Animals
S


Boat

Gonna need a bigger boat: 9ft great white shark leaps into fisherman's boat (PHOTOS)

Shark
© Andy Murch / Global Look Press
A 73-year-old Australian fisherman claimed his most spectacular catch when a ferocious great white shark leapt right out of the ocean - and into his boat.

Terry Selwood was fishing offshore on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday when the shark, measuring 2.7 meters (9ft) in length and weighing about 200kg (440lb), launched itself into his small boat.

And, terrifyingly, with the boat measuring just 1.4 meters across and 4.5 meters in length, there wasn't enough room for both of them.

Comment: See also: Fisherman survives shark attack in United Arab Emirates


Bug

A third of the honeybee colonies in America died in 2016: Why you should care

honey bee
Honeybee
America's beekeepers watched as a third of the country's honeybee colonies were lost over the last year, part of a decade-long die-off experts said may threaten our food supply.

The annual survey of roughly 5,000 beekeepers showed the 33% dip from April 2016 to April 2017. The decrease is small compared to the survey's previous 10 years, when the decrease hovered at roughly 40%. From 2012 to 2013, nearly half of the nation's colonies died.

"I would stop short of calling this 'good' news," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland. "Colony loss of more than 30% over the entire year is high. It's hard to imagine any other agricultural sector being able to stay in business with such consistently high losses."

The research, published Thursday, is the work of the nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership and the Apiary Inspectors of America.

Wolf

3-week-old infant girl dies following dog attack in Grand Rapids, Michigan

canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
Grand Rapids Police are investigating after a 3-week-old infant was pronounced dead at DeVos Children's Hospital following a dog attack.

It happened at a home in the 1100 block of Kalamazoo Avenue SE at approximately 6:00 p.m. Thursday.

Newschannel 3's Nicky Zizaza spoke with neighbors and police.

Police said a family pet is to blame for the death of a 3-week-old girl who was attacked in a house while her family members gathered on the porch.

A newborn girl was found viciously mauled by at least one of three pit bulls in a Grand Rapids house Thursday evening has stunned police.



Attention

Endangered blue whale found dead in Bolinas, California

A 79-foot blue whale carcass rests on the sand at Agate Beach in Bolinas. (May 26, 2017)
© The Marine Mammal Center A 79-foot blue whale carcass rests on the sand at Agate Beach in Bolinas. (May 26, 2017)
A dead whale that washed ashore at Agate Beach in Bolinas earlier this week has been identified as an endangered blue whale, according to officials.

Scientists from the Marine Mammal Center identified the whale as a sub-adult female measuring at about 79 feet in length. The scientists on Friday collected skin and blubber samples for testing, and a full necropsy to determine the animal's cause of death is scheduled for Saturday.

This is just the ninth time in the Marine Mammal Center's 42-year history that their scientists have responded to a blue whale discovery.


Butterfly

Increased UVB effecting insect sight, pollinators disappearing across the world

honey bee
Honeybee
As the Sun begins it's 400 year cycle of lowered activity, a change in UV out would also be expected with this energy output reduction. It seem that an increase in UV-B is now affecting bees, ants and flies globally altering their daylight activities such as feeding and reproduction. The UV spectrum is becoming so intense that insects that are active during the day are seeking shelter for the intense shift in their visual spectrum. Since they don't see in Infrared they cannot forage at night and are starving because they cannot access a food source. This is not a good sign as we need these insects to pollinate our crops. Without these pollinators crop yield will decrease along with losses due to out so season weather. This is unexpected side effect of the new mini ice age. reduction in pollinators.


Sources

Comment: See also: Entomologists: Where have all the insects gone?

Vanishing act: Why insects are disappearing and why it matters


Attention

Black bear attacks jogger near Merritt, British Columbia

Black bear
Black bear
Access to the Norgaard view point has been blocked off by conservation officers attempting to locate a bear that attacked a jogger on that hill yesterday afternoon (May 25).

Conservation Office inspector Tobe Sprado said the jogger had hiked up to the flagpole and was proceeding back down another trial along the hillside when a brown-coloured black bear began pursuing him.

Sprado said the bear chased the man for about 500 metres.

"While he was confronting the bear he fell down," Sprado said. "The bear made contact with him and swiped at him with his paws, [but] he was able to get up and beat the bear off with sticks and rocks," he said adding that the bear left the man alone after that.

The man then continued down the trial and went to the hospital where he was treated for minor scrapes he sustained from the bear attack, Sprado said.

The attack was possibly predatory in nature, and occurred at about 2:30 p.m.

Attention

Woman hospitalized after attack by moose in Eagle River, Alaska

Moose
A woman was taken to the hospital after being attacked by a moose in the Eaglewood neighborhood of Eagle River on Monday evening.

According to the Anchorage Police Department, the woman suffered non life threatening injuries in the incident, which occurred at around 7:30 p.m. A police dispatcher said Monday evening the moose left the immediate area after the confrontation. The moose was apparently a cow with two calves, according to an Alaska Department Fish and Game biologist.

A post made by the Eaglewood Homeowners Association Facebook page Monday night showed a photo of paramedics loading someone onto a stretcher and a message for people to stay off trails in the area. The post said moose and bears have been spotted in the neighborhood in recent days.

Greg Beck said his sister was walking her two dogs when the moose apparently attacked. He didn't know much about what happened, but said the attack was bad enough to put her in the intensive care unit with "a bunch of broken ribs and lacerations."

Wolf

Two people in hospital after being attacked by their own dogs in Chesterfield, UK

Two people have been taken to hospital after being attacked by their dogs. Stock image: it is not yet known what breed of dogs were involved in the attack.
Two people have been taken to hospital after being attacked by their dogs. Stock image: it is not yet known what breed of dogs were involved in the attack.
Two people have been hospitalised after being attacked by their own dogs in their home.

Derbyshire police and paramedics were called to a house in Boythorpe Road, Chesterfield, shortly after 7.20pm last night to reports that a man and a woman had been injured by their dogs.

Both were taken to hospital by East Midlands Ambulance Service. Police said the woman is badly injured while the man is in a "less serious" condition.

Officers seized three dogs from the house and two will be destroyed. The other animal is being kennelled while investigations continue.

Cloud Precipitation

50,000 animals dead following 6 months rainfall in just 2 weeks in Corrientes, Argentina

cow near flood
A tragic dramatic scenario has occurred for livestock farmers of Corrientes, Argentina as 50,000 animals have died due to to flooding in the area.

The province of Corrientes has lost an incredible 2.5 million hectares to the flooding
with the northern parts of the province being the most affected.

More than 6 months rain has fallen in the area in the last two weeks.

It is estimated that there are 1.5 million heads of cattle throughout the affected region.


Manuel Garcia Olano, Secretary of Agriculture of Corrientes, was able to fly over the area and told reporters that "the situation is devastating.

Attention

State to let dead grey whale rot on beach near Twin Harbors, Washington

Washington State Parks rangers will be leaving this dead whale to decay on the beach near Twin Harbors State Park south of Westport after it washed ashore Tuesday.
© Washington State Parks Washington State Parks rangers will be leaving this dead whale to decay on the beach near Twin Harbors State Park south of Westport after it washed ashore Tuesday.
Sorry, guys, put away the dynamite. That's not how we handle these sorts of things in Washington.

Washington State Parks rangers will be leaving a dead gray whale to decay on the beach near Twin Harbors State Park after it washed ashore Tuesday.

Instead of blowing it up, like the Oregonians fatefully tried back in the 1970s.

"Visitors can expect strong, unpleasant smells as the carcass rots over the summer months," the State Parks statement stated, in a wild understatement.

The 30-foot-long juvenile female, believed to be 1 to 2 years old, was healthy when it died of a traumatic injury, the statement said.