April 26, 2016 - NORTH SEA - The whales' deaths are symbolic of humanity's shocking disregard for marine life.
In January, 29 sperm whales were found stranded on shores around the
North Sea, an area that is too shallow for the marine wildlife. Only
recently were details of the animals' necropsy released. However,
scientists were deeply disturbed by what they found in the animals'
stomachs.
According to a press release from Wadden Sea National Park in Schleswig-Holstein, many
of the whales had stomachs FULL of plastic debris, including a
13-meter-long fishing net, a 70 cm piece of plastic from a car and other
pieces of plastic litter.
Some suggest that the animals thought the items were food, such as
squid, which is their main staple. Others, however, believe that the
travesty is largely a result of humanity's shocking disregard for marine
life, which has resulted in an overabundance of plastic in the oceans.
Said Robert Habeck, environment minister for the state of Schleswig-Holstein:
"These findings show us the results of our plastic-oriented society. Animals inadvertently consume plastic and plastic waste, which causes them to suffer, and at worst, causes them to starve with full stomachs."
Nicola Hodgkins of Whale and Dolphin Conservation echoed that statement. She stated:
"Although the large pieces will cause obvious problems and block the
gut, we shouldn't dismiss the smaller bits that could cause a more
chronic problem for all species of cetacean - not just those who suction
feed."
This isn't the first time a sperm whale has been found dead with innards full of inedible contents. In 2011, a young whale was found floating dead off the Greek island of Mykonos.Its
stomach was so distended, biologists thought the animal swallowed a
giant squid. However, when its four stomachs were dissected, nearly 100 plastic bags and other pieces of debris were found.
It should be noted that the plastic is not what killed the young male sperm whales. According to National Geographic, they died of heart failure. This was a result of mistakenly swimming into the North Sea,
likely in search of squid, and then not being able to support their own
body weights in the shallow water. As a result, their internal organs
collapsed.
Regardless, the fact that many of their stomachs were full of pollution is a horrible indictment of humans. As has been reported in the past, 80%of the plastic which is discarded on land ends up in the oceans, where it is consumed by wildlife or swirls for years in great garbage patches.
The fact that mankind - a species with a smaller brain than a whale -
is responsible for such a travesty is ironic and saddening.
Until humans learn the value of living sustainably while respecting all
life forms, travesties such as this one will continue to take place.
Sperm whales are found in all the world’s oceans. Adult males can reach more 20m in length and weigh 57 tonnes. Photo: China News
February 16, 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.
Two sperm whales die after beaching on coast of East China
Two sperm whales have died after beaching themselves on the East China
coast in the past two days, the China News Service reported.
On Sunday, villagers found one dead whale beached near Yangkou, in
Jiangsu province, while another whale lingered in the deeper water of a
channel nearby.
The second whale then became stranded and died on Monday afternoon, about 10km from the first while.
The other whale was towed away for inspection elsewhere. Photo: China News
Sperm whales are found in all the world’s oceans. Adult males can reach more 20m in length and weigh 57 tonnes. Photo: China News
One of the whales was an adult male about 15m long and weighing about 33 tonnes. Photo: China News
Authorities and experts measured the giant carcasses to try to determine the cause of death. Photo: China News
Fisherman Yin Qiufeng said he spotted the whale on the beach early on Sunday.
"[At first] I thought it was a capsized ship, but at a second glance I
found it was a huge fish," Yin said. "In the beginning I didn't dare go
too close to have a better look because I thought it was still alive,
but later I found out it was already dead."
The authorities fenced off the first whale to take its measurements. An
expert at the scene said it was a male adult about 15.3m long and
weighed about 33 tonnes, Xinhua reported.
WATCH: Huge sperm whale found dead on the beach in eastern China.
The body of the other whale retrieved transported to another place to be dissected.
Another dead whale found on coast in Odisha, India; fifth this month
The carcass of a whale was found near Mangala river mouth in Puri on Tuesday morning. (Express photo by Debabrata Mohanty)
In the fifth case of whales washing ashore on Odisha coast, the carcass
of another giant whale was found near Mangala river mouth in Puri on
Tuesday morning.
Divisional Forest Officer Puri wildlife division Chittaranjan Mishra
said the forest department officials have seized the decomposed body of
the 38-feet-long whale.
"We will bury the body of the whale after ascertaining its cause of
death and and send some of its parts to Bhubaneswar to know the species
of the whale. We have sought the experts' opinion," he said.
Odisha forest and wildlife department officials have written a letter to
the Ministry of Forest and Environment for investigation into the cases
of whale carcasses washing ashore.
Recently, four carcasses of whales were found on the
Ganjam, Kendrapara and Puri coast. While a 33-feet long Sperm whale
beached on coastline of Ganjam district early this month, a 66-feet long
female whale washed ashore at Chinchira beach, an unmanned island under
Rajnagar block of Kendrapara district on February 6.
On February 9, carcass of a 50-feet long whale was found from the coast
near Motagaon in Brahmagiri area of Puri district. Last week, a 6 feet
long pilot whale washed ashore of Island beach near Purunabandh village
of Ganjam district.
People crowded round while scientists examined one of the whales. Reuters
January 25, 2016 - UNITED KINGDOM - A fifth sperm whale has been washed up on the east coast of England.
It follows the death of a beached whale in Hunstanton, Norfolk, on Friday and the discovery of three carcasses near Skegness over the weekend.
The sperm whales are believed to be from a pod spotted off the Norfolk coast.
The fifth whale was found at Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, on Monday afternoon, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency reported.
It was found on the site of a former bombing range, and warnings have been issued for people to stay away.
The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust tweeted: "There is no public access to the area and it is extremely dangerous with tidal creeks and the potential for unexploded ordinance. Many of the lanes to the marshes are private and not accessible."
Marine biologists were using a probe to examine one of the Skegness whales earlier on Monday when there was a "huge blast of air", said BBC reporter David Sykes.
One of the whales had the letters CND spray-painted on its tail. Getty Images
Another was daubed with the words "mans fault". Getty Images
People are being advised not to get too close to the dead whales. Getty Images
The two other whales were found at Gibraltar Point. Kurnia Aerial Photography
The letters CND had also been spray-painted by someone on the whale's tail.
CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) said the action was not carried out by the organisation at a national level.
January 24, 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.
3 more sperm whales wash up along the North Sea coast at Skegness beach, UK
Whales are thought to be part of same pod as another discovered on the Norfolk coast on Friday
Three dead sperm whales have been discovered washed up on the Lincolnshire coast.
One of the whales was found dead on Skegness beach at about 6.30am on
Sunday morning, while the two others were discovered a few miles south
at about 8.30pm on Saturday evening.
Coastguard rescue teams from Sekegness and Chapel St Leonards were
called to cordon off the area and members of the public are being
advised not to come close to the dead animals.
We are dealing with 3 #Whales washed ashore on Skegness beach.People
are asked not to go near to them.We will remove once we have permission
This comes after another sperm whale, estimated to be 45ft long and weighing 30 tonnes, died on Friday after becoming stranded in shallow waters off the coast of west Norfolk, despite rescue workers' efforts to release it.
The three whales who died on the Lincolnshire coast are thought to be
part of the same pod spotted by the rescue team on Friday, but it is the
whereabouts of the rest of the pod remains unknown.
Sad, extraordinary sight of dead #whale that has washed up on Skegness beach @looknorthBBC pic.twitter.com/p8IveIlr3k
— Tolu Adeoye (@ToluAdeoyeNews) January 24, 2016
3 Male Whales washed up at #Skegness #sealife @itvcalendar @itvnews pic.twitter.com/DbVQFetRAk
— Simon White (@MeSiwhite) January 24, 2016
Natalie Emmerson, from Hunstanto Sealife Sanctuary, told ITV News: "It
is entirely possible that these whales at Skegness are from the same
pod. If all have washed up dead it is too much of a coincidence.
"It is possible that they were on the rocks and injured themselves as they managed to free themslves."
The Grimsby Telegraph
reports scientists from the Natural History Museum in London have
already been to the scene to carry out an investigation into the whales'
deaths. - The Independent.
Whale calf washes up on Marbella beach, Spain
Dead whale calf found on beach at La Cabane.
The whale calf is the latest in a succession of dead or sick marine animals washed up on Marbella beaches.
Passersby on the beach at Los Monteros on Tuesday came across a dead
whale calf on the shore. The two-metre long sea mammal showed no sign of
injury leading experts to believe it was suffering from some kind of
disease. The calf was removed from the beach and incinerated after an
autopsy had been carried out.
The whale calf is the latest in a succession of dead or sick marine
animals washed up on Marbella beaches. A few weeks ago, a dead giant
turtle appeared in El Alicate. - Surin English.
January 17, 2016 - IDAHO, UNITED STATES - With a group of 20 small birds attacking the seeds on the birch trees at
Beaver Dick Park, seeds littered the snow turning it into a tan brown
carpet.
"Common Redpolls," I thought as I got out of the truck for a closer
look. They moved a little higher in the trees, but did not stop their
eatingin the bitter cold of a minus 12 degrees.
This winter is the first time I had seen flocks of them since the winter
of 2012-2013 when they invaded most birch trees in the Upper Snake
River Valley. While following big game migrations from the mountains two
weeks ago, I found a small flock on the desert, north of the St.
Anthony Sand Dunes. They have also been recorded in Ashton and on the
Rexburg and Howe Christmas Bird Counts. In the last few days they have
been visiting my backyard to feed on Niger seeds.
Common Redpolls are an Arctic breeding bird with most of their
summer range above the Arctic Circle. They are not migratory, but are
one of the irruption species, meaning they move to find food. At
times they will join mixed flocks of other finches in their movements
and are usually seen with American Goldfinch and Pine Siskins. Their irruptions usually coincide with a successful breeding season followed by winter food storage in Canada and Alaska.
Redpolls
Redpoll
When birch and alder trees fail to produce large amounts of catkins for
the redpolls' winter food they head south in large numbers. Three years
ago flocks from 30 to 100 were observed along the highways of
southeastern Idaho. Most observed redpolls are singles or small groups
mixed with other wintering finches.
Redpolls have several interesting habits and adaptations. One is they
have a sac inside their throat area where they store seeds. During the
winter they may knock seeds off plants, swoop down, store the food in
these sacs, then fly to a more secluded area to shell and eat seeds. On
windswept stubble fields, they may forage in waves of large flocks
across the fields.
Another interesting habit for them is during cold weather they will fly
from a high tree diving into the deep snow. They will then create a snow
tunnel about a foot long as a roosting chamber. This allows the snow to
act as insulation against the cold. Ruffed Grouse and Boy Scouts use
these same techniques - though Boy Scouts shouldn't dive into the snow
but dig snow caves. - East Idaho News.
January 16, 2016 - NORTHERN EUROPE - It’s been a devastating week for the whale population across
Northern Europe as 12 whales died on or off the coast of the Dutch
island of Texel and the German islands of Wangerooge and Helgoland this
week.
Five sperm whales washed up on the shores of Texel on Tuesday night.
Attempts were made to save them but had to be discontinued during the night due to weather conditions which made it impossible to move the giant mammals.
Marian Bestelink, a spokeswoman for the Dutch Economic Ministry, said: “Experts found that the whales died during the night.”
“We are going to investigate why they beached and then we will remove them,” Bestelink said Wednesday as cited by AFP, adding that the process would probably take several days.
The beaching of whales has always been a problem for Texel due to its geographical location, according to Gizmodo.
The water in the North Sea is extremely shallow which doesn’t allow the whales to fully make use of their sonar and so they can get lost or exhausted and wash up on a beach.
The clean-up operation has already begun on the island of Wangerooge.
"These whales have quite simply made a mistake," Thilo Maack, a marine biologist with Greenpeace, told German TV. "They didn't pass Scotland but turned off into the North Sea. That happens sometimes."
It is the first time that so many whales have been beached in German waters, Maack added.
Before being taken away, the carcasses first need to be dissected to prevent explosion.
A buildup of gases in the whale’s body could cause the whale to explode if it is left lying there too long.
The warmer the temperature, the higher the danger that the corpse might explode, as heat accelerates the decomposition process.
It is unlikely that the sperm whale bodies on the North Sea coasts might rupture, experts told DW News.
"It's not that warm at the moment," says Mathias Heckroth, who works for the conservation and research organisation Mellumrat.Sperm whales are the largest-toothed whales on earth.
Male sperm whales are usually larger than the females. They can measure up to 20 metres long and weigh over 50 tons. - RT.
The Pelamis platura snake was found in Dog Beach, Coronado, miles away from its usual tropical habitat
January 16, 2016 - CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES - For the third time in about three months, a rare venomous sea snake has washed up on a beach in Southern California.
The Pelamis platura snake, which is usually found in the tropical waters
off the western coast of Mexico, was last spotted in California in the
1980s.
The sea snakes require a minimum of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit to
survive and are believed to be moving north due to the unusually warm
temperatures caused by El Nino.
The snake found at Dog Beach in Coronado on Tuesday measured 20 inches
long and died shortly after it was placed in a bucket by a lifeguard.
In October, one yellow-bellied snake was found in Silver Strand State Beach, in Ventura County.
Another sighting was reported in Huntington Beach in December after
volunteers who were part of a coastal cleanup campaign found the 27-inch
creature.
Greg Pauly, a curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, told the OC Register last month: 'One in a year is incredible. Two in a year is just mind-blowing. I'm just completely shocked.'
Both of the animals died from what scientists assume was dehydration, as
the yellow-bellied snakes are not meant to survive on land.
Pauly reassured people that a couple of appearances does not make an 'invasion'.
While the Pelamis platura use highly potent venom to catch fish, no one has ever died from the snake's bite.
Visitors to these popular Southern California beaches are advised to
stay away from the snake and document any sightings for officials to
locate.
The species is a descendant of Australian tiger snakes, and usually
found off the coasts of warm tropical waters such as Africa, Asia,
Australia, Central America and Mexico.
The Pelamis platura is the most widely distributed sea snake species.
They are usually black on top and yellow or brown underneath, and may
have a series of spots and markings on their flat tails. - Daily Mail.
January 15, 2016 - MEXICO - Inspectors examined the carcass of a whale that washed up on a beach
north of Ensenada, a resort city in the northwestern state of Baja
California, Mexico's Profepa federal environmental protection agency
said.
The dead marine mammal was a juvenile humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), a protected species in Mexico.
Profepa inspectors examined the whale's carcass and determined
that fishing nets and human activities did not cause the whale's death.
The inspectors were unable to obtain tissue samples due to the animal's
advanced state of decomposition, making it difficult to determine the
reason why the whale beached itself and died.
Officials decided to leave the carcass on the beach due to the
heavy surf and strong winds in the area, the environmental protection
agency said.
Humpback whales, which can grow to 17 meters (55 feet) and weigh around 45 tons, live in all of the world's oceans.
The marine mammals spend the months of November to May in the Pacific
off Mexico, drawing large numbers of ecotourists to coastal resorts. - FOX News.
January 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.
Whale burial on Tweed beach in New South Wales, Australia
The burial of a dead four-metre sperm whale which had beached at
Casuarina Beach on the Tweed Coast last week has caused a stink with
locals who fear its rotting carcass could pose a health risk to beach
users and also attract sharks to the area.
The 3.8-metre whale calf was found by locals alive on the beach on
Monday 4 January, but died soon afterward and two days later it was
buried using heavy machinery in the dunes between two access tracks
south of a tourist resort at Casuarina.
Staff from Seaworld on the Gold Coast and NSW National Parks and
Wildlife Service (NPWS) were called to the site where the whale had
stranded.
An NPWS spokesman said the whale had some minor injuries consistent with stranding as well as some smaller shark bites.
But he said there were no obvious signs of why the whale stranded or died.
'Tissue sample were taken. The carcass was buried in the hind dunes,' the spokesman told Echonetdaily.
But Casuarina resident David Logue says the whale carcass should not
have been buried there but taken to a tip to dispose of, as Gold Coast
City Council does.
Mr Logue said the burial has 'raised the ire of a number of residents
whose families are regular beach users, business owners and members of a
local surf lifesaving club'.
He said the rising tide the other day came within metres of the burial
pit of the carcass, and wave action could expose the decomposing
carcass 'in this tourist and residential area'.
Mr Logue said the burial had occurred at the beginning of the annual
cyclonic-weather season which regularly caused erosion along the beach
there.
He said the carcass's natural decomposition 'will leach oil, blood and
other body fluids through the sand and into the nearby surf where
hundreds of people swim, wade and surf each week'.
'The decomposition of the carcass can leach upwards absorbing the sand
layer to create a jelly‐like putrefying pit of flesh, producing an awful
stench which will in turn attract vermin,' he told Echonetdaily.
'I am advised that this occurred on the Gold Coast some years ago. I
also note signs erected in this location warning of the recent
harassment of people by wild dogs.
'Naturally I, along with other residents that I have spoken with are
gravely concerned that the above actions will attract sharks to the
stretch of beach and will continue to do so as the carcass decomposes,
leaching through the sand and into the sea in a drip‐fed manner over an
extended period of time.
'Although this may have been an adopted practice in the past, we
consider it to now be inappropriate due to the unacceptable risk it
poses to the safety of beach users.
'These risks extend to the broader Tweed economy as it coincides with
the well‐reported high volume of shark attacks and shark activity within
the northern rivers region.
'Moreover, this stretch of beach between Cabarita and Kingscliff is no
longer the scarcely populated area it used to be. As you would be aware,
development and population along this stretch has considerably
increased over the last 15 years with a further spike in the last two
years.
'It continues to intensify with current high volumes of construction
activity and the anticipated approval of the final "central" stage of
the Casuarina Beach development, adjacent to the shopping centre. This
stage is also adjacent to the burial pit of the whale carcass,' he said.
Mr Logue said he'd been told that to remove such risks, Gold Coast City
Council 'removes all whale carcasses from the beach and disposes of them
in the council tip'.
'However, I am also advised that whale carcasses in Ballina shire are
buried on the beach in the same manner as this one. The shark-attack
statistics and subsequent media coverage between these two LGAs over the
last several years is stark.
'Accordingly, to remove the risks posed through the attraction of sharks
to the area by whale carcasses I propose that all whale carcasses or
other carcasses of significant mass are removed from the beach and
disposed of at a council tip.'
Mr Logue has asked Tweed shire deputy mayor Gary Bagnall to lobby for
such a policy and to 'arrange for the removal and disposal of this whale
carcass and any residue in the pit from its present position on
Casuarina Beach to a council tip as a matter of urgency'.
Cr Bagnall said he would ask fellow councillors at this month's meeting
that 'we develop a policy to cover the beaching of sea animals and large
kills of fish 'so we have clear direction how to respond to these types
of incidents in the future'.
He said locals had expressed concern over the burial site and he had
'asked the council to investigate the appropriateness of the site'.
'I believe that the Gold Coast council removes dead animals from their beaches because of the population there.
'It would be appreciated if incidents, such as this, could reported to
our council in future. Our council now has to deal with the concerns of
the community and the council was left in the dark'. - The Byron Shire Echo.
The phenomenon of whales being washed ashore at Manapad in Thoothukudi
continues as 11 more whales die on Wednesday. The count could increase
according to the local fishermen.
Till Tuesday evening the death count remained at 45and on
Wednesday morning five more dead whales were washed ashore. As the day
progressed the number of whales being washed ashore increased to 11.
Seeing the alarming increase of deaths officials rushed to the spot and
sought help of more fishermen into the rescue service as they fear that
the death count might increase.
The process of burial of the whales continues at the Manapad beach.
Meanwhile, Marine life experts who are camped there have started the
collecting genetic samples.
Murugan, Head of Marine Ecology and Conservation Department, VOC
College, claimed that research scholars were sent to Manapad on Tuesday
to assess the situation and the process of tissue collection would
begin on Wednesday. Using the collected tissues the genetic samples can
be subjected for genetic testing.
Through the tests their location can be found and based on the injuries the reason for washing ashore can be determined.
When asked about the preliminary inquiry he claimed that seeing the
nature of the injuries it can be said that one of the whales which preys
on squids would have been caught in a coral reef in the Gulf of Mannar
and would have sent the distress signal.
The pilot whale would have followed the signal and the other whales would have followed the pilot.
When asked about the time period for genetic analysis he replied that
the tests would take at least one month and conclusive result could be
obtained only after a week. - The New Indian Express.
5 sperm whales die on Texel beach, Netherlands
On Wednesday, five sperm whales died on a Dutch beach after they were
brought to the shore. On Tuesday afternoon, the whales that were between
25 and 40 feet long, were discovered on the Texel beach and the animal
rescuers have been announced.
The sperm whale is also called cachalot is the largest whale with teeth
and the largest predator with teeth. The mature whales can reach up to
52 feet and some can even reach 67 feet. This species of whale has a
head that is one third of its length, and it mainly eats squid. Cuvier's
beaked whale is the mammal that can dive the deepest, followed closely
by the sperm whale. The sperm whales communicate through clicking
vocalization with each other. They have the largest brain on the Planet
and can live more than 60 years.
People from Ecomare and Rijkswaterstaat hurried to the beach in order to
try and save the stranded whales. Ecomare is a wildlife center and a
museum, while Rijkswaterstaat is a research center. The researchers
believed that the high water that came around 8 p.m. would help the
whales swim back into the sea, but unfortunately that didn't occur.
Because of the darkness and the strong wind that blew that night, the
rescue team gave up at midnight and on Wednesday morning the five sperm
whales were found dead.
WATCH: 5 sperm whales die on Texel beach.
On Tuesday, the beach was closed and has remained closed ever since. The
biggest issue is that the dead whales could endanger the health of the
locals, as a gas could be formed by them. It remains unclear why the whales came so close to the shore.The island on which they were found is 60 miles north of Amsterdam and is one of the islands found on the Dutch coast.
The dead bodies of the sperm whales will be taken into custody by
researchers from the University of Utrecht. They will analyze the whales
and they will determine which exactly was the cause of their death. It
is speculated that their skeletons will be taken by Naturalis.
As the five sperm whales died on a Dutch beach, it is important to know
that this is not the first time that this happens on Dutch soil. In
2012, a humpback whale that was 40 feet long got stuck on a sandbank,
close to Texel and died even though efforts were made in order to save
it. - Lighthouse News Daily.
Update: 2 more sperm whales found dead on Dutch beach
Two more sperm whales became stranded and died on the Dutch coast a day
after five others, likely from the same pod, lost their lives nearby in a
rare North Sea beaching, experts said Thursday.
"They are two males," said Jan Boon from the Royal Netherlands Institute
for Sea Research (NIOZ), which is based on the northern Dutch island of
Texel where the whales washed up.
One was found near the Texel port in front of NIOZ's buildings in the
village of 't Hoorntje, while the other became stranded further to the
north.
"The one I've seen here in the south has unfortunately been dead already for some time," Boon told AFP.
"There's blood, it's mouth is open," he said.
The two whales and the five others that died on Wednesday after
floundering ashore late Tuesday are "probably from the same pod of six
whales" that came ashore in Germany earlier this week.
Sperm whale beachings in the Netherlands are relatively rare
with one incident annually between 2011 and 2014, while four whales
beached in 2004 and five in 1997.
"A group like this is even rarer," said Boon, adding the North Sea is too shallow for the large, deep-diving animals.
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.
- Expatica.
Cuttlefish mass die-off on island near Chile
Thousands of cuttlefish mysteriously washed up on Santa Maria off Coronel, Chile on January 12, 2016.
The cause of the mass die-off remains unexplained.
Scientists have started insvestigating the possible causes for this mysterious and apocalyptical mass die-off.
First images of this mass kill were widespread by Mayor Leonidas Romeros on Twitter.
Toxicological tests are now underway.
Masiva varazón de jibia se registra a esta hora en la Isla Santa MarÃa, informan habitantes de la zona. @sernapesca pic.twitter.com/Gtph1StM12
— Alejandro Navarro (@senadornavarro) January 12, 2016
WATCH: Cuttlefish mass die-off.
While it may be natural, this cuttlefish mass die-off may also result from water contamination.
January 13, 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 whale removed from beach in Portugal
The removal of a whale from Parede beach in Cascais last night resulted
in the closure of the busy Marginal for around four hours between
Carcavelos and Parede.
Maritime Police took the decision to close the road between 5pm and 9pm
as it was low-tide, which they said would assist them in hoisting the
ten-ton carcass onto a truck from the beach below.
The ten-metre long whale had beached on Saturday afternoon.
Two sperm whales have washed up together on the German North Sea coast.The
double stranding of sperm whales took place on the shores of
Wangerooge, an island off Germany's North Sea coast, and is an unusual
event.
It is thought that the pair may have got lost and mistakenly moved into
shallow waters between Britain and Europe, where their navigational
sonar may not have work as efficiently as it would in the deeper ocean.
Sperm whales can reach over 18 metres in length and are one of the deepest diving mammals in the world. - Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
January 11, 2016 - ALASKA - Deep-sea creatures are infamously mysterious and bizarre-looking,
so they tend to cause a bit of a stir when they show up on the surface.
And that's exactly what happened when a dead ragfish washed up near a
dock in the Alaskan city of Gustavus earlier this week.
Reports say the six-foot (1.8 metre) animal was initially
mistaken for a halibut when it was spotted by a local transportation
worker - but a closer look revealed a strange fish he'd never seen
before. And that's not surprising since the species is very rarely seen.
In fact, it's rare and enigmatic enough to have earned a scientific name to match: Icosteus aenigmaticus.
So what do we know about it? Adults cruise across the North
Pacific at depths of around 4,000 feet (over 1,200 metres), hunting
squid, small fish, octopus and jellyfish.
Ragfish in turn fall prey to
another deep-sea denizen ... but a much bigger one: their remains have
been found inside the stomachs of the world's largest toothed predators,
the sperm whales.
"The [ragfish] species undergoes a bizarre transformation as it ages: it
loses its pelvic fin and the dorsal fin shrinks. Juveniles have be
found from the surface to more than 2,400 feet while adults have been
caught as deep as 4,660 feet," explains the team at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, which has its headquarters in Gustavus.
This week's find comes hot on the heels of another ragfish
appearance in the Glacier Bay area just last year, when a two-metre
specimen washed up in a nearby cove.
While examinations of both fish
found their stomachs to be empty, they did uncover something else: both
were females that were carrying eggs, says the park in a Facebook update.
One ragfish sighting alone is a pretty unusual thing, so seeing two
washed-up specimens in the same area in the space of just a few months
is bound to spark some questions, state fisheries biologist Craig
Murdoch tells Alaska Dispatch News.
According to one local naturalist
and long-time Gustavus resident, these are the only reported
observations of these fish in the area in the past in 40 years.
But
given how little we know about this elusive species, it's hard to tell
what the significance of the sightings might be, Murdoch adds. - Earth Touch.
March 3, 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.
Hundreds of dead fish found in Columbia River in Portland, United States
Dead fish on Sauvie Island beaches caused people to wonder what was
happening. These are smelt that have washed ashore after spawning
recently,
seen along the shore of the Columbia River on Sauvie Island on
March 2, 2015. Mike Zacchino/Staff
Residents of North Portland's Bridgeton neighborhood along the Columbia River reported waking to a disturbing sight Sunday.
Heide Island, who lives in a floating home on the river, said she took her dogs for a walk about 8:30 a.m. and found hundreds of dead fish at the water's edge.
The fish, which bore the appearance of baby salmon, were floating on the water and covering the beach, she said. In her seven years in the neighborhood, Island said, she'd never seen something like this.
Jessica Sall, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the deaths were likely natural: an influx of smelt, a small fish, that dies after spawning.
"We've had a good run of smelt coming into the river," she said.
Because there was no immediate cause for concern, the department had not sent a biologist to the scene, Sall said.
WATCH: Countless smelt washed ashore along the Columbia River on Sauvie Island after spawning, March 2, 2015.
They spend a handful of years in saltwater before returning to freshwater to spawn from late winter and into spring, and most adults perish after spawning.
Sall could not say why the fish were seen in droves at this part of the river, but she said the deaths did not seem unusual.The river patrol division of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office agreed that a smelt die-off was the likely explanation. - Oregon Live.
3 dead sperm whales wash ashore within 3 days in Tamil Nadu, India
The
washing ashore of three sperm whales in the last three days has taken
fishermen and marine researchers along the east coast by surprise.
While the first dead whale was found near Puducherry on Friday, a
second carcass was located at Alambaraikuppam near Marakkanam on
Saturday with the third being found at Uyyalikuppam near Kalpakkam on
Sunday.
The stranded whale at Uyyalikuppam was a male measuring
50 feet in length and weighing nearly 4 tonnes. The carcass found on
Saturday at Alambaraikuppam was that of a female sperm whale which
measured 35 feet and weighed nearly 3 tonnes. Both died of injuries
suffered on the tail after getting entangled in large nets near the sea
surface, said researchers.
Supraja Dharini of TREE Foundation,
who visited Uyyalikuppam village, said the flipper of the dead whale was
52 inches long and 30 inches wide, the short dorsal fin was two feet
wide -- measurements which indicate that it was full grown adult male.
The carcass, which bore superficial injuries, had begun to decompose
badly when washed ashore. Oil globules were found all over the dorsal
side of the body, she said.
S
Venkataraman, director, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), told TOI that
often earthquakes under the sea could disorient these deep sea mammals
forcing them to move towards the sea surface where they could have swum
into nets and died.With its large population of squids
and flow of water currents, the Bay of Bengal region is believed to be a
breeding ground for sperm whales though no proper study has been done
on this, he said.
But P Dhandapani, formerly with ZSI,
suspected the death due to infighting between the older mammals and the
young ones. "Certain aspects of the whale's behaviour have not been
observed and recorded so far. So it would be difficult to ascertain the
exact cause of death," he said.
Sperm whales are one of the
biggest and powerful aquatic mammals with a close and complex social
structure. They can dive up to 2,000 metres and can hold their breath
for two hours. Due to their deep diving capabilities, they frequently
hunt giant squids. Spermaceti, an oily substance found in large
quantities inside the mammal's head, was used to make candles in the
18th and 19th centuries. Ambergris, another substance, was used to make
perfumes. Extraction of both are banned now. - The Times of India.
Family pit bull severely mauls woman in Pinole, California
A family pet
A
Pinole woman was being treated for life-threatening injuries Sunday
after she was attacked and mauled by the family's pet pit bull,
investigators said.
The 40-year-old resident was attacked
inside the home on Silverado Drive, in the Pinole Valley area shortly
before 10 a.m. and bitten on her legs, arms and face. Pinole police were
able to secure the animal in the back yard before Pinole Fire
Department paramedics administered "advanced life support" treatment.
The
woman's wounds were so severe that she had to be flown by helicopter to
the trauma center at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek,said
Steve Akre, the Pinole Fire battalion chief. He said there was a male
resident inside the home at the time of the attack, but he was not
injured.
"It's
a tragedy for all involved," said Akre, who did not know what prompted
the attack. "Our understanding is that the dog was a family pet that
lived at the home with the victim."
The woman,
whose name was not released, was being treated at John Muir on Sunday
night for lacerations to her face, both arms and both legs, Akre said.
The dog was brought to Contra Costa County Animal Services. - San Francisco Gate.
Hundreds of hibernating snakes disturbed by construction workers in Delta, British Columbia
Close
to 500 garter snakes are getting settled in a new winter home, after
their hibernation den was disturbed by construction in Delta, B.C.
Residents alerted crews reinforcing the dike near Beach Grove this week that there was a ball of sleeping snakes under some rocks, reported The Vancouver Sun.
Biologists were called in to rescue the serpents, who were then brought
to the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C. (WRA), said the group's
Facebook page.
The snakes are cozy in groups of 20 in plastic
tubs with damp wood shavings and a dish of distilled water, said the
WRA. During hibernation, known as brumation, snakes drop their body
temperature so they don't have to use much energy.
"We don't
have to feed them ... they just need to be kept cool and they should be
happy in the tubs," WRA spokeswoman Yolanda Brooks told the Sun.
The serpents will be released back into their habitat around April.
The rescue centre only sees one or two snakes every year, but Janelle
VanderBeek of the WRA told CBC: "They are actually really cute for
snakes. - Huffington Post.
Oil storage tank leak near Yakima River in Washington State poses threat to animals and crops
As
much as 1,500 gallons of used motor oil leaked from an above-ground
storage tank in Washington state into a creek that flows into the Yakima
River, vital to the apple-growing state's agricultural hub, officials
said on Monday.
The cause of the spill on Sunday from the tank
at a former feed lot near Sunnyside, about 170 miles southeast of
Seattle, was under investigation.
Department of Ecology spokeswoman Joye Redfield-Wilder said the oil posed a threat to otters, waterfowl and fish as well as orchards and other crops in the area.
"In a couple of weeks, the canals will all be full and (farmers) will
be watering their crops and their orchards, so we want to get this
cleaned up," Redfield-Wilder said.
The Washington state
Department of Ecology said its workers installed absorbent pads and
protective booms at several sites, including about 900 feet upstream of
the mouth of Sulphur Creek and at a fish hatchery on the Yakima River
after Sunday's spill.
The slick could be seen in the water as far as 15 miles southeast of Sunnyside, the state said on Monday.
NRC Environmental Services, which the state hired to handle the cleanup, was using vacuum trucks to remove oil.
The
Yakima River is an important water source for farm irrigation in south
central Washington state. It is also a renowned trout fishing river. - Reuters.
Mass die off of fish and reptiles due to burst fuel pipe in Tabasco, Mexico
A week after the explosion rollover pipe, operations coordinator of the Institute of Civil Protection, recognized that the fire
and spill caused indirect and consequential damage. Photo: Reform
The
spilled thousands of gallons of jet fuel explosion left a pipe Simsa
Group company, on Saturday, sparking death of fish and turtles in an
area of two hectares covered by the Laguna El Camarón Ecological Park
and an area of bulrushes surrounding.
In
one documented by the newspaper Reforma in the disaster area at the
beginning of the federal Villahermosa Escárcega (Campeche) road, two
kilometers from the city, travel iridescence fuel was found in the
lagoon, hundreds of fish of the species castarrica snakes dead and charred between contaminated water.
The day of the accident, the attention of the State Civil Protection
focused on controlling the fire, which delayed nearly two hours, and
rescue the driver dual pipe remoque, carrying 67,000 liters of jet fuel.
However, a week before the explosion rollover pipe, Manuel Alarcon,
operations coordinator of the Institute of Civil Protection, recognized
that the fire and jet fuel spill caused many indirect and consequential
damage.
Alarcón
said that aside from the expertise of federal transit, the day after
the accident, established communication with Simsa and its insurer,
which undertook to respond attention to contingency, and assessing and
repairing environmental damage through two private companies.
"The
jet fuel was dammed in two bodies of water, which were affected in its
ecosystem, first by the fire that burned the vegetation consists of
bulrushes and then by pollution, which caused fish kills, as castarrica,
and turtles, as pochitoques, Guaos, snakes and iguanas, "said David Silva Castillo, chief of brigade Nouvotek.
"As far we have come in the work of delimitation of damage caused by
the explosion, keep finding dead species and other still alive," said
Silva.
Alarcon said that to avoid an increased risk of contamination of jet
fuel, at a lower area adjacent to the lagoon, was closed sewer water
passing beneath the federal highway.
He warned that both the report's attention to contingency by Nouvotek,
as the results of an audit entrusted to another private company, will
join the investigations conducted by the Federal Attorney for
Environmental Protection (Profepa).
"The
insurer is Simsa which will cover all costs of care to contingency, and
potential environmental penalties to be imposed on the conveyor by this
explosion," said Silva Castillo. - Terra. [Translated]
December 8, 2014 - 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.
Seven sperm whales found dead in rare mass beaching in South Australia
A
pod of seven sperm whales washed up dead Monday in a rare mass stranding
on the South Australia coast, with animal welfare officials struggling
over the logistics of handling the huge carcasses.
The whales,
which can weigh up to 50 tonnes, were found at low tide by residents on
Parara beach, about 93 miles northwest of Adelaide.
"We're not sure why they beached," a Department of Environment official told AFP.
"A theory is that one was ill and moved to shallow waters and then called out to fellow pod members who followed it in."
A local fisherman suggested they could have been chasing a school of salmon.
Animal welfare manager Deborah Kelly said it was rare to see whales beach in the area.
"I
haven't seen a marine event like this in South Australia since the mass
stranding of 58 dolphins at Nepean Bay in the 1990s," she told the Adelaide Advertiser.
WATCH: Sperm whales found dead on a South Australian Beach.
The department official said police and the council were considering
their options on how to handle the carcasses, which were now in shallow
waters and could attract sharks.
"It's a very big logistical task," the official said.
Sperm whales is the largest of the toothed whale species and can grow
up 52 feet. It has the largest brain of any known animal currently in
existence. - Telegraph.
Mako shark washes up dead on Barmouth beach, Wales
The
huge Mako-type mackerel shark was found on Barmouth beach, western
Wales, on Saturday afternoon, 6817 miles away from its natural habitat
A massive shark has washed up on a Welsh beach - 7000 miles away from its natural habitat.
The huge Mako-type mackerel shark was found on Barmouth beach, western Wales, on Saturday afternoon.
Normally the fish are found in the Atlantic Ocean off the Argentinian coast, a whopping 6817 miles away from Wales.
Photographer Gwion Liggett, from Barmouth, Gwynedd, captured the amazing scene just a few hours after the shark was found.
Gwion, 32, said: "It was such a massive beast.
"When I heard a shark had washed up nearby I just had to check it out for myself.
"I've never known anything like that come near here.
"It's unbelievably huge - I'd say about 3metres long.
"Unsurprisingly it had brought a large crowd to look around.
WATCH: Shark beached on Barmouth beach.
"People had said marine biologists had been down earlier yesterday to check it out.
"Unfortunately I've heard some 'treasure hunters' have been down and stolen the head."
Gwion has no idea how the shark had come to become washed up on the
coast but thinks the shallow waters around the beach may have caused it
to get stuck.
He said: "When I got to the shark, it still looked quite fresh.
"I'm no expert but it either got stranded or died out in the shallow waters as it wasn't decaying." - Daily Mirror.
Wild boar creates havoc at Yonsei University, South Korea
A wild boar broke into a Yonsei University Wonju campus building on Dec. 4. at approximately 7:28 p.m., according to Yonhap.
Wonju is the most populous city in the Gangwon province just 87 miles east of Seoul.
After creating havoc and noise on the first floor of the building, the boar escaped.
"There was a very large boar that broke through the entrance.
It proceeded to damage the elevator doors and even got trapped," said a
man named Shim. "My coworkers I were on our way out and it frightened
us."
Police and firefighters were called to the scene, but by
that point all that was left were broken doors, glass and blood from the
boar's injuries.
The building is a student dormitory as well as a business incubator. It is surrounded by hills and natural areas. - The Korea Times.
Toddler dies after attack by family dogs in Citrus County, Florida
Deputies
responded to the death of a 2-year-old toddler Saturday afternoon from
an apparent dog attack, the Citrus County Sheriff's Office said.
The family had three children, four Rottweilers and another small dog.
Animal control officers removed all five dogs, said Heather Yates,
Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.
WATCH: Two-year-old boy killed by dogs.
Yates said the Department of
Children and Families was notified, as is standard when a child dies and
other children are in the home.
"The parents are distraught," Yates said.
No further information was immediately available. - Tampa Bay Times.
Farmer trampled to death by elephant herd in India
A
farmer, Devappa Naidu (55), of Konganapalle village on Gudupalle mandal
of Kuppam constituency and Tamil Nadu border was trampled to death by a
herd of elephants in the early hours of Sunday.
As the
incident took place just a few meters away from Chittoor district limit,
there was confusion among the police and forest personnel on both sides
till noon. A boy from the village, who accompanied the farmer last
night during vigil at the fields, said Devappa Naidu on hearing some big
rustle in the thickets rushed there, mistaking for a raid by boars.
In the morning, villagers found the body of the farmer badly crushed,
with footprints of elephants on the wet soil. , The body was shifted to
Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu for autopsy. - The Hindu.
A mystery is unfolding on the beaches of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Hundreds of endangered sea turtles have been washing up on the shore, sick and stunned by the cold ocean water. Biologists and volunteers are mounting an unprecedented rescue response to save as many turtles as possible before it's too late.
Most of the turtles are juvenile Kemp's ridleys (Lepidochelys kempii)
measuring less than a foot long. They are being trapped on their
southbound fall migration to warmer climes by the arm of the cape, which
protrudes into the Atlantic Ocean. Many wash up not only incapacitated by the cold, but also with life-threatening conditions like dehydration, pneumonia,
infections, or off-kilter blood chemistry. Their skin is often
discolored, and early on many were overgrown with algae.
"They're terrible looking" when they first wash up, says Bob Prescott,
director of the conservation group Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife
Sanctuary in South Wellfleet, Massachusetts, who is coordinating the
recovery of stranded turtles from the beaches. Fortunately, they respond
well to treatment. His crews of volunteers and staff members have
picked up more than 1070 turtles so far, about 20% of them already dead.
That's far above the average of 200 turtles that have washed up each
fall for the past decade. The number of arrivals has declined, Prescott
says, but it is still higher than normal and won't likely reach zero
until the end of the year, when the annual cold-stun season comes to a
close. With water temperatures dropping, more of the turtles are showing
up dead, and bigger species that can withstand the cold longer, like
loggerheads (Caretta caretta), are starting to wash up.
Prescott's team sends the living turtles, often packed in banana boxes,
to a sea turtle hospital in Quincy, Massachusetts, run by the New
England Aquarium. Six hundred and fifty turtles have been admitted so
far - approaching triple the hospital's previous record of 240, set in
2012. Workers at the hospital have been putting in 12- to 14-hour days,
with extra volunteers and staff from out-of-state aquariums pitching in,
says Charles Innis, the aquarium's director of animal health, who
oversees the sea turtles' care.
Innis's team has been
stabilizing the turtles and then shipping as many as possible to other
animal hospitals for further treatment and eventual release. This
morning, a private plane flew 50 of the turtles to Houston. Last week,
the U.S. Coast Guard airlifted 193 to Florida. Innis says the Cape Cod
turtles have filled just about every facility along the U.S. East Coast,
and aquarium staff members are now trying to place them in Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Texas. "We just simply don't have tank space available
to handle 600 turtles here. And nobody does, really," Innis says. "It's
really a national effort at this point."
The healthiest turtles
typically require a month or two of care before they can be released,
but the sicker ones may have to stay for up to 8 months, Innis says,
adding that he expects at least 70% of his patients to survive.
Many juvenile Kemp's ridleys never foray north of Cape Cod, but the
ones that do and make it out before the water turns deadly cold don't
seem to return, Prescott says. Instead, they join other East Coast
turtles in warmer waters farther south, where they spend a decade or so
maturing before returning to nest on their home beaches in Texas and
Mexico.
The reasons for this year's remarkable stranding remain
unknown. Some observers have suggested that there may be more juvenile
Kemp's ridleys thanks to recent hatching success resulting from
conservation efforts. But Donna Shaver, chief of the Division of Sea
Turtle Science and Recovery at Padre Island National Seashore in Corpus
Christi, Texas, where most U.S.-born Kemp's ridleys hatch, says it may
be more complicated than that. The number of hatchlings in the Gulf of
Mexico has increased substantially since the mid-1980s, but it has
varied quite a bit in recent years, suggesting that oceanographic
conditions may also be behind this year's large crop of stranded
turtles.
Another hypothesis is that rapidly warming water in
the Gulf of Maine, which includes Cape Cod Bay and waters north to Nova
Scotia, could be luring turtles farther north than they once ventured,
causing more to become trapped on their southbound journey when the
water cools in the fall. But biologists are putting serious
investigation into the causes of the record strandings on hold until
January, after the rush to save turtles ends.
From Shaver's
vantage point, the Cape Cod rescue work - which she is not directly
involved in - is very important. The International Union for
Conservation of Nature lists Kemp's ridley sea turtles as "Critically
Endangered," and the species is thought to have been harmed by the BP
oil spill in 2010, which killed hundreds of turtles and may have
contributed to subsequent declines in nests. Only about 5500 females
nest each year, the best available proxy for their total population.
"We're really hoping for great success for those folks that are working
so hard to try to find these turtles and bring them back around to
health," Shaver says. - Science Mag.
Dog attacks leap 48% in just 12 months in Wollongong, Australia
Dog attacks in Wollongong have soared a staggering 48 per cent in just 12 months with nearly 50 people and more than 200 animals harmed.
The latest statistics from the NSW Division of Local Government show
there were 237 dog attacks in Wollongong from April 2013 to March this
year, compared with 160 in the same period a year earlier.
The Wollongong local government area ranks fourth in the state for the
number of dog attacks reported, behind Blacktown, Gosford and Newcastle,
and also has a higher than average attack rate.
The statewide attack rate was one attack for every 1350 dogs.
By contrast, Wollongong's rate was one attack for every 735 dogs.
Wollongong City Council blamed the media and an ''increase in reporting'' for the huge rise in dog attacks in a year.
''There appears to be an increase in reporting attacks or incidents by the public when incidents occur,'' a spokesman said.
''Council believes that the increase is also due to the attention to attacks given by the media in recent times.''
He said the council treated attacks with ''the highest priority'',
taking actions such as issuing fines, negotiating with owner to have
dogs euthanased in the interests of public safety, seizing dogs, and
issuing ''Dangerous Dog'' or ''Menacing Dog'' declarations which impose
higher responsibilities on dog owners.
In the year to March, 21
people in Wollongong were injured in ''serious'' attacks (where
injuries from the attack needed medical treatment or hospitalisation)
and 25 people were involved in less serious cases.
In Warrawong
in April last year, a 45-year-old woman received bites to her face and
hands and was taken by paramedics to Wollongong Hospital.
Other
victims included a 21-year-old Bellambi man who received bites to his
arms and legs in September, a 51-year-old Warrawong woman who received
lacerations to her hand and leg in October and a 48-year-old Bellambi
woman who was bitten on her neck and toe in November.
Wollongong attacks on children included a Koonawarra 15-year-old who was
hospitalised with a severe foot injury in August, a Unanderra
16-year-old bitten on the shin on New Year's Day and a two-year-old
Berkeley boy who was taken to Wollongong Hospital with a 20-centimetre
laceration to his head.
Humans weren't the only victims, with 214 animals attacked by dogs in Wollongong.
In Shellharbour, there were 28 dog attacks in total during the 12-month period, while in Kiama there were just 15.
In the three months to March, the top three attacking dog breeds across
NSW were Staffordshire bull terriers (158 attacks), Australian cattle
dogs (100 attacks) and American Staffordshire terriers (82 attacks). - Illawarra Mercury.
Rampaging water buffalo attacks and injures 14 pedestrians, China
A water buffalo tore through a small southwestern Chinese town in a mad rampage.
A
water buffalo tore through a small southwestern Chinese town in a mad
rampage, chasing down pedestrians and injuring at least 14 bystanders.
In surveillance video footage released by state media, the water
buffalo is seen wandering in the center of town in Jingyan County
located in China's Sichuan province.
In one shot, the buffalo is shown setting its sights on resident Liang Cuirong who was riding past on her bicycle.The animal chased Liang, knocked her off the bike and trampled her repeatedly.
The buffalo also reportedly chased to another resident before damaging cars and chasing down more passerby's.
It finally took four police officers and 10 rounds to take down the buffalo and end the 40 minute long bovine panic.
"We took aim at its head," Huang Tao, one of the police officers who
brought down the buffalo, told state media. "Shot it until it fell
down."
WATCH: Buffalo goes on a rampage in China.
Water buffalos are used in the region to till soil and
act as general beast of burden in the rural farming communities on the
outskirts of town.
It remains unknown how this particular beast ended up in the middle of Jingyan but authorities are investigating. - ABC News.
Wild boar attacks woman in her backyard, India
A
55-year-old woman of Adhivarahapuram near Tiruttani was admitted to
government hospital on Friday after she was attacked by a wild boar.
"Around 4.30 in the morning, Pattammal went out to the backyard of her house, where the animal attacked her, injuring her right hand. The victim raised an alarm but the animal disappeared," Forest officials said.
A team of officials led by Tiruvallur District Forest Officer P.
Muhammed Shabab visited the victim in the hospital. Financial assistance
was handed over to Pattammal by Mr. Shabab at the hospital. A team has
been sent to the village where the woman was attacked to check the
movement of any animal. Further investigation is on, he added. - The Hindu.
140,000 birds killed due to avian flu in British Columbia, Canada
A poultry farm under quarantine because of a outbreak of avian influenza is pictured in Chilliwack, B.C. Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
With
seven countries now turning away imports of Canadian poultry due to a
Vancouver-area outbreak of avian flu, federal officials are rushing to
contain the highly contagious virus before it can infect farms beyond
the Fraser Valley.
While the virus is not dangerous to humans, it has the potential to kill off entire barns of poultry within a matter of days.
“To
lose most of your flock within the span of a week is completely unheard
of,” said Ray Nickel, president of the B.C. Poultry Association. “It’s
hard to even visualize unless you’ve gone through and experienced it.”
Over
the weekend, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed that five
farms have become infected by a “high pathogen” strain of H5N2 never
before seen on Canadian soil.
As of Sunday, all five
properties were subjected to “biosecurity” quarantines as crews in
HAZMAT suits destroyed as many as 140,000 chickens and turkeys.
As
many as 90 additional poultry farms fall within the
three-kilometre-wide quarantine zones established around the infected
farms.
The stocks at these other farms will not be culled if no
evidence of avian flu is found, but they are subject to strict
conditions about moving their birds out of the Fraser Valley.
In a
weekend statement, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it has
“mobilized all available resources to manage this situation.” - National Post.
