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Question

Sunflower sea star nearly wiped out by virus in British Columbia waters

Terri Theodore
vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 14:15 UTC
A sunflower sea star found off Cliff Island, Washington on March 30, 2015
© Joe GaydosA sunflower sea star found off Cliff Island, Washington on March 30, 2015
There was once a galaxy of sunflower seastars in the Salish Sea off the British Columbia and Washington state coasts, but a new study says their near disappearance from the ocean floor should be of special concern.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, say a wasting disease that impacted many starfish from Alaska to Mexico was devastating for the sunflower sea star.

Joseph Gaydos, one of the report's authors and the chief scientist with the SeaDoc Society, said the sunflower that covered the ocean floor in many areas off southern Vancouver Island and Washington state has been virtually wiped out.

"We're really concerned that one could completely disappear," he said in an interview.

The West Coast is renowned for its 28 varieties of seastars, some not found anywhere else in the world. In 2013, divers and researchers started noticing the starfish were dying from a disease that experts couldn't figure out.

Three years later, they believe a virus is at fault, but Gaydos said there may also be other factors such as water temperature that makes certain starfish more susceptible.
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Attention

Dozens of dolphin carcasses litter beach in Bangladesh

Sohrab Hossain with Andrew Eagle
The Daily Star (Bangladesh)
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 13:36 UTC
Dead dolphin
Representative image
At Kuakata Beach in Patuakhali is the tragic end of a beautiful story. Along the shoreline dozens of dolphin carcasses are in various stages of decay. For locals and tourists alike the stench overpowers, makes beachfront enjoyment impossible. Beyond being an inconvenience, the dead dolphins demonstrate what can happen when wild creatures come into contact with human activity: when entangled in fishing nets, the air-breathing dolphins drown.

In Patuakhali, as in coastal areas across the country, fishing communities have inherited the knowledge of generations. They know the sea. Among them it wouldn't be easy to find one who rejoices in a dolphin's death. It's unsurprising.

Apart from the agility and grace dolphins display in the wild, dolphins, like them, have enviable fishing skills.

"I've worked as a fisherman for 20 years," says Nurul Islam, 45, from Alipur village in Patuakhali's Kalapara upazila. "It's beautiful to see dolphin pods swim and jump out of the water. On our boat, the FB Mayer Doa, we never hunt dolphins; we seek hilsa fish. But we find many dolphins that died in fishing nets."
Dead dolphin
Dead dolphin
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Attention

Dead whale washes up on coast in Newfoundland, Canada

Colin Farrell
The Southern Gazette
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 13:24 UTC
A dead whale washed into Joe’s Cove in Lord’s Cove on Sunday.
© Margaret Mary MartinA dead whale washed into Joe’s Cove in Lord’s Cove on Sunday.
A dead whale that washed in over the weekend has the Town of Lord's Cove wondering what course of action to take.

On Sunday, the remains of the mammal were brought into an inlet in the community known as Joe's Cove.

The whale had been coming in and out with the tide.

"It is beached right now," town manager Eileen Harnett told The Southern Gazette on Wednesday.

"On Sunday, it went off quite a ways, but it washed back in again, and it was dead when it came ashore," she said.
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Attention

Turrialba volcano's spectacular early morning eruption filmed in Costa Rica

Wendy Anders
The Costa Rica Star
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 13:02 UTC
Volcanic ash
After many days of small but constant emissions of ash and gases, Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano, located southeast of the capital city, had a spectacular eruption early this morning.

The event was captured on a home video at 5:25 a.m. by Jesús Edu Jimal from his home in Turrialba.

Some beautiful photos of the eruption, which could be seen from many locales due to the clear weather, were also posted on the National University's Volcanology and Seismology Research Institute Facebook page (Ovsicori-UNA).

Winds blowing southeasterly, as reported by Ovsicori, mean that the ash is not directly affecting the capital city at the moment.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolts kill man and 3 donkeys in Zimbabwe

Whinsley Masara
The Chronicle (Zimbabwe)
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 09:48 UTC
lightning
A man and three donkeys died after they were struck by lightning in two incidents in Matabeleland North.

A bolt of lightning fatally struck Charles Maponda (32) of Nyamandlovu in Umguza District while he was looking for firewood in a bush on Tuesday.

Maponda, a recently promoted farm employee at Waynne Manroe's Farm, knocked off duty and left alone to fetch firewood in the bush.

Mr Robert Muthethwa, who is a security guard at the Farm, discovered the badly burnt body minutes after he had been struck.

"It started to rain and there was thunder and lightning. I found Maponda in an open space. It looked like he had just been struck by lightning.
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Tornado1

Climate alarmists redefine 'hurricane' to fit warming narrative and deny looming Ice Age will affect Earth

Adapt 2030
YouTube
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 06:42 UTC
NOAA hurricane data
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)

With no hurricanes making landfall in 11 years in the USA, that takes us back to a 1860 record of longest without a hurricane. Since the scary predictions of more and more powerful hurricanes didn't work out for the global warming crowd, now they want to re-define what hurricanes are to make it appear that they are more destructive to fit the narrative of CO2 causes more hurricanes. Also the same crew says that the new Mini Ice Age will have no effect on Earth. What if they are wrong??


Comment: For related articles see:

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Attention

Mussel die-off stretches for 50 miles along river in Ohio

Marion Renault
This Week
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 20:28 UTC
Anthony Sasson, freshwater conservation manager for the Nature Conservancy in Ohio, picks up a dead mussel in the Big Darby Creek at Prairie Oaks Metro Park.
© Jonathan Quilter/The Columbus DispatchAnthony Sasson, freshwater conservation manager for the Nature Conservancy in Ohio, picks up a dead mussel in the Big Darby Creek at Prairie Oaks Metro Park.
Whatever is killing fragile mussels in Big Darby Creek has spread along 50 miles of the protected waterway, and state and federal environmental officials say they are no closer to figuring out the cause after several weeks.

Biologists, mollusk experts and officials with state and federal agencies gathered Oct. 20 to talk about the mysterious die-off. They've been surveying the stream and collecting samples, but say it could be weeks before a cause is pinpointed.

In the meantime, the mollusks continue to die, leaving their empty shells strewn along the stream.

"This is one of the few last healthy rivers in America. If we lose that we're losing a key piece of our heritage," said John Tetzloff, president of the Darby Creek Association. "Mussels have been in decline for decades. ... It was a recipe for disaster and this is the disaster. This could be the end of Darby as we know it."

Mussels are immobile filter-feeders and are highly sensitive to environmental changes. That makes them "canaries in the coal mine" for various ecosystems tied to the Darby, Tetzloff said.
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Seismograph

Shallow 5.8 magnitude earthquake recorded off False Pass, Alaska


Earthquake Track
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 19:47 UTC
Earthquake graph
5.8 magnitude earthquake 173 km from Akutan, Alaska, United States

2016-10-27 11:53:18 UTC

UTC time: Thursday, October 27, 2016 11:53 AM
Your time: 2016-10-27T11:53:18Z
Magnitude Type: mwp
USGS page: M 5.8 - 136km S of False Pass, Alaska
USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist
Reports from the public: 0 people

2016-10-27 11:53:18 UTC 5.8 magnitude, 17 km depth
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Cloud Precipitation

Farming areas devastated following floods in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 19:18 UTC
Flooding in the north west of Buenos Aires province, Argentina
© Ministro de Agroindustria de la Provincia de Buenos AiresFlooding in the north west of Buenos Aires province, Argentina
Long term flooding in the north west of Buenos Aires province, Argentina, has prompted the provincial government to declare an agricultural emergency for affected areas.

The flooding has affected the low-lying rural, farming areas of Carlos Tejedor, Rivadavia, General Villegas and Trenque Lauquen. Roads are under water and villages left isolated. Some families have been evacuated. However, it is crops and farmland that have been worst hit.

Long-term, persistent rainfall and flood water from the overflowing Quinto River has devastated crops and farmland so severely, farmers have been left with nowhere else to turn but to the provincial government for help and assistance. Dairy farmers are also severely affected. Wide areas of grazing land is underwater and blocked roads have hindered milk collection and distribution.

Yesterday, Buenos Aires Province Minister for Agribusiness, Leonardo Sarquís, visited affected areas and declared the agricultural emergency in order to help affected farmers.

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Attention

Woman dies following attack by wild gaur in Tamil Nadu, India; 3rd such incident for the locality in 2 years


The Times of India
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 18:53 UTC
Wild gaur
Wild gaur
The woman tourist from Chennai, who was attacked by a wild Indian gaur at Sim's Park in Coonoor last Monday, died at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) in Coimbatore, on Wednesday.

Dinesh, 29 and his wife Thamarai, 26, from Mannivakkam in Thambaram, Chennai, were on a leisure trip in Nilgiris, when the incident happened. The gaur had attacked both of them but Dinesh managed to escape with minor injuries while his wife suffered a punctured stomach.

The newly married couple had come to Ooty last Friday. After visiting various tourist spots in Ooty and its surroundings for two days, they went to Coonoor, this past Monday. As they were admiring some flowers in Sim's Park, the animal attacked them.

They were rushed to the Coonoor government hospital. After first aid was administered, they were referred to CMCH for further treatment. There, Thamarai underwent an operation and had been kept in the ICU.
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