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Polluted river in India turns dogs blue!


Press TV
Sun, 20 Aug 2017 14:02 UTC

Have you ever seen or heard about a blue dog? It might be funny and odd, but the reason behind it makes animal lovers furious.
Blue Dog1
© Press TVPhotos and videos of blue stray dogs in the Indian town of Navi Mumbai have gone viral this week.
Photos and videos of blue stray dogs in the Indian town of Navi Mumbai have gone viral this week. But what's causing it?
Blue Dog2
© Press TV
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Attention

Sad ending for beached humpback whale near Red Cliff, Australia

Clair Morton
The Daily Examiner
Sun, 20 Aug 2017 15:17 UTC
Volunteers work in vain to save a humpback that beached itself north of Red Cliff.
© Tegan SmithVolunteers work in vain to save a humpback that beached itself north of Red Cliff
Despite the best efforts of volunteers, a humpback that beached itself north of Red Cliff over the weekend could not be saved.

It is believed the "severely emaciated" whale washed ashore on the beach north of Brooms Head some time on Friday, and died on Saturday.

Rescue organisation ORCCA co-ordinated a volunteer response with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, using sheets and towels to cover the 13.5m mammal and keep it wet, cool and as comfortable as possible while it was still alive.

But Dolphin Marine Magic's manager of life sciences Aaron Tolley said by the time his team arrived to assess its condition on Saturday, it had drawn its last breath 10 minutes before.

There will now be a discussion between Clarence Valley Council and National Parks and Wildlife about what to do with the body, he said.
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Dead minke whale found on beach in Rye, New Hampshire; second such incident in a month for the state

Kevin Landrigan
New Hampshire Union Leader
Sat, 19 Aug 2017 15:05 UTC
Officials said they believe the small whale was dead before it came ashore on Foss Beach in Rye.
© Seacoast Science Center RescueOfficials said they believe the small whale was dead before it came ashore on Foss Beach in Rye. It was discovered Saturday.
A second dead minke whale in less than a month has washed ashore off New Hampshire's seacoast, Fish and Game officials confirmed Saturday.

Officials said they believe the small whale was dead before it came ashore on Foss Beach in Rye.

The whale was spotted Saturday morning and removed from the beach during the early afternoon.

A necropsy will be done to determine the cause of death but officials stress they don't believe the death is suspicious.

Officials with the Seacoast Science Center's Marine Mammal Rescue say the frequency of these dead whales is concerning.
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Attention

12-metre-long whale washes up dead on the coast of Iran


Iran Front Page
Sun, 20 Aug 2017 14:56 UTC
Bryde’s whale
Bryde’s whale
A gigantic Bryde's whale weighing nearly 10 tonnes has been found washed ashore on the coasts of Shibkooh in Bandar Lengeh, southern Iran, an environment official announced.

Saman Qassemi, the head of Bandar Lengeh Department of Environment, said the 12-metre-long and 10-tonne Bryde's whale was found stranded on Saturday, August 19.

According to a Farsi report by ISNA, these whales can swim as fast as 25 kilometres per hour and as deep as 300 metres down the sea.

Qassemi says they are usually found worldwide in warm temperate and tropical waters, including the Persian Gulf, and Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans.

They are usually killed after being hit by fishing instruments and vessels, he went on to say.
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Attention

Diver attacked by shark while spearfishing in the Bahamas

Al Pefley
cbs12.com
Sat, 19 Aug 2017 10:46 UTC
Shark attacks
A scary encounter for a local diver. He was bitten by a shark while spearfishing.

He's a professional, which proves shark attacks can happen to anyone.

CBS 12 learned the victim works for a charter company that offers shark dives.

This was their day off, and some employees and their friends set out for a day of fun, that turned chaotic.

"It was a young guy come off on a stretcher with his hand all bandaged up and you could see the blood," said Maureen Castagno, a bystander.

Bystanders watched in horror, as the shark bite victim got off a boat called Shark Addicts, and was taken away by paramedics.

"It looked pretty bad," Castagno said.
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Attention

Harbour seal climbs aboard kayak, attacks paddler near Chatham Island, British Columbia

Ceilidh Millar
Chek
Sat, 19 Aug 2017 13:19 UTC
seal attack
It started out as a regular Thursday kayak trip for Alan Campbell and Debbie Leach.

On Aug. 10, Campbell and Leach along with two other kayakers left from Telegraph Cove and headed towards Chatham and Discovery Islands.

"We were grouping up when the attack occurred" explained Campbell.

The excursion turned into a frightening experience when Leach noticed a large harbour seal charging at their kayaks.

"I didn't really think anything of it at first," said Leach.

"Usually the seals are shy and just swim away, but then it grabbed my rudder and pulled my foot pedal right out of the socket."

The seal tried to mount two of the kayaks without much success until it reached Campbell.


Comment: See also this report of another attack by the same species that occurred on the same day about 10 miles from the above incident: Seal bites man in Friday Harbor, Washington

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Pygmy sperm whale discovered washed up on Daufuskie Island, South Carolina

Maggie Angst
The State
Fri, 18 Aug 2017 11:57 UTC
The pygmy sperm whale found washed up on Daufuskie Island
© Amber KeuhnThe pygmy sperm whale found washed up on Daufuskie Island
When Joanne and Mike Loftus spotted a whale struggling in the surf Thursday night on Daufuskie Island, they helped push it back out to sea.

Watching it swim away, the two were excited.

"We thought we saved its life," Mike said.

When the pair went back out Friday morning for turtle patrol, they saw that the 11-foot male pygmy sperm whale had washed up dead.

Mike said he learned an important lesson from the experience.

"When you see a beached whale, you're supposed to stay away and call authorities, because it could be diseased, ... and if you push it back out, it could be attacked by sharks and have a violent death, instead of the death it's supposed to have," he said.
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Family returns home to find house covered in blood after their German Shepherd attacked an intruder

Chloe Farland
The Independent
Wed, 16 Aug 2017 00:00 UTC
family dog attacks intruder richmond virgina
Guard dog has never been aggressive before and is known to play with children in the area
A family came home to find the inside of their house covered in blood after their German Shepherd attacked an intruder while they were out.

When Tristan Murrin and his mother walked to the front door of their house, they did not notice anything wrong.

But once they stepped inside their Richmond home in Virgina, US, they discovered a scene likes something out of a horror film.

Mr Murrin told WRIC: "We noticed something when we walked in. I walked in with my mother and there were blood spots on the grounds, we looked upstairs and we could see trails of blood coming from upstairs going all the way down."
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Attention

Minke whale found dead in Blue Hill Bay, Maine

Henry Schulz
Mount Desert Islander
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 17:03 UTC
Area whale experts at a property in Tremont prepare to perform a necropsy on a minke whale found dead in Blue Hill Bay on Sunday
© Henry SchulzArea whale experts at a property in Tremont prepare to perform a necropsy on a minke whale found dead in Blue Hill Bay on Sunday
The stench of a decomposing minke whale assailed the nostrils of a crew working on a necropsy here Tuesday. The whale had been found floating dead in Blue Hill Bay on Sunday. It was not the same individual freed from entanglement with fishing gear a week before, researchers with Allied Whale at College of the Atlantic confirmed.

"We got a picture of the dorsal fins for both and went to the office yesterday and confirmed it wasn't the same," said Emma Ober of Allied Whale.

The whale was brought to the home of Dan DenDanto, a research associate for Allied Whale, for a necropsy. The COA research vessel Osprey towed the carcass to the Seal Cove docks Monday, where it was transferred to a trailer for transport to DenDanto's yard.

Volunteers made precise incisions in order to search for the cause of the animal's death. Oil flowed out of the minke whale's blubber like olive oil being poured into a sink. "The oil coming out is due to the internal pressure, and when cuts are made, it relieves the pressure, and that's why the oil flows out like that," DenDanto said.
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Attention

'It's very alarming': Another dead North Atlantic right whale discovered off Cape Cod; total now 13

Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon
CBC News
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 16:51 UTC
The dead whale has been identified as a reproductive female named Couplet, pictured here in 2003 with one of her calves.
© M. Zani/New England AquariumThe dead whale has been identified as a reproductive female named Couplet, pictured here in 2003 with one of her calves.
Another dead North Atlantic right whale has been spotted off Massachusetts, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in North America this summer to at least 13.

The U.S. Coast Guard documented and reported the latest carcass on Monday, Jennifer Goebel, public affairs officer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Greater Atlantic region, confirmed on Wednesday.

The dead whale is currently floating in the southern Gulf of Maine, about 160 miles (about 258 kilometres) east of Cape Cod, she told CBC News.

This is the third dead North Atlantic right whale discovered in U.S. waters, said Goebel. The news comes just one week after another whale was found floating off Martha's Vineyard, the Massachusetts island south of Cape Cod.

Between 10 and 12 dead whales have been found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence since June 7. Preliminary necropsy reports suggest ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements as possible causes for the deaths. A final report is expected by mid-September, and will be made public.

Only about 500 North Atlantic right whales are left in the world, according to fisheries officials.
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