there was a new outbreak of H5N6 highly pathogenic
avian influenza at a farm in the Heshan district of Yiyang city in Hunan
province.
Starting on 2 February, a total of around 3,400 birds showed symptoms; 2,600 died and the remaining 4,876 were destroyed.
The type of bird was not identified in the report. - The Poultry Site.
Thousands of pigeons dying in California, United States
Thousands of Pacific Coast band-tailed pigeons have been found dead in
Santa Barbara County, evidently from a parasite-borne disease that
restricts their
throat passages and causes them to die of starvation or
suffocation. The public is being asked to help California wildlife
officials by
reporting sick or dying birds. (California Department of
Fish and Wildlife photo)
Thousands of dead pigeons have been discovered since mid-December, and biologists think they are dying from a parasite that effects only birds, and seems to be hitting the band-tailed pigeon — the only native pigeon in California — especially hard.
Band-tailed pigeons are large, stocky birds with small heads, long and rounded tails, and yellow bills and feet. Their heads and breasts are purplish gray and they have a white crescent on the backs of their necks.
They spend the winters in Central and Southern California near oak trees and coniferous forests, often in large flocks. When the weather warms, they migrate north into Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.
Since December, state wildlife scientists have been investigating the large-scale deaths of the birds, which appear to be perishing from a disease called avian trichomonosis.
Caused by a protozoan parasite, the disease only infects birds. It lives in the bird’s mouth and throat, producing lesions that block the passage of food and cause the bird to starve to death or suffocate.
It’s unclear what is causing the parasite, although non-native rock pigeons may be the source of the infection for native bird species, the CDFW reported last month.
Krysta Rogers, a CDFW environmental scientist, said that the majority of the dead pigeons have turned up in Los Olivos, Santa Ynez and Solvang, with a few cases found in Carpinteria and Santa Barbara.
Rogers didn’t have an exact number because scientists are still conducting research, but she said the deaths are in “the low thousands” for the county. Those figures are just based on reports from people who discovered the dead birds, however, and more may have perished without having been reported.
A large number of dead birds also have been reported in Santa Clara County, Rogers said, adding that the deaths seem to be occurring with more frequency in recent years.
“That is concerning because we know their population has been declining, but we don’t really know what kind of effect it will have,” she said.
The department has been receiving reports from the U.S. Forest Service, as well as workers in licensed animal rehabilitation centers.
Rogers said “the main driver for where the pigeons are is food,” and that the locations where dead pigeons have been found are often near oak trees, whose acorns are a main source of their food.
“We’re still receiving a lot of inquiries from the public, and we’re encouraging them to report sick or dead pigeons so we can come up with a more accurate number,” she said.
Pigeons are primarily affected by the disease, although a rare raptor that has eaten a pigeon might be found dead, she said.
“There may be mild concerns with backyard chickens,” she said, adding that owners should keep feed and water covered from other types of birds.
There is no risk of transmission to humans or to other animals, she said.
Residents also can help reduce the transmission of the disease by removing artificial sources of food and water, like birdbaths and fountains.Bird feeders and artificial water sources may increase disease transmission between individual band-tailed pigeons, and possibly other bird species, because it brings the birds into closer contact than is normal, the department said. - Noozhawk.
38 Dolphins stranded, 12 dead in a lagoon in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, Maldives
The pod of dolphins trapped in Nadella island's lagoon. PHOTO/READER CONTRIBUTION
22
out of the pod of dolphins trapped inside Nadella Island’s lagoon have
been freed and released into the ocean but 12 had died, the island’s
council said on Saturday.
Faisal Najeeb, the island council’s
chair said that 38 dolphins had accidentally wandered in to the island’s
– located in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll - lagoon. He added that there were
about four dolphins left to free.
“We caught the dolphins on a net and released them into the ocean” Najeeb said “12 of them died in this process”.
“Catching them with nets was the only option we had” he continued.
Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officers and islanders noticed the trapped dolphins and began work to free them on Thursday.
Faisal said that two dolphins were saved on the first day, 16 on Friday, and two have been freed thus far on Saturday.
“The remaining four dolphins will be freed today” Najeeb added.
He also said that the dolphins were each about 8 feet in length.
The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) had said that this is first case where so many dolphins were found trapped. - Haveeru.
Masses of dead fish wash ashore along beaches in Buenos Aires, Argentina
A
lot of dead fish have appeared at the seashore in the towns of the
central region of the Party of La Costa, according alerted several
neighbors and ENTRELÍNEAS.INFO could see. However, the phenomenon has spread to all the beaches of the district.
A horrible scenery and an ugly smell for thousands and thousands of
people who came to the beaches, which already suffer daily the much
garbage is left at the end of each day cast by those attending rest.
The large quantity of fish extends hundreds of meters from the coast of Santa Teresita.
Tourists came across this surprise yesterday and today.
Given the situation with fish, consult the Argentina Naval Prefecture and they confirmed the issue. "We warned the situation this morning in a telephone complaint", warned at the seat of Santa Teresita. The same is expressed in General Lavalle, where were unable to clarify the reasons. "Number of fish that were to review and investigate details have led," he confirmed. Apparently, treated waste thrown into the sea by fishing boats.
The situation has surprised vacationers on days where the temperature
exceeds 30 ° C. loosely While still say they are investigating and could
not be confirmed, the appearance of these fish is not a problem with
seawater but are the product of waste from fishing vessels, according to
the same source, originate in Mar del Plata. - Entrelineas Info. [Translated]
Large die off of fish in a river in Fuzhou, China
Nine are a lot of dead fish floating in the river
Nine out of everytwo daysonthe riverin the village ofSouth Islandtown ofSsangyongFuzhouHigh-techarea, there aredead fishfloating downfrom upstreamfrom time to time. The villagerssuspectthat someonepoisonousfishinthe riverat night. LongquanVilla's staffalso said thatnine out of everyyearthe riveris likely to bethree large-scalecaseof dead fish. South Islandtown governmentsaid it wouldsend someoneto the sceneinvestigation.
Employees:feedingcarpare gone
Yesterdaymorning, thereportercame to the sceneinvestigation.VillainLongquan, the many touristsin the spabathinplay.Butnot far from theriversurface,buta large number ofdead fishfloating inthe scenereekingstench.
"We'vecleaned upsome ofthe previous daymoredead fish." LongquanVillastaff briefing, two daysafter anotherupstream ofdead fishfloating downthere, "Somefish,half-dead, is stillstruggling."
"Our 'carp group' these daysare gone." Ms.LongquanVillaofficialsaid, whentheyeatemployeesoftenget someleftovers,put into theriver tofeed the fish. Aboutsix monthsago, every day there aresix or sevencarpappearon timeat thepoint of the meal, after eatingwill slowlywalk,employeesarecalled"Carpgroup." Ms.officialsaid, but two days, "Carpgroup"does not occur again, "estimates also died."
Guess:someonesuspectedpoisonfish, or upstreampollution
LongquanVillastaffsuspectthatsomeone inthe riverupstream ofthe fishpoison. Theyare based on, the river where the fishare of different sizes, but thefisharefloating down, "big fishareestimated topoisonfishwhoseized." Ms.officialalso toldreporters, according to her observations,the past two years, the riverof dead fishscalesituationlike this, there will be aboutthree timesa year, respectively, in the spring,summerandwinterperiods. Butwho ispoisonousforfish, these people arenot sure, "I heardpoisonousfishare generallyin the evening."
Reporterbrook, andgofour or fivekilometersupstream ofthe streamwater is notfound, the waterbubblesappearingfrom time to time, the watercan still seesomebloodworms. Some residentssaid theriverupstream ofthe ninefarms,does not rule outthe dead fishfarmsandsewagerelated.
Towngovernment: sent to the scenetoinvestigate
Yesterday,Ssangyongvillage committeeofficialconfirmed to reporters thatthe villagereceivedtwo daysreflectedmanyof the villagers,but alsosent to the sceneto see, but can notidentify the specificcause ofthe dead fish.
Reporter thencontacted theSouth Islandtown government. Responsible personalsotends to besomeone in thepoisonousfishguess, "If it isfarmedsewage pollution, the rivermay not evenfishcan not see. Nowsuddenlythe phenomenon ofmass death, are more likely topoisonfish." The official said, according to the plan, the town willthis year's South Islandfarms areremoved.Ifsomeonepoisonfish, the town governmentwill bein touch withMinhouCountyBureau ofAnimal Husbandry andFisheries, will be a jointinvestigationinto thescene. - DNKB. [Translated]
