Animals
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Attention

Cold spell over January killed at least 35 manatees in Florida

Annika Hammerschlag
Naples Daily News
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 19:04 UTC
Manatees endure another deadly year
Manatees endure another deadly year
Recent cold spells have taken a toll on Florida's beloved sea cows.

At least 35 manatees died from the cold between Jan. 1 and 26, compared with seven over the same period last year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

An average of eight manatees died from the cold in the month of January from 2013 to 2017.

Manatees are ill-adapted to survive in frigid water. Their bodies are mostly lungs and ribs — they have deceptively little blubber.

The last time Florida saw an uptick in cold-related manatee deaths was in 2010 and 2011 when the number of manatees that died from the cold reached 282 and 114, respectively.

"It's been really busy," said Maya Rodriguez, a veterinarian at Miami Seaquarium, which rehabilitates sick manatees.


Comment: See also this report from December last year: Rare manatees endure another deadly year, with 513 deaths

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Bizarro Earth

Invasive 20-pound rodents with ability to destroy roads are causing havoc in California

Tom Miller
SF Gate
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:37 UTC
nutria, large rodent
A giant 20-pound rodent with the ability to destroy roads, levees and wetlands has been discovered in Stanislaus County.
A giant invasive rodent with the ability to destroy roads, levees and wetlands has been discovered in Stanislaus County.

Weighing in at 20 pounds and measuring 2 feet, 6 inches long, plus a 12-inch tail, the nutria live in or near water. They're also incredibly destructive.

"They burrow in dikes, and levees, and road beds, so they weaken infrastructure, (which is) problematic for flood control systems," California Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Peter Tira said.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is sounding an alarm about the invasive nutria.

When nutria aren't burrowing, they're eating. They can consume 25 percent of their body weight each day in vegetation, but they waste and destroy 10 times that.
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Attention

Beached humpback whale confirmed dead at Chincoteague Island, Virginia

Liz Holland and Carol Vaughn
delmarva now
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:59 UTC
Staff from the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program perform a necropsy on a dead humpback whale
© Carol VaughnStaff from the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program perform a necropsy on a dead humpback whale on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. The whale was discovered during the weekend on the southernmost end of the beach at Assateague Island National Seashore in Virginia.
Staff from the Virginia Aquarium were at the site of a dead humpback whale found on the beach during the weekend at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

The dead immature female whale was reported to the Virginia Aquarium at about midday on Sunday, said spokesman Matthew Klepeisz.

The aquarium's Stranding Response Program was on site Monday to conduct a necropsy on the animal, he said.

"There are no immediate findings from the necropsy as the animal was more significantly decomposed than originally anticipated," Klepeisz said. "There are no external signs of human interaction that might have caused the stranding."

Humpback whales measure 48 feet to 62.5 feet long and weigh 40 tons, according to the National Geographic Society.

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Attention

Dead humpback whale washes up in Queens, New York

Lauren Cook
AM New York
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:51 UTC
A dead humpback whale washed up in Breezy Point, Queens on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, according to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.
© US Park Police Sgt. Michael BeckA dead humpback whale washed up in Breezy Point, Queens on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, according to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.
A dead humpback whale washed up on the shore of Breezy Point in Queens Monday afternoon, according to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.

The nonprofit groups said it was working with U.S. Park Police, the National Park Service and "local authorities" to "formulate a response plan."

"Atlantic Marine Conservation Society received a call from the US Park Police this afternoon about a deceased humpback whale, approximately 30 feet in length, that stranded in Breezy Point," Atlantic Marine Conservation Society said in a Facebook post Monday afternoon. "Because of the incoming tide and sunset, a response would not take place until [Tuesday] or Thursday."

The area where the whale washed ashore was closed off to the public for safety reasons, the organization said.

It was not immediately clear how the whale died.
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Black Cat

'They just left his head': Pack of lions maul 'poacher' to death in South Africa game reserve


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 17:03 UTC
lion
© Radu Sigheti RSS/AS / Reuters
A suspected poacher has been mauled to death by a pack of lions in South Africa.

In what could be seen as an ironic turn of events, the remains of a man were found Saturday morning at a private game reserve in the northern province of Limpopo. According to the news site Independent Online, the area has seen an increase in the number of animals hunted illegally in recent years.

Local police said very little of the man's body was left in the aftermath of the grisly attack. "It seems the victim was poaching in the game park when he was attacked and killed by lions. They ate his body, nearly all of it, and just left his head and some remains," a spokesperson for Limpopo police told AFP.
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Attention

Pygmy whale dies after beaching at Delray Beach, Florida

Jonathan Tully
whio.com
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 14:07 UTC
File image of a pygmy sperm whale which beached itself on Hutchinson Island in 2016.
© Inwater Research GroupFile image of a pygmy sperm whale which beached itself on Hutchinson Island in 2016.
A pygmy sperm whale beached itself twice Saturday afternoon in Florida, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The whale died after the second beaching.

It came ashore on the north end of Delray Beach, just south of George Bush Boulevard, initially around 1 p.m., FWC spokeswoman Carol Lyn Parrish said.

At that point, bystanders attempted to push the whale back into the water, which is when FWC officials first responded. The whale beached itself a second time around 2 p.m., Parrish said.

Pygmy sperm whales can range from 10 to 11 feet in length and more than 700 pounds, according to NOAA Fisheries.
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Attention

Beaked whale dies following stranding in Motueka, New Zealand

Samantha Gee
Stuff
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 13:58 UTC
A Cuvier's beaked whale that stranded on Jackett Island has died.
© Bec's GreaneyA Cuvier's beaked whale that stranded on Jackett Island has died.
A stranded whale that was refloated by members of the public last week was later found dead on a Motueka beach.

​On Friday, Project Jonah and the Department of Conservation were notified of a 4-5 metre long stranded whale on Jackett Island.

Project Jonah volunteer manager Louisa Hawkes said one of its trained medics noticed a discussion about the whale stranding on the Motueka Buy and Sell Facebook page.

"It was a fantastic community effort with a sad outcome, but they should be proud of how they pulled together."

Hawkes said the whale was thought to be a Cuvier's beaked whale, which typically lived in deeper waters. Despite being the third most frequently stranded species in New Zealand, not much was known about the whale.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 17 goats at farm in Namibia


The Namibian
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 11:52 UTC
LIGHTNING
Rain is always welcome in the hot and dry Karas region, but this natural phenomenon sometimes brings with it troubles and loss to farmers and residents alike.

A strong bout of the late rains of the current season caused one such farmer, Abraham Thomas, to lose a sizeable amount of his livestock at farm Regina, situated four kilometres outside Helmeringhausen in the Bethanie district.

Lightning killed 17 of Thomas' goats at around 17h00 on Thursday.

Seventeen goats were killed on Thursday by lightning on farm Regina near Helmeringhausen in the Karas region.
Seventeen goats were killed on Thursday by lightning on farm Regina near Helmeringhausen in the Karas region.
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Attention

Dead minke whale washes ashore in Nova Scotia, Canada

Jon Tattrie
CBC News
Sat, 10 Feb 2018 11:21 UTC
Jess Tudor measures the minke whale near Tiverton on Long Island, N.S. Its length suggests it was likely an adult.
© Amy TudorJess Tudor measures the minke whale near Tiverton on Long Island, N.S. Its length suggests it was likely an adult.
Eight months ago, Amy Tudor was guiding a whale-watching tour off Brier Island, N.S., when an unusually playful minke approached the boat.

On Friday, she found herself looking at the remains of an adult minke whale on the shore of nearby Tiverton, Long Island, N.S.

"As I was there looking at this whale, that's all I could play in my head: was this the whale that swam around the boat? Was it the one that spy-hopped around us? It was a very mixed emotion," Tudor told CBC News.

"I love these creatures. I talk to them when I'm on the boat. I feel a connection. It was so hard to see something that I love so much deceased, but at the same time it was such a rare opportunity to be hands-on with a creature like that and to help in the overall preservation and research of the species."
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Attention

Fin whale washes up dead at Caravia, Spain


Latin American Herald Tribune
Sat, 10 Feb 2018 10:27 UTC
fin whalw
Work got under way on Friday to remove an 18-meter (59-foot) fin whale that washed up dead on a beach near the northern Spanish town of Caravia.

Because of the whale's size, the task requires sectioning the carcass into portions.

Area residents gathered to watch the team remove the tail and loading it onto a truck for transport to facilities run by Proygrasa, a company specializing in the collection and disposal of carcasses.
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