Animals
S


Fish

Size of Mediterranean fish stocks deteriorate alarmingly


PhysOrg
Mon, 03 Apr 2017 14:02 UTC
fish
© Wikimedia / Alessandro Duci A school of sardines in Italy.
Fish stocks in the Mediterranean Sea are deteriorating at an alarming rate. A recent analysis by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) shows that 93% of the assessed fish stocks are overexploited, and a number of them are on the verge of depletion. In addition, the Mediterranean Sea has lost 41% of its marine mammals and 34% of the total fish population over the past 50 years.

An estimated 10 000 to 12 000 marine species inhabit the Mediterranean Sea, but this extraordinary biodiversity is in grave danger, as it is threatened by pollution, climate change and overfishing. Further delays in concerted action could result in irreversible damage and a collapse of key stocks that are essential to the fisheries sector.

Marine mammals and fish on the decline

In a study published in Nature's Scientific Reports, JRC scientists warn about pressures on the Mediterranean Sea that might push the ecosystem beyond the point of no return. The analysis looks at the historical changes in the Mediterranean Sea food web driven by environmental drivers and fishing efforts. It concludes that, over the past 50 years, the Mediterranean has lost 41% of the number of marine mammals and 34% of the total amount of fish. The largest reductions were found in the Western Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic Sea (- 50%), while the reduction was much less in the Ionian Sea (- 8%).
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Attention

Lucky escape for kayaker following shark attack in Moreton Bay, Australia


9news.com
Mon, 03 Apr 2017 19:01 UTC
The man's damaged kayak after the shark attack.
© Queensland PoliceThe man's damaged kayak after the shark attack.
A Sunshine Coast man has escaped without injury after a shark bit off the back of his kayak in Moreton Bay today.

The 39-year-old Maroochydore man was paddling with eight others towards Mud Island when the shark attacked his kayak around eight kilometres east of Woody Point, police said.

The man was able to call Triple Zero as his kayak began to sink.

He was pulled from the water shaken but unharmed by water police around 4pm.

Photos released by police of his 6.5m kayak showed a large portion of the craft missing.
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Wolf

Child fights for life following dog attack in Kent, UK


The Telegraph
Wed, 05 Apr 2017 12:38 UTC
Dog attack
A child is fighting for life after being attacked by a dog as two people remain in police custody.

Police shot the animal dead after it bit the youngster, said to be a toddler, during the incident in the Jenkins Dale area of Chatham, Kent, on Tuesday evening.

"Officers, including firearms officers, attended and to ensure public safety the dog was shot dead," Kent Police said in a statement."

"The South East Coast Ambulance Service and the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Service also attended and the injured child has been taken to a London hospital in a critical condition."

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Attention

Dead humpback whale washes up on beach in Queens, New York

Angi Gonzalez
ny1.com
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 11:54 UTC
The carcass of a whale spotted on a Queens beach earlier Tuesday.
© Dennis A. Clark The carcass of a whale spotted on a Queens beach earlier Tuesday.
Crews are working to remove a dead humpback whale that washed ashore in Queens.

The giant mammal was found around 7 a.m. Tuesday on Rockaway Beach near Beach 117th St.

Park officials cordoned off the area to keep onlookers from getting too close.

The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society said the whale is roughly 30-feet long and about two years old. It may weigh as much as 20 tons.

Scientists say the next step is trying to figure out how he died.

The conservation group said the U.S. Coast Guard reported the whale floating nine miles offshore Monday night.

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Cloud Precipitation

600 chickens and cow killed by hail the size of tennis balls in Myanmar (Burma)


Coconuts
Tue, 04 Apr 2017 14:20 UTC
Chicken
Trees, buildings, and animals were pounded by "hail the size of tennis balls" for about 15 minutes last night in Kyun Hla Township, Sagaing Region. A cow and 600 chickens were killed by the hailstorm.

"We are now compiling a record of the damage," township administrator Than Lwin told Eleven. "Two villages - Hteintaw and Yabin - were damaged. In Hteintaw Village, the roofs of 30 homes, schools, monasteries, and rural healthcare centers were blown away. In Yabin village, hailstones destroyed the roofs of nearly 50 houses. There were no [human] casualties."

Local administrators, police, and members of parliament are now working to secure aid for the ice-battered community.
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Health

Teenager punches shark to escape attack off Destin, Florida

Catherine Thorbecke
ABC News
Mon, 03 Apr 2017 11:48 UTC
Shark attacks
A teenager from Kentucky punched a shark as it bit her while she was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Destin, Florida, authorities said.

Caitlyn Taylor, 17, from Louisville, Kentucky, sustained six puncture wounds from the shark bite, but was able to fend off the shark, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Tracey Taylor, Caitlyn's mother, told ABC News affiliate KBMT-TV that her daughter was in Florida with her high school softball team during her school's spring break when the incident took place.

"Caitlyn says she turned around and the head of it was coming toward her with a wave and she said she turned to swim back to shore and she says she felt it just grab her and lift her off of the bottom," Taylor told KBMT-TV.
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Attention

Whale and dolphins trapped by ice near St. John's, Newfoundland


Castanet
Mon, 03 Apr 2017 09:30 UTC
Trapped whale
© CTV
Residents of a small Newfoundland island tried to carry several dolphins out of thick ice, others watched as a humpback whale was stuck in the icy water.

A hand full of people lifted seven dolphins, one by one, out of the ice, onto a tarp and into a truck to take them to open water.

Wayne Ledwell of the Whale Release and Strandings group says the ice was too thick to navigate with an icebreaker to free the whale that was trapped on Friday. He said they tried everything, but couldn't euthanize it.

Town manager Margie Hopkins said that people tried to reach the whale today, but had no success because of blizzard-like conditions.

A few residents have reported that the whale may have died overnight.
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Fish

First ever discovery of Europe's cave fish

Andy Coghlan
New Scientist
Mon, 03 Apr 2017 07:48 UTC
cavefish
© Jasminca Behrmann-Godel Fast evolver
Europe's first cavefish has been discovered by a cave diver in Germany.

The pale-coloured loach, shown above, is thought to have diverged from surface fish as glaciers from the last ice age receded some 16,000 to 20,000 years ago.

"Our first genetic studies, plus knowledge of the geological history of the region, suggest the cave loach population is amazingly young, certainly not older than 20,000 years," says Jasminca Behrmann-Godel at the University of Konstanz in Germany, who led the team that analysed the fish. "Despite this short time span, the fish show trademark adaptions to cave life compared with loaches from surface locations nearby, including a pale body colouration, much smaller eyes, plus larger nostrils and barbels."

It shows that adaptation to these subterranean habitats can be fast, and just a few thousand years might be enough for a fish to adapt to cave life, says Behrmann-Godel. "Cavefish could exist virtually everywhere in principle, and there's no good reason to expect long evolution times for them to adapt to cave environments," she says.
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Wolf

Pack of bulldogs attack terrified shoppers in Bolton, UK

Danya Bazaraa
Mirror
Mon, 03 Apr 2017 12:57 UTC
Terrifying footage shows the moment an unleashed pitbull bites a woman's backside (pictured) as the pack rampage through Queen's Park in Bolton
Terrifying footage shows the moment an unleashed pitbull bites a woman's backside (pictured) as the pack rampage through Queen's Park in Bolton
A man is heard shouting "take the dogs away," and "go away with your dogs and they'll follow you"

This is the terrifying moment a pack of "dangerous dogs" let loose in a town centre frightened shoppers so much that they were forced to hold up chairs to defend themselves.

Footage shows a pack of "out of control Pitbull type dogs" running around while a man desperately shouts "take the dogs, take them away," "go away with your dogs and they'll follow you".

The man wearing a high-vis jacket is then seen protecting himself with a chair during the terrifying incident in Bolton.

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Attention

Whale carcass found on beach in Puri, India


India Times
Mon, 03 Apr 2017 12:45 UTC
dead whale
A decomposed carcass of a whale was found at Puri beach early this morning drawing crowd in huge numbers.

This is the second carcass found barely after one and half months after a 40-feet long dead whale of the same species was found at Balukhanda beach in Puri.

Heavy crowd was witnessed near Panth Niwas to see the dead mammal. Many were amused to see the carcass and were busy taking photographs. It is suspected that the whale died after being hit by a ship or vessel and was washed ashore due to heavy sea current caused by southern winds.
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