Animals
S


Oscar

And the bird that can stay airborne the longest is.....

Tom Bawden
I News
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 15:12 UTC
A Common Swift is in the sky.
© N. CamilleriA Common Swift is in the sky.
The common swift is able to fly continuously for 10 months, without touching down for even a second, according to an extraordinary study which finds the species can stay in the air far longer than any other bird.

Researchers tagged 13 common swifts and followed their every move for two years. They found that while swifts land for two months during the breeding season, it is incredibly rare for them to roost during the rest of the year, when they are migrating between Europe and Africa.

Three didn't alight

In three cases, the bird didn't land on the ground, a tree, water, or anything else for the whole 10 months, while none of the 13 common swifts in the study spent more than 0.5 per cent of their time out of the air.
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Binoculars

Lost oceanic bird seen along Lake Michigan

Steve Miller
chicago.cbslocal.com
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 14:48 UTC
Shearwater
Shearwater
A rare bird sighting on Lake Michigan — so rare that birders aren't sure what the explanation is.

North of Milwaukee, near Port Washington, Wisconsin: a sighting of a shearwater.

"As far as I know, there has been in recorded history only one previous time when a shearwater has been observed on Lake Michigan," says Joel Greenberg, a board member of the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory.

Someone with the observatory spotted the shearwater.

"These are solely oceanic birds. They nest on islands and coastal areas and spend most of their life on the ocean," Greenberg says.
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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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Rainbow

Givers of Courage: Thousands of wild American Bison appear from nowhere at Standing Rock


White Wolf
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 13:59 UTC
bison
© Davidica Littlespottedhorse
The Tatanka Oyate were called upon and gave us courage. Pilamiya Maske for your vision. Stay strong Water Protectors! Davidica Littlespottedhorse

The great bison or buffalo of North America is a very powerful symbol to American Indians. Though best suited to cooler climates, bison roamed virtually in entire continent.

The smaller woodlands bison and its bigger cousin, the plains bison were revered and honored in ceremony and every day life. To the plains Indian, our Bison Brother meant sacred life and the abundance of the Creator's blessing on Mother Earth.

The bison is powerful medicine that is a symbol of sacrifice and service to the community. The bison people agreed to give their lives so the American Indian could have food, shelter and clothing.

The bison is also a symbol of gratitude and honor as it is happy to accept its meager existence as it stands proud against the winds of adversity.

The bison represents abundance of the Creator's bounty and respect for all creation knowing that all things are sacred.

The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe criticized law enforcement's "militarized" response to the camp and called for demonstrations to remain peaceful, but stressed that activists would not give up their cause.

"Militarized law enforcement agencies moved in on water protectors with tanks and riot gear today. We continue to pray for peace," Dave Archambault II said in a statement Thursday evening.

"We won't step down from this fight," he added. "As peoples of this earth, we all need water. This is about our water, our rights, and our dignity as human beings."
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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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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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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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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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Attention

Dead blue whale found floating near beach in Daly City, California

Brittany Brown
kron4.com
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 13:42 UTC
Dead blue whale
Dead blue whale
A dead whale was spotted floating near a beach in Daly City on Wednesday afternoon.

Around 12:30 p.m., the whale was found floating about a quarter-mile off shore from Thornton State Beach in Daly City. The whale has now since drifter closer to shore, spokesperson Giancarlo Rulli said.

The Marine Mammal Center was notified around 1:00 p.m., however they are unable to do anything until the whale has come ashore. According to the Marine Mammal Center, though the whale is only about a quarter mile offshore, they cannot predict when or where the whale will wash up.

Researchers have determined that the whale is a male blue whale. Officials from the center have sent a team member to look at the whale but at this time, the age and size of the whale is unknown.

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